How Much Is an Inspection Sticker in Massachusetts?

A Massachusetts inspection sticker costs $35 for most cars, pickup trucks, minivans and SUVs, and $15 for a motorcycle. That is the fee for the annual safety and emissions inspection under the Massachusetts Vehicle Check program, and it has been the fee since July 1, 2014. If your vehicle fails, you get one free re-inspection, but only within 60 calendar days and only at the station that failed it. Driving without a valid sticker is a $50 fine under M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 20.

This page is general information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice about your situation. If a crash, a failed inspection on a car you just bought, or a ticket has left you with questions, call Jim Glaser Law at (617) JIM-WINS. The line is answered 24 hours a day. The first telephone consultation is free.

A few terms are used throughout. Massachusetts Vehicle Check is the state’s combined safety and emissions inspection program, run by the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Environmental Protection. A certificate of inspection is the passing sticker a licensed station puts on the windshield. A certificate of rejection is the sticker a vehicle gets when it fails, which lets it be driven for a limited time once safety defects are fixed. A re-inspection is the second inspection after a failure. Gross vehicle weight rating is the maximum loaded weight the manufacturer rates the vehicle for, which decides whether the non-commercial fee applies. An emissions waiver is permission to keep driving a vehicle that still fails its emissions test after the owner has spent the required amount on repairs.

The Fee by Type of Vehicle

The fee is not set by each garage. Under M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 7A, the Secretary of Administration and Finance sets the amount charged for the periodic inspection, on the recommendation of the Registrar and the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, and the statute requires that the fee “be an annual charge which shall remain constant for each year of the two-year inspection cycle.” The Massachusetts Vehicle Check program publishes the current schedule, effective July 1, 2014:

Type of inspection	What it covers	Fee	How often
Non-commercial	Passenger cars, minivans, pickup trucks and SUVs with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less	$35	Every year
Commercial motor vehicle	Heavy trucks of 10,001 pounds or more, commercial trailers and placarded vehicles	$35 plus the cost of labor	Every year
7D vehicle	Passenger vehicles used to transport school students	$35	Twice a year, in addition to the annual inspection
Motorcycle	Motorcycles, at a licensed Class M station	$15	Every year

Two other inspections carry their own fee. A transportation network vehicle inspection, for a car used to drive for a rideshare company, costs $15, and the program issues an inspection report rather than a sticker for it. Motorhomes with camper plates get the non-commercial inspection regardless of weight, at $35.

The program says inspection stations providing a commercial inspection are permitted to charge more than $35. For an ordinary passenger car, $35 is the fee.

What Happens at the Inspection

You bring the vehicle and a current registration whose vehicle identification number matches the one on the left front of the dashboard, and you pay the $35. The inspector first does a quick visual check for anything that makes the inspection itself dangerous, such as a fuel leak. Then the safety inspection covers 14 groups of items:

1. Registration, license plates and vehicle identification number
2. Parking brake and service brake
3. Exhaust system, including excessive blue or black smoke
4. Steering and suspension
5. Horn
6. Windshield, windows, wipers and washer, including window tint
7. Rear view mirror and mirrors
8. Lights, including tail lights, turn signals, headlight aim, hazard and reverse lights
9. Tires and wheels
10. Bumpers, fenders, floor pans, fuel tank and frame
11. Altered vehicle height
12. Seat belts
13. Airbags
14. Fuel tank cap

Passenger cars, trucks and SUVs from model year 2012 and newer also get an on-board diagnostics emissions test, in which the inspector connects the car’s computer to the station’s analyzer. The RMV describes the same rule as applying to vehicles with on-board diagnostic systems that are less than 15 years old. Older vehicles are exempt from the emissions test but can still fail the safety inspection for excessive smoke. Heavier diesel vehicles get an opacity test instead.

The Free Re-Test and How You Lose It

If the vehicle fails, the station gives you a rejection sticker and a printed vehicle inspection report listing why. The program’s rule on the second inspection is short: every vehicle is entitled to one free re-inspection within 60 calendar days at the station that originally failed it. You will pay another $35 if:

• More than 60 calendar days have passed since the first inspection. The 60 days run from the original inspection date, not from a later paid re-test.
• The vehicle already used its free re-test within those 60 days.
• You take it to a different station. A re-test anywhere else is a paid inspection.
• The vehicle was sold or transferred to a new owner after it failed.

If you could not get the free re-test because the original station was closed, under renovation or had no inspector available, the program tells motorists to send the RMV an Inspection Station Complaint Form, and the RMV contacts the station.

Situation	Cost of the next inspection
Back at the same station within 60 days, first re-test	Free
Back at the same station within 60 days, second re-test	$35
A different station, any time	$35
The same station after 60 days	$35
The vehicle was sold after it failed	$35
A challenge inspection that the vehicle fails	An additional $35

Answer Capsule

A Massachusetts inspection sticker costs $35 for most passenger cars, pickup trucks, minivans and SUVs, $15 for a motorcycle, and $35 plus labor for a commercial vehicle, under a schedule in effect since July 1, 2014 and set by the Secretary of Administration and Finance under M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 7A. A vehicle that fails gets one free re-inspection, within 60 calendar days of the first inspection and only at the station that failed it; a different station, a second re-test, a sale or a missed deadline means paying again. Newly purchased vehicles must be inspected within 7 days of registration. Driving without a valid sticker or rejection sticker displayed is a $50 fine under c. 90, sec. 20, plus a $5 surcharge, and the RMV says it may affect your insurance rate. A used car that fails within seven days of sale can be returned under c. 90, sec. 7N if repairs would cost more than 10 percent of the price.

