Maryland vehicle safety inspection, or maybe not

Hi guys,
I bought a used chevy suburban 3 months ago the vehicle passed the maryland safety inspection 2 weeks before i bought it.so, heres my problem last week I got in started it up,put my foot on the brake pedal and the pedal went to the floor. I got out and started checking the brake system,I started at the master cylinder and found that it was leaking.I then checked the rear wheel cylinders and one of those was leaking also.
I went and got the parts and replaced the master cylinder and the wheel cylinder.I started it up and stepped on the brake a few times,still no brakes, at about this time my wife yelled that the engine was smoking.
I turned it off and went to look at the engine and what i saw was brake fluid all over the side of the engine and the exhaust manifold. I got a flashlight and pointed it down near the exhaust manifold and i saw three brake lines in a state of advanced deterioration. one line had ruptured and all three lines were covered in large flaking rust chunks.
In maryland the vehicle safety inspection certificate is valid for 90 days, which means that you have 90 days from the date the vehicle passed the inspection to register and tag the vehicle.well the brake system expired before the inspection certificate did,so in theory ,if I hadnt already registered and tagged it I could have went to the MVA the day after the brakes failed and got it registered and tagged even though it didnt have functioning brakes.Somehow I dont think this is what the state had in mind when they started the safety inspection program.
The icing on this cake is that the inspector listed the vehicle as a K1500 suburban which is the 4 wheel driver version,but in fact the vehicle is a C1500 which is the 2 wheel drive version.He couldnt distinguish the difference between a 4 wheel drive and a 2 wheel drive so its not surprising that he did such a poor job of inspecting it.

I`m going to call the place that inspected it tomorrow and see what they have to say.What I am going to ask them to do ( at their expense) is to tow the vehicle to their shop,which is a 2 1/2 hour drive from here, replace all the brake system components that do not conform to the maryland vehicle safety standards (at their expense) and then return the vehicle to me (at their expense).

Do you think I am asking too much of them?

I wont buy a vehicle that isnt already inspected so I wouldnt have bought this one had I known that it wasnt up to state safety standards.
since the shop issued the 90 day inspection certificate,weren`t they basically saying that the vehicle was in safe operating condition and would remain so for at least the 90 days that the certificate would remain valid?

Should I file a complaint with the state against there inspection liscence even if they repair the vehicle free?

Happens here in japan all the time. Every two years we have to do a JCI which is an inspection of the entire vehicle and the next day something is broke on the car. Not the best inspection same with upstate NY (where in from) I just live in Japan because military

a reply to: wrc445
Maryland is very strict with their inspection requirements inspectors are suppose to pull all the wheels off and measure the brake pad thickness and other equally strict requirements. i`m starting to think the guy never even bothered to inspect it, the rusted brake lines are right there in plain view when you open the hood there`s no way he could have missed them if he had inspected it.
I`m hoping the shop will admit that they failed in doing a property inspection and repair it free,if not i guess i`ll have to be a prick and sue them in small claims court as well as filing a compliant with the state against their inspection liscence.

Or just quit while you are only a little behind. If the entire brake system needs replacing, thats going to cost a fortune. Probably a good hint theres other stuff wrong with the vehicle too.

Its obvious its been sitting somewhere for a long time, not good for a cars engine, cooling and fuel systems, either.

Almost thought you were talking about something else than a car, hope it goes well

Do you think I am asking too much of them?

I don't see why or how the Inspection shop is liable for your repairs. Only if you bought it from them would I think they would be liable for anything. At the most I would think they would reinspect the vehicle and render it un-licensable, probably finding more wrong with it.

If the vehicle passed inspection and you bought it from a third party and drove it home and waited 90 days... Buyer beware.

a reply to: staple

yeah but we are talking about rust, rust doesn`t happen over night if it is in such an advanced state of deterioration today then it was equally rusted and deteriorated 3 months ago.
state regulations require that a vehicle with visible rust on the brake lines during the vehicle safety inspection has to be failed,at very least they committed fraud by giving it a clean bill of health when there was large amounts of rust clearly visible during the inspection.

