At the end of February 2012, I took my car there after it failed DMV car inspection. I dropped it off right before noon and handed the print out I received from the DMV to the clerk at STS. The print out stated the check engine light bulb was out and the diagnostic codes that caused my car to fail. I reiterated to the clerk that the check engine light bulb was out and the rest of the work has to do with the exhaust system based on the diagnostic codes and based on the fact that I smell residual gas everytime I fill my car up. He said they'll run their own diagnosis to figure out the specific cause for the codes since each code can be caused by multiple things (understandable) and replace the bulb. He said it'll take an hour or two and they'll give me a call. Cool. I go about my business and figure I give em extra time to take care of what they need to 'cause sometimes things take longer than expected. Later on I realize it's 30min. to closing, and still no call, so I call them. Clerk says ""Oh, I was just about to call you""... right... he passes the phone to the mechanic to tell me what they worked on; they replaced a corroded hose within the exhaust system which caused fumes to leak, which is probably why the car failed inspection, they ""couldn't run the rest of the diagnostic test because the gas tank was more than half full (I just filled up my car the night before) and I should drive the car around for a few days to see if the check engine light comes on."" Alright, not thrilled that they said I may have to bring my car back in but whatever. I go to pick it up. I look over the charges(which is very clear, completely transparent) Their diagnosis around $80-$90, hose $19.95, labor $40 + tax=Total $154.63. And how much was the check engine light bulb, or was that negligible since it's so tiny? But then again, what about labor? Clerk says to me that to replace that, you have to take the entire dashboard out to replace that tiny bulb and it takes a while, and blah blah blah. You had my car all damn day and not only was that one of the things printed on the DMV car inspection failure report, but I specifically told him to his face that it needed to be replaced. On top of that, how in the world am I supposed to ""drive the car around for a few days to see if the check engine light comes on"" if STS didn't replace it?!?! I asked him this, and he had no good explanation, kept going back to they couldn't run complete diagnostic because gas tank was more than half full so I should bring it back in a few days.
And I wonder, is what happened because I'm female? 'cause I was very clear as to what I wanted and gave them that DMV print out just in case I wasn't. But my boyfriend always brings his car there without a problem.
2 stars only because the bill was clear and they haven't screwed over my boyfriend
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