Doesn't sound like you got screwed over unless they did not tell you that you needed wipers and the bulbs and did it without getting permission 1st( illegal in this state ). Prices charged, based on normal dealership fees, seem appropriate( high I agree but not out of line with normnal charges ).
Was I charged too much for inspection?
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Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
Originally Posted By: ADFD1
Although what happened sux, they could have charged you, $75 for the inspection, failed the car, then charged you another $75 to re-check, after you did the work yourself.
It's against the law to re-charge for the inspection. If they fail you and you bring the car back with proof that it was repaired (either a receipt showing the work done, or the car itself), then they need to give you the certificate without charge. Unless they're running a real scam, in which case I'd report them to the MVA.
I wish that was the case in PA. I got hit for two inspection fees a couple of years ago when the garage couldn't find anything wrong with my truck so they automatically told me it had a bad track bar which is a known trouble spot on Dodge trucks. They quoted me an outrageous price to fix it so I replaced it myself. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the old one but they kind of have you over a barrel. When I took it back to get the sticker they charged me full price for a new inspection. If I had known they were going to charge for another inspection, I would have just skipping replacing the track bar and went to a different garage for a new inspection.
Originally Posted By: ADFD1
Although what happened sux, they could have charged you, $75 for the inspection, failed the car, then charged you another $75 to re-check, after you did the work yourself.
It's against the law to re-charge for the inspection. If they fail you and you bring the car back with proof that it was repaired (either a receipt showing the work done, or the car itself), then they need to give you the certificate without charge. Unless they're running a real scam, in which case I'd report them to the MVA.
I wish that was the case in PA. I got hit for two inspection fees a couple of years ago when the garage couldn't find anything wrong with my truck so they automatically told me it had a bad track bar which is a known trouble spot on Dodge trucks. They quoted me an outrageous price to fix it so I replaced it myself. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the old one but they kind of have you over a barrel. When I took it back to get the sticker they charged me full price for a new inspection. If I had known they were going to charge for another inspection, I would have just skipping replacing the track bar and went to a different garage for a new inspection.
Originally Posted By: frank83
In PA emissions and inspection is around $50.
And apparently you need one even on new cars. Well okay I'm not sure you need one but you get the stickers and have to get tested again next year from what my brother says. It surprised me that they would even bother with vehicles under 4 to 5 years old.
In PA emissions and inspection is around $50.
And apparently you need one even on new cars. Well okay I'm not sure you need one but you get the stickers and have to get tested again next year from what my brother says. It surprised me that they would even bother with vehicles under 4 to 5 years old.
Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
Originally Posted By: ADFD1
Although what happened sux, they could have charged you, $75 for the inspection, failed the car, then charged you another $75 to re-check, after you did the work yourself.
It's against the law to re-charge for the inspection. If they fail you and you bring the car back with proof that it was repaired (either a receipt showing the work done, or the car itself), then they need to give you the certificate without charge. Unless they're running a real scam, in which case I'd report them to the MVA.
It's been a few years since I moved from NY, but on Long Island it was a common practice to fail a car and charge to re-inspect it if it left the shop for repairs. If you had the shop do the repair the re-inspection was free.
Another thing the shops did was cut the inspection sticker off the window (if the car failed, that was legal), so if the police were spot checking cars for registration and NYS inspections, you'd be pulled over and fined.
The state inspection Dyno's are not cheap, and the mechanics used it as a tool to increase profits. EGR valves and cat converters were the favorite items to change if the car failed the sniff test.
AD
Originally Posted By: ADFD1
Although what happened sux, they could have charged you, $75 for the inspection, failed the car, then charged you another $75 to re-check, after you did the work yourself.
It's against the law to re-charge for the inspection. If they fail you and you bring the car back with proof that it was repaired (either a receipt showing the work done, or the car itself), then they need to give you the certificate without charge. Unless they're running a real scam, in which case I'd report them to the MVA.
It's been a few years since I moved from NY, but on Long Island it was a common practice to fail a car and charge to re-inspect it if it left the shop for repairs. If you had the shop do the repair the re-inspection was free.
Another thing the shops did was cut the inspection sticker off the window (if the car failed, that was legal), so if the police were spot checking cars for registration and NYS inspections, you'd be pulled over and fined.
The state inspection Dyno's are not cheap, and the mechanics used it as a tool to increase profits. EGR valves and cat converters were the favorite items to change if the car failed the sniff test.
AD
Originally Posted By: oilyriser
I can drive a car here until it falls in half from rust, as long as ownership is not changed.
Unless you get pulled off the road by the MTO or the police. The OPP do blitzes on unsafe cars and usually have big media releases. Local Police and MTO also have similar programs around here.
I can drive a car here until it falls in half from rust, as long as ownership is not changed.
Unless you get pulled off the road by the MTO or the police. The OPP do blitzes on unsafe cars and usually have big media releases. Local Police and MTO also have similar programs around here.