After sleeping on it i`ve decided that since they did such an incompetent job of inspecting it,I don`t trust them to do any work on it.I`m going to replace the brake lines myself that way I know it`s done right.

In maryland a vehicle safety inspection is valid for 90 days from the date that it was issued,the reason for the 90 days is for auto sellers who want to sell inspected vehicles.
In my case I could have legally advertised the vehicle for sale as being an inspected vehicle even though it doesn`t have an operating brake system, i`m pretty sure that`s not what the legislators had intended when they implimented the state vehicle safety program.

a reply to: Tardacus

It sounds to me you're on the right track by going to the vehicle inspection station. But.......what about the seller? Any recourse there?

I'd tell that inspector...........get it fixed or I'm reporting you to XYZ State agency!

As a FYI aside, my daughter has gone through the same thing on two Chevy products of late, one a Traverse and one a Tahoe. The dealer was never able to fix the Traverse and the Tahoe has been one problem after another, rip off repairs, broken this and that and its drained her finances dry.

I'd strongly suggest you ditch this dog as soon as you can and get a Toyota.

I just got off the phone with the shop.

The guy said brake lines are allowed be rusty as long as they arent leaking.Then he said that the lines under the vehicle are usually the ones that rust and break.
I told him the rusty pitted lines arent under the vehicle they are in the engine bay.
Then he repeated that as long as they aren`t leaking at the time of inspection then they pass.

so, i read this to him, it comes from the maryland state C.O.M.A.R (Codes and laws) for vehicle inspections:

11.14.09.05
.05 Brakes.
Reject Vehicle If:
(iii) Brake lines are leaking, flattened, restricted, or rusted and pitting is visible,

www.dsd.state.md.us...

He put me on hold for about 5 minutes,when he came back he asked for the VIN,my name and address and phone number, the name of the person i bought the vehicle from.
He said he would call right back, a few minutes later he called back.
I offered to E-Mail him pictures of the flaking rust and large pits on the brake lines,he said that wasnt neccessary, he said he will send a tow truck to get the vehicle and he will repair the lines for no charge.I didnt even have to ask him to do that he offered to.

I told him ok, although im not really sure i want them working on my vehicle,but it will save me from having to do it so,well see what happens.

I did take a lot of close up pictures of the rusted brake lines so that he doesnt try to pull something sneaky like repair the lines and them tell me I have to pay because they werent as bad as I said they were.without the pictures once they replace the lines and throw the old ones away i have no proof how bad they were.
like i said, maryland is extremely strict about vehicle inspections.

If it sounds like i dont trust the guy its because i don`t they already did a crappy job of inspecting it.

a reply to: TonyS

yeah, after I bought this vehicle I saw on the internet that all chevy SUVs and pick-up trucks made between 1999 and 2010 have problems with rusting brake lines.Some people have reported their brake lines rusting and failing after only 40,000 miles.apparently for those years and vehicles GM changed from galvanized brake lines to a plastic coated metal break line. The national highway safety administration has been trying to get GM to do a recall but GM is strongly resisting doing that.

a reply to: staple

yes, buyer beware except in a case where they may have committed fraud by passing an unsafe vehicle that doesn`t comply to the state inspection codes.

a reply to: Tardacus

Sorry you got stuck with that one.

Who knows, maybe you can find some clueless person to buy it off ebay or something.

Good luck!
Get a Toyota!
(I only say that so much because I've been screaming that at my daughter for TWO YEARS!)

a reply to: TonyS

hahahaha, I know that feeling, my daughter has a VW passat every time she has trouble with it I tell her " you should have bought a nissan"

i think they would point out that you are the only person responsable for your car,a nd thier job just to check it. You should know the date of the last break system check and when those part were changed. They say brake lines should be chaneged every 50 000 miles. You may get those parts cheaper in the aftermarket parts store online