HELP! Got defected..

Hey everyone,

Got pulled over for a rbt last night, and the cops inspected my car. Got a defect notice for my windscreen (it has two grooves in it) my hand brake and finally my 'front suspension'.

I need help with my front sussy. The officer didnt check it, he only pushed down on the two front corners of the car.

My car is bone stock.

I have 2 weeks to get my car fixed. Does anyone have any idea of what needs to be replaced considering its stock? Also, im on the southside of Brisbane, so can anyone recommend a mechanic for me?

Thanks heaps guys, all responses will be appreciated and rep points will be given.

whats wrong with your front suspension? u said 'finally my front suspension'.
if ur car is bone stock and nothing is wrecked just take it to your qldroads (im from melbourne) and they will look at it.

I think he meant its too stiff or soft?

i never knew cops check your car out for RBT?

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Originally Posted by burak213

i never knew cops check your car out for RBT?

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They can if they wanted to.

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Originally Posted by OMG.JAI xD

They can if they wanted to.

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These guys wanted to.

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Originally Posted by quangsuke

whats wrong with your front suspension? u said 'finally my front suspension'.
if ur car is bone stock and nothing is wrecked just take it to your qldroads (im from melbourne) and they will look at it.

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Thats what I want to know bud.

I havn't done any suspension mods to the car, so im guessing he must have thought it to be too hard or soft. My civic has 218,xxx on the clock, would I need to replace the suspension?

And yes, my car is a very clean, straight car. I look after it and I've never had any mechanical issues in the 2 years i've owned it.

on the defect notice itself, it should say what is exactally wrong with it.
if it doesnt, take it to wherever you guys go (rta equivilent?) and nothing wrong with it./dont know what hes on about.
atleast then youll either get a definitve answer or just cleared .

Are your shocks dead? Push down - If they make noise or wobble around like a penguin then they're dead.

Regardless, do you have dyed hair, long fringe, or have an attitude and were listening to trance at high volume? If not then I'm out of ideas.

The cop probably just wanted to have a go at you... He came home late the night before and his wife made him sleep on the couch and he took it out on you. Probably wouldn't happen if your hair were complemented by large t i t s. Go get them checked by a mechanic and get him to write down that the suspension is OK and hand that in with your defect notice you'll be fine mate!

agree with the above ... hes juss trying to get points down on the form so that the car has to be inspected

happns all the time unfortunatly

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Originally Posted by kcokla

on the defect notice itself, it should say what is exactally wrong with it.
if it doesnt, take it to wherever you guys go (rta equivilent?) and nothing wrong with it./dont know what hes on about.
atleast then youll either get a definitve answer or just cleared .

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He didnt write anything specific down, that's why i'm confused. 'Front suspension' is all that is written down.
Do I have to take it to Queensland Transport to get cleared? Or just a mechanic? Officer said 'bring the safety certificate to the station and it will get signed off'. Ahh im confused.

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Are your shocks dead? Push down - If they make noise or wobble around like a penguin then they're dead.

Regardless, do you have dyed hair, long fringe, or have an attitude and were listening to trance at high volume? If not then I'm out of ideas.

The cop probably just wanted to have a go at you... He came home late the night before and his wife made him sleep on the couch and he took it out on you. Probably wouldn't happen if your hair were complemented by large t i t s. Go get them checked by a mechanic and get him to write down that the suspension is OK and hand that in with your defect notice you'll be fine mate!

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Hahah that made my day man, thanks :D I feel the reason he followed me was those red and white targets I have stuck on my car haha.. But yeah, my shocks are fine.

Thanks heaps everyone you've been real helpful!

No worries man. You'll need to get your car checked and cleared. At least in NSW, if you get defected, it's your responsibility to get the car checked and the (authorised) mechanic write that they have checked the defect and have deemed it road worthy. Then you submit it and your all set. I don't know if Queensland Transport can check the car and clear it? This would mean they would need mechanics, etc. on site. I'd say give them a quick call it can't hurt!

well i was driving my brothers Forester arround and i got pulled over by a cop on a bike.
he defected the Forester and said that the suspension is too stiff.
i never knew you can get done for having stiff suspensions.
i know that the Forester is sitting 60mm off the ground from the lowest point( whole exhaust system)
the cop DID NOT check the ride height.

overall i can say COPs are just D***H***s

weird...he'd be going on more of a hunch i reckon, doubt they've been trained on suspension stiffness?

best to get the shop to clear it anyway and check things over to be safe

That's pretty crazy!! 'Your seat foam is too hard'

hang on what's wrong with your handbrake?

i rekon thats bs, how can they say if something is to stiff etc.... can they prove that its "stiff"??? seriously, go have a look at alot of the grey imports, gtr's, evos ep3 etc, even for stock, they have quite stiff suspension settings for a road car.. an plus u cant jus assume its got "stiff springs, so if ur cars running 3kg/mm spring rate, an it feels "hard", it must be hard springs???