ADFD1, I used to live in NY and all of those practices are common there. They can charge you for each inspection, and I've heard of them removing the sticker if you fail. I lived upstate where, at the time, emissions wasn't tested and the inspection was rather rudimentary. I've heard since then they've really cracked down, and now NYS has a centralized database that records your inspection history, so if you fail and then go somewhere else and try to slide by, you will get caught.
The scam in Maryland is much different and the inspection is much more thorough. I never had the condition of my accessory belt checked when I lived in NY.
The scam in Maryland is much different and the inspection is much more thorough. I never had the condition of my accessory belt checked when I lived in NY.
You're pretty much spot on about NY. In NY if you knew the mechanic, and had a friendly business relationship it helped. The smog machine was where most cars would fail, safety check, it was usually brakes, tires, a bulb, or torn wiper blades.
If you failed the smog test you were in for a big RO. Not sure about now, but the state allowed you to show proof of $500 in repairs in order to pass emissions. If $500 repairs didn't get the car to pass they would allow you to keep it on the road for 1 more year. You could spend what ever it cost to get it repaired but they allowed a $500 cut off. Assuming $500 didn't get the car fixed the following year you either paid what ever it costs to fix the car, or take it off the road.
If you failed the smog test you were in for a big RO. Not sure about now, but the state allowed you to show proof of $500 in repairs in order to pass emissions. If $500 repairs didn't get the car to pass they would allow you to keep it on the road for 1 more year. You could spend what ever it cost to get it repaired but they allowed a $500 cut off. Assuming $500 didn't get the car fixed the following year you either paid what ever it costs to fix the car, or take it off the road.
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Originally Posted By: wapacz
Originally Posted By: frank83
In PA emissions and inspection is around $50.
And apparently you need one even on new cars. Well okay I'm not sure you need one but you get the stickers and have to get tested again next year from what my brother says. It surprised me that they would even bother with vehicles under 4 to 5 years old.
The main problem was getting stations to ante up for the equipment. PA jerked around on approved equipment over the years. At first you just needed a sniffer and it was part of the normal safety inspection. Lots of vendors. Then station owners found that they could be buying $30k worth of equipment that was worthless in a year or two. When the enhanced emissions program was instated, there were only a limited number of vendors with approved machines (dyno-w/sniffer)and they were outrageous in price. They then went to on line data base (at a tremendous cost savings to PENNDOT) yet charged user end fees (part of the data transfer cost charged to the station) to maintain the database.
Then OBDII came around and there was talk of just plugging in a scanner and issuing a badge while station owners were figuring on paying for their equipment with an endless stream of new vehicles. That had the inspection stations up in arms since they just invested upto $50k+ in the dyno-sniffer systems a short time before.
So..the OBDII test was complicated to the point of making it at par with the much more expensive dyno-sniffer test.
OBDII cars were subjected to the evolutions in the sniffer test. At that time, initially, the chassis was rated for emissions. Then it evolved to engine specific requirements ..then the standards were lowered based on registrations and calculated tonnage of pollutants entering the enhanced emissions zone. More cars in 100% compliance with old standard? Lower the limits
Originally Posted By: frank83
In PA emissions and inspection is around $50.
And apparently you need one even on new cars. Well okay I'm not sure you need one but you get the stickers and have to get tested again next year from what my brother says. It surprised me that they would even bother with vehicles under 4 to 5 years old.
The main problem was getting stations to ante up for the equipment. PA jerked around on approved equipment over the years. At first you just needed a sniffer and it was part of the normal safety inspection. Lots of vendors. Then station owners found that they could be buying $30k worth of equipment that was worthless in a year or two. When the enhanced emissions program was instated, there were only a limited number of vendors with approved machines (dyno-w/sniffer)and they were outrageous in price. They then went to on line data base (at a tremendous cost savings to PENNDOT) yet charged user end fees (part of the data transfer cost charged to the station) to maintain the database.
Then OBDII came around and there was talk of just plugging in a scanner and issuing a badge while station owners were figuring on paying for their equipment with an endless stream of new vehicles. That had the inspection stations up in arms since they just invested upto $50k+ in the dyno-sniffer systems a short time before.
So..the OBDII test was complicated to the point of making it at par with the much more expensive dyno-sniffer test.
OBDII cars were subjected to the evolutions in the sniffer test. At that time, initially, the chassis was rated for emissions. Then it evolved to engine specific requirements ..then the standards were lowered based on registrations and calculated tonnage of pollutants entering the enhanced emissions zone. More cars in 100% compliance with old standard? Lower the limits
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Originally Posted By: wapacz
Originally Posted By: frank83
In PA emissions and inspection is around $50.
And apparently you need one even on new cars. Well okay I'm not sure you need one but you get the stickers and have to get tested again next year from what my brother says. It surprised me that they would even bother with vehicles under 4 to 5 years old.
The main problem was getting stations to ante up for the equipment. PA jerked around on approved equipment over the years. At first you just needed a sniffer and it was part of the normal safety inspection. Lots of vendors. Then station owners found that they could be buying $30k worth of equipment that was worthless in a year or two. When the enhanced emissions program was instated, there were only a limited number of vendors with approved machines (dyno-w/sniffer)and they were outrageous in price. They then went to on line data base (at a tremendous cost savings to PENNDOT) yet charged user end fees (part of the data transfer cost charged to the station) to maintain the database.
