I have a 1987 Audi Coupe GT with a digital dash. The speedometer does not work at all. It is a huge centre section in the gauge cluster. I’ve had to have that car safetied 3 times and all passed with the digital dash dead.
- First time when we got the car - Passed perfectly
- Second time, we let the car sit uninsured for a few years after purchase. The insurance company asked that we get it safetied to get insurance on it again. Passed perfectly
- Third time it changed ownership title from one immediate family member to another. The car had to be safetied again. Passed perfectly
All three safety tests were done at different places.
They usually just check if the lights are working. They don’t care so much for aim.
As long as the exhaust is not dragging on the road in any way, and it doesn’t seem excessively loud when you drive it in the test centre, they’ll pass it.
As a side note, a long time ago my Dad acquired a First Generation Nissan Altima. It was in perfect condition and didn’t have any problems at all. The inspectors took it for about an hour, came back out and said it failed. The reason: They said there wasn’t any washer fluid in the bottle, and they couldn’t test to see if it works. They claim they suspected that there was a massive leak in the bottle because it doesn’t make any sense that there wasn’t even a little bit of fluid. They followed up with that they could “fix it” for me.
We took it down the street (without filling up the bottle), and got it done in 15 minutes. Needless to say, we didn’t go back to the assholes that didn’t want to put washer fluid in to check it.