SAN ANTONIO – Some Bexar County businesses will be financially hurt when annual state inspections are no longer required starting next year.
Alice Davis, owner of A&A Garage on Blanco Road near Basse, has been doing state safety inspections for decades. She’s kept up with all the state requirements, including the purchase of machines to perform those tests, but starting Jan. 1, her shop will no longer be doing those inspections.
“I probably make anywhere from $100 to $200 a week in state inspections, so it’s a lot of money. It adds up,” she said, referring to money that will no longer be coming her way.
Charissa Barnes owns seven Official Inspection Stations in Bexar County.
“We only do inspections for minor repair replacement like windshield wiper-based fluids and some turn signal headlights,” she said.
Barnes has closed five of the stations and laid off about a dozen people. But she has decided to keep two stations open after January 2025 to do the same safety inspections in case customers still want that service.
“We have been in the community for 40 years, and we love our community. And like I said, we are a safety company, and we want to make sure that the cars are safe on the road, so it is going to sting,” she said.
Barnes said the cost for inspections will be about $30. Getting the same type of inspection could cost anywhere from $90 to $150 at other garages.
“We are a safety-only company, and we are test-only, so we really don’t do repairs. Like I mentioned, small things like wipers — those are more like replacements,” Barnes said. “When we fail somebody for brakes, we don’t have an interest in that repair work. We send them to their local mechanic or to their dealership to get that done. So I feel that we have a pretty unbiased opinion when we are judging a vehicle and trying to determine whether or not they’re safe on the road.”
She will keep these two locations open for anyone who wants to have an inspection done after January:
- Official Inspection Station, 2960 Pat Booker Rd., Universal City, TX 78148
- Official Inspection Station, 8339 Culebra Rd., San Antonio, TX 78251, 210-523-1839
Keeping vehicles safe will still be up to owners.
Starting in November 2026, Bexar County residents will be required to pass an emissions test. Davis and Barnes are not yet sure if they will be offering those tests because it will require garages to purchase a machine to do that.
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