"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg)
09/28/2019 at 07:02 • Filed to: None
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"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg)
09/28/2019 at 07:02 • Filed to: None | 0
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The 8-Fiddy has to get inspected this morning. Its a Virginia thing, we have an annual “ safety” i nspection. Basically an excuse for shops to make money checking your brakes and tires, making sure your turn signals work, etc. Honestly I think its stupid, but then again I imagine that, for 90% of the cars on the road, this is the only time that stuff gets checked.
Whats crazy is I got here at 6:05, 55 minutes before they open, and I was second in line. By 6:15 there were already 5 cars. There are now 9 waiting plus 2 in the bays.
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Snuze: Needs another Swede
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
09/28/2019 at 07:12 |
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Apprently now I can’t edit my own post. Wanted to add it made the horrible bang and threw a CEL again this morning. While I was waiting for the safety inspection I googled and its probably a lower transmission torque arm. Amazon had it for less than Rock Auto and I’ll get it this afternoon.
This week its getting new front/rear mounts and I’m going to do the oil pan seals, and I’ve still got rear shocks to put in. I’m getting to the point I might as well replace the LCAs and axles. It’ll be a brand new car at that point.
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
09/28/2019 at 07:18 |
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ah the joys of having no inspections....
ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
09/28/2019 at 07:22 |
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That’s basically whats happening with my Mini. I wanted to replace my outer ball joints and have ended up replacing most of the stuff on the front suspension...
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Snuze: Needs another Swede
> pip bip - choose Corrour
09/28/2019 at 07:24 |
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I used to live in Maryland, the state immediately to the north of Virginia. The only time you had to have a car inspected there is when you moved into the state or bought a used car.
The flip side there is the inspections cost more there, about $75, and they took them a lot more seriously. Youd get failed over a turn signal bulb being out. Here, I had an inspector put my inspection approved sticker over a crack in a windshield, which should be an automatic failure.
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Snuze: Needs another Swede
> ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
09/28/2019 at 07:26 |
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Yeah, I dont think Im going to make any money on this car as a flip, but I should break even.
That said, m y neighbor is interested in it for her son, so if he ends up getting it he should be getting something decent, that will last a while.
facw
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
09/28/2019 at 07:30 |
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I’m pro-inspection, though I prefer inspection places that aren’t also repair shops, so they don’t have an incentive to fail cars on edge cases (or that are fine) just to create work. Either way, you want robust auditing of shops to keep them honest. Here in MA, they are normally repair places (I get mine done at the local Shell station ), but MA has a new system that requires cameras set up in the inspection bay recording images from the inspection to cut down on fraud (I suspect they are more concerned about shops passing cars that they shouldn’t rather than the other way around, but it seems like it should be helpful for both cases).
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Snuze: Needs another Swede
> facw
09/28/2019 at 07:47 |
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Like I said, I see some merit in the fact that, for a lot of cars, its probably the only time stuff like brakes and tires get checked. But I like your idea that it should be at non-repair shops.
AdverseMartyr
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
09/28/2019 at 08:22 |
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Hawaii has mandatory safety inspections every year, and they are pretty much a joke. It costs $15-25 (depending on if you have tinted windows or other little things they have to measure beyond the basics) and is supposed to include a lot of things, but in reality only a few shops take it even a little bit seriously (or did in the past, I’ve been gone for 3 years). Most barely glance at the car - are there windshield wipers - check, headlights turn on - check, turn signals- check, brake lights - check. It’s the basic fact that the shop can’t charge more than the listed fee, and the listed fee is pretty much a loss. A mechanic is taking time away from billable work. So they do it in the shortest time possible so they can be done without losing money.
I only found one place that actually had me leave my car with them, and they would actually do a short inspection drive, but that’s also the only place that actually took the time to try and find the extras to make me pay more than the base rate. They were also the place I could find interesting old cars getting inspections done.
Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
09/28/2019 at 09:11 |
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You’ve s aid this a couple of times now about the 850.
Do es the neighbor know what you want to get out of the car? Would this be a surprise for the son? What I’m getting at is you’re going to fix all this stuff, does the kid that’s getting it know anything about cars? Wll tus be the lst maintenance the car ever gets? Maybe you could ask him to help you with some of the repairs so he can learn?
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facw
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
09/28/2019 at 09:29 |
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Texas has safety inspections but they are not very strict at all. Notably cracked glass won’t fail you so you’d see horrible windshields all over the place.