AWD & the disintegration of society

[Legacy777]

On Friday I took the Legacy to get state inspected. It was several months overdue, but whatever. I took it to the same place I have taken it since registering it in Texas. No problems previously, and they appeared to do a decent job. Granted I hover in the waiting room watching them....but that's how I am.

Anyway.....they decided to put my car on a 2WD dyno. They had it on there for about 5 seconds before I burst into the garage waving my arms and yelling for them to stop! They said it had to be dyno'd. I calmly told them they had done it before without putting it on the dyno! They asked me to calm down. So the service writer (probably manager) came in and went through the prompts, and low and behold there's a spot that says, "Does this car have AWD" Guess what, when you select that option, you don't have to put it on the dyno.

I guess the part that really pisses me off....almost as much as the fact they put it on a 2WD dyno is that the service guy said he looked under the rear of the car and didn't see a rear diff. Yet he commented on the fact he saw my WL adjustable rear links. The rear diff is plainly visible if you can see the links. Also, to note....I have a "symetrical AWD" sticker on the back window. Hmmm.

Then at the end, he asked if I told the service writer it was AWD. I told him no. He complimented on the car and that it was clean...blah blah.

When I paid for the inspection, the service writer says, "It's no excuse for our ignorance, but next time you probably should tell us it's AWD."

To be quite honest....I guess it's my fault for giving them the benefit of the doubt they actually had a brain and could perform the job function they have chosen to work. I may have told them in the past it was AWD, and figured, "they did a good job last time....I shouldn't have to tell them this time" I was wrong. Hell, why don't I do their entire job for them.

This is just another example of the disintegration of society and/or the lack of pride/satisfaction people have in their job.

Steve, so when's the evolution movement going to take over?

[evolutionmovement]

As soon as I get funding. I sent a letter mentioning it to Howard Stern. I REALLY hope that results in something. One read over the air and the server for my site will crash. I need to get the second book out, too. Almost ready to send it in. This sucker's going to be 350+ pages - more than I expected.

Up here, they just assume Subarus are AWD. One of the times I took the fwd wagon in, they automatically tested it as AWD. I didn't mention anything as it's a quicker test without the dyno.

Wasn't your car originally fwd? Could they possibly have so clever a system that it checks the VIN? What am I saying, I'm sure they don't. There goes that damn optimism again.

[Legacy777]

Yeah it was originally FWD. However, interestingly enough my VIN indicates it should be 4WD 4AT. There's a separate call out for Full-time 4WD, both in 5MT & 4AT. So I'm not sure. If the transmission type was full-time, the computer probably would have caught it....maybe.....

[Aerotech]

Careers for mouth-breathers;

-McDonald's (Ya want fries with dat?)

- Airline baggage thrower (Lemme put this 100 lb box on top of your guitar, sir)

-Smog tech (Subaru gots all wheel drive??)

Add your favorites to the list!

[entirelyturbo]

Using VINs gets sloppier as the car gets older. Less and less information becomes available.

The car should still be identified as a FWD AT by the VIN... but in my opinion, that's no excuse.

This is an INSPECTION, for Christ's sake. They're supposed to check over the whole car, and if this is what these guys do for a living, then they should know what they're looking for.

But that's an assumption, and we all know what happens when we assume.

Anthropocentric is the one word that has stuck in my head more than any other after reading The World Without Us. It is (watch my choice of words) the BELIEF that this planet is centered around the human race.

I regard it as only a belief, and a false one at that. If it's any solace, Earth will rid itself of us if and when it sees fit, and then it can start over again.

[quicklook]

in ohio they do not have to dyno awd. i tell them this and make them repeat it back. then i stand there if they come anywhere near the dyno wheel, it is in the lane, with the front wheels i have my girlfriend pull up her top and that gives me time to stop them from breaking anything.

[corsair]

at least you have inspections, in Oklahoma, we have no inspections, at all

seems strange but man I don't think I can keep count of all the cars driving around with 1 brake light or some other thing that NY/PA inspections would catch, and seeing a totaled vehicle on the road is just plain scary, rolled trucks and smashed up compact cars...

