Zimmerman's Auto Repair

Review: I took my [redacted] there to be inspected,the engine light was on they reset the computer so the engine light would go off .the mechanic told me to drive it and bring back the next morning and if the engine light was still off the mechanic would put a inspection sticker on it.I took it back next morning and the light was still off and the owner came out and said he couldn't put a sticker on it,inless I spend $100 more.I told him that's not what the mechanic told me.they lied to me took my money and im still driving without inspection sticker.now the mechanic is saying he didn't say that to me.Desired Settlement: I want inspection sticker that I payed for or my money back

Business

Response:

To whomever it may concern. I am [redacted] Zimmerman , Owner At Zimmerman's Auto Repair. Early last week around April 1, [redacted] and [redacted] brought their 2007 [redacted] to our shop for State Inspection and Emissions test. We performed the emission test on the vehicle and it failed because the check engine light was on and it had a trouble code in computer [redacted] Evap leak. The state inspection also failed because the Left rear backup light was not working. [redacted] the Service advisor talked to them when they dropped the vehicle off and they ask us if we could reset the check engine light so they could do drive cycle and see if it would pass emissions. The emission law in Pennsylvania states that a gas powered vehicle under 8500 GVW and model year 1996 and newer must have a OBD II computer test and gas cap test. According to the emission law 1996-1999 model year vehicles will fail emissions if the check engine light is on or more than 2 readiness monitors are not ready. On model year 2000 and newer vehicles will fail emissions if the check engine light is on or more than one monitor is not ready. The proper procedure when the engine light is on is to have the vehicle diagnosed and the issue fixed. Then clear the engine light and perform a drive cycle to allow the computer to test the systems and turn all the readiness monitors to ready for testing. At which point the vehicle can get the emissions sticker and safety inspection sticker. The emission test machine that we have to purchase by state law tells us after we perform the emission test if the vehicle is allowed to get a emission sticker. Also by state law we are not allowed to affix a safety inspection sticker to the vehicle until it has a valid emission sticker that expires over three months in the future. We typically do not recommend just clearing the engine light and doing a drive cycle unless the customer asks specifically for us to do that. In this case customer stated she does not have the money to fix the problem so we agreed to try this approach. We cleared the light and told her to drive it for a day or so then stop back in we will see if it is ready for testing. On Monday April 7 almost a week later they stopped back in with the [redacted] and the check engine light was on again. The technician cleared the code again and told them to drive it one day and bring it in and hopefully it will be ready for testing also if they repair the backup light it will then pass the safety inspection and get stickers. Tuesday they came in and I went out with a handheld scanner to see if the monitors were ready the check engine light was not on but three of the monitors showed not ready for testing. I advised them to drive it one more day then stop in and we will check it again and if the Engine light came on in the meantime they would need to diagnose the issue and fix the problem. I also informed them of the state law that states if 150.00 dollars or more are spent diagnosing and repairing the issue and it still was not fixed it is eligible for a waiver for one year .After which they would need to attempt to fix it again. [redacted] stated that the technician told him if we drive it for a day and the engine light is off and we fix the backup bulb the vehicle will get stickers. The technician in question has been working for me for about nine years and is my diagnostic tech and he understands the emission program very well. I do not know what exactly he said to them but I ask him about it. He said he told them if the engine light is off and it is ready for testing they will get stickers. The claim that I told them it would cost 100.00 more for stickers came from me telling them about the state law that says they can get a waiver if they spend 150.00 toward the diagnostic and repair of the problem. They are requesting I refund them the inspection money but we performed the emission and safety inspection which is what they paid for and both test are charged whether they pass or fail. The emission test gets one free retest within 30 days and the Safety inspection we will affix the sticker for free after the emissions passes and the inspection items are fixed up to 30 days from inspection. They never brought the vehicle in on Wednesday for us to see if it was ready for testing and I have not seen the vehicle since. The only money I can refund to them is 2.00 dollars for the safety Inspection sticker that we charge for with the inspection so it is paid for when it is ready for stickers. I can refund them $2.12 for the safety inspection sticker and tax.