Vehicle Inspection Station Opens in Brooklyn Center

A former tire store in Brooklyn Center has been repurposed into the state’s newest vehicle inspection station, where owners of salvage vehicles can inspect them to ensure they are repaired with the proper parts and are safe to drive.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DVS) has signed a 10-year lease for the Big-O Tires building on Xerxes Avenue across from the former Brookdale Mall. After spending months remodeling the store, officials cut the ribbon Friday to mark its official opening.

Motorists who have purchased salvage vehicles—those that have been in accidents, were damaged by weather or otherwise, and have been declared a total loss by insurance companies—and have them repaired can bring them in for inspection at a new station. Under Minnesota law, motorists driving salvage vehicles must undergo an inspection to ensure the safety of their wheels and renew their driver’s license.

That’s no easy task as demand for emergency vehicles has skyrocketed in recent years, said Bob Jacobson, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, salvage vehicles became popular as prices for new and used vehicles skyrocketed, making it cheaper for people to buy vehicles that needed major repairs, Jacobson said.

DVS had only one subway inspection station on Starkey Street in St. Paul. And since there were only two bays for vehicles, availability was limited. By moving to Brooklyn Center and closing the St. Paul location, DVS will have five bays, each capable of serving 18 vehicles per day. That’s 90 cars every weekday.

This year, DVS has inspected more than 23,060 salvage vehicles across the state, up 32% on the same 10-month period last year. Twin Cities inspectors inspected 588 vehicles in the past two weeks, according to DVS.

The numbers reflect the growing number of salvage vehicles on the state’s roads, as well as the need for more inspectors and more time in the field to verify that vehicles were repaired with legal parts, said Greg Loper, DVS inspection program director.

In addition to the Brooklyn Center, which will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, DVS operates eight other inspection sites throughout Minnesota. But most are overworked and understaffed. This is changing.