WEST LEBANON — Since the state of New Hampshire suspended annual car inspections in February, Dave Enderson, owner of Midas auto shop franchise in West Lebanon, has noticed more and more people opting not to immediately address the maintenance needs of their vehicles.
They’ll hold off changing their brake pads until worn down to nothing, for instance.
“In my mind it’s a big concern for drivers on the road,” Enderson said in a phone interview.
Road safety is one of the questions on the minds of mechanics and drivers after New Hampshire paused vehicle inspections earlier this year. The pause comes after a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against a law that would end annual inspections and emissions testing for private passenger vehicles, NHPR reported.
The repeal was part of the state budget, which Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law last summer.
Like Enderson, Dan Eastman, owner of Eastman Automotive in Lebanon, also worries about road safety following the state’s suspension of inspections in February. Soon after inspections were waived, he instituted free safety checks when customers brought their cars in for work to help them catch issues early.
A couple months ago, Tom Camber, an employee at Eastman, noticed the brake pads on Justine Hagan’s Toyota were getting worn down. On Wednesday, Hagan, of Lebanon, brought her vehicle in to get the pads changed. Even before the shop started doing free safety checks, Camber would often look over Hagan’s car for problems, she said.
She’s not fazed by the state waiving inspections.
“I think it just puts a little bit more ownership on the owner of the vehicle to continue doing routine maintenance,” she said, likening it to “taking yourself to the primary care even when you’re feeling good.”
Nor is she that worried about safety on the roads.
“I know that there’s always been a select few and far between who haven’t gotten work done,” she said.
On top of safety concerns, Eastman also worries about the profitability of the shop now that it’s no longer performing inspections.
In a typical month, he and Camber performed about 70 state car inspections.
At $49 an inspection, the appointments brought in over $3,000.
“All those cars that aren’t coming in, we lose money to get the cars fixed as well,” Camber said.
Eastman estimates 50 fewer cars have been coming through the shop’s doors since the inspections were waived.
But “bills are still on,” Eastman said in an interview at the shop. He’s hesitant to raise prices, but he worries about how the loss of revenue will affect the store’s finances, and whether he’ll be able to keep Camber on payroll.
“We don’t have enough (appointments) now to keep us busy all day,” he said.
Phil Osgood, owner of Joe’s Family Car Care in Claremont, meanwhile, isn’t that concerned with taking a financial hit while inspections aren’t required.
“Most of our customers are long-term customers” who come in for routine work anyway, he said.
But like Eastman, he worries about road safety. While drivers can often recognize the grind of worn down brake pads, loose ball joints and worn suspension parts aren’t obvious to the naked eye and operators can lose control of the vehicle if a part comes free.
“If everyone is going in for routine maintenance every 5,000 miles (…) those are the cars I’m not worried about,” he said.
But cars that “never get the tires off the ground” are a concern.
About three years ago, he instituted a complimentary vehicle safety check when cars come into the shop for work.
He also encourages drivers to learn how to do a visual safety check of their vehicle, which can involve turning the wheels to inspect tire tread and checking the lights on the dashboard and oil levels.
“An education for drivers in how to visually check (their vehicle) is ultra important,” he said.
