Too STIFF for a sticker?

[Car Whore]

Ok, Inski or any of you techs.......I was just told my car won't pass inspection because "it's been lowered or something, and it's too stiff. You push on it and it doesn't even move." Nothing is worn, it is just "too stiff"..........I've never heard that one before.

 

[TheNailman]

sounds like you're being had. i'm sure inski will chime in at some point.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

Idiots. Being paid to make cars "safer" but they have no farking idea....

did I mention that Maine inspection laws are a Bad Joke?

 

[Car Whore]

I'm going to pick it up. I'll update with the results. I'm afraid here's another shop that I thought was honest and decent that has screwed me over.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

ironically it's the 'straight shooter' type shops that are most narrow-minded on inspections. anything I mean anything that is not stock they see as a red flag.

turns out the ME DMV did a bunch of sting operations on inspection shops, yanked some licenses and since then things have just gone right down effing hill.

PS...mebbe they just don't like BMWs?

 

[IBratmanI]

Is this sears by chance? They tried to do the same type of crap to me. So I told them where they could put it, and I got 200 off my new tires I had just had put on.

 

[COSTIGAN86]

There is nothing in the inspection manual about suspension stiffness. Honestly, when I inspect your car, I don't care if your ass hurts cause its too stiff. that's your decision.

 

[i-wagon]

i can't make the dump trucks at work move when i jump in the body, should those fail too?

if it is absolutely something aftermarket you've done i think they can fail you... i'd find a different sticker guy, like one who only checks the lights

 

[MAINIAC XV]

As far as being too low the State law calls for a minimum of 1" clearance tire to fender

 

[Car Whore]

ironically it's the 'straight shooter' type shops that are most narrow-minded on inspections. anything I mean anything that is not stock they see as a red flag.
turns out the ME DMV did a bunch of sting operations on inspection shops, yanked some licenses and since then things have just gone right down effing hill.

PS...mebbe they just don't like BMWs?

Ding ding ding!!!! We have a winner!!

The guy hates BMWs!! He said they were poorly engineered pieces of junk and they hate working on them!

I noticed on the RO that they didn't put down a coolant flush, which I had clearly asked for AND had written on a piece of paper for them. I asked how much for the coolant flush if I came back, and he goes "Whatever time we have into it. They're a pain in the ass to do anything on." Then he adds "That's why we tell people not to buy BMWs, because they're junk. They're poorly engineered." I'm just standing there, like...

.....wtf did I do?!?!?!

I asked him why he felt that way, and he went into something about a service costing $1000 because this part cost this much, whereas this other car was only $200. I said "Well, that's because the parts cost too much, not because the car is junk." And he said something about a plastic thermostat housing, and I said "Well, there are plenty of cars these days with plastic everything, not just BMW." So, anyways, the guy took his distaste of BMW out on my car, I guess.

Then the suspension thing......I asked why being too stiff was an issue, and that it never was on my two previous stickers. He tried to make up something like the car could follow the grooves and you could lose control, making it unsafe......

My two completely shot and torn endlinks weren't a problem, though....

This is Bothel's in Cape Elizabeth, BTW. They had done work on the car a couple of other times for me, and were very decent to me. This time, he even put a $22 surcharge on the 2 tires I changed because they were "lo-profile and stick-on weights". So, it was $37.50 plus $22.00 to put on some 205/50/17 tires. I told him they didn't charge me extra for the other two that I had done a couple of months back (same guy I dealt with), and he goes "We did work before on this?"....

So, if you have a BMW (or any car, actually), do not go to Bothel's.

 

[Ty Ty]

I get my inspections done at Ossipee Trail Motors on 25 heading out of Gorham into Standish. They don't "interpret" the laws like some places do. Some of the Maine laws are rather vague, and so mechanics like to interpret them however they choose.

I've been getting it done there for the past 2 inspections. You'd be hard pressed to push down the suspension by hand, it's quite loud, and not altogether "stock". Passed no problems. This year all I had to do was remove my sharp mud flap brackets off the side. They had no flaps attached, and were unsafe for people brushing by. I went home, took the fender flares off, unbolted the brackets, brought it back and they stickered it later in the day. Some places would fail it and make me pay the $15 again for another inspection.

 

[IBratmanI]

Well I agree that BMW's are junk and a pain to work on:lol: But this guy sounds like an ass, and is making crap up for whatever reason. Go find a different place.

 

[Chris]

My last inspection was at Norms, and I had to get new wipers ... They were only 4 months old but one of the plastic things that holds them in fell off the end. So one day in a rain storm the wiper blade stated to come out. I went outside and wrapped some bailing wire tight around it to hold it in (much stronger than the stupid plastic things). Then later replaced all the plastic end caps that way. They failed the wipers because of the fact that I made them actually stay on the car. BUT, they didn't fail it for a stripped lug stud on a front wheel. WTF inspection people??

 

[patsti]

lol bmw's are not hard to work on... people are dumb. Subies are hard to work on... Like changing the spark pluggs in a stock sti...

There are laws for ride hight and ****. Tell them its a stock bmw with sport suspension and they wont do a damn thing... they cant prove its not unless they are smart.

 

[inski]

I'm not going to chime in here.

inski's state inspeculation:

Tires have meat?

Brakes have meat?

Anything underneath busted?

Everything on the outside work?

Exhaust make it all the way out the back?

Windscreen keep the bug off yo face?

Could this car bring Grammy to church and back?

PASS

State Inspection mechanics dont get paid enough to enforce or interpret Maine's laws. Having a state inspection license does not mean you have authority. It means you might have the ability to differentiate between whats broken and whats not broken.

 

[Nate]

I'm not going to chime in here.
inski's state inspeculation:

Tires have meat?

Brakes have meat?

Anything underneath busted?

Everything on the outside work?

Exhaust make it all the way out the back?

Windscreen keep the bug off yo face?

Could this car bring Grammy to church and back?

PASS

State Inspection mechanics dont get paid enough to enforce or interpret Maine's laws. Having a state inspection license does not mean you have authority. It means you might have the ability to differentiate between whats broken and whats not broken.

Well said sir.

 

[MikeD]

I know where I'm getting my car inspected from now on....

I've only been asked about one thing with my car and that's the windscreen tinting I have on...its really dark. But, Maine doesn't have a law about the tint percentage of a windscreen strip, they do however have laws about the width of said strip. I had to explain and prove this to the Subaru dealership in the greater Augusta area

Cough....Charlie's.....Cough

 

[Car Whore]

I'm not going to chime in here.
inski's state inspeculation:

Tires have meat?

Brakes have meat?

Anything underneath busted?

Everything on the outside work?

Exhaust make it all the way out the back?

Windscreen keep the bug off yo face?

Could this car bring Grammy to church and back?

PASS

State Inspection mechanics dont get paid enough to enforce or interpret Maine's laws. Having a state inspection license does not mean you have authority. It means you might have the ability to differentiate between whats broken and whats not broken.

Now that's more like it...

 

[Chris]

I'm not sure if the BMW would bring grammy to church and back ... it might bring her right into church though