Vehicle inspection sticker rant

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414
Location
Seguin, TX
Preface by mentioning that Texas isn't smart enough to tie vehicle inspection and registration into one process...

Had the wife's Escape inspected the other day. The tech (dealer) put the windshield sticker on crooked. :mad:

I know I can get carried away over little things, but I just don't understand why putting a sticker on the window should be so hard that they consistently do it wrong. :bang:

It's even worse when they put the FIRST inspection sticker crooked on a new vehicle, because that one's good for two years. And you almost have to put the registration sticker on crooked too, so at least it looks kinda like the two stickers belong together. And if your inspection/registration months don't match, it can be a never ending cycle of crooked stickers. All because some idiot wasn't willing to take an extra 30 seconds to do a proper job in the first place. :mad:

Thanks for listening. I feel better now. :eek:
 
Not to be mean Kirk But I wouldn't care if they put it on crooked and up side down as long as it takes a sticker it's all good:thumb::rofl::rofl:
 
The first one on the Fusion I just traded off was so bad that I didn't wait two years. I paid and had it done after one. It was so crooked it was laughable. :(

Further peeve is when they don't scrape the old adhesive off completely, then don't clean the area, then put greasy hands all over the sticker, THEN put it on crooked.

I've learned to let a lot of things go, but this is one I'm hanging on to. :dunno:
 
The sad part about the stickers in Texas, the inspection actually doesn't mean much... I had a 1971 Chevrolet pickup... straight 6... the air breather had two holes in the air intake.. one at the end of the scoop which was about 3 inches in diameter, and another on the underside of the scoop that was about 1 1/2 inches diameter. The tech(inspector) said I needed a warm air return hose from the engine to that hole??
Me: Okay, no problem, where does it attach to the engine??
Tech:Oh anywhere, just put one end against the side of the engine right here??
Me: What good will that do, you'll only get heat that is radiating from the cylinder head wall.. nothing will blow back into the air intake.
Tech: Oh that's okay, the rules state you have to have the hose...
Me: Okay, first time I start the engine and drive away, it's going to fall off.
Tech: Oh, that's okay, I just need to see it there during the inspection.
Me: What do I do with it after the inspection??
Tech: Well, it's a collapsible hose, just collapse it and keep it in the glove box til you need it next year. That will be $17.50 for the hose.

That was the only thing he inspected... the shift rods under the hood were loose and where the shift lever from the steering wheel attached to the shift rods, there was a piece of coat hanger wire attached to keep the shift rod from falling out of the shift lever.. you had to make sure you stopped the truck in neutral, or at least in low because if you killed the engine with the transmission in high gear, it would hang and you had to actually move the truck in high gear before you could shift it.. he never looked at the shift rods.
The valve lifter cover gasket was broken and I threw oil out all over the engine.. no comment. (I'm a very poor mechanic... I finally did change the gasket, but what would have taken someone with a modicrum of knowledge about cars about 10 minutes to fix took me about half a day...)... sure was a good old truck... made a mistake when I sold it.

Now that Texas is copying the "emission" standards, the now stick a rod up the tail pipe and run your car for half an hour then try to sell you something for emission control.
 
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I do remember those Texas inspections. They required that all the emissions equipment be INSTALLED, but they didn't care if it was CONNECTED or FUNCTIONED. I had a hotrod back in those days, had the "smog pump" (air injection into the exhaust). Had no belt to drive it, but since the pump was present & accounted for, they passed me.
 
There are still 'fly by night' places that pretty much just sell the sticker... but even some that might be considered 'loose' will usually at least get in and drive around the block or parking lot to check the brakes.

They're still not doing full emissions testing state-wide. Larger metro areas only.
 
Sorry - I'm changing direction here a little (sorry for the hijack).

Why can't car dealers install the "Dealer Name" Stickers so they match the lines on the car?

In stop and go traffic I always look at the details of the car in front of me.

I've seen vehicles where the 3" long sticker is 1/4" out of whack. It's not like they were trying to match a trim line on the vehicle or anything. I can see with some cars having all curved trim lines in the rear it could be difficult. I've seen bad jobs on VOLVO Station Wagons! :dunno: Volvo Station Wagons look like shipping crates.

The first thing I say when I close the deal on my cars - NO DEALER STICKER on the car. You can put a license plate bracket on it but NO STICKER.

Okay - I feel better now. Time for Judge Wapner. . .

Jim
 
...Why can't car dealers install the "Dealer Name" Stickers so they match the lines on the car?. . . Jim

I refuse to allow the dealer to put a sticker on any car I'm buying. On my current car - a Subaru Outback - I actually made the dealer take the car down to his body shop and remove his pre-applied sticker before I'd take delivery of the car.

My feeling is that if I'm going to be driving around doing his advertising for him, he ought to be paying me for the privelege. I told the last dealer that for $50 per month, I'd leave his sticker and his license plate frames on the car. He wanted to sell me the car, but didn't want to pay for the advertising, so he removed the stickers.
 
You 2 sound just like my father:thumb: If they had put his on crooked we would hear about it for weeks.:rofl::rofl::rofl:

:rofl::rofl:I want the sticker on the windshield behind the rear view mirror to be straight and even. It takes me 10 minutes to make sure the stickers on the license plates are aligned. It also annoys the heck out of me when the windshield sticker starts to come off and peal after using Windex and paper towels to clean the windshield:eek:
Whenever I start complaining about it my wife and kids give me one of their "looks" and go in the other room. So now I suffer in silence:rofl::rofl:

The dealer sticker annoys me as well. I always peel it off.
 
I refuse to allow the dealer to put a sticker on any car I'm buying. On my current car - a Subaru Outback - I actually made the dealer take the car down to his body shop and remove his pre-applied sticker before I'd take delivery of the car.

My feeling is that if I'm going to be driving around doing his advertising for him, he ought to be paying me for the privelege. I told the last dealer that for $50 per month, I'd leave his sticker and his license plate frames on the car. He wanted to sell me the car, but didn't want to pay for the advertising, so he removed the stickers.

Same here, when I purchase a car I tell the sales rep that is is has a sticker on it there is no sale.
 
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