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Here in Northern VA I always dread the annual auto inspection. It seems like when I bring in a car for inspection they always find something wrong with it and tell me I need to spend $500 on repairs of a auto part I have never heard of. If I say no my inspection is rejected and I have to stop driving until my car is repaired.
I suspect most of the things that they told me they need fixing really do not exist. When my car breaks down I am always told it is a big job and i need four things done. Not being an expert I am always forced to say OK.
I do trust my mechanic. I made sure to find one who has been around for a long time, came with recommendations, and I know people in the community who know him outside of his work. That way I know both his personal and professional reputation. Once I found him I've been very loyal to only use him and have given him many many referals. He understands when I say I need it done the right way or when I say I need it done cheaply (but safely). On a side note: thankfully our state did away with those mandatory inspections a few decades ago.
If you're a woman it doesn't surprise me. They figure women know nothing about cars and can feed you every lie in the book as long as they can make it sound legitimate. It's how dishonest shops make a living.
The best thing you can do is learn all you can and then do a pre inspection yourself before you take it in for the official inspection. What kind of car is in question here anyways?
Here in Northern VA I always dread the annual auto inspection. It seems like when I bring in a car for inspection they always find something wrong with it and tell me I need to spend $500 on repairs of a auto part I have never heard of. If I say no my inspection is rejected and I have to stop driving until my car is repaired.
I suspect most of the things that they told me they need fixing really do not exist. When my car breaks down I am always told it is a big job and i need four things done. Not being an expert I am always forced to say OK.
Sadly, total . . . locating an honest trustworthy mechanic is worth the effort.
Once you begin a regular maintenance schedule on your vehicle throughout the year, your annual inspection should not reveal any major surprises. If there is an issue, a quick check by your regular mechanic will definitely make you feel more comfortable and possibly same you money.
I'm capable of doing my own rundown of the safety inspection before I take my car in for the annual state safety inspection, so I won't have any nasty surprises there. Emissions is another story but my car's too old to have emissions done in this state and my county doesn't do it anyway.
I also switched to a different shop for the inspection this year; I found a place that just does it quick and doesn't make a big friggin' deal out of it. I found this place through having an overheating problem; I went in there babbling about probably needing a new water pump, but it turned out to be just a thermostat--so I guess they're honest, too.
The place I went when I first moved down here wanted me to make an appointment for the inspection and then took about half an hour going over the car with a fine toothed comb. Pain in the ass.
Last edited by Ellise; 07-07-2008 at 03:10 PM..
Reason: left out a vitally important word
Here in Northern VA I always dread the annual auto inspection. It seems like when I bring in a car for inspection they always find something wrong with it and tell me I need to spend $500 on repairs of a auto part I have never heard of. If I say no my inspection is rejected and I have to stop driving until my car is repaired.
I suspect most of the things that they told me they need fixing really do not exist. When my car breaks down I am always told it is a big job and i need four things done. Not being an expert I am always forced to say OK.
Genius, get yourself a second opinion all the time. To illustrate, I offer you two true stories from my life.
April, 2007. My 1994 Mercury Sable broke down and was marooned at a Ford dealership. It was up for inspection, and they told me that it would need $800 in work for the inspection, not to mention the work that would simply fix the car. So, I took it to a different mechanic (thankfully, it ran long enough to get to that mechanic) and he said that the total cost, meaning the inspection work and the fix-up work, would total less than $400. Can you guess which mechanic I picked?
I showed the second guy the inspection report from the dealership, and he said that half of the stuff was total crap and that some of it was "iffy" but not in need of repair yet.
October, 2007. Different area, same state (PA). I took my truck to the mechanic whom my in-laws have trusted for years. We always took my wife's car to this guy as well. My 1982 Dodge Ram truck ain't worth much... and I wasn't making much money at the time. The "trusted" mechanic told me that it would require almost $900 in repairs to pass inspection. I told him about my financial situation and asked if all of the work was absolutely necessary... he said it was. I took that inspection report to another mechanic (whom I hardly knew) in the same town... he inspected my truck and told me it needed $112 in repairs to pass. Can you guess which mechanic I used? (Side note: I haven't been able to convince my in-laws to ditch Mechanic #1. However, my wife and I have used Mechanic #2, or our neighbor, for all of our automotive work since then.)
