How A Lawsuit Is Impacting New Hampshire's Vehicle Inspections

Well this was a turn of events, wasn't it?

How long ago did we find out that New Hampshire was getting rid of State Inspections as of January, 2026? It was months and months ago, wasn't it? I kept thinking, that's a lot of money that someone is walking away from. Turns out, that "someone" has filed a lawsuit blocking the stoppage of NH State Inspections.

Gordon-Darby Holdings, Inc. has filed a lawsuit that claims if New Hampshire stops doing vehicle inspections, it would be in violation of the EPA's Clean Air Act, according to mychamplainvalley.com. When I first read that, I thought no way is that the reason. There's got to be money involved and it turns out there is.

Gordon-Darby Holdings, Inc. also cited in their lawsuit that the Company would "suffer significant economic harm" if NH stopped vehicle inspections and a federal judge agreed.

Two things:

How much money are we talking about? According to statistica.com, New Hampshire has approximately 411,000 registered vehicles. Let's assume that they are also inspected, at $50 per car, that's a total of over $20 MILLION dollars. Gordon-Darby also has a list of contracts with other states, Arizona, Texas, Nevada and New York. If itty-bitty NH brings in $20 mil, can you imagine what Texas brings in? Just sayin'....
Could we sue somebody if we "suffer significant economic harm" by someone or something? Would an attorney take that case? That's what attorneys do. They change and create laws. It's what they went to school for.

Do New Hampshire Car Owners Have to Inspect Their Cars Now or What?

The NH State Inspections were scheduled to end on January 31, 2026, but now the Environmental Protection Agency needs to approve New Hampshire's plan to end vehicle inspections.

So, for the time being, we will have to continue to inspect our cars here in New Hampshire and wait for the EPA, a government agency, to move on this. Better not take that $50 bucks out of the budget quite yet.