Man I don't know about the dealership story on the FP

"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem) 01/22/2020 at 13:11 • Filed to: None

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In jectors,coolant and break fluid to pass state inspection? Doubtful.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:19

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This is the guy who drove around with his high beams on because the low beams were broken. I would imagine this car is very neglected. 

CalzoneGolem > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 01/22/2020 at 13:20

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I did not know about that. How’d that guy get this job?

E90M3 > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:22

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That’s the kind of quality of things they put on the FP now adays? Shit, I think my girlfriend would be more qualified to write articles on car repair than this guy. That’s not a knock against my GF, she has 0 interest in cars; it is one against Erik. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:22

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¯\_()_/¯

VincentMalamute-Kim > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:24

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Strange that a car blog writer would fall for a scam like that. Maybe your non-car guy mom would.

He’s not reading any of McParland’s articles . Or any of a number of commente r’s stories.

smobgirl > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:26

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This dude makes me feel highly organized and responsible.

CalzoneGolem > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/22/2020 at 13:26

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My mom would totally fall for this.

CalzoneGolem > smobgirl 01/22/2020 at 13:27

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I feel like all my cars are professionally maintain ed and concourse ready.

CalzoneGolem > E90M3 01/22/2020 at 13:28

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Maybe he’s good with people?

notsomethingstructural > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:29

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new york dealers suck but then again so do new york inspections . the dealers lose money on the inspection so they just quote $400-500 in service for any 6 year old car that people want to pass. if half the people take it then they’re probably just breaking even on it.

VincentMalamute-Kim > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:30

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Mine too.

E90M3 > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:33

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Maybe he’s just an idiot, or that’s how far the standard has fallen. 

Nibby > E90M3 01/22/2020 at 13:34

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jimz > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:38

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here’s what they say they check for:

https://dmv.ny.gov/brochure/new-york-state-vehicle-safetyemissions-inspection-program

gettingoldercarguy > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:39

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He binned a Camaro during a test drive.

Derpwagon > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:40

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There is almost nothing of value left on the front page. 

HammerheadFistpunch > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:45

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Erik is getting wrecked.  I feel a little bad.  It should not have been published on Jalopnik.

CalzoneGolem > Derpwagon 01/22/2020 at 13:45

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This is the way.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:46

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I’ve read better Yelp reviews. Seriously what the fuck was that and how did he get a job writing about cars? My mom has better automotive knowledge than that dude and she's a nurse with no interest in cars.

smobgirl > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2020 at 13:47

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I was surprised to learn (here) that comments still exist on Jalopnik. I can’t see them and there’s nothing to click and make them appear. 

Ash78, voting early and often > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:47

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My useless contribution :

That`s great, it starts with some flushed brakes, serpentines, injector clean - service writer’s never mean.

Then like a hurricane, listen to him sell, churn - list of your car’s needs, don`t attempt your own deeds. Feed it top-tier KNOCK, speed, grunt no, strength no. Like a Diesel clatter with fear of what’s the matter. Plug without a wire, represent the seven games of a mechanic for hire on a dealer’s site.

Left here, not returning in a hurry, now a recall on the fuel fill neck.

Team by team technicians baffled, stumped, gathered crop. Look at that gas drain! Fine then. Uh oh, overflow, detonation, P group, emissions, too. Save your cash, serve your cash. Fit serves its own needs, listen to your cash bleed. Exhaust gas recapture and alignment to the right? Right.

You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, brake light, feeling pretty psyched.

I got my car serviced at the Honda dealer.
I got my car serviced at the Honda dealer.
I got m y car serviced at the Honda dealer and I feel fine.

(side note: Th is song is the biggest PITA to parody of anything on earth.)

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Derpwagon 01/22/2020 at 13:48

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I like when David talks about engineering stuff, but that’s been happening less and less.

CalzoneGolem > notsomethingstructural 01/22/2020 at 13:48

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That actually makes sense.

Ash78, voting early and often > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:48

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You have spoken.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > smobgirl 01/22/2020 at 13:49

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Yeah, if I want to see comments (rare) I have to open the article like 15 times and maybe one instance of the article will have comments.

CalzoneGolem > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2020 at 13:50

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It’s pretty well deserved. 

CalzoneGolem > smobgirl 01/22/2020 at 13:50

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Just read some random youtube comments it’ll work just as well.

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > E90M3 01/22/2020 at 13:50

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Maybe a little of both but more of him being a not very good fit. I don’t think fixing your car is a prerequisite to being an enthusiast. That being said he’s trying to justify getting objectively ripped off by a dealer. 

