That Proposed Price Hike on Car Inspections Just Hit the Dirt Hard

Car inspections are weird.

I guess I understand the purpose. I've been in other states where they don't have them, and that's where you see crazy things that pass as vehicles. That's where you'll find people have replaced their car door with a door off a house. Ok, maybe not that bad, but pretty damn close. It's almost hilarious what is on the road in other states.

So I guess here in Maine, it does keep the amount of truly comical vehicles off the road. But it's also a legit bone of contention among Mainers. Sometimes it feels more like a cash-grab for the state, or for a potentially shady mechanic to use as an excuse to loop you into costly repairs that feel mandatory.

Then came another proposal for a 'price hike' on inspections.

Recently, it was proposed that Maine could raise money for a new digital format for dealing with stickers, making the whole process cheaper and more reliable in the long run. But in the short term, the idea was put forth to jack the price of the inspection up to $20 from $12.50. Naturally, this caused quite a buzz on social media, etc. But according to the BDN, the proposed bill pretty much died in the voting process.

What's funny, is that it came up again so soon after it was proposed to double the cost of inspections just last year, where it was also soundly and quickly defeated. Not sure why anyone would think it was a good idea to try again when it was laughed right out of existence barely a year ago. This time it barely made it through the House, and completely flopped in the Senate.

I suppose everyone thinks they can build a better mousetrap, but I imagine even if you did build one, no one is going to want to pay twice as much for it. They'll likely want to stick with the current one that does almost as good a job for a lot less money. So for now, no need to panic. Rates aren't going anywhere for your inspection. For now...

With all that dough you just saved on inspections, buy this island lighthouse...