If Your Vehicle Fails

What you are allowed to do next depends on why it failed.

A safety failure must be fixed right away. The program’s guidance is that it is illegal to drive the vehicle before safety repairs have been made, and that police may cite you for operating an unsafe vehicle. Under c. 90, sec. 20, operating a motor vehicle that fails to meet the registrar’s safety standards is a $25 fine. Once the safety defects are fixed, the certificate of rejection lets you drive for up to 60 days while you arrange the re-inspection. Keep the repair receipts in the vehicle as proof.

An emissions failure has a 60-day window. The vehicle must be repaired and pass its re-test within 60 days of the first inspection. If it still fails after real repair work, an emissions waiver may be available once you have spent at least $1,175 on emissions repairs for a vehicle five model years old or newer, $1,075 for one six to ten model years old, or $975 for one more than ten model years old, counting parts and labor. For a major repair such as a transmission or engine overhaul, the program offers a one-year, non-renewable Economic Hardship Failure Repair Extension. A waiver or extension also has to be obtained within the 60 days.

If you think the station got it wrong, you can ask the RMV for a challenge inspection using the Inspection Station Complaint Form. The RMV says the form must be submitted within 30 days of the inspection for a safety issue and within 2 days for an emissions issue. If the vehicle passes the challenge, the original station provides the passing sticker. If it fails the challenge, you pay an additional $35 and still have to make the repairs.

The Fine for an Expired or Missing Sticker

Massachusetts law puts two different fines in c. 90, sec. 20:

Violation under c. 90, sec. 20	Fine
Failing to have your vehicle inspected, or operating it (or letting it be operated) without a certificate of inspection or a certificate of rejection displayed	$50
Operating a vehicle that fails to meet the registrar’s safety standards	$25

The same section adds a $5 surcharge to a fine for a motor vehicle violation under chapter 90, and it allows the registrar to suspend or revoke the registration of a vehicle that fails inspection and has not been issued a waiver. The RMV’s own page says driving without a valid sticker “may result in a fine and affect your insurance rate.”

Neither fine carries jail time, which makes each one a civil motor vehicle infraction under M.G.L. c. 90C, sec. 1, defined as an automobile law violation “for which the maximum penalty does not provide for imprisonment.” Under c. 90C, sec. 3, you have twenty days from the date of the citation either to pay or to contest responsibility by asking for a noncriminal hearing before a magistrate of the district court, and the request goes to the registrar with a $25 court filing fee. A person who does not ask for a hearing within the twenty days loses it unless the registrar finds good cause outside their control.

Sticker Dates, New Cars and Coming Back to Massachusetts

Which month goes on the sticker. Since November 1, 2022, a vehicle that passes gets a sticker with the month its last sticker expired. If the last sticker expired in an earlier month, the new one carries that earlier month, so being late does not buy you extra time. If the last sticker expired in a previous year, the vehicle gets a January sticker for the current year, whatever month it is inspected.

A vehicle you just bought. The RMV requires a newly purchased vehicle to be inspected within 7 days of registration, and the Vehicle Check program applies the same seven days to a used car after a change of ownership and to a car bought from an out-of-state dealer once it is registered here.

A vehicle that has been out of state. Under c. 90, sec. 7A, the registrar’s rules must let a vehicle that was not garaged or operated in Massachusetts during its inspection period be driven for 15 days after it returns, if it carries satisfactory proof of a safety and emissions inspection from another jurisdiction. The owner must get the Massachusetts inspection within those 15 days. The RMV adds that a vehicle away for a year or more with an expired sticker is treated as a late inspection and gets the January sticker, unless the Out-of-State Verification Inspection Form was filed.

Motorcycles run on a fixed season rather than a rolling one. Under c. 90, sec. 7A, the motorcycle inspection period runs from June 1 each year until May 31 of the following year, and the program says motorcycle stickers are valid until May 31.

When a Used Car Fails Within Seven Days of the Sale

This is the part of inspection law that can matter far more than $35. Under M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 7N, “notwithstanding any disclaimer of warranty,” the buyer may void a motor vehicle contract of sale if the vehicle fails to pass inspection at a licensed station within seven days from the date of sale, when two conditions are met:

1. The defects were not caused by the buyer. They cannot come from abusive or negligent operation, or from an accident or collision after the date of the sale.
2. The repairs needed to pass cost more than ten per cent of the purchase price.

