Learn me New York state inspections

Howdy!  

I might be moving to Cornell next year and although my current cars are mostly stock, I'd like to make sure any future ambitions are covered. My understanding is there's the safety inspection, the visual tamper inspection, and the OBDII scan for 96+ cars.

Assuming an OBDII 1999 non-California Miata or similar, will the following result in issues?  

• Check engine light illuminated (I assume OBDII fail regardless of reason)
• Non-CARB exhaust header (I assume pass if CEL is off and ready)
• Non-CARB high-flow catalytic converter (I assume pass if CEL is off and ready, but possible visual issues)
• Aftermarket muffler (I assume pass if not more than 15 dB above ambient noise)
• Aftermarket suspension (I assume pass)

Basically, would an STR-prepped car be fine? If I got a NC or ND in the future, do inspectors care about the pre-cat in the header?

Just over-planning for the future!

Sounds about right.

NYS inspections are performed by independent shops, so the level of rigor varies a lot. Your life is likely to be considerably easier if you find an enthusiast-run shop rather than a run-of-the-mill place just looking to generate work from inspection failures.

Sniff test for 1994 and newer stuff.  Old law recently enforced:  No window tint on the front doors beyond the factory ___%.  Inspectors are supplied with testers and most cops have them in their car.

Cool! It also sounds like a RallyCross beater would pass just fine too. 

Pretty much if the suspension mounts haven't rusted off, brakes, steering, lights, etc. work and are intact enough, CEL isn't on for OBDII and windows meter at or above 70% VLT it'll pass.  Honestly, any car that can't pass for something other than a CEL or tint kinda scares me. 

Watch for the standard up-sell stuff - wiper blades, accessory belt, fluids, cabin air filter, etc.  From your $21, after the state takes their cut, the shop can't keep the lights on if they don't make money elsewhere.  As a home mechanic, it can be hard finding someone to do your inspection without the upsell song and dance.  Finding an enthusiast friendly shop is great advice.

I used to live in NY.

Good Luck.  

Lived in Manhattan for many years. Never had trouble with inspection ... even on my race car, which is gutted, caged, airbag deleted, stock seatbelts deleted, no HVAC, missing third brake light, converted to dual Weber DCOEs, no cats, and slammed to the ground. Multiple shops over the years have passed the car without hesitation. As long as the headlights and turn signals work, they don’t seem to give a crap.

With my old Peugeot 405 Mi16 there was one shop in Queens that just entered my VIN into the computer, printed out a sticker, and handed it to me. It’s not like they see an Mi16 everyday, so I was surprised that they didn’t even bother to give it a once-over.

but maybe that’s just a NYC thing. No one seems to give a berkeley about anything around here. 

Upstate is a little different than the metropolitan area of ny, as there's no sniff test, but most is the same. Any cel fails. 99 can have 2 not ready monitors, We don't care if any exhaust part is carb exempt or how loud it is as long as it has the presence of a converter. Lights, adequate brakes, no front window tint, working seatbelts etc. Any other light can be on. Abs, airbag, low coolant....don't fail, that's on you, Don't let em tell you different. Were used to rotboxes so we mostly check for structural integrity and send em on. 

Cabin air filter??

In reply to joeg1982 :

Most cars made in the last 10-15 years have one.

joeg1982 said:

Cabin air filter??

Not a part of the inspection - but for only $50 you can breathe clean air again!  :)

I'm a licensed New York State Inspector. Here is the major list we check for:

Wiper blades: Wipers have to work, blades can't be torn

Lights: All need to work

Horn: Needs to work

Steering/suspension: No broken parts or massive amounts of play or leakage

Tires: No cords showing, no broken belts, can't be less than 2/32" of tread in two consecutive tread blocks

Brakes: No compression fittings, no leaks, brakes can't be metal-to-metal (even 1 mm of pad passes)

Windows: No tint above 70%, no cracks in the windshield greater than 12" in length the windshield wipers path.

Exhaust: Just has to be "sufficient" in the inspector's eyes (usually meaning no open headers), don't care how loud it is

Emissions: No CEL light, only 2 unset OBDII monitors allowed if before 2000 (only 1 after 2000), converter has to be there but doesn't need to be OEM as long as it doesn't set a CEL. Same with all other emissions components.

Those are the major things we look at.

02Pilot said:

NYS inspections are performed by independent shops, so the level of rigor varies a lot. Your life is likely to be considerably easier if you find an enthusiast-run shop rather than a run-of-the-mill place just looking to generate work from inspection failures.

AKA find someone who 'knows a guy'. That's how I did it in Missouri, which sounds like it has similar inspections, after failing an inspection at a Firestone due to wiper blades which they where more then happy to try to sell me a new set.