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Vehicle Inspection

Discussion in 'General Chat Forum' started by ExRIGuy, Jan 6, 2011.

  1. goofus

    goofus New Member

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    Yesterday I took my 12-year-old piece of :censored: minivan into Goodyear in Ashburn Farm (next to Global Food) and had a great experience regarding an annual state inspection. They had me turned around and back on the road in about 25 minutes with no headaches or hassles!!
     
  2. afgm

    afgm Ashburn Farm Resident

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    Glad it worked out for you.

    Last month I was in a pinch and needed an oil change and tire rotation before a trip. Reluctantly went to Goodyear AF. Granted it was a Saturday and I didn't have an appointment but it took them all day to work on it. Dropped it off at 11AM, told me to come back at 3 which I did, not ready, so went back just before they closed. I was able to pick he car up. Car was supposedly done.

    In the morning just before leaving on my trip I noticed the tires had NOT been rotated. No time to ***** so had to wait till Monday to take it back. Went back on Monday and they told me they had rotated the tires and that the mechanic definitely remembered doing it because of the difficulty in removing a rear tire. Total lie. The reason I wanted them rotated was due to wear on the front tires. Back tires were in better shape. After I pressed and *****ed, and they moaned and looked at me as if I was a liar they finally agreed to rotate the tires. Three hours later I was out of there. Got the car home and one of the tires had 25 lbs of pressure in it. They hadn't checked the tire pressure.

    This is a re-occurring theme with them. Believe me I wish it was different. I'd love to have a very close by mechanic I could work with.

    The story of them trying to rip off my son for $700 of unnecessary work was another gem.

    Glad you're mileage was better but I'd be vigilant with them.

     
  3. afgm

    afgm Ashburn Farm Resident

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    On another note got the truck tires installed at Fallon's today.

    Prompt service, and what seems to be very good work. Included a front end alignment and a few odds and ends.

    The tire install, balancing and disposal fees (plus parts?) was a little higher than I expected but not exorbitant. $25 per tire for mounting and balancing, $15 for two tire disposal, and $8 bucks for weights(?). First time I've ever had to pay for that.

    I didn't beat my $80 tire purchase savings by using Tire Rack/Fallon when compared to Costco. I did feel more comfortable with the professionalism of Fallon's over the grease monkey's at Costco. In the end, Costco would have been about $40 cheaper, and as someone pointed out that would have gotten tire protection and repair at no additional fee.

    I'd still would go to Fallons as I also wanted to get the front end aligned. $100 for the alignment. Higher than most but it's a lifted Ford pick-up which adds to the time needed to align the front end.

    My go to mechanic will continue to be Dranesville Auto and Fallon is now my backup. For what it's worth Dranesville would have mounted the tires and balanced them and disposed of them for $75. Only problem with Dranesville is they take appointments only and their openings are always at least two weeks out.

    Got to pay a premium for immediate service I guess.
     
  4. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Totally agree. The Goodyear by Global Food is a mess and my family has had the same experiences there also. Years ago, when my wife took her car in there to get inspected, they tried to convince her she needed over $900 in 'repairs'. When I got there and talked to them I quickly came to the conclusion that they were simply trying to take advantage of the fact she didn't know much about car repairs. They wanted to replace breaks which were replaced about 3-4 months earlier, tried to scare her by saying she needed her entire cooling system flushed or "she would most probably be stranded on the side of a road one night". I won't go into the time they tried to hold my car hostage during an inspection; either I pay them $100 to remove fog lamps that were 'loose' or they would fail me. :censored:

    TOTALLY different experience at the Goodyear by the Ice House. Been going there for years and I'm VERY satisfied. I always 'wait' for my car; oil changes are routinely taken care of in 30-40 minutes from the time I arrive to the time I leave. Add an inspection and I'm out of there in about an hour. They did tell me that customers who wait get higher priority over customers who drop off. Nothing but great experiences over there and they always allow me to use multiple coupons, etc.

    I would highly recommend the Goodyear by the Ice House. Avoid all the other Goodyear outlets.
     
  5. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Yes, the times I've been to Goodyear for inspections it has been the one on Waxpool by the Ice House and I've had good service with no problems. I need an emissions inspection soon and need to choose whether to take it there or to Fallon's, which I liked when we used them last week.
     
