If you have two or more small cracks on your windshield, or power windows that don’t work quite right, you might want to consider delaying your upcoming vehicle inspection appointment for a couple of weeks.

A legislative panel Thursday approved updates to Vermont’s inspection manual that will allow mechanics to pass passenger cars and light trucks that might have previously been rejected.

The new rules, which go into effect Sept. 1, follow months of debate in the Statehouse over the rigor of Vermont’s inspection requirements, and related expenses for drivers. Legislation enacted in June directed the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles to fast-track changes to Vermont’s inspection manual, so that a vehicle “only requires failure of an inspection” when a condition “constitutes an immediate safety risk.”

The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules approved DMV’s proposed changes at a hearing Thursday morning.

“Ultimately I believe the main goal is just affordability for Vermonters — how to make the inspection process more affordable and overall just owning a motor vehicle in this state more affordable,” said Ben Shelp, chief inspector at the DMV.

What’s changing?

The revised manual includes more than a dozen changes related to windshields, windshield wipers, brake rotors, dash lights and tires. The new manual also eliminates a requirement that mechanics road-test vehicles before passing them for inspection, a change Shelp said is intended to reduce shop labor costs.

Mitchell Jay has worked in Vermont’s automotive industry for nearly 40 years and served on a committee that rewrote the inspection manual in 2019. He said changes related to brake rotors and tires offer the biggest potential for savings.

Vehicles previously failed inspection for “rust” on rotors; the updated manual results in failure only if oxidization has progressed to “pitting.”

“If I buy a car from an auction and it’s been sitting for three weeks in a parking lot … just due to the nature of brakes, the rotors have got rust all over them,” said Jay, who owns Central Vermont Auto Mart in Montpelier. “But it’s the type of rust, in many cases, that driving it for a week, the rust disappears.”

The new manual also allows mechanics to pass tires that have “weather cracks” – very fine fissures that don’t extend deeply into the tire.

“I think for a lot of Vermonters who don’t put a lot of miles on and keep tires five and six years, that’s going to be beneficial, too,” Jay said.

Some safety fixes become a choice

Some mechanics worry the changes could jeopardize driver safety. George Maglaris, a longtime mechanic in South Burlington, said cars with anti-lock brake and airbag fail indicator lights will now be allowed to pass inspection.

Maglaris said those are two critical safety systems and that if the fail lights are on, it likely means they’re not working.

“Today’s cars are built lighter and built around … the airbag system being an integral part of the safety system of the car to protect the occupants. And you’re taking that right out of there,” Maglaris said.

Shelp said the changes reflect a new framework that “balances motor vehicle safety with practical, cost-effective standards.” And he said that, under the new rules, an identified airbag issue will still generate an official safety advisory from the mechanic, if not an automatic inspection failure.

“This mechanism ensures motorists are fully informed of potential risks while transferring the final decision regarding repair expenditures to the vehicle owner,” he said.

Caledonia County Sen. Scott Beck, a Republican who sits on LCAR, said he thinks the changes approved Thursday will, in some instances, save drivers money. But he said many of his constituents want the state to eliminate inspection failures for check-engine lights.

According to the Legislature’s legal staff, Vermont must fail vehicles with check-engine lights on to comply with the federal Clean Air Act. (The check-engine light can signal deficiencies in emissions-related equipment, such as catalytic converters.)

Lawmakers rejected legislation this year that would have softened emissions-related requirements, fearing federal sanctions. Beck said he expects the Legislature to resume that debate in 2027.

“Is it realistic to hold a 14-year-old vehicle to basically a new car standard throughout its entire life?” Beck said. “Or do we need to really think about whether that’s appropriate?”