No person required to be licensed as a dealer under this chapter shall sell at retail any motor vehicle which is intended by the buyer for use on the public highways, and which is required to comply with the safety inspection requirements provided in Article 21 (§ 46.2-1157 et seq.) of Chapter 10 unless between the time the vehicle comes into the possession of the dealer and the time it is sold at retail it is inspected by an official safety inspection station. In the event the vehicle is found not to be in compliance with all safety inspection requirements, the dealer shall either take steps to bring it into compliance or shall furnish any buyer intending it for use on the public highway a written disclosure, prior to sale, that the vehicle did not pass a safety inspection. Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The provisions of this section shall also apply to watercraft trailers and watercraft trailer dealers.
1973, c. 420, § 46.1-550.3; 1978, c. 203; 1989, c. 727; 1995, cc. 767, 816; 2015, c. 615.