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considering moving to Nova Scotia vehicle questions


Rickstoys

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Hello,

I currently live in Ontario and considering Nova Scotia as a place to retire in next two to three years. I have some vehicle related questions regarding my trucks, which are a 2004 Tacoma and a 1983 Hilux both 4x4, about the safety process and licencing in general.  So here are my questions.

1.      So exactly how bad is vehicle rust there?  Is it just the winter road salt, like here or is the air truly “salty”? That seems to me to be chemically impossible. I do see NS is somewhat wetter than ON. All our vehicles are “Krowned” mid spring, and the two daily drivers get no drip oil sprayed just before salt season.  The 1983 is winter stored.

2.      How thorough are the safety inspections and are they nit-picky about things like a tires sidewall sticking out past the fender a half inch? This is the case of the 83; they’re only 10.50X15R31 with factory back-spacing rims.  I can’t see the inspection being  too picky as it appears they get $30 so they’re not going to spend two hours at it and lose $150+ in labour costs.

3.      Are things such as grill guards and extra lights an issue? The 83 has a light bar with 4 Hella 500’s and both Taco and 83 have extra “driving lights” wired in to come on only on high beam plus a switch to negate their operation completely. Would light covers satisfy any highway non-use requirement?

4.      Also I saw something about “no lifts” unless “engineered”. The 83 has an extra leaf up front to level it and the rear of the Tacoma also has a leaf added by a qualified spring shop. Is the inspector going to consider this an un-engineered lift? Who determines if it’s lifted or is it just a case of obvious excessive lift?

5.      The 83 has some very minor front brake rotor pitting, maybe pin head size about .010” deep, is this an issue? I can’t see any specific reference to rotor pitting in the NS inspection guidelines. These are old school rotors were you have to pull the wheel hubs and do some press work

6.      I’ve heard of people with old cars out west failing because the car doesn’t have ABS, airbags, seatbelt warning light, a check engine light, etc., anything like silly that in NS?

7.      I see there are “antique” vehicle plates similar to here in Ontario, but the wording seems to indicate less restrictive and seems to infer you can actually drive it for pleasure use but not for any personal business. True/false?  In Ontario such with such plates you can only legally drive it to a car show of for test drives/maintenance/repairs, though a lot of guys drive them however they want and I’ve only heard of a few guys getting hassled for doing it.

8.      What are the police like there? Do they basically leave guys be as long as they not doing something really stupid or excessive?

9.      Side window tint, even very subtle a no-no?

10.   I see the licence fee is based on weight, is this curb weight or the gross weight? I.e. the 83 has a weight of 1340kg but a RGVW of 2400kg. Lastly I apologise a hundred times over for the length of this.

11.   Un-related…if anyone can get me “boots on the ground” information about sports fishing I’d appreciate that too. I have been to the Margaree a few times…successfully!

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Welcome to NS (eventually) and we think you’ll like it here!

All of what you said is generally true.  Most, if not all, inspections are not too nit-picky.  
I used to run an ‘83 Hi Lux.  With an extra leaf all the way around.

Good luck and we’ll see you when you get here!  👍

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