7
My 1991 Mazda 323 SE passed inspection a few weeks ago, and the shop applied the new sticker. Granted it cost $500 in miscellaneous repairs, but it passed.
Yesterday, a police officer pulled me over - with flashing lights and sirens, because the aforementioned sticker was missing a 7, to indicate the month of inspection.
He took my license and registration, checked the license plates, made me read the VIN from the sticker, and ran my information through the computer to ensure I wasn’t wanted for other serious violations. He carefully filled out a yellow slip, handed it to me and explained that it was a written warning and would not go on my record.
The story didn’t end here.
I dutifully took my Mazda to go get a 7 at the same shop that inspected it. They were really nice.
When I went to pick it up, I was very careless. I used a 16 year old plastic emergency key in the ignition. It broke.
So, I gratefully paid a locksmith $52 to extract said key from the ignition.
Never put a plastic key in the ignition.