And with OP, thats jus unluck man, the coppers jus being a hard kent, theres probs like 1000 cars with way worst probs than that, yet he still pinned u, what a ****!

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Originally Posted by vinnY

hang on what's wrong with your handbrake?

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Maybe too many clicks?

i had a Dc2 with a completely stock exhaust with nothing wrong and apparently it was too loud
i had stock park lights ... apparently they were blue
and apparently i had been doing burn outs on my rear tyres ... its front wheel drive ... and the bonnet was up as well - not hard to tell

if cops wanna do you for something and they have no evidence = yellow sticker

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Originally Posted by androo

Maybe too many clicks?

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Yeah, he said it 'ratchets out too far', fair enough I agree with him on that.

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i had a Dc2 with a completely stock exhaust with nothing wrong and apparently it was too loud
i had stock park lights ... apparently they were blue
and apparently i had been doing burn outs on my rear tyres ... its front wheel drive ... and the bonnet was up as well - not hard to tell

if cops wanna do you for something and they have no evidence = yellow sticker

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Dude, that sucks. It's true but, if the evidence isnt there, its not going to stop them. It just pisses me off because it's gonna put me out of pocket potentially, but saying that maybe the guy was a mechanical genius aswell as a prick. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

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Originally Posted by mugen_ctr

And with OP, thats jus unluck man, the coppers jus being a hard kent, theres probs like 1000 cars with way worst probs than that, yet he still pinned u, what a ****!

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Thanks man, i'm really glad i'm not the only one who thinks the same..

You guys are all legends, thanks again for all your input :thumbsup:

With the issue with potentially putting you out of pocket - Unless you have a mate that will do it for free or run into a nice mechanic whos in a really good mood, it will cost you money. e.g. an exhaust Db test with report cost me about $35. Turned out to be legal but still cost me money. I submitted the report and it was cleared however they obviously didn't say 'sorry about that, heres a check for $35 it was our mistake' - Waste of money lol

did you tell the officer that the suspension was stock?

handbrake is easy, just adjust the cable ;) yours is a sedan right? remove the centre arm rest, it will reveal the cables. There is a single cable from the handbrake to a bracket where it meets the two cables that go to each rear brake. Look for a bolt on that bracket and tighten/loosen until you get appropriate tension/distance on your handbrake handle.

Post a pic of your car. There must be some reason he picked you out. I just find it hard to believe the officer did this to a completely bone stock civic. Especially if it's a sedan. They look granny spec. I know, i love them :)

Edit - found a pic of your car. Definitely stock. Must've just been unlucky i guess. Anyway hope my tips help you out.

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Originally Posted by Vvvtec

He didnt write anything specific down, that's why i'm confused. 'Front suspension' is all that is written down.

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Okay if the front suspension is the only thing written down then you need to fix it up to clear the defect. However once you get this fix the mechanic will check upon other things to see if your car is road worthy e.g indicator lights, windscreen, straight body, wipers, steering wheel. So if its all good then you will be able to obtain a rwc and bring it to the police station and give it to one of the police on duty to clear your defect. I recommend you use a friendly mechanic to obtain this rwc or it could end up pretty costly if your car is not up to scratch. Also the mechanic has to sign the yellow defect paper on the back somewhere. Believe me I went through this but not with a stock civic lol.

sounds like you've just been unluckyily targeted by the cops.
Just get an inspection done and i think you've be fine.
In NSW usually you get a pink slip or blue slip to clear the defects. Then give it to the RTA

they can do whatever they want. they could probably defect you for your car being dirty...

When you get a Defect Notice (it used to be called a 'canary' because it was yellow) in NSW you have to present the car to an AVIS (Authorised Vehicle Inspection Station) and show them that you have attended to the points on the notice. The AVIS if satisfied everything is OK will sign off the Notice, and you take it to the RTA who process it. The Police are not involved after the initial notice. All this means is that it will cost you time and money to clear the Notice, plus a bit of aggravation (which is all part of the fun in giving you a Notice).

Firstly, the Police can do whatever they like when it comes to defecting your car, as evidenced by the fact that you were defected for "Front suspension". If, in their opinion, your car is unroadworthy it can be defected. It is, however, normally defected if you have fitted non-standard items to your car. The best example is the pod filter. The Police are not trained to do this - they operate on a hunch and they know what a pod filter looks like. Other than that they have very little idea. The officer pressing on your bonnet only says "I want to defect you but I can't prove anything is wrong" so he presses on the bonnet to make it look like he knows what he is doing. If your suspension is standard then you don't have a problem, regardless of whether it is new, one year old or twenty years old.

Common defects relate to:

Pod Filters (as I said, easy to spot)
CAIs
FMICs for turbo cars
"Big" exhaust tips
Lowered suspension
Aftermarket steering wheels
Aftermarket gearknobs

and now, aftermarket seats that don't have ADR tags

Why these?

