Originally Posted by m5james

I'm HARD on all my vehicle, so I'm more proactive when it comes to maintenance vs most who are reactive. I replace things before they break, so then I can PLAN on having a vehicle down instead of the stresses of having it leave me on the side of the highway, middle of a road trip, etc when I count on it the most. I'm still blown away when customers bring me their cars and I start going down a grocery list with them of things that are wrong, far overdue, etc as they're wonder why it's wobbly, bad gas mileage, has that oily/burning smell, whatever. The cost of being proactive is cheaper than the stress, towing costs, headaches and inevitable downtime of just waiting till it breaks. Just my .02.

I don't remember how thorough the inspections were, but I remember feeling a little better about purchasing used cars when I lived in VA. To me it was basically a state mandated "get off your ass" way of making people maintain their vehicles at least a little better...or pay out the ass to get a inspection sticker from a shady shop.