NH State Inspection For Vehicles

[chachee52]

Sitting around this weekend a question came up about the inspections. So they end in January. I have a Dec B-day and get my car inspected then. The question is, why should I bother this year to get my car inspected? Will I need a 2026 inspection, that is currently being given out to people that need inspections, and then next year no one will need the sticker? Or as of Jan 1st no one will need to have a sticker shown in the window?

[fatlazyless]

N.H. state inspections will be eliminated on January 31, 2026, so December birthdays will need a different color sticker for the month of January or risk getting stopped for a sticker violation.

It's only one month, 31-days of driving around with the wrong color sticker. Go for it! ....

[Lakes Region Guy]

Not sure if the law has been changed in the last couple of years but you always had a grace period of 10 days after your birth month to get your inspection sticker. in your case you would have until January 10th to get your sticker thus your into the no sticker zone.

[Descant]

On January 10, scrape off the old sticker. After that, nobody will know from a distance what color sticker you need or if you need one at all. UNLESS you get stopped for something else. Can you go for 21 days without rolling through a stop sign, speeding, etc? Turn off your phone too.

[chachee52]

So I guess I read too quickly the first time and thought it was Jan 1st they stop.
But the question still remains, for the 2026 stickers, which are being put on now, will we need that on our car for the year before taking it off to be legal, or Jan 31st everyone can take them all off? Just curious.

[TheTimeTraveler]

Originally Posted by chachee52

So I guess I read too quickly the first time and thought it was Jan 1st they stop.
But the question still remains, for the 2026 stickers, which are being put on now, will we need that on our car for the year before taking it off to be legal, or Jan 31st everyone can take them all off? Just curious.

I read it as you need a sticker for the month in which it has been traditionally due until January 31st, 2026.

Beginning February 1st 2026 you no longer are required to display a sticker in New Hampshire and it really doesn't matter as to when the stickers are physically removed from the windshield.


One other comment for anyone attempting to obtain stickers between now and the end of January. Any station that offers stickers are licensed by the State to do so. I have already heard that some sticker locations are letting their licenses deliberately lapse if it comes up for renewal between now and January. Why would the sticker providers want to pay to renew their ability to provide stickers for another year? The state should now consider waiving those fees for those that have the ability to provide stickers to the public. By my calculation, up to 50% of the sticker providers will no longer be able to offer new inspection stickers if their sticker license expires in August, September, October, November, December or January and they don't pay and renew their sticker license with the state.

Food for thought........

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by TheTimeTraveler

I read it as you need a sticker for the month in which it has been traditionally due until January 31st, 2026.

Beginning February 1st 2026 you no longer are required to display a sticker in New Hampshire and it really doesn't matter as to when the stickers are physically removed from the windshield.


One other comment for anyone attempting to obtain stickers between now and the end of January. Any station that offers stickers are licensed by the State to do so. I have already heard that some sticker locations are letting their licenses deliberately lapse if it comes up for renewal between now and January. Why would the sticker providers want to pay to renew their ability to provide stickers for another year? The state should now consider waiving those fees for those that have the ability to provide stickers to the public. By my calculation, up to 50% of the sticker providers will no longer be able to offer new inspection stickers if their sticker license expires in August, September, October, November, December or January and they don't pay and renew their sticker license with the state.

Food for thought........

My guess is police won't be enforcing the sticker law unless you are pulled over for other infractions, then it will get tacked on.

[fatlazyless]

While federal highway safety law requires big trucks with N.H. plates to get a yearly State of N.H. inspection, this does apply to N.H. cars and pick-up trucks after January, 2026. These truck inspections are done at service garages that work on big trucks.

Here's a newspaper article about a Concord NH service station ..... http://www.concordmonitor.com/nh-res...epeal-62562141 .... which does a non-state $50 safety inspection for cars and pick-up trucks.

Could be these non-state $50 car inspections will be done by repair garages that formerly did N.H. safety inspections?

N.H. car inspections were initiated in 1931 and will no longer be happening after January, 2026, so that's about 95-years. The next closest states that do not require a yearly car inspections are Michigan, Kentucky, and South Carolina.

Am searching the internet for a good photo of a junker rolling wreck car still in use in a non-inspection state. You know some old car that's all falling apart but still being driven in Florida or somewhere .... http://www.imgur.com/gallery/no-vehi...lorida-g6lPcqD ..... welcome to N.H.

[BroadHopper]

My independent agent says only two states has no inspections and insurance not mandatory, NH will soon be one of them. He expect to see increase in premium because of this. Along with increase overall to help pay the damages cause by natural disasters in other region. People thinks they will be saving money but in the long run they are not!

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

My independent agent says only two states has no inspections and insurance not mandatory, NH will soon be one of them. He expect to see increase in premium because of this. Along with increase overall to help pay the damages cause by natural disasters in other region. People thinks they will be saving money but in the long run they are not!

Insurance should be mandatory to get a registration, esp now!

[Descant]

Originally Posted by Biggd

Insurance should be mandatory to get a registration, esp now!

As noted previously, in another thread, there are more uninsured cars per capita in MA than in NH. As a "no-fault-state", I'd bet there are more ambulance chasers in MA than in NH. If you want to reduce insurance costs, you need to have statutory limits on types of injures and definitely limits on "pain and suffering". Capping lawyer fees on contingencies would be another approach but next to impossible to enact in legislatures packed with lawyers.
As our Governor says : "Don't Mass it up."

[codeman671]

Not sure that I am a fan of this...I can only imagine some of the ****boxes that people are going to start putting on the road.

If there are to be no state inspections, are the police still holding people to certain safety standards, such as no bald tires, no broken windshields, etc?