Because they are easy to identify - that is the only reason. Anything else is too hard to pinpoint. If you get any other defect then the Police are just playing with you.

For example, you can't have an aftermarket gearknob unless it has the shift pattern on it. All gearknobs have to have the shift pattern on it (according to my workshop people, anyway)

I've had this conversation with the local Police station and as much as I believe it is all politically driven, the officer in charge assured me his officers would not discriminate against young blokes (usually on 'P's, in cars with some or all of the above modifications).

You know you can be defected for playing your stereo too loud, if a member of the public complains about your car and reports your license plate. You might consider the music not loud but the Police will usually side with the complainant.

Also, remember Police do not carry NLMs (Noise Level Meters), nor do they have a device to determine whether your car is too low or not. They don't have to. They only have to "suspect" you of being too loud at the exhaust, or too low on the suspension. That's enough.

So the tip is ... get rid of the pod filter, don't make your car ridiculously low, and ditch the 4" fart cannon from the rear.

And speaking of being defected if your car is 'dirty', the funniest thing I ever saw was a few years ago now, but an absolutely immaculate car with its number plates covered in mud to make the plates unreadable. It was obviously a ploy by the owner/driver to escape radar/speed cameras.

Peter

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Originally Posted by jdm_b16a

When you get a Defect Notice (it used to be called a 'canary' because it was yellow) in NSW you have to present the car to an AVIS (Authorised Vehicle Inspection Station) and show them that you have attended to the points on the notice. The AVIS if satisfied everything is OK will sign off the Notice, and you take it to the RTA who process it. The Police are not involved after the initial notice. All this means is that it will cost you time and money to clear the Notice, plus a bit of aggravation (which is all part of the fun in giving you a Notice).

Firstly, the Police can do whatever they like when it comes to defecting your car, as evidenced by the fact that you were defected for "Front suspension". If, in their opinion, your car is unroadworthy it can be defected. It is, however, normally defected if you have fitted non-standard items to your car. The best example is the pod filter. The Police are not trained to do this - they operate on a hunch and they know what a pod filter looks like. Other than that they have very little idea. The officer pressing on your bonnet only says "I want to defect you but I can't prove anything is wrong" so he presses on the bonnet to make it look like he knows what he is doing. If your suspension is standard then you don't have a problem, regardless of whether it is new, one year old or twenty years old.

Common defects relate to:

Pod Filters (as I said, easy to spot)
CAIs
FMICs for turbo cars
"Big" exhaust tips
Lowered suspension
Aftermarket steering wheels
Aftermarket gearknobs

and now, aftermarket seats that don't have ADR tags

Why these?

Because they are easy to identify - that is the only reason. Anything else is too hard to pinpoint. If you get any other defect then the Police are just playing with you.

For example, you can't have an aftermarket gearknob unless it has the shift pattern on it. All gearknobs have to have the shift pattern on it (according to my workshop people, anyway)

I've had this conversation with the local Police station and as much as I believe it is all politically driven, the officer in charge assured me his officers would not discriminate against young blokes (usually on 'P's, in cars with some or all of the above modifications).

You know you can be defected for playing your stereo too loud, if a member of the public complains about your car and reports your license plate. You might consider the music not loud but the Police will usually side with the complainant.

Also, remember Police do not carry NLMs (Noise Level Meters), nor do they have a device to determine whether your car is too low or not. They don't have to. They only have to "suspect" you of being too loud at the exhaust, or too low on the suspension. That's enough.

So the tip is ... get rid of the pod filter, don't make your car ridiculously low, and ditch the 4" fart cannon from the rear.

And speaking of being defected if your car is 'dirty', the funniest thing I ever saw was a few years ago now, but an absolutely immaculate car with its number plates covered in mud to make the plates unreadable. It was obviously a ploy by the owner/driver to escape radar/speed cameras.

Peter

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Thanks mate,

And that's what aggravates me even more. My car is absolutely stock, the only 'mods' I have done to it are the cd player and I took of my 'granny spec' hubbies :D Come to think of it, i'm surprised I didnt get defected for that...

I swear one day a couple of cops will end up getting beaten to shreds by a pack of car enthusiasts and then we'll end up with laws similar to that of Cali...

last question guys..

To get my car cleared, do I just take it to a work shop?

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For example, you can't have an aftermarket gearknob unless it has the shift pattern on it. All gearknobs have to have the shift pattern on it (according to my workshop people, anyway)

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Not true.

you can have an aftermarket gearknob with no pattern on it as long as the shift pattern is on the drivers sunvisor or on the console (like a sticker) if one or both of these are there the gearknob is RW

POD Filters - if there oil baised they must be enclosed (fire safety reasons) if its not it doesn't ahve to be enclosed hot in either case the filter must be held by a bracket to prevent it moving around in the engine bay.