House Bill 3297 Could Eliminate Annual Car Inspections

You may or may not know, but Texas might be getting rid of annual safety inspections starting January 1, 2025. Well, sort of...

Currently in Texas, everyone is required to pass a mandatory annual safety inspection for their vehicle(s). This is to ensure that all vehicles on the road are safe for the driver, as well as other drivers on the road. But the annual inspection might be a thing of the past if Governor Greg Abbott signs House Bill 3297 (HB 3297).

What is House Bill 3297?

The Texas Legislature Online website states that HB 3297 is for “the elimination of regular mandatory vehicle safety inspections for noncommercial vehicles and the imposition of replacement fees.” If and/or when this bill gets signed, the annual safety inspection will no longer be required for car and truck owners. However, unless the vehicle has a paper license plate or is a commercial, construction, or road-building vehicle, the $7.50 fee for annual safety inspections will still need to be paid by owners. For current or previous-year models that have not been registered in Texas or any other state, the initial fee will be $16.75 to cover the first 2 years. This fee will essentially just be a name change along the lines of “the inspection replacement fee”. Even if the bill gets passed, vehicles will still be required to pass an emissions test for certain counties from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

How Does This Affect Dealerships?

For now, let’s say the bill passes. The good news for dealers is that they are no longer required to have a vehicle safety inspection after purchasing a used vehicle. The flip side to this is dealers will need to be more diligent when buying used vehicles. However, some dealers may choose to be safe rather than sorry, so dealers will most likely still need to complete a safety inspection anyways to ensure a proper price point for trade-in vehicles. An alternative solution to keep the process quick would be to have an “as is” selection of vehicles to choose from. This is a way that dealers can sell vehicles at a lower price point while letting the customers know that the vehicle has not had a safety inspection and that the customer is buying the car as the dealer took it in. For example, if an individual trades in a 2020 vehicle for a new 2023 model, it is less likely that the vehicle will require a safety inspection when comparing it to someone that is trading in a vehicle built in 2004.

The Title Girl Is Here to Help!

So, how does The Title Girl (TTG) help dealers regarding this new bill? One way is by streamlining the registration process. TTG’s Registration Impact Portal (RIP) has numerous features to assist dealers with tracking and logging important documents. With this new change to the law, TTG will be able to process registration tags at a quicker rate now that they don’t have to wait to get a car inspected. This might not be the case for every vehicle, but this still speeds up the registration process. Things are always changing in this industry. Let us keep track of all the documents and their changes, that’s what we’re here for!

How much will this affect dealers? Not much on the dealer’s end compared to the customer’s end. Yes, there will be a few changes to definitely be aware of, however, that’s what we’re for. To keep track of all this information so your dealership(s) can function stress-free. If/when the bill passes, it will be put in place on September 1, 2023, however, the terms for HB 3297 won’t be put in effect until January 1, 2025.

TTG is following and will continue to monitor HB 3297, and will provide further information as it is released.