How Virginia inspection reinspection works

What is a reinspection?

After a rejection, the station re-checks only the items it wrote down as failed. It is not a complete inspection: if your car failed on a brake light, the reinspection looks at the brake light. That is why it is quick and why the regulation caps its cost.

Where does the reinspection have to happen?

At the station that rejected the car. The $1 partial reinspection is a right you have with the original station only. A different station has no record of what was checked and must perform a full inspection at the full fee.

How much does a reinspection cost?

By regulation (19VAC30-70-60), the station "may" charge $1. Some charge nothing. Either way, it is not $20.

How many reinspections do I get?

Up to two on one rejection sticker. If the car fails the same item twice more inside the window, the third visit is a new full inspection.

What if the 15 days run out?

The rejection sticker expires and the car has no valid inspection. There is no extension in the regulation. The next step is a full inspection, at any station, for the full fee, and until then the expired inspection rules apply.

What should I bring?

The car with the rejection sticker still on the windshield, and the written inspection record you were given. The station checks the repaired items against that record and, if they pass, replaces the rejection sticker with an approval sticker.

How Brake Spoon handles it

When you approve a repair from your phone, the station does the work and reinspects the car before our driver picks it up, so the reinspection is folded into the same visit and the same visit fee. If you have the repair done elsewhere and need the car taken back for its reinspection, that is a normal Brake Spoon visit at the normal fee; tell us which station rejected it and we take it there. See what happens if your car fails a Virginia inspection for the full sequence.