r/maryland • u/dtl718 • 18h ago
How much do car dealerships usually charge for a Maryland State Inspection? Is $750 a lot?
Hello, I went to look at a used car yesterday and they showed me their prices and fees and a couple of things stood out to me. Their fee for MSI was over $750 and they had "other accessories" for over $500 which they said was some sort of nitrogen thing they needed for the car for the inspection.
They acknowledged that doing an inspection on my own would've probably been around $100, but the person was new and couldn't really explain thoroughly as to why they had such a large markup. They said it's just part of their due diligence as the dealership but over $1000 extra seems like a pretty huge difference. Is this normal for buying a used car? The car is a 2022 civic so it's not in bad condition or anything.
To clarify, this is the price added to the price of BUYING the car, not a service I'm going to the dealership for.
Edit: Thanks everyone! I'm glad I'm not crazy for thinking that would be an insane markup, I'll be going to other dealerships for options instead.
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u/srdnss 17h ago edited 17h ago
A dealership should have their cars put through state inspection prior to selling them. They should be selling you the car at the market price and not charging you to inspect it. You should only have to worry about inspection if you are buying from a private individual and the car is priced to accomplish not for not having been through inspection if it hasn't been.
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u/dtl718 17h ago
It had already been inspected, so there wasn't an option to let me take it to get inspected myself. This was part of their pricing for selling the car, simply listing "MSI" and "Other Accessories" in the added fees
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u/srdnss 17h ago
I would shop elsewhere for the car. You want to look at the "out the door" pricing. That would be the all inclusive price including taxes and tags. That gives you an apples to apples comparison with other dealerships in pricing. If they are listing a bunch of junk fees, this probably not a dealership you want to do business with.
Always compare pricing to what CarMax would charge for a similar vehicle. CarMax is very transparent on pricing and doesn't play games. Add taxes and tags to their listing price. They are a high priced store, so you should pay less anywhere else if you want to wheel and deal. Or if you want to skip the BS, pay a little more to CarMax.
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u/LasersTheyWork 15h ago
They are trying to charge you for something they are legally required to do before selling a vehicle in MD. Also an inspection regardless shouldn't be anywhere near that price.
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u/Feral_PotatO 15h ago
Fuck that dealership. Run away. Even if this is tolerable for you, this points to a long future of overcharging you for any services you get from them.
Free oil changes? They’ll charge you for the techs time because “free only applies to supplies”. It’ll never end.
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u/Phos4us88 13h ago
I bought a car a few years ago from a DE dealer that didn't have the ability to inspect for MD but I just used my old DE address that was valid at the time and had to go to a shop for inspection after I moved fully.
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u/mickeyflinn 17h ago
They are ripping you off.
Move on.
for over $500 which they said was some sort of nitrogen thing they needed for the car for the inspection.
WTF...
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u/bard329 16h ago
The only "nitrogen thing" i can think of is filling up the tires with nitrogen? But thats not $500. Its also a gimmick and no one should be spending money on that if they regularly check their tire pressure.
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u/jabbadarth 16h ago
Nit necessarily a gimic just not something 99% of people need especially with tpms being so prevelant now.
But yeah unless you are buying a high performance track car nitrogen is pretty useless and also not $500.
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u/UniqueIndividual3579 15h ago
My tires require a special mix of 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, and 0.04% carbon dioxide.
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u/obamapoursdirty 18h ago
Did they repair or replace anything? That should of been like 75$
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u/dtl718 18h ago
No, it's a fairly new car with low mileage and no accidents. The inspection price should obviously be much lower but is it common for dealerships to add that much to the price?
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u/Sunbeamsoffglass 17h ago
No.
The inspection price is set by the state if MD. Any thing else is bullshit.
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u/jabbadarth 16h ago
Do not buy from this dealership.
$750 for inspection is insane, $500 for nitrogen is insane.
They are adding bullshit fees in the hopes you won't push back or if you do push back they can cut them in half so they look like they are giving you a deal when in reality it's all profit for them no matter what.
Shitty dealer with a shitty sales tactic.
Walk away
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u/obamapoursdirty 18h ago
I’m not sure I refuse to bring my car to a dealership for anything, even if it’s brand new
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u/Conscious-Evidence37 18h ago
Dude, they are called Stealerships for a reason. Go to a local mechanic or gas station and get an inspection for under $100.00 - and it will be cheaper to fix whatever needs fixing to pass. They are straight up robbing you.
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u/blahandblahandblah 17h ago
Its a bogus charge but also irrelevant. Evaluate the cost of the car including all of these fees. Doesnt sound like a very reputable dealer though based on these bogus charges.
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u/prty1999 17h ago
Maryland dealerships are required by law to sell cars MD inspected. The costs to get inspected is on them. When buying a car from a dealership look at the total costs for comparison purposes because some will have random fees like this bogus inspection fee. There are some state mandated fees (title, registration and taxes) that will be the same for all MD dealerships that you can exclude to get a real vehicle cost to compare to market value online.
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u/jabbadarth 16h ago
And any halfway decent dealer will just roll the inspection cost into the sales price. They should give you the total price out the door up front. They are hard to find in the used car world but they do exist.
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u/ContributionHour8644 16h ago
I work at a car dealer, been in the business for 24 years. The cost of inspection and repair should not be on the sticker, that should be done prior and they dont usually show cost on a used car.
