Well I suppose but anything that's a distraction will raise a red flag. My truck failed inspection one year because the attendant said my headlights had a slightly bluish tint. Another year I failed because the pressure was a tad low in my right rear tire.
It's also completely random. I've seen clunkers pass through that had bumpers held on with duct tape without issue that I wouldn't drive if ya paid me to. I've also seen brand new vehicles fail because of minute BS things. On busy days they will only test every 3rd car or so, letting the others wiz on through the line to speed things up.
Mind you this is years AFTER the state inspections were privatized.
They can fail you for a number of things here in Pa. Most of the time it comes down to the person doing the inspection. I no here that they can technally fail you for your windows being to dark(tint),mixing different brand wiper blades,and mixing different brand of tires. Its really retarded an most mechanics never check that stuff,but... they can.
Yeah Jersey is pretty bad. I do hear though that it won't be too long before they eliminate almost all of the inspection procedure for newer vehicles. We have 3 year inspections now for 2006 and newer cars I believe. Mind you your registration fees are still going to be annual though. THAT'S huge if you consider that those fees are supposed to fund the DMV. It's like when they implemented one way tolls across the bridges into PA. On paper it's a smart system saving $$ right? Then why do they still increase the tolls almost every 5 years? We're about to see $5 bridge tolls here. To a commuter/salesman it adds up.
Just where does the $$ go? On average 150,000 people cross the Walt Whitman bridge every day. One of like 4 in the area. X $5/car= $750,000/day. X 365=$273,750,000.........per bridge per year!!
Seeing as it cost $90,000,000 in 1957 to build compounded by inflation and even maintenance it's a cash cow anyone can see.
The DMV is no different. Find ways to decrease expenses while simultaneously increasing fees to the public who has no choice.