need lenient mechanic for insurance inspection

[frozenrice]

Can anyone recommend a mechanic that'll pass a POS for insurance? I'm looking to buy a truck for cheap but the place I took it to for the insurance inspection failed it because of minor things like a missing tailpipe, burnt out reverse light, misaligned headlight, rusty body, cracked windshield. Even though their inspection said mechanically it was in decent shape - 60% left on the brakes, good suspension, strong engine and drivetrain, almost new tires they checked it off as not roadworthy, which I know is a crock. I know that some of these things are easy to fix, but I don't consider them as things that would contribute to it being not roadworthy. The truck is going to be used as a beater-once every few weeks if that.

[Tik-Tok]

Make up a name and license #. Insurance companies never look that hard at those f$^#ing things. Do you really think if something happens 6 months or more down the road, they'd try to get back to the mechanic and say "HEY, you said this car was SAFE!"

Edit to add: Of course, I've never tried this. Lemme know how it turns out :angel:

[frostyda9]

Those are relevant safety issues, IMO. Even the rust could be a problem (in an accident) if it compromised structural integrity sufficiently.

You have a very nice house, why would you want to park that POS in front of it? Go get yourself a Tundra :P Your neighbors will thank you.

[Ichigo]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Make up a name and license #. Insurance companies never look that hard at those f$^#ing things. Do you really think if something happens 6 months or more down the road, they'd try to get back to the mechanic and say "HEY, you said this car was SAFE!"

Edit to add: Of course, I've never tried this. Lemme know how it turns out :angel:

Actually that's illegal

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Make up a name and license #. Insurance companies never look that hard at those f$^#ing things. Do you really think if something happens 6 months or more down the road, they'd try to get back to the mechanic and say "HEY, you said this car was SAFE!"

Edit to add: Of course, I've never tried this. Lemme know how it turns out :angel:

wow, thats the stupidest thing i have ever heard, the inspection is in place for a reason. To keep those POS non-safe cars off the road. So honest people like me wont get fucked over when driving on the road

[frozenrice]

The point that I'm trying to get at is that IMO it's roadworthy. I need to find a mechanic that will give it a fair review. I'm not trying to scam or be dishonest. This truck is a dump runner/winter beater and will be gone when I'm done with it (hopefully by next summer). The purpose of buying this truck cheap is that it won't cost me wads of money to up keep.

[Akagi Redsuns]

Originally posted by frozenrice
The point that I'm trying to get at is that IMO it's roadworthy. I need to find a mechanic that will give it a fair review. I'm not trying to scam or be dishonest. This truck is a dump runner/winter beater and will be gone when I'm done with it (hopefully by next summer). The purpose of buying this truck cheap is that it won't cost me wads of money to up keep.

Roadworthy!=mechanically solid

Everything you listed is a revelant safety issue. No indication if you are going to backup, it's going to sound like ass with a missing tailpipe, it's going to blind people with the misaligned headlight, and the rust? If it's really bad, it may be one bad pothole away from body issues.

I think you should spend the $3 it would cost to get new bulbs for the reverse lights, take a few minutes and align the headlights correctly, and maybe get an el-cheapo exhaust to stuff on it, and take a hard look at the rust and ask yourself if it is that serious (ok, maybe ask a mechanically inclined friend) and take it to another mechanic? A mechanic has to sign off on the car, and who would want thier name on an inspection saying the truck passed, when it's clearly unsafe. Should have picked a beater that was in good working order? :dunno:

Good luck.

[Team_Mclaren]

btw: as far as i know, insurance inspections are not THAT tough compares to OFP. So if you can't even pass the insruance inspection....:dunno:

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Ichigo


Actually that's illegal



Originally posted by Team Mclaren
[B]

wow, thats the stupidest thing i have ever heard


It was a joke, hence the smiley at the end.

:rolleyes:

[rc2002]

No good mechanic would be willing to pass that car as he could be held liable for any injury/damage caused as a result.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Some of you guys are babies.with all your little rules and safe little lives..fawk insurance companies.frozenrice check pm

[the_new_santa1]

^I dont think so....My stepdad passed one from a guy with a brake light out, the guy promised to change it that day,the guy was a family friend so he did it, he got into and accidednt, the insurance comapany came to my stepdad, and my stepdad said...It was fine when I checked it...They cant prove it...And it was over with.
Again dont hate the player hate the game,

So Dont hate the mechanic hate the dumb fuck who got into the accident....(If it is the other parties fault them fuck them)

[Redlyne_mr2]

On another note try another insurance company many of them dont require inspection

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
On another note try another insurance company many of them dont require inspection

I thought anything older than 15 years needs an inspection now.:dunno:

[ziehr_ca]

i got our van done at a small shop beside the taco bell on 32nd (i cant remember the name) it was around 40 bucks and i dont think this guy even put it on the lift, marked it down as passing the road test even though the kms didnt move from when i dropped it off
also said the spare tire passed, van didnt even have one

exhaust passed, van is missing the cat.....and there's more

[Rat Fink]

.

[frozenrice]

Everyone has their own opinion - even mechanics. Yeah it's a bit rusty on the outside, the TAILPIPE not muffler is missing and doesn't sound like ass (normal sounding). Bulbs are easy and cheap to fix. Yeah the issues at hand probably are safety issues to some degree, but to call it not roadworthy in my opinion is a crock. I don't have a problem getting those things fixed as I can do them myself. Like I said, it mechanically runs fine, just doesn't look that great and a mechanic that would agree with me on that is what I'm looking for.
Thanks to those who pm'd me I will check them out once I hear back from my insurance company on whether or not I'll need another inspection.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren


I thought anything older than 15 years needs an inspection now.:dunno:
Nope not with every insurance company

[Rat Fink]

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[topmade]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren


I thought anything older than 15 years needs an inspection now.:dunno:

It's 10 I believe and some don't even ask for one

[barbarian]

AMA insurance doesn't both requiring one, at least at 12 years.