To use the right, the buyer must, within fourteen days from the date of sale, notify the seller of the intention to void the sale, deliver the vehicle to the seller, and give the seller a written statement signed by an authorized agent of the inspection station stating why the vehicle failed and estimating the cost of the repairs. The buyer is then entitled to a refund of the purchase price unless buyer and seller agree in writing that the seller will make the repairs at the seller’s own cost within a reasonable time. The section applies only to vehicles bought for the buyer’s immediate personal or family use.

Rule in c. 90, sec. 7N	What it requires
When the car must fail	Within seven days from the date of sale
How big the repair must be	More than 10 percent of the purchase price
What cannot have caused it	The buyer’s abusive or negligent driving, or a crash after the sale
Deadline to act	Notice to the seller within fourteen days of the sale
Proof needed	A signed statement from the inspection station with the reasons and a repair estimate
Who it protects	Buyers for immediate personal or family use

Because the inspection deadline for a newly registered car is also seven days, getting the car inspected promptly protects both the sticker and this right.

Does an Expired Sticker Matter After a Crash?

An inspection violation is its own $50 civil infraction. Nothing in c. 90, sec. 20 says that an expired or missing sticker takes away a person’s right to recover after a crash. Personal injury protection under c. 90, sec. 34A pays medical expenses and part of lost wages up to at least $8,000 “without regard to negligence or gross negligence or fault of any kind,” and fault for the crash itself is compared under c. 231, sec. 85, which lets a person recover as long as their negligence was not greater than that of the people they are claiming against. Whether a particular defect played any part in a particular crash is a question of fact for that case, not something the sticker answers. If a crash has damaged your vehicle, the repairs may also be what it needs to pass its next inspection, so keep the repair records.

Key terms

• Massachusetts Vehicle Check: the state’s combined safety and emissions inspection program, run by the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Environmental Protection.
• Certificate of inspection: the passing sticker a licensed station puts on the windshield, or on the plate of a motorcycle.
• Certificate of rejection: the sticker a vehicle receives when it fails, which lets it be driven for a limited time once safety defects are fixed.
• Re-inspection: the second inspection after a failure, free once within 60 calendar days at the same station.
• Emissions waiver: permission to keep driving a vehicle that still fails its emissions test after the owner has spent the required amount on emissions repairs.
• Civil motor vehicle infraction: an automobile law violation that cannot be punished by imprisonment, handled by paying or contesting a citation under c. 90C.

For other Massachusetts traffic rules, see the seatbelt law, the hands-free driving law, whether speeding is a crime and the move over law. After a crash, see whether Massachusetts is a no-fault state and how to report a car accident.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How much is an inspection sticker in Massachusetts?

A: $35 for most passenger cars, minivans, pickup trucks and SUVs with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less. A motorcycle inspection is $15, a commercial motor vehicle inspection is $35 plus labor, and a rideshare vehicle inspection is $15. The schedule has been in effect since July 1, 2014.

Q: Is the re-inspection free if my car fails?

A: Once. Every vehicle gets one free re-inspection within 60 calendar days of the first inspection, at the station that failed it. Going to a different station, a second re-test, a sale of the vehicle or waiting past 60 days means paying $35 again.

Q: Can I drive my car after it fails inspection in Massachusetts?

A: It depends on the reason. The program’s guidance is that a vehicle with safety defects should not be driven until they are fixed, and operating a vehicle that fails the safety standards is a $25 fine under M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 20. After safety repairs, the rejection sticker allows driving for up to 60 days while you arrange the re-test. Emissions failures must be repaired and re-tested, or given a waiver, within 60 days.

Q: What is the fine for an expired inspection sticker in Massachusetts?

A: $50 under M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 20 for operating without a certificate of inspection or rejection displayed, plus a $5 surcharge. The RMV says it may also affect your insurance rate. It is a civil motor vehicle infraction you can pay or contest within twenty days under c. 90C, sec. 3.

Q: How long do I have to get a car inspected after buying it?

A: Seven days from registration. The RMV applies that to newly purchased vehicles, including used cars after a change of ownership and cars bought from out-of-state dealers.

Q: Can I return a used car that fails inspection in Massachusetts?

A: Under M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 7N, a buyer may void the sale if the car fails inspection within seven days of the sale and the repairs needed to pass cost more than ten percent of the purchase price, as long as the buyer did not cause the defects. The buyer must notify the seller within fourteen days, return the car and provide a signed statement from the inspection station.

Q: Who sets the price of a Massachusetts inspection?

A: Under M.G.L. c. 90, sec. 7A, the Secretary of Administration and Finance sets the fee on the recommendation of the Registrar and the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, and the fee must be an annual charge that stays constant for each year of the two-year inspection cycle. Individual stations do not set the $35 non-commercial fee.

Q: Is Jimmy Knows AI giving me legal advice?

A: No. This page is general information about Massachusetts law for educational purposes. It is not legal advice for your situation and does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your own case, call Jim Glaser Law at (617) JIM-WINS.

Talking to a Lawyer

Most inspection questions end at the station counter. The ones that do not are usually a used car that failed days after the sale, a ticket you think was wrong, or a crash where the other side is pointing at the condition of your vehicle. If you are facing one of those, call Jim Glaser Law at (617) JIM-WINS. The line is answered 24 hours a day. The first telephone consultation is free.