My car's check engine light came on and it was just a loose gas cap... after I spent $150 on a diagnostic fee

3 comments

3 Comments

A loose gas cap is exactly why the check engine light exists in the first place. That diagnostic fee paid for the technician's time to hook up the scanner and verify the code, not to mention the experience to know it wasn't a real problem. Without paying for that test, you'd probably still be driving around paranoid about your engine blowing up or wasting money on unnecessary repairs from a different shop. Do you think the shop should just wave a magic wand and know what's wrong for free?

ray35621d ago

Totally agree with you there, Laura. That fee covers their time and expertise, and it's way better than guessing and messing something up worse.

angela_harris21d ago

But what if the problem is something as simple as a loose gas cap, like Laura mentioned? @laura_schmidt82, I get your point, but $100 plus for screwing a cap back on feels like a cash grab. I'm not saying they should work for free, but there's a difference between charging for real expertise and charging for plugging in a computer for five minutes. Most cars these days will tell you it's a loose cap right on the dash, so why do I need to pay a tech to read the same code? Feels like they're making money off people who just don't know any better.