Finally Some Sun

[Joe Flanagan]

The two feet of snow we had on the ground has now melted away. It was sunny and warm here today. I was eager to work on the Plymouth but I had to do a brake job on my daughter's car. When I went to have it inspected, the mechanic told me the shoes were mostly gone and would need replacing soon. I went down to NAPA and got the parts for a full brake job. When I pulled the drums and compared the existing shoes to the new ones, there was virtually no difference in thickness between the two. I don't know whether the guy couldn't see, was mistaken, or was trying to take me for a ride. I went and replaced them anyway and did the fronts as well, which were about 50% worn. By the time I was finished with that there wasn't a whole lot of time left for the Plymouth, but I did manage to get my exhaust system installed. I managed to re-use the hanger in the middle of the car, just replaced the old rubber washers with something similar. Things are moving along.

Funny, I had my truck inspected last week and the guy told me I had a parking light out. I told him I'd put a new bulb in as soon as I got home and he passed me. When I got home, I checked it and there was no light out.

[Niel Hoback]

Stop going to that guy!

[Joe Flanagan]

It was two different guys. That's what's really crappy about it. Now I have to double check everything they tell me. I don't know about other states, but in Virginia we have to get inspected every year.

[greg g]

We do and I always pre inspect before the iinspection. I went with brakes on the front I had replaced about 2 months before the inspection month. rears were about 50%. When I got there The cashier told me my bill was 300 bucks as they had to replace the front pads.

I thik the rest of the drill went quite well. As I asked for my two month old pads back so I could use them o my other car. Tech said the trash had been emptied since the car was done, service manager argeed, when I noted that all the trash cas in teh service bays were full or over flowing, and insisted they retrieve the parts, they tried to tell me it was against their policy. So I insisted the car be put back onthe rack and the front wheel pulled. I observed that the pads had a lot of dust on them for brand new pads that had a 2 mile road test on them. The service manager told the tech to put the wheel back on and pull the car outside. He went into the cashiers office, and redid my bill, to reflect the 24.00 charge for the state inspection. As I left he was inthe grill of the tech telling him to pack his tools and leave.

The problem is the fee for the inspectio here doesn't cover the time of the procedure, plus the shops need dedicated equipment that they overpay the state for. So a lot of shops insist the tech do something before the car will "pass". It crappy, but you gotta stay on top of them.

[Normspeed]

Went through that stuff a couple times in the old days in California, on smog checks. After cursory inspections, I was told the car would flunk, for reasons that did not even make sense. I would go to a different station where the car usually passed. Then, they decided to license some smog stations as "inspection only" and they were not allowed to sell parts, do smog repairs, or even refer you to another shop for the repairs. After that I only took my vehicles to the inspection only shops. May be a coincidence but I never failed another smog check.

[RobertKB]

The problem is the fee for the inspectio here doesn't cover the time of the procedure, plus the shops need dedicated equipment that they overpay the state for. So a lot of shops insist the tech do something before the car will "pass". It crappy, but you gotta stay on top of them.

Shops should not have to screw you over just because the state fee they get paid is low. There have to be plenty of cars that come in that really do need work for them to make lots of money. I would never go back to that shop and try to find one that only does work that is needed when it is needed. Doing inspections like that should be a gold mine even for an honest shop with the work that actually needs doing.

[Rodney Bullock]

Dang Joe, it was a good day yesterday. The sun was bright in the sky. You know what I was doing. Riding along in my automoble. It was so warm I ddi not put the heat on. I am glad you got the exhaust on the car. Did you take the hoist back to JIm?

[1940plymouth]

Joe,

I took advantage of the sunshine and warm temps yesterday, put about twenty miles on the Plymouth, no such luck the rest of the week, snow this morning with very gusty winds, then a possible major snow storm Thursday into Friday

[Joe Flanagan]

Rodney,

Yes, I did take the hoist back to Jim. Just in time for him to deal with his broken piston.

40Plymouth,

Yeah, it was a nice break. Too bad winter's back with a vengeance in your neck of the woods. Where are you? Any chance that thing will hit the Mid-Atlantic?

[Joe Flanagan]

OK, the Catskills. That's normal winter weather for you. No, we won't be seeing that system.