Re: Emissions testing

[Will Owen <nashwill912@domain.elided>]

So I was whining about having to get our Milano retested, and Charlie asked:

"Interesting.  Which shop did you use?"

It's an Arco, at Allen and New York in Altadena. Their regular price is $29.95,
and with the coupon it was $19.95. That's why they're so busy, I would guess...

"The Allen machine  at  the shop
I went to said right on the screen "Test failed.  Precondition engine at
2500rpm for 3min."  In other words, heat up the damn cat con and retest.  I
would think that would be standard operating procedure at any smog shop
(especially if it's programmed into the machine).  If they didn't do it, I
would worry that they are incentivized to flunk you, then charge you for a
"tune-up" and re-test.  I don't want to cast aspersions on reputable shops.
But one has to wonder."

Yes, one does. I neglected to mention that between getting the bad news about
flunking and my mentioning that the car really needed to be hot, the gentleman
did in fact offer me a "deal" on a tune-up. With an almost perfectly straight
face I turned down his kind offer and told him why, and he, with a somewhat less
straight face (which said,  "Well, you can't kill a guy for trying") then told me
how and when to do the retest. Said retest never was going to cost anything,
though - I don't know how much is mandated by law and how much by shop policy,
but my contract clearly stated that one retest would be performed at no
additional charge. There was supposed to be a very short time-limit on that, but
he said anytime in the next month would be fine.

Will Owen
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