What is Failed Safety Inspection in Carfax? Find out More!
In the U.S., vehicles are usually required at intervals, either annually or biannually, to undergo a state-mandated safety inspection.
And then these inspections check for items related to tires, lights, wipers, horn, brakes, suspension, mirrors, seat belts, and more. In short, it ensures that the vehicle is functioning just fine. But what if the Carfax report shows the phrase “Failed Safety Inspection Carfax”? What does that mean?
Well, it usually indicates that the inspection station or the reporting body logged the vehicle as not meeting one or more criteria at that time.
Keep reading to explore more!
“Failed Safety Inspection” Status: An Overview
This status doesn’t mean that your car is unsafe or wrecked for years. However, it does show that something was serious enough to trigger a fail condition and detect some faults.
It’s worth noting that not all safety inspection items are the same: a cracked windshield, bald tires, a missing mirror, or a brake fluid leak. Any of these may cause a failure depending on the state.
For example, if a car’s washer fluid system fails to spray jets of liquid onto its windshield efficiently enough, it can simply lead to a failed inspection.
What Caused a Vehicle to Fail the Inspection?
Now that you have an overview of what this status shows, let’s dig more into what possibly causes a vehicle to get this status. Some common reasons are:
-Tires with very low tread, dry rot, and shifted belts.
-Windshield cracks in the driver’s line of sight or visible pitting and scratching.
-Seat belts that don’t retract, fail to latch, or have broken webbing.
-Broken, missing, or significantly cracked mirrors.
-Brakes, e.g., metal-to-metal contact between drums and shoes, leaking brake fluid, or a pedal that needs to go halfway to stop.
-Horn inoperative or too quiet, suspension that’s leaking, steering joints too loose.
-n some states, smog tests and emissions are separate but often show up on reliable vehicle history reports from CheapVHR.
Why Is This a Red Flag (And Sometimes Not)?
There are times when this status can be concerning, but other times, you may ignore it, according to the situation.
Let’s dig into its details:
Why It’s Concerning:
-) A failure signals that the vehicle was not compliant with basic safety standards at the time. That may indicate deferred maintenance, neglect, or a condition that could trigger a bigger problem.
-) If the failure occurred very recently and there’s not a single record of a subsequent successful inspection, it always raises concerns about whether the issue was fixed or not.
-) Buyers often see a “Failed Safety Inspection Carfax” with other negative entries, such as many owners, auction resale, salvage, and accidental history. All these combined point to possible risks.
Why It May Not Be a Deal-Breaker:
-) Some failures are easily fixed because they’re pretty minor. Let’s say if it has problems like a cracked windshield, out-of-date tires, or a reflector problem, this is not a big issue. It can be easily repaired and then passed on to the next inspection.
-) The status tells you that something happened, but not always everything. The report may or may not show the final certificate or the fix that was done. Hence, buyers can still consider it.
-) Different states have different inspection criteria. And a failure in one state may correspond to a low-cost repair instead of major functional damage.
How to Interpret & Investigate When You See It
Just noticed a “Failed Safety Inspection Carfax” entry in your report? If that’s the case, it’s time you follow the right steps immediately:
Step 1. Check the Date & State of the Failure
See when it occurred and in which jurisdiction. A failure from so many years ago in a different state usually carries less weight than a recent one.
**Step 2. Look for a passing inspection afterward **
Examine if there’s a record following the failure that shows a successful inspection. And if you don’t find it, ask the seller.
**Step 3. Ask for repair documentation **
Another critical step is to ask what the main problem was that caused this failure. Most importantly, was it fixed by a licensed shop? In this scenario, you should get receipts.
Step 4. Get a Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI)
No matter what the report says, make sure you hire a mechanic to inspect that vehicle for its current condition. Our cheap Carfax tool and physical inspection combined can ensure accurate results.
**Step 6. Check for Other Red Flags **
Try checking if the failure is an isolated event or part of a constant pattern (e.g., accidental history, multiple owners, major repairs). It’s because the risk is higher when it has significant issues.
How CheapVHR Helps You With Failed Safety Inspection Reports
According to PR Newswire, about 1 in 5 vehicles nationwide (≈ 58.1 million) has at least one unresolved recall, and over 14 million have two or more open recalls. Yes, that’s right!
And of course, this matters because failed inspections and unresolved issues both indicate that a vehicle may not have been maintained to manufacturer standards.
So it’s no surprise that whenever you come across “Failed Safety Inspection Carfax,” it leaves you with several unanswered questions.
Especially, “What exactly failed?” “Was it repaired?” “Is the car still reliable?”
Well, that’s where CheapVHR comes into play! Our affordable vehicle history reports offer a very clear picture by highlighting crucial details, including:
-Title status
-Service history
-Inspection results
-Owner history
-Accidental history
-Recalls & more
Unlike costly and unreliable reports, CheapVHR offers cheap yet detailed Carfax reports—so that you can avoid buying a car with hidden issues. Whether the failure is very minor, like worn-out tires, or a big red flag, such as suspension or brake damage, our reports help you verify completely before making a deal.
