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CancelCultAntifaLol t1_j1xi3zy wrote

2 things I’ve learned since moving here from CNY:

  1. Shop around for inspections. No 2 mechanics are alike.

  2. 500 dollars in Harbor Freight tools, RockAuto.com, YouTube, and a close attention to detail can save you literally thousands.

It’s a given a shop will fail one of my cars annually for brakes and rotors and quote up 800 dollars in repairs. This is, max, 80 dollars in parts online and a few hours of work.

A different shop failed my Subaru for ball joints and wrote up a 4K dollar quote. Well, guess what? After-market control arms are 100 dollars a piece online. So, with some breaker bars and torque specs, I fixed it myself, and bought some fresh wheel bearings to boot. This literally saved me thousands of dollars, and investing in your own DIY repair skills is priceless.

This may not apply to you currently, but it’ll pay off in the future. Just follow the golden rule: if you repair it, are you comfortable with your family driving in it? If not, learn more and fix it better.

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Bamboochowda t1_j20zusd wrote

As far as shopping around for inspections, what's the best way to find someone who might be more willing to overlook a not-so-great homemade rust repair job, and maybe some hazy headlights (hazy on the interior, unfortunately)?

It's an 09 Honda that I believe is still mechanically sound and safe, and has brand new tires (Xmas gift from a parent).

I'm already pretty darn overdue for an inspection and I've already gotten a couple of warnings for past due inpections years ago, so I feel like I'm running on borrowed time at this point.

I'm not great with my hands, have no garage to do car work in this winter, and can't afford to pay someone to do body work because I am already living just barely in the black mostly because of high rent rates around the Upper Valley. So I'll do some sort of homemade rust repair as I'm able, but it probably won't come out pretty.

How do I go about finding a certified inspection place who might be a little less on the strict side as far as passing a vehicle?

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