CalzoneGolem > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 01/22/2020 at 13:51

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But look at the discussion it is fostering?

CalzoneGolem > Ash78, voting early and often 01/22/2020 at 13:52

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clappingguy.g if

facw > notsomethingstructural 01/22/2020 at 13:52

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Not my experience in New York. Never had any games played in 17 years of living and driving there. The only things a shop ever called me on for inspections are needing new wipers (true!, I just hadn’t had a chance to deal with them), and snugging the parking brake cable (probably also true). I’m sure there are places that try to rip you off, but it certainly didn’t seem to be uniform.

CalzoneGolem > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 01/22/2020 at 13:52

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I pretty much like everything David writes.

HammerheadFistpunch > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:52

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yeah. Exactly why an editor should have caught that and said “I like your honesty, but I don’t think we should run this.”

CalzoneGolem > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2020 at 13:54

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But he i s an editor. Who edits the editor?

facw > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:54

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Brake fluid maybe, if performance was degraded. Injectors shouldn’t be needed unless it was throwing a code and so couldn’t pass emissions. Coolant flush might be a good thing to do, but I really don’t see how bad coolant could cause you to fail, unless you’ve already totally destroyed  your engine by running with old or insufficient coolant.

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > jimz 01/22/2020 at 13:56

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AMAZED I scrolled this far to find this. Went through a BUNCH of comments on the FP (nearing as bad as YouTube but not quite).

My province makes you do an inspection when you transfer ownership of a car, and like NY they post the requirements. Ours posts the technical doc your mechanic would use, but that website also lists everything that NY would require.

Regardless of opportunity cost of any other reason not to work on hour car, the dealership lied to him about services necessary, when he explicitly went there for services needed to pass inspection.

slipperysallylikespenguins > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 13:57

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And yet it is getting thousands of views and hundreds of comments, therefore it is a success for Jalopnik. If you can get someone to click and comment, you’ve already won regardless of a lack of quality.

This is what happens when you are part of a huge group of bloggers and people get shuffled around to various sites. The amount of non car people writing for the front page is pretty hilarious.

One out of a hundred front page articles might actually be worth looking at anymore.

E90M3 > MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) 01/22/2020 at 13:59

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I agree actually fixing your car should not be a prerequisite of being an enthusiast, but I think some basic car maintenance knowledge should be reasonable to expect from some one who writes about car maintenance on the FP.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2020 at 14:00

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Given the mass exodus of many of their writers there may not have been anyone to even catch it...

shop-teacher > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 14:00

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The Editor in Chief. In the case of Jalopnik, that’s Ballaban. I love Ballaban, but he knows jack squat about the mechanical workings of cars as well.

nerd_racing > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 14:01

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This is the way 

notsomethingstructural > facw 01/22/2020 at 14:03

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Then there is a 0% chance you took it to a dealer for the inspection. 

Derpwagon > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 14:03

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David presents a dichotomy for me. I like his writing, but I hate what he does. He’s incredibly unsafe to other drivers with his bullshit hoopties. 

shop-teacher > gettingoldercarguy 01/22/2020 at 14:04

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LOL!

jimz > MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) 01/22/2020 at 14:07

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most of the people left commenting on the FP are yahoos and hooting jackanapes.  It’s like the average age of commenter has dropped to “can’t have a driver’s license yet.”

facw > notsomethingstructural 01/22/2020 at 14:07

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I think I probably did for convenience at some point, but you’re right that I normally went either to a local indie shop, or to the independent Volvo specialist in town (after a shitty a experience with the local dealer’s service department on a non-inspection issue ) .

VincentMalamute-Kim > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 14:10

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Actually, my mom, dad, brother, sister and any number of friends all would fall for that.

I’m pretty sure I would not have fallen for that.  If only because I have in the past.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 14:16

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Hosed  to pass inspection, but if the fluid never been changed, those bleeders have to rusted to shit and a PITA to loosen. 

Wallaby > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 14:17

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The dude stated his inspection had expired a few days prior and then a little further down the article tried to claim he’d become “religious about completing inspections.” Not only is it a story about how he got taken to the cleaners but he’s straight up full of shit.  

shop-teacher > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 14:28

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Were it not for David and Torch, I would be done with Jalopnik.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) 01/22/2020 at 14:28

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If the fluid was 11 years old it could be spongey /low pedal

CalzoneGolem > facw 01/22/2020 at 14:28

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Is his Fit better off after all of that stuff? Absolutely. 

CalzoneGolem > slipperysallylikespenguins 01/22/2020 at 14:30

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I mean this story is very car driven. 