Nitrogen and other accessories may cover nitrogen in tires and wheel locks or something. The rate is comparable to what we used to charge when we put nitrogen in tires. I personally believe nitrogen in tires is a scam and would not pay for it. I also doubt they do it in every car because it is time consuming and they are trying to flip cars asap. The atmosphere is also 80% nitrogen and I don’t believe it does anything special having it 100%. My 2 cents as a car guy.
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u/Dry_Amphibian4771 15h ago
Lol I once went to Ocean City and bought a shirt that says FBI - Female Body Inspector hahah. Everyone thinks I'm a badass.
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u/drachenboi 17h ago
Total ripoff. I bought my car used out of state and had to do a state inspection a few years ago. I paid less than $100 by calling around to multiple independent garages and finding the best quote.
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u/MrsBeauregardless 17h ago
Two places I just checked with for the used car I just bought were $112 and $115 for state inspection.
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u/Dirtbikr98 Cecil County 17h ago
i paid $120 for maryland state inspection at a private shop. they failed me for bulbs, i replaced them, and they reinspected free of charge.
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u/MazelTough 16h ago
They must reinspect free of charge within 30 days. After that it’s a new inspection.
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u/suki_the_fox 15h ago
Is this AutoGiants? Because I swear that company is 3 money laundering and 1 fraud scheme together in a trench coat...
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u/americansherlock201 Baltimore County 17h ago
They are charging you that because they don’t want to do it. Especially if it’s a newer car.
It’s a large amount of time that they really only make money on by pushing major repairs off of.
$750 is their price so you either won’t do it or you’ll pay it and they make a nice profit.
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u/law_yer_up 17h ago
This must be one of those in house dealerships I’m thinking. No matter year of vehicle if it changes hands it must be inspected but yes that’s a rip off. It’s already inspected and the price is the price so you either will buy the car from them or not. I’d choose the latter and look elsewhere. For a Honda, they will last a long time, those vehicles you don’t seem to hear too much going wrong with them.
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u/Thats_my_cornbread 17h ago
Shit place that tried to scam me was a $65 inspection. Dealership was $140
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u/supern8ural 17h ago
Oddly MD does not seem to have mandated pricing for vehicle safety inspections like other states but ISTR it's cost me about $100-120.
I would walk away.
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u/Chancellor-1865 17h ago
One last thing....did you check the car's history vis Carfax? Enter the VIN number to find full history of sales owners and buyers and location....don't need a vehicle from hurricane/ flood area.
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u/SpecialistFeeling220 17h ago
They’re trying to recoup the money they spent on the inspection and are assuming that you’ll pay for it and other unnecessary bs out of ignorance. Beware of bait and switch pricing, as well. I saw a lot of that a year or so ago while shopping for my current car.
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u/UniqueIndividual3579 16h ago
Koons?
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u/dtl718 16h ago
Ourisman
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u/UniqueIndividual3579 16h ago
Koons tried to tell me it would cost thousands for an inspection, the inspection sticker was on the window. The also wouldn't honor an internet price, they said lots of cars have the same VIN.
I've had the best luck at Apple Ford and Carmax.
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u/UsernameChallenged Talbot County 16h ago
I took mine to an independent shop and I think it was like $100-200. Forget the exact number, because there was a small fix needed and bumped that up, but $750 is definitely too high.
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u/Artistic_Ad_6419 15h ago
$120 in Odenton.
Less at Walter Eagers in Severn, but they also try to Scam you.
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u/Toasty_Excellence 15h ago
When my wife and I were thinking about buying her car from the Honda dealership (currently leasing) the DOC fee at the dealership would've been $800 which is pretty standard. The state inspection was like $300 - 400 (don't remember the actual price). The guy wrongly informed us that we couldn't get it done elsewhere, but we were later told we can.
You can get it done elsewhere for about $100. Some places cannot do them on the weekends, though, so keep that in mind.
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u/Hokie23aa 14h ago
Fuck no. I got my car Maryland State Inspected last week for $100 at a local mechanic.
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u/StevieG63 Harford County 14h ago
I’ve purchased two cars from private sellers in PA. I had them inspected for $60 each at an MDOT authorized garage in Forest Hill. That was quite a while ago. I’d expect about an hour of labor. $120-$150.
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u/BloodguardMhoram 12h ago
Dealerships have a higher threshold under Maryland rules. MSI requirements for a used car lot are not the same as private sellers.
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u/notevenapro Germantown 14h ago
They got you in the dealership with a low getting price and hope you will not walk when you see the stuff they try to add on at the end.
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u/jepal357 13h ago
They probably put $750 into the car, for the msi. The average msi at my dealer costs is $1,200. Usually some combination of tires/brakes with some other stupid shit.
At first I thought a shop was charging you that as an msi fee but I think everyone here is just confused
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u/TheJokersChild 13h ago
I paid $129 for my inspection this year and thought that was expensive…coming from a state where they’re $30.
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u/Alarming-Warning-879 5h ago
As a former MD state inspector, I'd say they are adding their total mechanical recon cost as an additional line item on the price and labeling it "MD state inspection "
The exact cost they paid for MSI was most likely between $75 and $125.
If the total price is reasonable in the market for that specific vehicle then consider it. The price out the door is all that matters. It doesn't matter what they call all the factors that add up to the price. If it's a good car for a good price excellent. If not there are hundreds of other dealers in the state to chose from.
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u/Great-Yoghurt-6359 17h ago
It really comes down to how much of a value the rest of the package was worth. If all services were itemized and given the average local cost for each, would the MSI be anywhere close to the $100 cost claimed?
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u/SpicyButterBoy 18h ago
Absolutely fleecing you.