Safety inspections — Missouri Permit Test

A Missouri vehicle safety inspection is good for two registration years unless you sell the vehicle.

Two years, and selling the car ends it early because the next owner has not seen the inspection.

Your vehicle safety inspection is good for two registration years unless you sell the vehicle.

Even model year vehicles must be inspected when their registration expires during even calendar years.

The model year and the calendar year have to match in evenness, which is how the state spreads the work out.

“Even” model year vehicles (like 2018) must be inspected when their registration expires during “even” calendar years.

An official inspection station may charge an inspection fee of no more than $12, or up to $10 for a motorcycle inspection.

The cap is what stops the inspection becoming an open-ended cost.

Each official inspection station may charge an inspection fee not to exceed $12 (or up to $10 for a motorcycle inspection).

A certificate of inspection is good for 60 days.

Sixty days is long enough to get to the license office and not long enough for the car to change.

The certificate is good for 60 days.

A certificate provided by a Missouri dealer is good for 90 days if the inspection was completed within 60 days before the purchase date.

The dealer gets a longer window because the car sat on their lot, not on yours.

the certificate provided by the Missouri dealer is good for 90 days if the inspection was completed within 60 days prior to the purchase date

Motor vehicles are exempt from the safety inspection for the first ten years following their model year, provided the odometer shows less than 150,000 miles.

Two conditions together. Passing either one brings the inspection back.

Motor vehicles for the first ten years following the model year of manufacture and having less than 150,000 miles on the odometer are exempt from the safety inspection requirement.

All trailers are exempt from the Missouri safety inspection requirement.

A trailer has no engine, no brakes to test in the usual way, and no driver's controls.

All trailers.

Motor vehicles that display historic license plates are exempt from the safety inspection requirement.

A historic plate limits how the vehicle may be used, which is what earns the exemption.

Motor vehicles that display historic license plates.

How long is a Missouri safety inspection good for?

Two registration years, unless the vehicle is sold. Two years, and selling the car ends it early because the next owner has not seen the inspection. Missouri Driver Guide, p.83: “Your vehicle safety inspection is good for two registration years unless you sell the vehicle.”