The truth is... if you think that a mechanic is telling you that a car which you feel is in good condition needs what you think is a ridiculous amount of work to pass inspection, get a second opinion. (My wife and I, or her family depending upon the year we're talking about, gave Mechanic #1 over $700 every year to get her car through inspection... and that car has always been in good shape. I'm sure that most of that money was wasted.) If you don't like the second opinion, get a third opinion. If you don't like the third opinion, move to a state that doesn't require vehicle inspections. There are many such states.
The "real truth" is that there is a wide range of legitimately "needed" items to pass an inspection, and all "professional" opinions may fall into a "correct" diagnosis of what needs to be done.
A "cheaper" mechanic who is willing to sign off on a vehicle may not necessarily be doing a "complete" job and saving you any money in the long run. He may be only replacing the item which is totally worn out/dangerous, and allowing affiliated worn parts to continue to be in service ... hence a lower price at the time of his work. That doesn't make him "bad" or a "rip off", he's just working to a different standard.
Some mechanics may see a lot of wear in those other affiliated parts, and know that they have to disassemble them to get to the critically bad part at the time of their work, so they may recommend that all be replaced at the same time. That doesn't make them "bad" or a "rip off" ... they're providing services and parts which in their professional opinion and experience are justified to do the work correctly.
Bear in mind, that in today's litigious society, if a shop knows, or should have known in doing certain work that an associated part was close to ... but not yet ... failing and it was a safety issue, the shop can be held responsible for a accident resulting from their workmanship and parts replacement.
Generally, I prefer to do the "whole job" correctly, because it's work that I can then stand behind with confidence. The job done without doing all the work ... for example, replacing a timing belt without replacing a water pump that tensions the belt ... is typically the job that comes back to me. I'd rather have the customer mad at me for the upfront complete job price than mad at me for having the water pump fail out on the road and not having replaced it when I was right there in the car when it was timely to replace it.
Sometimes, the "low cost" job isn't the safest result or the best use of your money. But, if that's what you want, I know there's lots of shops that will do the short cut job and charge you accordingly; you will not get the type of work out of my shop, but I'll thank you for the opportunity to have inspected your car and given you a bid to do the work as I see it needs to be done. And I'll tell you if it doesn't need to be done, too.
Emissions is another story but my car's too old to have emissions done in this state and my county doesn't do it anyway.
Is your car older than 35 years? I just moved from NC and I know 35 years and older they don't inspect, up to 1996 they do a visual safety inspection, 1996 and newer I think all NC counties by now do the OBDII test.
Is your car older than 35 years? I just moved from NC and I know 35 years and older they don't inspect, up to 1996 they do a visual safety inspection, 1996 and newer I think all NC counties by now do the OBDII test.
My car's a 1993. It has to have the visual safety inspection, but no emissions. They only test 1996 and newer here for the emissions-the cars with OBD. But the counties that aren't as densely populated don't test for emissions, only for safety. I live in one of those--Pender.
There is no substitute for knowing what's going on with your car, yourself. Sometimes you will have work pushed on you both for inspections and otherwise. For example the last time I had some tires mounted at a local tire chain, the eager-beaver assistant manager was pointing out how my Koni shocks were weeping a little oil (they do that) and was so eager to install some of their Chinese-made shocks (which are AFIK, crap). So, sometimes you do have knuckleheads trying to "sell on" just something/anything. Chain tire stores and chain quicky lubes are about the worst for this crap. Fortunately one of my hard-core car-guy buds just bought a mount&balance outfit so anymore even tire M&B is DIY. And, we balance to +/- ONE GRAM. As in, 1/28th of an ounce.... Tell me, that an ounce or two is close enough?
Sunsprit makes a good point, and when I farm out work I always point out that I don't want any questionable parts re-installed, and am always eager to take advantage of the opportunity to do things like the water pump with the timing belt.
The old "VW for Complete Idiots" book has a good discussion of shoestring repairs and how you have to keep your promise to yourself and get back in, fix things right, afterwards.
But, you ought to cultivate at least one good independent shop (or, maybe, dealer) who you can count on to work on your car in those rare cases you come in on a tow hook, and/or do stuff like regrind the valves on a head you have taken off to replace a head gasket...
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. Tell me, that an ounce or two is close enough? 
