My Truck & the Alberta Gov. are making me poor!!
 

Just took my truck into a local ford dealer for an out of province inspection and the bill came back at a tidy $4200. Repairs include, Head gasket, right side exhaust manifold, serpentine belt, brakes (I expected this one) idler arm, rear U-joint (replaced 18 months ago). Now granted this truck is a 99, but its been very well maintained (all regular service). Starting to wonder what I can get for a trade-in once all the work is done :-huh

The best part is I've always had a great relationship with the local shop in BC where I lived. I had the truck in in June(Replaced both lower control arms for more beefy ones, all ball joints and bushings as well as new HD shocks all the way around) before coming out and none of these problems where apparent. There was an exhaust leak at the manifold but I was told it was minor and did not require repair as well as the oil leak from the head. Didn't realize the AB government was so strict.

Sorry Rant Off
Colin :)

It is a recent thing to be more diligent than before.


Who inspected it ?

Btw, where is "Calagry"...near calaway ;) (grin)

it has become "Law" for the dealers to become alot more strict. Its not supposed to be any different in any of the other provinces, but just over the last year we have had to tighten up on O.O.P.'s. What dealer did you take it to?

Don't really want to say who inspected it, Ford dealership here in town.

Its just north of Cranston Montana :-missingt

Colin

Hmmmm...That's why.

A Non- Ford dealership.... CAA approved shop would probably been a little more lenient

I've needed insurance inspections on vehciles over 10 years old, and I honestly had one mechanic fail my car because of a streaking windshield wiper. It makes a big diffference what mechanic you take it to.

Also, a mechanic has a financial incentive to fail at least a couple of things on any vehcile as long as they think you will get the repairs done at that shop. Most dealerships will assume this.

I hate to admit it, but your all right. It really depends on the shop. My guys are really fair when doing OOP's and will only fail a vehicle for glaring problems that fall under the list of "failiable" items. A good example of this is an oil leak. for an oil leak to fail an OOP it has to be leaking so bad that there is a chance it could start a fire, not sweating. We call it as we see it but would never fail an OOP for sweating but I have worked in shops where they will try. A good advisor makes all the difference as I have argued with techs before about the rules of an OOP and had to get the "bible" out and show them. I will also check the vehicle myself after a tech gives me the estimate to confirm the repairs are actually needed. So for future reference, when you drop your vehicle off at the shop, smile...it goes a long way to keeping the advisor on your side and looking out for both the shops and your best interests. A happy customer is a repeat customer.

Dave, which shop are you at? I need a good Dealership here in town, will probably be trading this beast in a while but until then I'd like to keep it in top shape.

Colin

Don't feel to bad, I ended up putting about $1000 into my 01 F150 to import it into Canada and Alberta. It would of been about $300 until we hit the Alberta inspections. It would of been more, but I did the required repair work myself (they wanted $50 to replace the licence plate bulbs). Other than bulbs, I had to do an Idler Arm and an alignment.

The 99 trucks were bad for head gaskets.Funny,I listen to what I heard and man.I work for Ford in Calgary and I have a tough time giving a customer a estamate for $4200. That is insane.

Caprirs, what dealer do you work at? I work for calgary saturn NE and there are a few things the boys in the shop wont touch on my truck at all. Need a place to take it to where I know someone that hopefully isnt Advantage....Way too far away from home.

Dave

I am at Universal Ford on Barlow Trail in the NE.

Does Bob Sellars still work there ?

I don't know much about Alberta inspections. When we moved there all they did was have us go to the local police station where they would make sure the vin # on the vehicle matched the one on the insurance papers.

When we came back to BC it was a different story. An actual inspection was required. My wife took her's to a dealer and failed. Some of the things that failed seemed very questionable to me. I took my truck to a local guy. It turns out he was involved in the whole process of this inspection thing.

He said there were doctors, lawyers and mechanics involved in the process.

What is he a tech or a saleman? No technicians by that name.