You Inspected What Exactly?

Scooter Gate 2 by epmd

I mentioned last week that I bought an old Vespa scooter and surprisingly I’m still alive and well.  The first thing on my list of things to do was to get it inspected – a thought that makes every DC resident shudder.  Few people have ever had a smooth experience at the inspection station in SW.  I was fully prepared to wait in line for an hour or to be turned away for some idiotic reason.

Believe it or not, things couldn’t have gone smoother.  I was instructed to scoot up to the front of the line where I waited for about five minutes.  I handed the guy all of the paperwork I had (invalid title, bill of sale, etc), he wrote down my VIN number, then told me to scoot around to the front of the building.  After another five minute wait he came out with my inspection sticker, stuck it inside of the case on the back of the Vespa (which I will likely be removing in the future), and that was it.

So…did I miss the inspection part?  He didn’t test my horn, my blinkers, my headlight – nothing.  They might as well have sent a sticker to me in the mail or had a big stack of stickers at the station with a sign that said “Take One”.  Not that I’m complaining, but something seems a bit off in the old “inspection” process.  I wish doing my taxes was this easy.

Hailing from the Mile High City, Max has also lived in Tinsel Town, the Emerald City, as well as the City of Brotherly Love. Now a District resident, he likes to write about cool photos by local photographers, the DC restaurant and bar scene, or anything else that pops into his mind.

4 thoughts on “You Inspected What Exactly?

  1. the secret is that there is no real inspection… I’ve taken my car in there twice… no problems either time (fingers crossed! going again this weekend)… but I don’t think I’ve seen ’em do much more than check the headlights… and take my payment!

  2. I didnt think you needed plates, inspection, etc on the 49cc Vespas in DC. Appears I am mistaken.