Vimto

Some of the rental companies also operate corporate fleets and sell those fleet vehicles which could be have been driven by the same individual for 2 or 3 years as part of a company vehicle fleet. They typically have fewer miles than the rentals and have been maintained well but get tarred with the same brush just because they are being sold by what appears to be a rental car company.

durham_lad

A Texas road inspection is trivial, other than the emissions test. I was chatting with a couple of supervisors when I was checking my car in last October and my accent always marks me as foreign. Once they knew I was English one of them said that he had lived in England and assured his colleague that if Texas had the same standard as that required by an MOT in England that they would fail well over half the cars that came through their Toyota dealership.

I have bought ex-rental Toyotas twice and have been very satisfied both times.

ScousePete

The place I would go to when I lived in Texas was a little shack that had a license. The "test" consisted of the following -

Indicator left
Indicator right
Lights on
High Beams
Brake (light) on

I can't remember if they checked the wipers, or just checked that they were there. It took longer for them to stick the sticker to the window than to conduct the test.

jjmb

No don't think the inspection is as tough as the MOT.
List of things that are required

1. Horn
2. Windshield Wipers
3. Mirror
4. Steering
5. Seat Belts
6. Brakes (system) (Parking - beginning with 1960 models)
7. Tires
8. Wheel Assembly
9. Exhaust System
10. Exhaust Emission System (beginning with 1968 models)
11. Beam Indicator (beginning with 1948 models)
12. Tail Lamps (2); (1) if 1959 model or earlier
13. Stop Lamps (2); (1) if 1959 model or earlier
14. License Plate Lamp (1)
15. Rear Red Reflectors (2)
16. Turn Signal Lamps (beginning with 1960 models)
17. Head Lamps (2)
18. Motor, Serial, or Vehicle Identification Number
19. Gas caps on vehicles 2-24 model years old
20. Window Tint.

In some counties you have to an emissions test as well and if you register a car in one county - Travis but it was last tested in Hays, you will need to get it retested to register it if they do different tests.. My daughter found this out when she bought a car in San Marcos which is Hays county . We live in Pflugerville which is in Travis county. So despite having just passed a test in Hays, she had to have retested due to the lack of emissions test. Travis, Williamson county and EL Paso, do an OBII test for 1995 and older vehicles which is a Two Speed Idle (TSI) test while 1996 and newer vehicles receive the On-Board Diagnostic (OBDII) test. DFW and Houston/Galveston do a similar test

As Ulsterman rightly pointed out there are places that will pass a car regardless of any requirements. Police do a good business raiding these places for illegal stickers. Think that use to be quite common in the UK as well but we last did an MOT 14 yrs ago, so that might have changed.

Any time we have failed it because a check light has come on or a bulb. Even your gas tank fuel door can set off the emissions test if it not tighten properly! You have 15 days to repair the issue or if you get a waiver like my daughter did, a little longer, think she had a month.

Ulsterman in Texas

And even the emissions test is only in certain very urban counties, in a rural area like this there is no emissions test.