Need Diagnostics Done On Car - Need Reliable Suggestions!!! (buy, inspection)

[PAinSC]

I took my husband's 2009 Chevy Malibu to a Chevy dealership to see if they could tell me what the noise I was hearing whenever I would turn the vehicle. They told me I would have to pay around $90 to have the noise diagnosed. That seems a little ridiculous to me.

I paid Firestone $15 for a vehicle inspection but they told me the noise was the steering column intermediate shaft. But Chevy said that wasn't the noise they were hearing.

Does anyone know of a reliable place I can take the car to be diagnosed that won't rip me off?

[gvsc2011]

Recommended Grease Monkey the other day to someone on here. I recently had a dealer tell me I had issues with my car that were going to cost over $1000 and they told me it was not an issue at all. Even said bring it back in a few weeks and we will look again. I would think they would be able to help you with your issue.

[Pat Grissinger]

All-Tech Auto Repair, 864-295-1125. Honest, reliable and 30+years experience. 3670 Calhoun Memorial Hwy. (Hwy. 123). Call Greg.

[gvsteve]

You can go to Advance Auto Parts or Autozone and they will check the diagnostic codes for free. Google the code, you may be able to figure it out the problem on your own.

[Pat Grissinger]

Just wondering if you got the proper diagnosis on your car? You can take it most anywhere & get it diagnosed (not always correctly) & sometimes they will even sell you parts you don't need. They have designed the newer cars to need to be hooked up to scanners but even then scanners are different. You can buy them in all different price ranges and you get exactly what you pay for. Just curious.

[iRighti]

Tedeschi Auto is on Hwy 153. I have taken my cars here for the past 8 years. The single most important thing to me is he is honest. He has never performed a repair that was not needed, even when I thought more serious issues were present when I brought my cars in.

[nmelfi]

Originally Posted by gvsteve

You can go to Advance Auto Parts or Autozone and they will check the diagnostic codes for free. Google the code, you may be able to figure it out the problem on your own.

The thing to remember here is all they have is a code reader not a scanner. Most codes will set with a abnormal reading for a sensor, but that does not mean the sensor is bad.Example code 171 lean O2 bank one does not mean the O2 sensor is bad, but they will sell you a O2 sensor saying it will fix it when it will not. As a matter of fact that code will tell you the sensor is working right. There is a reason a code reader costs under a hundred dollars, and a good diagnostic scanner costs 2 to 10 thousand dollars. Save a few bucks if you are a do it yourselfer and pay to have it diagnosed properly instead of paying for parts some kid said you need from him pulling codes for free and selling you parts that are not needed.Cars are alot more complex than most people can imagine and that code only points you in a direction, you need training and experience to repair today's cars I was a lead diagnostic tech in a busy shop in Florida for 32 years and have been the head tech here in a busy shop in the upstate for 3 years. Listen to the people here that have had good results with their shops,they sound like they have been treated fairly and are happy with the service Despite what has been shown on TV, nobody dislikes a shaddy shop more than a honest shop, they give all of us a bad name!