Is Missouri Eliminating Safety Inspections, Why?

If you’ve been anywhere near a radio, repair shop, or coffee counter lately, you’ve probably heard that the Missouri General Assembly is considering ending Missouri’s vehicle safety inspection program. Yep — the little $12 sticker that’s been riding shotgun with you for decades may be headed for the history books. Let’s talk about that $12 fee. It hasn’t changed since… well… since Big Macs were closer to the dollar menu than the gourmet sandwich category. Today, you can barely get a Big Mac meal for the price of two Missouri inspections. In fact, depending on where you order, one Big Mac alone can cost about half (or more) of the entire state inspection. Now here’s where it gets interesting. Economists would tell you that fixing the price of a service below the cost of producing it tends to create scarcity. In plain English: if you cap the price too low, fewer people are excited about offering it. Imagine telling a barber he can only charge 75¢ for a haircut — suddenly everyone needs a trim and nobody wants to cut hair. The $12 inspection fee doesn’t exactly scream “profit center.” It barely covers technician time, administrative costs, equipment, liability, and the joy of explaining why your brake pads are whispering sweet nothings to your rotors. So is the inspection program flawed? Maybe. Is it underpriced? Absolutely. At Sant Automotive, we believe in safety — and we also believe inspections shouldn’t cost less than lunch.