Moving to the Triangle- need some help

[brettpep]

Hey,

Just wanted to say Hi and introduce myself. I drive a 98' GTi VR6, Ginster with some european body parts (among other things). I''ll be moving to Raleigh to attend Grad School at NCSU. I'll post some pics up soon.

I'm still in Texas at this point and was reading over the inspection requirements. Does anybody know a good place local where I can get a favorable inspection? I know the car has some issues with OBD II and it's not viable (or cost effective) to fix it correctly. :mad:

Anybody that could help me out, please send me an email: brettpep@hotmail.com

Thanks!

[a4wdhybrid]

so youre looking for some random person on the internet to tell you where you can go and get an illegal inspection?

[kcfoxie]

Some of the guys at the NCVW Beer Nights claim that anything will pass inspection at the Peace Street inspection station. I've gone to the same guy at Exxon on Hillsborough for three years, but then again my car is always within ODB II Spec.

What exactly is the CEL relating to? (you must know since it's not viable and/or cost effective -- we have some VR6 folk here who can help, they love their VRs.)

[pinky]

my reply from ncvw:

you'll be hard pressed, especially with the new laws.

from what i understand, your car has to be plugged in to the obd2 scanner. the machine reads your VIN through the obd2. that info (pass/fail) is sent directly to the DMV.

they made it a lot harder to get around the emissions stuff when they stopped using the "sniffer"

maybe someone can verify the validity of this statement.

[kcfoxie]

Well, Aaron on NCVW seems to think a car on fire will pass at Peace Street. YMMV?

[pinky]

i heard they are (were?) lax... but as of january this year, the laws changed and i think they made it a whole lot more difficult to cheat.

[a4wdhybrid]

there are ways to pass a car even if it wont pass

that is a serious offense and big fine in the eyes of the state though

[Jay]

i heard they are (were?) lax... but as of january this year, the laws changed and i think they made it a whole lot more difficult to cheat.

These same laws made it do I didn't have to get a sniff test, just a $10 safety inspection. Righteous, procrastination paid off for once considering it had expired 2 months prior.

:D

[brettpep]

Look, I hate doing this. I really do. I wish I could just pay a waiver fee, or get my car passed with a sniffer instead of OBDII. I have had to do this the last few years in Texas since they switched over to OBD scans. In Texas, if your car fails any part of the OBD II test you have to take it to a certified mechanic and have them do the work. (there are some minor exceptions). One year my car failed because although everything passed, my Check Engine light didn't come on at start then shutoff. I tore apart the dash to get to the instrument panel to replace a 10 cent bulb.

The last time it failed, I took it to the dealer and they quoted me some outlandish price like $1700. And this is a dealer that I have dealt with for years. It had something do do with the air pump. They had to drop the front clip to get at it and remove the radiator. I then checked with my independent guy and he said is whas still going to be very expensive. I said "fooey", and found a place to pass it for a ridiculous low amount of money.

It's not like this car has headers and no cat. Other than a chip, a CAI, and a Big Bore Intake , its pretty much stock. It doesn't smoke, doesn't leak oil, and can pass a sniff test no problem. It just won't pass an OBD II scan.

I also don't have time or a place to screw around with it. I'm going to be going to school part time and be working full time. We already have a place in Raleigh, but its a townhome with no place to work on cars.

If someone can help- great. If not, I'll find somebody once I get on the ground over there. I just thought someone could help me out.

For anybody who doubt's who I am, go look me up on the 'tex. I've been posting there for years. Same screen name.

I didn't expect anybody to post a name or place on this post. That's why I included an email address...

[brettpep]

A thought just occured to me. Are all of NC counties under the same rules? On the NC website, it looks like different counties have different rules. Do you have to get your car inspected in the county you live in?

[pinky]

it is by county. wake county (raleigh) is an emissions county. you may be able to find a close one that is not (vance, orange, harnett, johnston, durham, chatham)

but it is based on the address on the registration (your mailing address)

[Nic]

i think u have to get it inspected in the county in which the car is registered in... or at least all the inspection places you go will apply the same rules to ur car if ur not in the county the car is registered in...

ie: car registered in wake county...but getting inspected in guilford... wake county rules for inspection will still apply to the inspection even though ur in guilford

i could be wrong... but i believe this is true

[kcfoxie]

Yeah you'd have to register the car and yourself as a resident in whatever emissions-lax county it is.

I'm sorry to hear that you've got some electrical gremlins causing you lots of havoc. I don't think we're so strict that it requires an authorized mechanic. I guess that VAGCOM tricks won't fix this?

[gerich]

Well if you have any specific questions hit me up with a PM. I have been a state inspector for 8 years. Moving to Raleigh (Wake County)you are going to have an emissions/obd2 scan inspection. Registering the car in another county won't help unless you go way out into the boonies because most any county with something remotely resembling a "city" is now an emissions county. Only the counties in white are still "safety only" counties.
http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/graphics/emissionFuture.gif My guess is you have an insufficient flow code for the air pump. This could be caused by either the air pump itself, a clogged combi-valve(the one that runs into the head) or a small control valve. Diagnosing which one is pretty easy if you know what you are looking at. Once you move here I would be glad to take a look and see if we can figure out what the fix is and how much it would cost. You don't have to have repairs done by a dealer or certified mechanic unless you are trying to go the waiver route. If you are free on Saturday's we have a local gtg at a sports bar called Woody's. Check out the meets and events rorum for more info. Oh and welcome to the board.:upyeah:

[kcfoxie]

so basically most of the coast is a safety only inspection? How the hell did that happen? :)

[gerich]

Easy. Ride thru those counties and see how few people like to live in swampland miles from anything resembling civilization.

[pinky]

lol... yeah.. northeastern NC is like ALL farmland.. boring as hell to drive through.. i remember on a few of my trips out that way...

[VMI 02 GTI]

lol... yeah.. northeastern NC is like ALL farmland.. boring as hell to drive through.. i remember on a few of my trips out that way...

That, AAAND it smells like pig crap and you get bugs all over your car. I wish there was just a bridge btwn here and the beach :smack: