I have often written about my wife’s '85 Toyota that she bought new and the dealership gave Lifetime Oil and Filter, and State Inspections… I have also written that I prefer to use local business verses Big Box businesses when possible…
It’s November and the '85 Toyota and my Ram Truck were both due for state inspections. The Ram has no such lifetime guarantee on it and I do not take it to the Toyota Dealer… I normally use the Auto Hobby Shop on the local Air Force Base. They have a licensed state inspector on staff, so I usually go there, especially when I do my own oil change (2-1/2 Gallons…). The wife said let’s take the Toy there too and have both inspections performed.
The Ram passed without issue, but the inspector failed the Toyota, saying the Exhaust Manifold was leaking. Remembering the recent posting of a new member and the problems he had when his exhaust manifold was leaking, I was very concerned. I’m not agile enough anymore to climb in, climb under, and climb over, whatever needed to be removed and the concern of bolts and nuts that have not been touched in the 38-years we’ve been driving this car.
When we got home, with our PINK Rejection Sticker. I fired up the engine and used my engine scope and I did not hear any leaking, I partially plug the exhaust pipe and poured some Seafoam into the carburetor and I saw no smoky leaks…
So we decide to take our poor old, tired '85 Toyota to the dealer with our Pink Failure Sticker and tell them our sorry story. They said they would check it and sent it to a mechanic who checked every inch of the exhaust system with a Combustion Gas/CO/whatever Detector and found no leaks, they then sent the car over to the their State Inspector and it quickly passed the State Inspection. And they did not charge us for the time spent doing the leak detection and the State Inspection was FREE, Again…
Now, this is not to cast aspersions on the other state inspector, but to let folks know that sometimes a second opinion is quite beneficial…
Also, Because “Inquiring Minds Want to Know…” If we had been charged for the leak detection, our Toyota Dealership’s mechanic’s base rate is $140.00 an hour…
And while going through the Toy’s folder (we keep every receipt… and a gas log book for a ounce that goes into our vehicles) the very first gas that we put into that Toyota, way back in 1985 was 7.8 gallons for $8.25, at $1.05.9 a gallon, don’t that make you cry?
So, if that mechanic tells you that engine miss is caused by the timing chain jumping a tooth, get a second opinion…