Vehicle Mod Laws in Vermont

Replacing the exhaust system is legal in Vermont, but a muffler in good working order is required and cutouts or bypasses are prohibited. There is no statutory 'no louder than stock' rule — the standard is that the exhaust must not produce excessive or unusual noise.

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Vermont sets no statewide decibel limit for passenger cars. A muffler in good working order is required, exhaust may not produce excessive or unusual noise, and cutouts or bypasses are prohibited.

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Smoked or tinted film on headlights and taillights is illegal in Vermont. Headlights must emit white light and taillights must show red at the required visibility distance, and tint that dims or discolors them violates those requirements.

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Plates must be kept entirely unobscured with numerals and letters plainly legible at all times — 'entirely unobscured' reaches the word VERMONT and the state slogan, so ordinary dealer frames that cover the top or bottom border violate it.

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Vermont caps bumper height at 22 inches front and rear on pleasure cars, rising by weight class for trucks and multipurpose vehicles to 28 inches front and 31 inches rear on four-wheel-drive and dual-wheel trucks. There is no numeric suspension-lift limit.

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Vermont has the strictest approval threshold in the country: no lighting device over 4 candlepower equipped with a reflector may be used on a highway unless the Commissioner has approved the device, lens, and candlepower.

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For ordinary passenger cars Vermont sets a maximum bumper height of 22 inches with no minimum and no clearance rule. A rim-line scrub test does apply to special vehicles — street rods, homebuilt, exhibition, and neighborhood electric vehicles.

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Vermont bars operating with a blue light of any kind or an emergency warning lamp without a permit, and bans non-emergency lamps that flash in any color other than amber. Steady accent lighting in permitted colors is not expressly prohibited; red or blue displays fail inspection without a § 1253 permit.

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Vermont fails a vehicle at inspection if any fender has been removed or a fender fails to cover the tread portion of a tire. Modified vehicles must have fenders covering the entire tire tread width from 15 degrees forward to 75 degrees rearward of the wheel centerline.

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No material may be painted or adhered on or over any transparent part of the windshield except enumerated items: a lower-right-corner area up to 4 by 12 inches, an upper-left-corner area up to 2 by 2.5 inches, required stickers, and transponders. There is no top-strip banner allowance. A printed windshield banner is not legal in Vermont.

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No aftermarket tint is permitted on the front side windows. Rear side and back windows: any darkness.

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