The new changes to the process of getting your vehicle registration has left many customers confused as to what comes first and why. The process at around three years ago was quite difficult and tough for many shops around Dallas, Denton, Collin county and more. The first step had to be done through the shop owners and this was to physically purchase stickers from the local county. Once the employee or owner went to the county office to purchase the stickers, they then had to drive back to the shop and use the book they had. If for some reason all the stickers were used, the shop couldn’t perform any more state inspections. The price that the customer paid back when there were stickers was $39.75 and this was quite high for a lot of people. Now that the Texas two step program is in place, several customers have asked me how much Texas state inspection?

In the beginning when I told the customer the grand total of $25.50, they were so happy and pleased. However, I always follow by telling them that the cost of the actual registration sticker has gone up. The customer then proceeds to ask how much Texas state inspection and why has it gone up? This leaves me to go into explanation as to how customers weren’t actually saving anything during this whole process. I will recap the past prices and costs compared to what is actually going on today. The stickers used to cost shops $14.50 per sticker and we charged $39.75 for the actual Texas state inspection service which was right around the profit margin of $25. Well now as I mentioned above, the cost for the inspection service is $25.50 and there is no longer a cost for the shop to purchase a physical sticker. The cost has disappeared, not including service calls, and the profit margin has roughly stayed the same for the shop owners. However, when a customer goes to get his/her vehicle registration sticker, they are now being charged right around $80. The old price for the vehicle registration stickers used to be around $65 so what this basically means is that the state is still profiting the $14.50 that they used to make off stickers, but they aren’t actually having a cost. So now I have hopefully answered how much Texas state inspection for most of the people still wondering this.

Senator Don Huffines from Texas introduced senate bill 1588 to eliminate safety inspections for civilian vehicles because he believe that it has wasted millions of tax payer dollars and more importantly time. Research has shown that basically 34 states in the United States do not perform safety inspections and that Texas is still one of the classic states still requiring it. “This tax costs Texans an annual $267 million in fees alone,” says Huffines. These statements he made in 2017 were to rid state inspections completely and to allow drivers to be on roads without any concern with getting the car checked for safety issues. I am strongly against Senator Huffines’s beliefs because I am strong believer that vehicle state inspections not only provide safety on the road, but it gives a requirement for people to fix issues with their car. If there are hundreds of thousands of cars on the road that have check engine lights on, then the combination of harmful pollutants in the metroplex will have damaging effects.

Therefore, when customers ask me how much Texas state inspection I let them know it’s a very low cost of $25.50 and that it is worth it to ensure your vehicle is ready for the road. The benefit of the Texas vehicles inspection program is that trouble codes can be easily detected through the OBD II system. With plugging in one simply wire to the care, the computer can give you the exact code to show customers what is wrong with the car. Usually emission related, engine lights come on when something with the car’s emissions isn’t properly functioning. Statistics shown from the DPS website revealed that transmission repairs can range from $1500 to $3000 depending on the exact problem. For example, if your car shows that there is a check engine light on and you try to get an inspection, you will fail the inspection. If the cost seems to be exceptionally high, the state of Texas provides a waiver program that will assist car owners with a decent amount to help with repairs.

A prominent issue that has risen in the metroplex is cars that are driving around with expired registration stickers. A lot of people do not actually understand the consequences of driving around with an expired sticker. For example, let say you are in Lewisville, TX driving around with an expired registration sticker and a police officer happens to drive by you. The first thing the police officer will look at is the sticker on your windshield. If that tag is expired, you will instantly be pulled over and questioned about why you are driving around with a sticker that is not valid. Everything at this point is up to the police officer’s discretion and I must note that these matters are not taken lightly. They are fines between $200-$500 depending on what else the officer wants to get you for. Another example of a situation dealing with expired tags are at apartment complexes. The management at apartment complexes will check every vehicle in their lot to make sure every tag is valid. If it is not valid, the management will first leave a warning. If the resident does not get a state inspection and then proceed to get the vehicle registration, then the manager is legally allowed to call a two truck to to the vehicle out of the lot. As you can see, the counties in and around Dallas does not take expired tags lightly. I have also heard of customer’s asking their leasing offices how much Texas state inspection, but don’t worry this blog will tell you everything.

So when asked how much Texas state inspection, it is important to remember that the low cost $25.50 is completely worth it when comparing it to what consequences there are to face. Out of state customers that just moved to Texas are rather surprised by the Texas vehicle inspection program and that they are required to maintain a healthy car, so to say. Something to note is that you should never get upset if your car fails because this just means that you will be on your way to fixing and having a safer car next time you are on the road. There have been many instances in my experience where customers have lost their tempers and have refused to pay the state inspection fee. What needs to be understood is that when your car fails the state inspection, you are given two weeks to fix whatever issue there is with car and then you bring it back to the shop that failed it and they will pass it with no charge again to you. The key note in this is that, you will not have to pay again if you bring the car back within the two weeks. If the car is brought back after two weeks, well then that amount of time is long enough for another issue to have taken place and a whole state inspection must be done again.

Here at Mike’s Tire in Lewisville, we not only assist customers with how to repair their vehicles, but we give them true advice and answer the question of how much Texas state inspection. A common misconception is that you don’t need good tread on your tires to pass inspection. That in itself is very false and that it must be understood that the only thing that is making contact with your car and the road is your tires. If you tires have low tread, then this can cause you to lose traction on the road when you are hitting the gas and brake. Not only is this dangerous to you, but this is dangerous for everyone around you. It is not feasible and does not make sense for your car to pass inspection with bad tires. This is a huge safety concern and is actually one of the most important parts that an inspector must check for before passing a vehicle. At Mike’s Tire in Lewisville, we give the customers options in even buying gently used tires if the customer’s budget in not in range for new tires.

Statistically speaking, some tires that say there is a 50,000 mile tread life may not be accurate at all. There are several factors in how long your tires will last and one of them is how the customer drives. If there is frequent hard braking and hard gassing, then the chances of tires lasting 50,000 miles is slim to none. A research study about owners of late-model Honda CR-V’s showed that the tires that were put on the car right out of the dealership only lasted 20,000 miles. This was a huge complaint that the dealership was receiving and customer’s were rather infuriated. Dealerships around the nation then begin educating customers about tire rotations and how to properly air up tires. Car manuals focused more emphasis on education likes this so customers can get the most out of their cars. So to answer the question of how much Texas state inspection, it is $25.50!