Taycan fails state safety inspection! (sort of...)

[Jonathan S.]

My Taycan really did fail its state safety inspection today!

But it wasn't anything intrinsic to the Taycan.

No, not the tires.
(Or the 14-50 pigtail on the EVSE, hah!)

Instead, the front windshield had been tinted by the original owner (in cloudy Seattle, go figure!).
And Massachusetts allows front windshield tinting for only the top 6".
I had noticed that the side windows were tinted, but never noticed the windshield.
Nor had this same inspector last year when he passed it.
Nor did he this year until he went to put on the new sticker, but upon removing the old sticker, some of the tint film came off.
You can see the small section w/o tint just to the right of the red R of shame in the above picture.

Fortunately I had the windshield tinting immediately removed at a tint shop for only $64:

Kind of reminds me of this book:
https://www.paulattaway.com/the-genius-of-dr-seuss-and-the-sneetches
You want a tint on your windshield or a star on your belly?
Sure, we can do that?
Oh, you want a tint removed from your windshield or a star removed from your belly?
Sure, we can do that too!

Fortunately I survived the short drive with such a safety defect:

(And what are people supposed to do otherwise? Get it towed somewhere else? Many inspection stations are just quickie oil change places.)


Here's a town transfer station sticker on top of a white piece of paper showing the tint film:

Seemed a bit more sunny as I drove away from the detinting, but nothing dramatic.


Success:

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[Bennachie]

Is this every year? How much do they sting you for the privilage

 

[Jonathan S.]

Yes, every year in Massachusetts for $35.
Similar to many (most?) U.S. states.

Definitely gets some Unsafe At Any Speed cars off the road, eg bald tires, no warning lights, etc.

Ditto re faulty emissions controls, since one car spewing exhaust can be the equivalent of a hundred compliant cars.

 

[JIP1080]

Yes, every year in Massachusetts for $35.
Similar to many (most?) U.S. states.

Definitely gets some Unsafe At Any Speed cars off the road, eg bald tires, no warning lights, etc.

Ditto re faulty emissions controls, since one car spewing exhaust can be the equivalent of a hundred compliant cars.

The traffic in Atlanta would practically disappear if we had that level of inspection.

Lol, who am I kidding. There would be just as many fake inspection stickers as there are "Test Drive" plates running around ?‍

 

[The Riddler]

Yes, every year in Massachusetts for $35.
Similar to many (most?) U.S. states.

Definitely gets some Unsafe At Any Speed cars off the road, eg bald tires, no warning lights, etc.

Ditto re faulty emissions controls, since one car spewing exhaust can be the equivalent of a hundred compliant cars.

Every year in the UK after the vehicle is 3 years old. Quite a tough test but apparently the German safety tests are the high water mark…

 

[Donar]

Every year is a lot. Especially for young vehicles.
Here in NL it is after 4 years, then each 2 years and only when vehicle is 8 years it’s every year.

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ We even need the same inspection for a brand new vehicle getting titled for the very first time!

 

[O2TheL]

No vehicle inspections in Kentucky
To be fair, there are some very sketchy cars/bikes on the road

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

So the inspection failed because of an incidental discovery? And people gripe about California..

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ Exactly! Failed b/c of a tinted windshield that had gone unnoticed during the inspection last year and was noticed this time only as a result of removing the old successful inspection sticker so as to attach the new successful inspection sticker.
Oh, and the tint shop measured the side windows out of curiosity -- they fail the state opacity standard, but might pass under a generous tolerance. "So those windows passed at that shop?" "Yes." "Just keep going back to that same shop in future years!"

 

[parkslopedope]

So the inspection failed because of an incidental discovery? And people gripe about California..

I’ve lived in both states, the annual inspection in Mass is a bit inconvenient but I’ll take that and the significantly lower registration fees (every two years to boot) vs the absurd annual fees we pay here in California. I think the first time I registered my car in California for 1 year it cost more than the entire 6+ years in Massachusetts, including the annual inspection cost ?

 

[Jonathan S.]

I’ve lived in both states, the annual inspection in Mass is a bit inconvenient but I’ll take that and the significantly lower registration fees (every two years to boot) vs the absurd annual fees we pay here in California. I think the first time I registered my car in California for 1 year it cost more than the entire 6+ years in Massachusetts, including the annual inspection cost ?

The every-two-years state registration fee in Massachusetts, yes, that's trivial.
But the annual locally assessed car tax, well, here you go for the Town of Amherst:

• $937 for 4CT, purchased used in 2023 for ~$97k (original ~$136 MSRP).
• $1174 for i4 M50, purchased new in 2023 for ~$78k.
• $724 for A6ar, purchased new in 2022 for $77k.

(As for the value received in return for all that -- plus property taxes -- depends on the latest stories our daughter returns home with each day from the public high school...)

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