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Irritated that the Camry failed inspection yesterday. It was a surprise to me, because I've been puttering on it and am pretty familiar with it and it's in great shape.
But it was failed for a hairline surface crack in a rubber bushing in one of the engine mounts. My wife had taken it in, and when it failed she asked how much it would cost to fix, and the guy said he could fix it for $175.
My BS detector is ringing like crazy. I looked at the paperwork he gave her, and they don't even list engine mounts as an item to be inspected. He wrote it in next to "suspension."
I can understand if a strut holding one of the wheels on is damaged, failing a car for that. Or any one of a score of other safety related items, but an engine mount? The bushing wasn't even torn. Just a hairline crack on the surface of the rubber. Even if it tore straight through, there is little danger. The bolts are still there holding it all together, it would just vibrate a bit more.
So my wife didn't get the work done. Waited for me to get home to look at it. It's a $12 part from Rock Auto and will take about 20 minutes to replace. It's right on top, so I don't even have to get under the car or anything. $175 is robbery. Assuming he charged $45 for the part and $70 for an hour's labor to do a 20 minute job, it should still only be $115.
It's too bad too, because that inspector was walking distance from our house. I need to find another guy. He had failed our other car last December for the rear drum brakes, but I knew those were getting old and worn, so that was a legitimate call. This one, I question.
Seems like a conflict that he can fail a car and then fix it right there for you so it will pass.
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