sabre

Anyone have their trucks inspected recently? Apparently it passed all safety tests but the emissions protion failed for some reason. They want $90 just to diagnose the problem and then to keep the truck for 2 days to fix whatever it may be. I was told that the sensor came up with a "failure of the malfunction indicator lamp" and a drivability diagnosis needs to be done.

Anyone with an experience like this? Know what this means?

lee

i know this sounds shady, but i was 'recommended' a guy by a mechanic that ive been going to since i was 16 (got inspected in sept).

in and out in 5 minutes, passed with flying colors.

did you try taking it elsewhere?

sabre

wel I am currently looking for "that" guy now. I told them to give me the truck back and I will have someone else do the work.

4RUNR

What?

sabre

exactly

4RUNR

Well if you interpret it literally, it must mean the MIL burned out.

Are they trying to say your truck is throwing codes left and right and you just don't know because the light is out?

bamachem

maybe your CEL bulb is burned out??? LOL

sabre

I guess that is what he is saying. Cant I run the codes at autozone for free?

4RUNR

That's what I heard about Autozone. How's drivability and fuel effeciency? I'm not leaning towards their theory to be honest.

Did they give you a print out at least showing just how much above the limit you are?

MTL_4runner

That sounds like a bogus failure if I've ever heard one (the light should illuminate briefly when you turn on the key so if it doesn't just replace the bulb). It just burns me up every time I have to take it in for some sort of state mandated deal because you get some yahoo who knows half as much as you do working or doing diagnosis on your truck (last time one place told me I need new tie rods...I checked it out and sure enuf, BOGUS....went to another place and passed with flying colors). I would take it to another place to see if they will inspect it for you (I am not saying find a guy that will pass anything, just to try another place....you may be out a few bucks but believe me you are much better off than arguing with some idiot who failed you, they will never admit they are wrong and have no incentive to do so either).

I'd get a cheap OBD II tester (quite a few on eaby) or take it to a place where they read em free just to be sure there are no stored codes.

fiveofeen

they are saying your check engine light is burned out eh? tell em you'll get right on that after you get a teflon muffler bearing and blinker fluid

sabre

that is why I love htis place....you all see garbage whne it comes flyin our way.

This dude started talkin to me in tongues..he couldnt even answer straight questions. He went in to babble talk.

I know if my truck has problems it will be fixed...just dont try and screw me with my pants on

fustercluck

if it turns out that he is lying to his clients, you should report him to the state authorities. you are entitled to a printed copy of the failure report and emissions report. get those and a second opinion. build your case and report the parentless turd.

lee

hey now.. he may have parents, so lets not start throwing accusations around!

Steve 1stgen

I aggree. Do you have a copy of his estimate? If not get it. If it turns out he was lying, send it to the Better Business Bureau, that is their job. Just think how many people he rips off all the time. Besides this guy is a real idiot, it is a Toyota man. Let him get back to ripping off Jeep Chrerekee owners.

lee

i felt so bad for this one lady i saw getting her car inspected. it was a brand new ford explorer (probably 1 yr old) and the guy was sitting there telling her she had a hole in her exhaust and that one of the filaments in both tails were out. i could clearly see that both filaments were working, which lead me to suspect that there was no hole.

i actually told her that he was lying about the tails before i left the gas station... no idea what happened after that. hopefully she left.

jerbear

Hi
I am not to far from you. Was he doing the enhanced emmisions testing now required by NY State? If so you are pretty much screwed. Go to Autozone and let them run the code. If they try to sell you something and you are not sure, tell them you are broke. The bad news is that if that shop did the modified emissions test, all your info for that vehicle is now in the states computer. If you take it somewhere else, all the info from your previous attempt will come out of the states computer when they put in your VIN. I previously worked in a small repair shop that was ramping up for the new standards. All the shops that want to keep doing inspections in NYS must buy this system from the state. Now theres a chance that some other shops may not be online yet, but you have to be clever in how you ask, or just play dumb. The inspector you went to should have explained some of this to you, but they are not required to give you the codes. The diagnostic fee is what the state is telling shops to charge in order to recover the cost of the system they had to buy from NYS. If I can answer any more questions for you I am happy to try. Post here or PM me.

jerbear

Heres the site for NYS inspections.


http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/vehsafe.htm#einspect

Read all about it, it does say that the mechanic gets a print out of whats wrong, I would go back and ask for a copy.

leebee

we have a similar system in ontario, its been pointed out in the papers far and wide that the system is not working and fraud is rampant. one local operation had a chap doing certifications on the evening shift, they figure he made over 100k$ doing bogus certs. it was the secretary that noticed numbers werent matching up to what he was supposed to be doing, enter the police and the rest is history. good luck, when the gov't gets their hands in your pockets, its impossible to keep them out.

lee

fustercluck

Lee, true to form, you give some people entirely too much credit. the turdly inspector of vehicles in the afore posted comments is definately parentless. had it been otherwise, they would have kicked his greasy backside around enough early on to teach him better than to level a scam as impossible as this against a toyota. pllleeeeeezzeee, maybe a nissan, likley a ford, but never a yota. :pat:

seriously, though, most emissions and inspections stations are state authorized; hence the are governed by the state. they are regulated under some state department and answerable to them. it is a sever disinsentive to them to be exposed as bilking the citizens. the last thing the states(read politicians) want is for corruption to be so concretely linked to them.

personally i'm enough of an a-hole to build an teflon case and then extort the establishment with it