  6. jamesmkelly

    jamesmkelly Member

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    I too agree the Fallon does a good job. I have also used Curry's auto and had good experiences - they have always matched, or beat tire rack, or any other competitor. They also run a lot of specials ofr tires at or near $10 over cost. Mounting was $75.

    I ma not sure why so many folks seem to think the best route for tires and tire service is the cheapest. Tires are the only thing that hold your car and you to the ground. improper mounting, balancing, or pressure can easily cause an accident. My guess is people would not take this attitude with brakes. Tires are arguably the most important part of the car and need to be purchased and maintained properly.

    As a side note, just a few pounds of pressure off in each tire isa major safety issue that most folks do not even think about. Especially now that the temps have dropped, everyone should check their pressures. I would bet 50% of the folks that read this will have low pressure. ow pressure also lowers gas mileage. I check mine monthly.
     
  7. Mike-and-Kim

    Mike-and-Kim Member

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    Good point. There was a quirk re the tire pressure light on the BMW 330 (which I learned about the hard way) - if they are all low it does not light, turns out it's only there to indicate an imbalance in pressures. Gotta read that manual one of these days...
     
  8. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Where does one go to get the nitrogen filled tires refilled?

    My car currently has nitrogen in the tires - is it possible to switch back to regular air?
     
  9. afgm

    afgm Ashburn Farm Resident

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    In my case I did not purchase cheap tires. I just got a good price for them. There's a difference. I shop around for the best price on good brakes the same way.

    Good point about tire pressure.

     
  10. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    A few pounds off isn't going to make a huge difference - your tire pressure swings that much just as your tires warm up. I've seen over 5lb jumps in spirited driving. What is going to make a big difference in safety is under-inflation period.

    And yes, with the cold air, most tires will be off - but in my experience that big dip usually comes back with the first cold days back in Oct/Nov and they stay stable for the rest of the season. Its first big temperature delta that seems to make the most impact.

    Fed has since mandated all passenger vehicles to have TPS systems, and they are required to go off when any one of the tires drop 20% off their cold psi setting.

    My last car had individual tire pressure readings too which was fantastic - but with the federal system now only requiring an alarm... most will just go the generic light path.

    Yes, you can switch back w/o issue. You just lose the benefit of the nitrogen if you mix in 'dirty' regular air. They will just purge the tire again if you switch back to nitrogen.
     
  11. afgm

    afgm Ashburn Farm Resident

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    What is the benefit of nitrogen over plain hose air?
     
  12. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    more stable... less moisture. Basically a more inert system less prone to psi swings.
     
  13. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    I did a small amount of research and opinions vary on whether or not the nitrogen filled ones with less moisture inside really help the tire last longer. Apparently anecdotal evidence says yes but science doesn't quite back it up. The jury's still out.
     
  14. afgm

    afgm Ashburn Farm Resident

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    Sounds like a sales gimmick to me.
     
  15. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    It's legit stuff - just how big is the impact. My answer.. not big enough to pay for. If its there, great, but I would never go out of my way for it.
     
  16. Winston

    Winston Junior Mint

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    Nitrogen does make a difference, especially in high performance tires.
     
  17. afgm

    afgm Ashburn Farm Resident

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    Sounds reasonable to me.

     
  18. vdb

    vdb New Member

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    Hello, Does anyone have a recommendation of a nearby place to have an emissions test completed? Thank you.
     
  19. jamesmkelly

    jamesmkelly Member

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    Jury is out on nitrogen. Theory is it is less prone to "leak" as it is a bigger molecule and also less prone to temp differences.

    As far as better in performance tires - probably not. Performance tires are very sensitve to pressure as the contact patch varies greatly with pressure and load. Whatever pressure you set your tires on initially, it will change when driven hard. At the track, this is one of the easiest things to adjust and changes handling greatly. There is no advantage to nitorgen here since you will be adjusting pressures (unless you want to carry it with you).

    Best thing you can do is own a compressor and check your tires monthly.
     
  20. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Possible stupid question: I have a small compressor that I use for putting air in air mattresses, sports balls, etc. Is it okay to use it to add air to my tires that currently have nitrogen or does the nitrogen need to be flushed out first?
     

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