Replaced brake & lamp in 2024
Vehicle Safety Systems Inspection
If your paperwork still says "brake and lamp inspection," this is it. On September 27, 2024, California retired the separate brake and lamp certificates and replaced them with a single Vehicle Safety Systems Inspection: brakes, lighting, steering, suspension, tires, and more, checked in one visit and signed off on one certificate. The same situations trigger it — salvage titles, specially constructed vehicles, correction notices — and we are licensed to issue it.
What this covers
- One VSSI certificate — replaces the old brake and lamp pair
- Brakes, lamps, steering, suspension, and tires in one inspection
- Salvage and revived-salvage title requirements
- Specially constructed and out-of-state vehicles
- Fix-it ticket and correction-notice sign-offs
Typically 60–90 minutes for the full inspection.
What gets checked
Everything the old brake and lamp inspections covered, plus the systems around them. Brakes: linings and pads, drums and rotors, hydraulic lines, master cylinder, parking brake, and pedal reserve. Lamps: headlamp aim and output, turn signals, brake and marker lamps, reflectors, and plate lighting. Then steering and suspension components, tires and wheels, and the other safety systems the state added when it consolidated the program.
Salvage and revived titles
A vehicle rebuilt from a salvage title needs a passing Vehicle Safety Systems Inspection and a smog check before the DMV will issue a revived-salvage registration. Both are done here in one visit, so you are not driving an unregistered vehicle across town twice.
If something fails
You get a written list of exactly what did not pass and why. Repair it wherever you like, bring the vehicle back, and we re-inspect the items in question.
Not sure this is the certificate you need?
Call (661) 556-3850 and read us your DMV notice or citation. We'll tell you which service applies before you make the drive.
Find us
520 Butte Street, Bakersfield
Minutes from Highway 178 and Highway 99, with room to bring a full rig through the gate.
- Hours
- Monday9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Tuesday9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Wednesday9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Thursday9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Friday9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- SaturdayClosed
- SundayClosed
- Phone
- (661) 556-3850
Call during business hours for pricing and wait times.
- admin@msvehiclecompliancecenter.com
Email us with questions about services or what to bring.
Or send us a message
520 Butte Street
Bakersfield, California 93305
Need a safety inspection certificate?
Walk in Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 — or call ahead and we'll tell you exactly what to bring.
520 Butte Street, Bakersfield, CA 93305 · Mon–Fri · 9AM–5PM