Cash Rewards > Ash78, voting early and often 01/22/2020 at 14:31

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Amazing!

facw > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 14:37

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Definitely. But if the shop told him he had to do them to pass inspection, that sounds like bullshit (and in fairness he seemed to think so too). The shop would be significantly better off if they said he should do them because it would save him money in the long run, not because they’d withhold his sticker if he didn’t. If a shop told me that sort of thing, I’d definitely:

Check the law to make sure there was no reason for those to be required

Report them to the state

Find a better shop

CalzoneGolem > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/22/2020 at 14:52

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Worth the money at that point.

ranwhenparked > smobgirl 01/22/2020 at 14:57

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I can’t sign into the FP on anything other than A ndroid, for some reason.

CalzoneGolem > facw 01/22/2020 at 14:58

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I think notsomethingstructural nailed it. They just said this so he’d go away because they don’t want to do it.

promoted by the color red > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 15:01

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At the end of the day it’s his money. I would have judged the shit out of him years ago, but I’m about ready to pay an expert to tune my K-Jet Volvo for California smog so I don’t have to sacrifice a baby goat to the dark lord himself on my own property. I’ll turn wrenches as often as I can, but there are some jobs I can’t do due to space/time/tool constraints. I will say that the price is high, but you’re paying for the convenience. 

Also, I wonder if this is for tax purposes as this commentator suggests: https://jalopnik.com/1841160136

CalzoneGolem > promoted by the color red 01/22/2020 at 15:13

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I don’t have any problem with peeps paying mechanics to do things. It’s just that none of those things are really related to the inspection.

thejustache > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 15:25

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I saw the article but honestly couldn’t stomach reading it after the first couple sentences .

I live in NY, do my own work on my cars, and I’m pretty familiar with our inspection requirements and the pain of last minute fixes to get the sticker . I’m no pro mechanic, but most years the annual inspection is the only time my cars make it into a shop. The last thing I feel like reading about on a car si te is somebody who knows even less about cars than I do getting taken for a ride and trying to justify it publicly .

Ironically the only person in NY that might know less about cars and our inspection process is the tech at jiffy lube that tried to inspect my car last year. I normally don’t go near that place but was in a pinch and decided to risk it. Waited an hour and a half to hear ‘I’m sorry, we couldn’t pass your car because none of our computers could connect to your OBDII port’. Uh wuht? And I was told I still had to pay, but I could come back and retest again the next day. Looking down I realized my bluetooth OBDII reader was still in the port. Pulled it out, brought it back, and it passed fine. They literally didn’t look at the port to see if something was in it....

If writing doesn’t work out for Erik he might be able to get a job there.

promoted by the color red > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 15:36

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Yeah, that’s certainly a fair criticism. 

CalzoneGolem > thejustache 01/22/2020 at 15:46

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If writing doesn’t work out for Erik he might be able to get a job there.

Savage.

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/22/2020 at 15:57

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Injectors and coolant were not needed, you’re right about the brake fluid. Serp belt was also not needed as the fits have EPS 

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > thejustache 01/22/2020 at 16:10

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I would have tried to refuse to pay on principle. I was expecting it to be a pre-OBD car but that’s even worse

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/22/2020 at 16:14

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I just realized that if you go back and read the article he says the brake fluid was the only thing NOT needed for inspection. I still think you’re right, but that’s super ironic 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) 01/22/2020 at 16:45

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After thought: I’d wonder if a service engine soon maintenance minder light fails inspection  as a check engine light

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/22/2020 at 17:52

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Possible, but my provincial  emissions testing (when it was still around) didn’t treat the service light as a CEL

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > CalzoneGolem 01/22/2020 at 20:59

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I gotten myself into too many “this will take 1/2 an hour, hour max” that I hold off till i see how many hours it was to fix and what had to be done .

example helping change cousins brakes, only to see the cracked flex lines, which lead to stripping the rusted connector and spending over an hour grinding th e bastard off .

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > shop-teacher 01/22/2020 at 22:53

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I haven't gone to the front page unless for some specific thing since Sean left. For me that's when everything started going to shit. Maybe not that exact day, but those few months at least.

shop-teacher > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 01/22/2020 at 23:32

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Yeah, that's when they killed all the sub blogs they'd built up. It was be the beginning of a long decline.

pip bip - choose Corrour > CalzoneGolem 01/23/2020 at 04:30

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i laugh at the thought of inspections

CalzoneGolem > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/23/2020 at 08:30

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Many 1/2 hour fixes have evolved quickly into, “Why didn’t I pay someone else to do this?”

CalzoneGolem > pip bip - choose Corrour 01/23/2020 at 08:32

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Parva leves capiunt animas