Well, I've been the proud second owner of my '04 Lightning for just over a year now. Bought it Aug. 20 of last year. Last month was time to get an inspection sticker. I should have done it last month but I've been a little busy.

Last year the selling dealership put the inspection sticker on. I've only put about 5k on the thing and haven't done anything to it so I figured that there would be no problem getting a sticker this year.

There's a problem this year. I brought the truck to my local Ford dealership for my sticker this year. The place I bought it from is about an hour away and to be honest I didn't like the people I had to deal with there. Well, my local dealership failed my truck because of the aftermarket exhaust (JDM/Kooks) and said that the window tint was darker than what is allowed.

The exhaust and tint were on there when I bought the truck. I bought the truck used so I don't think the selling dealership will do anything for me. My local dealership has appearently been fined for putting stickers on vehicles that should have failed. So they had to fail mine.

I don't mind removing the tint but I don't like the idea of removing the exhaust. I would be degrading performance. Not to mention I would rather not have to spend 1500 to replace an exhaust that is much better than stock.

This sucks!

 

find a local guy and throw him $50 extra, works like a charm in NY.

 

Tom, what was their reason for failing you on the exhaust? As long as emmissions are good (cats in place) and the sound level is below Mass requirements they should not have failed you.

 

I had full JDM headers and the silver bullet and I never had a problem getting a sticker in MA... Make sure your truck has nice and hot when you get the inspection done, thats what i did and didnt have a problem.

 

+1.....it does work in other states too

 

Did you fail the emissions part, or the visual part???

 

They didn't do an emissions test.

This is why they said they failed it:

I went to the dealership that I've been doing buisness with for several years. My '98 had a bunch of mods and there wasn't ever a problem with inspection stickers, or even warranty work.

I talked to the selling dealership today. They don't do stickers. They sent it out last year. They called the station that did the inspection last year and they said that now that the RMV has it on record that it failed for exhaust, they are going to expect a repair.

I suppose I could get a stock exhaust system. That seems like such a waste though.

Slipping a fifty might work, but the state is cracking down on fraud.

 

So if it's only the noise, buy a cheap restrictive muffler and have clamp it on your pipes. Lots cheaper than replacing the whole system.

 

Move to Texas!

 

Dude very simple....it is going to cost you 2 $50's
one for a shop to write you up a fix it bill and one for another shop to do the inspection.....there is a lop hole for everything.

 

That sounds like a good idea. I'm really beginning to hate this place. Especially now!

 

If all else fails it a fed offense for a dealer to sell a non-emission compliant vehicle. 5 years or 50k miles the cannot even replace a cat unless it's damaged or defective. They can not change the numbers of cats either. Stock L has 4, Kooks and high flows has 2. That's another violation. Each violation is a $10,000 fine.

 

find an independant shop

 

It's getting harder and harder for me. The 2 shops i usually got stickers at give up doing inspetions. The shop I go to now is cool though.

As far as they are concerned, if there is no leaks, it's not rediculously loud (no mufflers), and there's cats under there and it passes the sniffer test , it's legal.

The green handshake helps. Well worth the effort.

If it's the noise issue, they make baffles you can shove up inside your tips to quiet the noise down.

Unless they have a decible meter and a stock lightning next to you, that can't compare stock for stock. If they bust your ***** for that, then they are just *******s.

 

That's what I said. They say it's too loud and someone else might say it isn't. It's subjective. They can measure the tint, but why isn't there a standard when it comes to the exhaust? A decible reading.

I've brought all my vehicles for service , purchased several vehicles and referred many people, to this dealership. I guess that doesn't make a difference. That really pisses me off.

I'll look into the baffels.