First, he had to go to our insurance agency and pay the JCI (this is not the regular insurance that you're thinking of. This is a separate insurance that we are required to pay to have the vehicle legal on the road. It cost about $150.). He drove to the inspection place. Since it had expired the day before, he had to sign up for temporary plates. He had to wait a day for them to come in before he could go any farther.
The next day, Charlie went back to the inspection place and picked up the temp. plates. He didn't have to actually attach the plates on the van, just put them in the window (lame, why did he have to wait a full day for this?). He also paid about $200 more dollars for their paperwork. He was told to drive around to lane 5. This is where the inspection happens. He pulls in, they check lights, signals, horn, you get the drill. Then they check the width of his tires. The back tires were too wide by 1 mm. Last time the front tires were too wide by 1 mm. So it failed. He had to get that fixed along with a new back tire before he could go on any farther.
So instead of buying new rims and tires which could easily cost $1,000, he bought some decorative finder pieces. They just fit around the bottom of the finder which pushed their string test out just millimeters (all he needed). He also had to get that back tire replaced (another $150 for everything). At this point, Charlie had called me to meet him at the inspection. He had to go to a meeting and couldn't finish the work so I had to complete the inspection. I pulled back up to the front office for a re-inspection and paid another $15. I was told to go through lane 5. A guy met me at the garage and asked for my paperwork. He looked through it. It's all in Japanese and I'm trying to explain to him that I just needed the tires looked at and nothing else because everything else passed. Believe me, they would find something else to fail if they could. Another guy came out, said something, they argued, pointed, measured and tapped the wheels. Please pass! Finally he gave me the ok to drive around to lane 4. Another look and more paperwork was completed. Drive to front office. I hand in the temp. plates (which was totally unnecessary), get some more paperwork and told to drive to lane 2. Finally I obtain the passing sticker! We are good for 2 years.
All that work and we leave in three months. But it's really worth it. Next week we are cleaning it up and putting it up for sale. Everyone looks for the best JCI date. They don't want to have to pay for it or deal with it as long as they can. Plus it can put all that money we just spent on it back in our pocket because people are more willing to pay a better price for it. Anyone interested in a '96 Honda Stepwagon? It's in great condition!
