Yes. Car needs to have a sticker. Period.
Youâll get a ticket. Repeated offenses will escalate the situation. Iâve gotten ticketed twice in my life for no inspection here in NJ.
Section 4703 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code is titled Operation of vehicle without official certificate of inspection. Under this Section it notes the penalty:
(1) a person violating this section is guilty of a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of up to $25. ($100 after court costs)
That small fine applies if youâre pulled over, I think. I wouldnât be surprised if separately thereâs a contingency around registrations to remain inspected. The same way feds know a ticket or moving violation isnât a huge deterrent because it requires you to be pulled over for something else in the first place. The real risk for a non-compliant import is that the feds will take the vehicle away⌠and then crush it.
The most Iâve ever been out of inspection was two months and that was just last year. I bought my ZHP in February 2020 and it was inspected that same month with February 2020 stickers. In 2021 it was parked for the winter through March so last year it wasnât inspected until April 2021 though I needed tires to pass so I had to take it back for the sticker after getting those on. Now the stickers are April so it wonât be an issue going forward. I think if someone were within a month or two thereâs a better chance a warning would be issued with the caveat that the car be inspected ASAP.
My understanding is that the first-gen X3 had a rock-hard ride (even Car and Driver complained about this, and they seldom complain about ride qualities on a BMW).