hey jeff it use to be worse when it was twice a year, For your information
even running antique plates the car will have to pass an inspection if you
get  pulled over and they can pull your tags on the spot if it fails. For
this reason  I even inspect my cars with the antique tags also know that if
you antique  tag a pick up you cant haul anything in it legally, which is why
my vanagon  single cab and my 63 splittie sc are regular tagged .. Now you
might bitch about  state inspections but they do keep the cars safe, compare
with west va, tenn,  kentucky and merryland  , lots of junk running down the
road. Yes there are  some ripp off shops that dream up stuff for work so
you do have to be carefull,  worse thing is when they scrap your old sticker
then tell you or put a rejection  one on. I personally do not do state
inspections , I have a shop a block away do  all of them for my shop and if
something is wrong I go get it and fix it then  return..I do not make any money
off inspections , but I do get the work and do  not have to deal with the
state police.  later  mark d  salem  import service salem va

In a message dated 5/3/2012 7:12:55 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
fonman4277@COMCAST.NET writes:

Trust me  Stephen, you don't want to get me started on my rant on Virginia
and it's  safety inspection laws. I remember all too well when it was every
6 months.  When it was proposed to make it annual, the Va. gas station
lobbyists in  Richmond stated " it will be a blood bath on Virginia highways".
Yes, ever  since it went yearly I have been shocked by the dead bodies strewn
across  Virginia highways! Having independent garages do the inspection is
simply  giving them a license to steal. People over in Maryland complain
about their  inspection program, but theirs are done by state run facilities
that HAVE NO  INTEREST IN REPAIRING THE CAR. And Marylanders only have their
vehicles  inspected when they sell the car. Keep the car 20 years-no
inspection for 20  years. The inspector who failed my Vanagon is at a garage that I
take my other  cars to and they are a very honest bunch and do good work, and
the inspector  is a really nice guy-we even talked about the Vanagon for
about 1/2 hour after  he failed it, so I just couldn't get into an argument
about it. This morning  I'll slap my old 14" steelies on it and drive over
there and get my sticker!  Jeff Stewart ----- Original Message -----
> I'd be interested to know  their reasoning for this. Do they know the
> front track of the vehicle  and fail for any deviation from that?
> Virginia used to require state  inspection twice a year but went to
> annual quite a while back, and it  still a challenge every time you go.
> I've been failed for something  that had been in place and passed
> previous times.
>  Stephen
> --- On Wed, 5/2/12, J Stewart <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>  wrote:
> > From: J Stewart <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>
>  > Subject: Interesting Safety Inspection Failure-Virginia
> > To:  vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Date: Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 6:52  PM
> > I have antique tags on my '85 Westy, and "restrictions" come  with
> > these, i.e. vehicle is only to be driven to shows and after  working
> > on
> > it,yada, yada, yada. I have driven the  van all over the place (just
> > took it to Newport News VA, and  back) with no issues and have never
> > been stopped/questioned by  the cops. With the antique tags the
> > vehicle
> > is  exempt from Virginia's annual safety inspection. But I've been
> >  thinking of going back to regular tags, so I took it in today to get
>  > inspected-it failed. It failed because I am running 15" Mercedes
>  > wheels that require spacers up front. I was surprised. A buddy of
>  > mine
> > runs spacers on his Eurovan and has never had a  problem. So, not a
> > big
> > issue, tomorrow, I am  slapping two 14" steel rims/tires back on it
> > and
> >  going back to the inspection station where the inspector has already
>  > told me he will pass it. Then I come home and slap my 15 inchers
>  > back
> > on. BTW, even the inspector said the wheels make the  van!
> > Jeff Stewart