Why would a used car for sale by a private owner be missing an inspection sticker?

We are looking for a used car under $2,000, many we have seen have the plates and or inspection stickers removed. What does this mean? Did it fail, should we not even consider a car like this?Why would a used car for sale by a private owner be missing an inspection sticker?
I can see why a license plates would be missin, I take them off when I sell a vehicle myself now. The past experience being someone will continue to drive the vehicle they bought from you with your lic plates as long as they are valid.....through tow booths without paying, through traffic cameras monitoring speed or red light runners, etc. then you as the lic. plate owner gets a letter for the fine. Big hassel. The only reason (as a seller of vehicles) a state inspection sticker would benifit being removed is if it has a lot of year left on the validation and you want to put it on another car to make it look legal (even this is not legal). Then its a full year before it gets rechecked and less likely to come back on the seller if the emissions doesnt pass. You and the authorities dont know the sticker is invalid for THAT car unless the authorities try to run the bar code or number with the states reference. (some states do put the license number on the state inspection sticker....could be a reason these are missing also).Why would a used car for sale by a private owner be missing an inspection sticker?
There are many states that don't require inspections. I know onw of them used to be Pennsylvania.
It's possible the cars came in from another state, or maybe the windshields had been replaced? Don't jump to conclusions. Just make the seller have it inspected and passed before you buy it. If you're shopping in the sub-$2000 range, you aren't going to be seeing the cream of the crop.
If your jurisdiction requires a valid inspection to register the car all you need to do is ask the owner for the inspection documentation. If they can't produce a valid, current inspection certificate then assume that it has not and will not pass.





If the car does not have current plates it's a sure bet the car hasn't been driven in awhile and has not passed inspection recently.





Move on to the next car.
The vehicle probably fail and the sticker was removed, I would look elsewhere.