[Legacy777]

Yeah....I've noticed that too. Wa didn't have annual inspections either, and there is a lot of crap driving around up there.

There's some crap driving around down here, and in PA when I lived up there, but it's a lot less then what I saw in WA.

[evolutionmovement]

I became a big fan of inspections while living in Detroit. For over a month, an entrance ramp to the Lodge Freeway was virtually blocked by a Caravan with the front wheel broken off underneath it. The Freeway itself had a breakdown lane on each side for all the junks that were usually just abandoned after breaking down. I've never seen so many unsafe, night-of-the-living-dead cars driving around in a state with inspections.

[Legacy777]

Memphis was kind of like that too. There were more broken down cars & car fires on the loop around memphis then I have ever seen.

[93forestpearl]

If we had inspections, I would never pass with what I have going on under the hood. I do agree that it is nice to get the junk off the road though.

For a while we had emissions testing here in MN, but stidies showed that inspections made no contributions to improving our air quality so Jesse The Body axed the testing while he was in office.

[Legacy777]

Based on what they do.....they just check safety stuff, make sure the fuel system can be pressurized, and do a sniffer test.

Granted you might not pass a sniffer test, but everything else is just your standard safety stuff, lights, horn, tires, wipers, etc.

[93forestpearl]

Yeah, I'd have to put an evaporative system back in, and get a cat on the car. With a good tune, I could pass the sniffer. They don't do WOT pulls, so I'd be ok there.

[beatersubi]

...Which is why it is illegal to drive with unsafe equipment (i.e. one or no working brakelights, burnt-out headlight, cracked windshild, etc.) and the drivers of such vehicles should be stopped and cited. But unfortunately, 'fix-it' tickets don't make any money for the municipality and cops have more important things to worry about, I'm sure.

[corsair]

rant

yeah I guess on another note half the time around here I don't know if the idiot in question is missing a turn signal because it's like nobody around here uses them anyway

/rant

[entirelyturbo]

We don't have inspections in FL, and you do see broken-down cars pretty regularly. But, on the highway at least, they won't stay long. Maybe a couple days tops. They'll put a red sticker on the window, which I presume says that they'll tow the car away themselves if it isn't removed in x number of days.

One exception. When I worked at Toyota, there was a Cadillac that caught fire in front of the Ford dealer further down the street. For some reason, that car sat there for about a month. It was out of the way of traffic, but this was on State Road 50, which crosses the state and is pretty much the main thoroughfare through Orlando, so I was surprised.

Because I was driving the employee shuttle at the time, and I must have driven past it a couple thousand times that month, I actually kinda missed it when it was finally towed away.

[Legacy777]

I just noticed yesterday while working on my car that the fuck sticks scratched the shit out of my muffler's exhaust tip with the exhaust sniffer!

It's fucking ridiculous.....you just can't have anything nice....

Bring on thermonuclear war.....

[entirelyturbo]

We are indoctrinating you well Josh

[quicklook]

idiots!!!!!!!

[corsair]

don't worry, the world is ending in less than a month

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 130915.htm

[Legacy777]

Haha.....yeah I heard about that.

[BAC5.2]

There is a fundamental underlying problem. If they were so clever to look up the VIN and it came back FWD AT...

Did they comment that not only is your car FWD, but there is no Park or Drive gear?

You'd think if the VIN said it was an automatic, and the car is clearly a 5-speed, that would trigger a few things.

[Legacy777]

I watched them redo the test the second time around and it didn't specify transmission type, at least from what I remember.

But yeah, my VIN actually says the trans is 4WD 4AT.....there's no category for FWD 4AT. There's a FWD 5MT category, but no FWD 4AT. Then there's also a Full-time 4WD 5MT & 4AT category. Which if the VIN fell in that category, the computer would have probably caught it.

[smh0101]

Wow... thats interesting...

Whats cool about where I live, Woodland, WA

We dont have any inspections or Emissions testing here... So yeah, I'm cat-less...

My step dad who was a cop was like "Does that have cats" I was like, yep, its inside the angled part of the downpipe and you cant see it...

He beleived me...

Later I told him it was cat less but he still believed me at first... i was like

[Legacy777]

I can smell whether a car has cats....it's pretty obvious.