I worked and they flunked me, took it to my indy and he passed it for me.

just to have the guy fail me for having a license plate bulb out!

wtf

better if you have a track record with the establishment, such as buying your gas there regularly or having them work on your car from time to time.

Some places are very zealous in their inspections and will crawl under the car, check ball joints with a pickle bar, etc etc. You'll want to avoid these places if you have something not quite up to snuff.