Car inspector said I need to get rid of my car

[Anonymous]

That was weird. I went to get the safety inspection done on my car. He pulled it into the bay, then pulled out and said I need to get rid of the car or trade it. He said it was too old. (It's 21 years old). He started saying the engine mounts were bad, shocks were bad, etc. I replaced the engine and shocks myself so I know they're fine.

I said to just make a list of thing wrong with it and I'd fix them. He went back in the bay, then came out a couple minutes later and said his back was sore and he couldn't do the safety inspection. He said he just had back surgery so he couldn't inspect the brakes etc. He suggested he could do the emissions so at least I'd have that done. It passed emissions.

It sort of makes me wonder if he's really inspecting other cars.

[Anonymous]

That's a very odd exchange. Where was this at?

[Anonymous]

Bizzare. I’d go somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like he was gearing up to lowball you on an offer for your car

[Anonymous]

You still the safety inspection so go do that and see what, if anything, fails. That's your first step. If a second inspector determines the car has significant mechanical/safety deficiencies, you can then decide whether to address those through repairs or by replacing the vehicle. In any case, a 21-year old car is definitely going to require more ongoing maintenance, may be prone to inconvenient failures, and will lack the safety attributes of newer vehicles, so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like he was gearing up to lowball you on an offer for your car

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like he was gearing up to lowball you on an offer for your car

+1

[Anonymous]

So? Just go somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

He just didnt want to do the work to inspect. Go elaewhere.

[Anonymous]

He wanted to buy it from you for super cheap, but you didn't go along with it.

That's my guess.

[Anonymous]

So it's a 2002 car? That doesn't seem that old.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean “you replaced the engine yourself”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That was weird. I went to get the safety inspection done on my car. He pulled it into the bay, then pulled out and said I need to get rid of the car or trade it. He said it was too old. (It's 21 years old). He started saying the engine mounts were bad, shocks were bad, etc. I replaced the engine and shocks myself so I know they're fine.

I said to just make a list of thing wrong with it and I'd fix them. He went back in the bay, then came out a couple minutes later and said his back was sore and he couldn't do the safety inspection. He said he just had back surgery so he couldn't inspect the brakes etc. He suggested he could do the emissions so at least I'd have that done. It passed emissions.

It sort of makes me wonder if he's really inspecting other cars.

Was this in Burke near route 123?
I had exact same thing happen, it passed inspection at another place, and I'm still driving the car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean “you replaced the engine yourself”?

You realize that there are people who are good enough shade tree mechanics to perform an engine swap, right?

[Anonymous]

Shady. Don’t go back there.