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by codeman671

Not sure that I am a fan of this...I can only imagine some of the ****boxes that people are going to start putting on the road.

If there are to be no state inspections, are the police still holding people to certain safety standards, such as no bald tires, no broken windshields, etc?

They could. But look how well they do with the sound issue.

[Descant]

This may have gone away, bi wasn't there a sound test for motorcycles as part of the annual inspection?

[John Mercier]

Sort of.

Exhaust check and sound check.
But to be honest, most never bothered.

We now live in a world where the "me" overtakes the "we".

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Descant

This may have gone away, bi wasn't there a sound test for motorcycles as part of the annual inspection?

I have owned a motorcycle for the past 30 years and was never required to have a "sound test" as part of the annual inspection.

Straight pipes with no baffles have always been illegal in NH but a sound test is not required as you can visually see inside the pipe whether there are baffles or not.

Dan

[John Mercier]

266:59-a Motorcycle Noise Levels. –
I. No person shall operate in this state any motorcycle which produces a sound level in excess of the following decibels, when measured in accordance with the provisions of the SAE International Recommended Practice SAE J2825, "Measurement of Exhaust Sound Pressure Levels of Stationary On-Highway Motorcycles":
(a) For all motorcycles, 92 decibels while the engine is operating at idle speed; or
(b) For motorcycles with less than 3 or more than 4 cylinders, 96 decibels while the engine is operating at 2,000 revolutions per minute or 75 percent of maximum engine speed, whichever is less; or
(c) For 3 and 4 cylinder motorcycles, 100 decibels while the engine is operating at 5,000 revolutions per minute or 75 percent of maximum engine speed, whichever is less.
II. No person shall pass for the purposes of the inspection required by RSA 266:1 any motorcycle which produces a sound level in excess of the following decibels, when measured in accordance with the provisions of the SAE International Recommended Practice SAE J2825, "Measurement of Exhaust Sound Pressure Levels of Stationary On-Highway Motorcycles":
(a) For all motorcycles, 92 decibels while the engine is operating at idle speed; or
(b) For motorcycles with less than 3 or more than 4 cylinders, 96 decibels while the engine is operating at 2,000 revolutions per minute or 75 percent of maximum engine speed, whichever is less; or
(c) For 3 and 4 cylinder motorcycles, 100 decibels while the engine is operating at 5,000 revolutions per minute or 75 percent of maximum engine speed, whichever is less.
III. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation and shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $300.
Source. 1992, 94:1. 1993, 9:1. 2005, 266:2. 2012, 61:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2013.

[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by Descant

This may have gone away, bi wasn't there a sound test for motorcycles as part of the annual inspection?

I always had my inspection done at the Harley dealer in Meredith. It was done with the engine off. Accessory turned on to check lights etc but no sound issues

Alan

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Slickcraft

I always had my inspection done at the Harley dealer in Meredith. It was done with the engine off. Accessory turned on to check lights etc but no sound issues

Alan

Exactly the same here...In the 30+ years of motorcycle inspections never had to start the bike! Had my pipes checked with a wooden dowel once to make sure baffles were not removed but other than that no sound check...

Dan

[John Mercier]

Because they were not doing them.

When someone got stopped, and that was rare to non-existent, the mechanic would just suggest that the exhaust system must have been changed after the inspection was done.

The State could have done stings to catch the situation, but the State is seldom serious about these issues.

So you get the inspections that are not complete, and you get the inspections that you should have passed, but got pressured for repair work.

[John Mercier]

Part of the reason the proponents of the original bill introduced it.

[ishoot308]

Well said Descant! Spot on!

Dan

[Garcia]

Originally Posted by Descant

As noted previously, in another thread, there are more uninsured cars per capita in MA than in NH. As a "no-fault-state", I'd bet there are more ambulance chasers in MA than in NH. If you want to reduce insurance costs, you need to have statutory limits on types of injures and definitely limits on "pain and suffering". Capping lawyer fees on contingencies would be another approach but next to impossible to enact in legislatures packed with lawyers.
As our Governor says : "Don't Mass it up."

In 2023 (the last year I could find data from) MA has a 7.9% uninsured rate making it 7th in the nation (ME is number 1 with a 5.7% rate) while NH is at 10%. Yes, MA has more uninsured cars per capita because there are many more drivers.

In MA, an uninsured vehicle would also be unregistered as you cannot register a vehicle in MA without insurance.

My issue with people with no insurance or driving vehicles that are unsafe is that those of us who are following the rules end up paying more. Same is true of health insurance - one of the reasons my health insurance is so high is that I am picking up the tab for those who walk away from medical bills.

[Descant]

Attack it from the other direction. Here's an article on the 7 best insurance companies to buy stock in for income and growth.
https://money.usnews.com/investing/a...buy-for-income

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by Descant

As noted previously, in another thread, there are more uninsured cars per capita in MA than in NH. As a "no-fault-state", I'd bet there are more ambulance chasers in MA than in NH. If you want to reduce insurance costs, you need to have statutory limits on types of injures and definitely limits on "pain and suffering". Capping lawyer fees on contingencies would be another approach but next to impossible to enact in legislatures packed with lawyers.
As our Governor says : "Don't Mass it up."

If a cop runs a plate in Ma without insurance it will come up as unregistered. That doesn't happen in NH!

[John Mercier]

It was part of the budget bill.
So rehashing it would have created a lot of complications for the State.

We may see changes back to some basic safety inspection in the future with less of the ever expanding reasons for failure.

[first timer]

Originally Posted by Biggd

My guess is police won't be enforcing the sticker law unless you are pulled over for other infractions, then it will get tacked on.

police 🚔 need more time their hands are full