Under Minnesota law, motorists driving salvage vehicles must have them inspected to ensure their wheels are safe to drive and to renew their license tabs.
But the Department of Public Safety’s Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) division has not made it easy for drivers to get the task done.
The state runs nine inspection stations, but nearly all of them are overbooked and understaffed, and DVS hasn’t been able to keep up. Now it’s adding locations to catch up.
“Do we have more demand than we can meet? Absolutely,” said Greg Loper director of the DVS Inspection Program. “That is why we are adding a lot more inspection stations.”
DVS increased inspection availability in Marshall, Minn., from once a month to five days a week when it expanded its exam station in December. Next up is Brooklyn Center, where DVS recently signed a lease to set up shop in a former tire retailer. The building on Xerxes Avenue across from the former Brookdale Shopping Center has five bays, which will double capacity in the metro area, Loper said. DVS can only inspect two vehicles at a time at its only metro facility in South St. Paul.
The Brooklyn Center location is expected to open by late summer. In the coming months, DVS is looking to add locations in Rochester, Mankato, Fergus Falls and Bemidji, plus extend hours in Duluth and St. Cloud, Loper said.
“This is something that is going to serve the citizens of Minnesota,” Loper said.
Demand has ballooned since 2020 when the pandemic made it harder to get new and used cars, and prices soared. Loper said that combination had drivers turning their attention to salvage vehicles or those that have been declared a total loss by insurance companies following crashes or damage caused by weather and subsequently repaired.
