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My car failed inspection today, but I am suspicious whether it should have. I think it is fine and they were just trying to sell me service. I paid $23.75 for the failure notice and plan to take it somewhere else.
My questions -
1 - will it be flagged in a computer system as failing? (Might lead to the second station also trying to upsell me.)
2 - is it legit to charge me for the failure notice to begin with?
Thanks
there is two parts of the test- Safety and emissions. You failed the safety side and it must be repaired. Repair it and go back to the same location where it failed and you will just pay the $8.00 for the sticker.
You got multiple answers. Sounds more like "not what you wanted to hear".
Fix the brakes and get it reinspected. These people who do inspections have their livelihood on the line. The guy who used to do my inspection got in trouble with the state because he passed a car that shouldn't have. (I don't know the ins and outs of how they catch this but I know he got fined and probation).
Sounds like you just need your brakes bled, you can do it yourself or take it to your preferred mechanic. Should not be too expensive, I would imagine.
1. They can't charge you anything if they give you a "Not Ready" report. They can charge $23.xx for failed inspection. I don't think the system will flag and the other station would know it
2. I recently had similar experience - my inspection failed (it's a visual inspection of steering assembly) and took it immediately to another station - it passed. Disputed with my credit card of the first transaction and got my money back
"Air in the brake lines," though the brakes work fine.
BS. This wasn't an emissions issue. It will not pop up in the system or show up when your car is plugged into diagnostics. This was an "upsell" and nothing else. At the least, go buy a $5 can of the proper DOT level brake fluid. It should be labelled on the filler cap under the hood. Open the lid, and have someone pump the brakes. If it bubbles and the level is below the full mark, add fluid. Congrats, you've just done more than the place who tried to tell you you had air in your lines. I bet they made it up. Almost all garages that do repairs and inspections will try to sell you $45 wiper blades, a $15 license plate bulb, etc. ALWAYS tell them to fail it, and that you will fix it yourself and bring it back. This usually results in a quick "pass".
I've seen the "upsell fix" tried over and over. They've tried it on me several times, I always refuse the service. They told my wife her headlights were out of alignment! I've watched them do it to women and the elderly nearly every time I go in and have an inspection. It's a terrible business practice.
How would they even know there was air in the lines? I've never seen anyone crack a bleeder screw and see if air came out. Unless it was obviously low on fluid or the brake pedal felt weird they wouldn't know.
Anyone with moderate experience working on cars could feel a spongy brake pedal just from one application. I've driven mostly junk my whole life and do all the repair work myself and I can tell when a brake cylinder is going bad just from the feel of the pedal.
Anyone with moderate experience working on cars could feel a spongy brake pedal just from one application. I've driven mostly junk my whole life and do all the repair work myself and I can tell when a brake cylinder is going bad just from the feel of the pedal.
Agree. I don't know where the "everyone is out to get me" mentality comes from. It's not an "upsell" of a light bulb if it's truly burnt. That's on you for not checking before you took it in for an inspection! Either the bulb works or it doesn't work.
If the brakes are truly spongy, then the OP could take his/her chances and shop around at different inspection stations, or he/she could just take the extra few minutes and have their brakes looked at (they are slightly important).
Nobody is forcing you to buy the wipers/bulbs/brakes to get inspected. You fail, fix the problem and get it re-inspected. It's not rocket science here!
Anyone with moderate experience working on cars could feel a spongy brake pedal just from one application. I've driven mostly junk my whole life and do all the repair work myself and I can tell when a brake cylinder is going bad just from the feel of the pedal.
I guess I was assigning too much weight to the OP saying it felt fine. You're right, you can definitely tell by pedal feel.
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