I live in Maryland. The racist democrats in the state legislature have an inspection system for car purchases that is completely broken.
Check this scenario: An 18 year old city kid gets offered a job paying $15 an hour, but it’s not near a bus route. He wants to get a good start and earn his way off the streets.
He gets a friend to drive him to work for two weeks and saves every penny. He earns $900 after taxes.
He goes to Facebook Marketplace and buys a cheap old beater for $600. Before he can get license plates, he needs to get an inspection. The inspection is $80. The inspection finds $1500 worth of “safety” which must be fixed before he can title the car.
Let me tell you some of the “safety” I’ve encountered in some of these inspections.
A loose front grille had to be completely replaced, not just fixed with a cable tie.
a rear door lock that didn’t engage
auxiliary fog lights that were cracked. (Auxiliary, not even standard equipment. The mechanic did me a solid on that one since replacement was going to be over $700. he painted over the lights so they didn’t exist anymore)
I once bought a $500 car that ended up costing almost $2000 by the time it was titled.
The racist system is keeping poor black kids out of the economy and in the hoods.
Imagine if this dumb system was not in place. That kid could work two weeks and buy a $500 beater. Then in a couple months he could replace it with one he paid $2000 for. Six months later, he gets a decent $6000 car and he’s good for a year or two and earning money and being a success. The pride of work makes him a great citizen (and instill some conservative principles)
Yes, indeed. There are a lot of the same issues here in CA but not as bad yet. I always budget an additional $600 on top of the $1500-$2000 purchase price for a private mechanic to inspect the vehicle before purchase to ensure it checks out with no major issues.
Maybe I am unusually fortunate but can typically find a decent dependable vehicle within a week despite the shortage of used vehicles I keep hearing about.
My truck failed inspection because of a loose tail light cover. Chicken sh*t reason. Ok fine. I went home and wrapped the screw with duct tape and it secured it.
Sometimes you have to get creative.