That said, are both reverse lights out? This is almost definitely the backup light switch, not just bulbs.

[frozenrice]

For the last time- I'm not being cheap as not to fix the problems that I mentioned. I'm competent enough to do those things. I just need a fair mechanic that won't nick pick the overall condition and call it unroadworthy. As it stands now, the first mechanic checked off the roadworthy question as no when I well know that it could/should have passed aside from those small problems. I think the mechanic was being a bit overzealous. What if the car was in perfect shape but had one burntout headlight? Is it roadworthy or not? That's my point.

BTW, it's just the one bulb that is burnt out.

[SilverBoost]

Hey man, if you had just taken the time to fix some of the small stuff before you went in then maybe he would have overlooked something here or there and let you slide. BBut you go in with al this shit wrong with it, as small as it may be, and expect him to pass you? He's thinking to himself, "What does this guy think, I'm just going to pass this shit?" Sorry man, but if it were me (the mechanic) I would have seen that as an insult that someone would assuem I'll just let anything slide. Fix as much as you can and then bring it in again to anther guy and maybe you'll pass.

Not trying to be an ass or nothing here, just telling you how I see it and how he might have seen it as well.

Good luck with it.

[Rat Fink]

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[frozenrice]

Hey man, if you had just taken the time to fix some of the small stuff before you went in then maybe he would have overlooked something here or there and let you slide. BBut you go in with al this shit wrong with it, as small as it may be, and expect him to pass you? He's thinking to himself, "What does this guy think, I'm just going to pass this shit?" Sorry man, but if it were me (the mechanic) I would have seen that as an insult that someone would assuem I'll just let anything slide. Fix as much as you can and then bring it in again to anther guy and maybe you'll pass.

Thanks for your comment. I see where you are coming from. However, I never said that I'd assume (or expected) that they'd let anything pass. There is a whole seperate line/check box asking whether or not it's roadworthy. This line was a seperate line in it's own section of the form. I interpret this as asking if whether or not it'll cause any accidents. Brakes are 60% remaining, newer tires, suspension, steering rack was checked off as good. This is what I'm interpreting as considerable items that contribute to roadworthiness. Yet it was checked off as unroadworthy because he checked off a few boxes that didn't pass? To me this is like getting 1 or 2 answers wrong on a test of 100 questions and you failed because you didn't get 100%

Yes I will get those items fixed, but all I asked for was the names of a few places that wouldn't be so picky or anal and have a better chance of passing it if and when I take it in again.

[frozenrice]

Originally posted by Rat Fink
frozenrice......are you failing to read the posts?

for the price of another inspection....you can fix the shit yourself and show your insurance company the receipts and get insurance.

quit yer bitchin and git er done. :dunno:

I read the posts and I said a few times I'd get it fixed. I'm not bitchin either. Just asking for a few leads and I end up having to explain over and over why I'm looking for what I'm asking. IT'S NOT AN ISSUE OF PAYING MONEY FOR THE INSPECTION OR PAYING TO GET IT FIXED.

[SilverBoost]

Yeah I hear ya... and the thing is is that nobody here has actually seen vehcicle and you were the only one there, so it' shard to give opinions on a situation like that. I was just trying to mayeb give you an opinion as to why you were getting some of the replies you were. Again, if the vehicle isn't literally fallgin to pieces, you should be able to get it worked out. Maybe evn if you called the same guy and suggested that if you fixed A,B, and C, that maybe he could cut you a break on D, know what I'm sayin? Or do you think that's even an option?

[frozenrice]

Well my plan is to get as much as the stuff within reason fixed and with rat fink's suggestion, just show my insurance company the reciepts. If that fails, then I'll need a mechanic.
When I picked the truck up from the original guy, I got a snooty attitude - "well it's a Toyota truck and not a (insert domestic truck brand here) so it has to be a piece of shit" kind of attitude. So I figure I'd never go back there again.

That's why/what I was asking for from the beginning.
Maybe I wasn't clear on that enough. Thanks for your insight though, much appreciated. I never meant to sound bitchy or anything, but for some reason I felt the need to have to explain the situation.

[import_rider]

I have heard that there are some shops in forest lawn (17 th ave SE) that might give u a fair inspection... I don't know their names though

[tentacles]

How long do you plan on keeping it? I drove my 89 Tempest for about 4 month, and I never got an inspection, I was still insured(got new plates and pink card and everything), I just never bothered to get back to my insurance company and they never asked me again after the first time. I DID take it in to 2 different mechanics, and both times they took one look at the car and told me to take it to the junkyard. I guess if one of my wheels did fall off on the highway and I take out a school bus or something I'd probably be fucked, but then, I always drove in the right lane doing 5 below the speed limit with one hand on the E-brake and listening intently for any odd sounds. I'm guessing as long as you don't actually kill anyone you could probably go for a while without the inspection.

I'm certainly not recommending this as a safe or smart thing to do. It's just my (cheap) way of living life a quarter mile at a time. :thumbsup:

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by tentacles
I just never bothered to get back to my insurance company and they never asked me again after the first time

This would be a valid reason for the insurance company to NOT cover you in case of accident.

[tentacles]

I think it WOULD be, if it can be determined that the accident was substantially caused by mechanical failure that would have been picked up on inspection.

Like I say, quarter mile at a time. :)

[Rat Fink]

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[tentacles]

For example, a car in Denmark fails if you can hammer a pick through any part of the unibody structure of a car. It gets failed and will only be allowed on the road with extensive bodywork. Same goes for mechanical parts....very strict. (why cars older than 15 years old are somewhat rare in DK).

How would they know this without actually using a pick?