HONOLULU – Beginning July 1, 2025, the cost of a vehicle safety inspection in Hawaiʻi will increase by 75 cents. The new fee will be $25.75 for automobiles and trucks, and $17.75 for motorcycles and trailers. This marks the first increase in vehicle safety inspection fees since 2017.
The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) announced today, June 16, 2025, that the increase is necessary to cover rising vendor costs associated with administering and managing the Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection (PMVI) program, commonly known as “safety checks.” Under the updated fee structure, the share allocated to the program’s contractor, Parsons Corporation, will rise from $1.34 to $2.09 per inspection. The HDOT will continue to collect $1.70 for administrative and enforcement purposes, with the remaining balance of the fee retained by the inspection station conducting the safety check.
The fee for replacing a destroyed or lost inspection sticker or certificate will also see a 75-cent increase, moving from $6.34 to $7.09. Of this replacement fee, $2.09 will go to the PMVI contractor, up from the previous $1.34.
Vehicle safety inspections are a mandatory requirement in Hawaiʻi, designed to identify potential safety issues that could lead to equipment failure, crashes, or stalled vehicles. On average, approximately 1.2 million safety inspections are performed annually across the state.
Currently, Hawaiʻi has around 500 permitted inspection stations statewide. A list of these stations is available on the HDOT website: https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/library/motor-vehicle-safety-office/ (scroll down to the “Periodic Inspection of Motor Vehicles” section).
The HDOT conducted a public hearing in December 2024 to gather input on the proposed fee increase. Interested parties can review the updated rules online at: https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/home/doing-business/hawaii-administrative-rules/. For any questions regarding this PMVI fee increase, the Motor Vehicle Safety Office can be contacted at (808) 692-7650.