Then OBDII came around and there was talk of just plugging in a scanner and issuing a badge while station owners were figuring on paying for their equipment with an endless stream of new vehicles. That had the inspection stations up in arms since they just invested upto $50k+ in the dyno-sniffer systems a short time before.
So..the OBDII test was complicated to the point of making it at par with the much more expensive dyno-sniffer test.
OBDII cars were subjected to the evolutions in the sniffer test. At that time, initially, the chassis was rated for emissions. Then it evolved to engine specific requirements ..then the standards were lowered based on registrations and calculated tonnage of pollutants entering the enhanced emissions zone. More cars in 100% compliance with old standard? Lower the limits
wow sound like they couldn't of bumbled it more if they tried. Well at least my brothers 2.4 6 speed malibu shouldn't have a hard time passing for a long time.
Originally Posted By: wapacz
Originally Posted By: frank83
In PA emissions and inspection is around $50.
And apparently you need one even on new cars. Well okay I'm not sure you need one but you get the stickers and have to get tested again next year from what my brother says. It surprised me that they would even bother with vehicles under 4 to 5 years old.
The main problem was getting stations to ante up for the equipment. PA jerked around on approved equipment over the years. At first you just needed a sniffer and it was part of the normal safety inspection. Lots of vendors. Then station owners found that they could be buying $30k worth of equipment that was worthless in a year or two. When the enhanced emissions program was instated, there were only a limited number of vendors with approved machines (dyno-w/sniffer)and they were outrageous in price. They then went to on line data base (at a tremendous cost savings to PENNDOT) yet charged user end fees (part of the data transfer cost charged to the station) to maintain the database.
Then OBDII came around and there was talk of just plugging in a scanner and issuing a badge while station owners were figuring on paying for their equipment with an endless stream of new vehicles. That had the inspection stations up in arms since they just invested upto $50k+ in the dyno-sniffer systems a short time before.
So..the OBDII test was complicated to the point of making it at par with the much more expensive dyno-sniffer test.
OBDII cars were subjected to the evolutions in the sniffer test. At that time, initially, the chassis was rated for emissions. Then it evolved to engine specific requirements ..then the standards were lowered based on registrations and calculated tonnage of pollutants entering the enhanced emissions zone. More cars in 100% compliance with old standard? Lower the limits
wow sound like they couldn't of bumbled it more if they tried. Well at least my brothers 2.4 6 speed malibu shouldn't have a hard time passing for a long time.
The OP got it in the bottom, but at least now has a car good for another year.
Being a NY resident, a lot of chains will rip through the car looking for something wrong. The independents don't do that as much. I witnessed a Monro tech swinging a large sledge at the rusty drums on my current car, then letting the drum fall 5 feet to the floor to "inspect" the rear brakes. The car passed with flying colors. The next year, an independent shop only looked at the front brakes. It's on record with NY state which wheels they looked at, and the errors they found.
Also, you seem to get an easier time if your plebian car has unexpected parts on it, such as cross-drilled rotors or painted calipers.
Being a NY resident, a lot of chains will rip through the car looking for something wrong. The independents don't do that as much. I witnessed a Monro tech swinging a large sledge at the rusty drums on my current car, then letting the drum fall 5 feet to the floor to "inspect" the rear brakes. The car passed with flying colors. The next year, an independent shop only looked at the front brakes. It's on record with NY state which wheels they looked at, and the errors they found.
Also, you seem to get an easier time if your plebian car has unexpected parts on it, such as cross-drilled rotors or painted calipers.
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Quote:
wow sound like they couldn't of bumbled it more if they tried.
Oh ..but they did. There was a proposal that was quietly formulated to have the state conduct all emissions testing. Naturally it was outsourced to ONE outfit. When the news hit the street the agreement had already been made between PENNDOT and the private firm. The contract has a (something like) $130M cancellation clause. The protest from the independent and agencies was tremendous and they pooled their political clout to stop it.
wow sound like they couldn't of bumbled it more if they tried.
Oh ..but they did. There was a proposal that was quietly formulated to have the state conduct all emissions testing. Naturally it was outsourced to ONE outfit. When the news hit the street the agreement had already been made between PENNDOT and the private firm. The contract has a (something like) $130M cancellation clause. The protest from the independent and agencies was tremendous and they pooled their political clout to stop it.
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Also, you seem to get an easier time if your plebian car has unexpected parts on it, such as cross-drilled rotors or painted calipers.
That's the opposite of what I'd expect. I know if some annoying Honda Civic with a [censored] can exhaust came in to my shop I'd be looking to fail him on anything I could.
Also, you seem to get an easier time if your plebian car has unexpected parts on it, such as cross-drilled rotors or painted calipers.
That's the opposite of what I'd expect. I know if some annoying Honda Civic with a [censored] can exhaust came in to my shop I'd be looking to fail him on anything I could.
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