ZERO STARS!! IF I COULD GIVE NEGATIVE STARS, I WOULD.
I…read morewalked into this garage for ONE thing: a smog test on my heavy-duty truck.
Before anything was done, I specifically told the guy at the counter that the readings for my truck needed to be taken by putting the sensor in the tailpipe. He laughed and said, "I dunno how he does them. I'm not a smog technician."
Okay. Fair enough.
Then Daniel, the technician AND manager, came inside and told me my truck had failed. He asked if I knew I had a check-engine light on. I told him yes, and that it had been an ongoing issue despite having repairs done over the years.
Daniel then told me they would need to do a $160 diagnostic to determine what was wrong so they could get me to pass.
At this point, I was concerned, but I trusted the person who was supposedly the technician and manager to know how to properly perform a smog test.
Daniel was very nice to me at first. In fact, he offered me a ride to a diner because I had mentioned that I wanted to get some breakfast. I thought, Wow, that's actually really nice customer service.
So off I went.
Then, while I was sitting at breakfast, Daniel called me with an estimate for OVER $2,000.
Yep. You read that correctly.
I'm sitting at a diner waiting for a diagnostic and suddenly I'm being presented a $2,000+ repair estimate.
I was honestly panicking for a minute.
Then my brain kicked in.
I asked Daniel one very simple question:
"Did you put the sensor in the tailpipe?"
His answer was that he had hooked it up to the machine.
WAIT. WHAT?
That's when I realized what had happened.
I told him that my experience was that the smog procedure for my heavy-duty truck required the sensor to be placed in the tailpipe and that the test had not been performed correctly.
So I asked Daniel to do the smog test properly.
They gave me a ride back from the diner. When I arrived, my truck was sitting out front.
And guess what?
IT PASSED.
My truck that I had just been told had failed.
The truck that supposedly needed a $160 diagnostic.
The truck that had supposedly led to a $2,000+ repair estimate.
PASSED.
Once the test was performed correctly.
Let that sink in.
I then went to the counter and was told I owed the $160 diagnostic fee. I politely explained that I would NOT be paying it because, in my opinion, the diagnostic was unnecessary. I had come in for a smog test, and the diagnostic was only pursued after the smog procedure had apparently not been performed correctly.
The counter guy went into the garage to talk to Daniel.
He came back looking extremely uncomfortable.
Then Daniel peeked his head through that door and took my keys and my smog paperwork.
Interesting.
Daniel then came around to the front. And let me tell you, the personality had changed.
The friendly, jovial guy who had offered the ride to breakfast was suddenly visibly irritated.
He handed me my keys and my PASSED smog certificate and told me the $160 diagnostic was "on him."
LOL.
Yes, Daniel.
It absolutely was.
Because I wasn't paying $160 for a diagnostic that, based on what happened, should never have been necessary in the first place.
And here's the part that really bothers me:
I am a woman. I am not a mechanic. But apparently I knew enough to ask the question the procedure that was resulting in a $2,000+ repair estimate.
Was this intentional?
I can't tell you what was going through their minds, and I'm not going to pretend I can prove someone's intentions.
But I CAN tell you how it felt.
It felt like they thought they had found an easy target.
Maybe they assumed I wouldn't know anything about my truck.
Maybe they assumed I would hear "check-engine light," panic, and blindly hand over thousands of dollars.
Maybe they assumed because I was a woman sitting there alone, I wouldn't question the diagnosis.
They were wrong.
The second I started asking questions, everything changed.
And the funniest part?
My truck PASSED.
No $2,000 repair.
No $160 diagnostic charge.
Just a properly performed smog test and a passed certificate.
If you're a woman, someone who doesn't know much about cars, or frankly ANYONE who doesn't want to be pressured into unnecessary repairs, ASK QUESTIONS AND GET A SECOND OPINION.
Don't let a friendly demeanor fool you into dropping your guard. I certainly appreciated Daniel's kindness when he offered me a ride to breakfast. But kindness means very little if the end result is that a customer walks away believing they required a $2,000+ repair that resulted from a test that wasn't performed correctly in the first place.
I walked in needing a smog.
I was told I failed.
I was presented with a $2,000+ repair estimate.
I questioned the testing procedure.
The test was done properly.
MY TRUCK PASSED.
That's the entire story.
And that's all you need to know.
BEWARE.
I won't be bringing my truck back here, and after this experience, I have absolutely no problem telling you to stay away!
