Grumpy vehicle safety inspector

[daniel]

Here in Hawai'i, as I presume in some other states, every car has to get an annual safety inspection. Private shops are licensed to perform the inspection and charge a small fee. So I went to a shop near me, as my sticker expires this month. I waited my turn and gave the guy my registration and insurance card and he asked for the key fob.

That was the first clue: He knew from my papers that I have a Model 3, but he didn't know that there's no fob.

I explained that the phone is the key and I'd walk to the car with him so that he could get in and drive it. The second clue was that he didn't know how to open the door. The third was when he looked around and asked if there was a push-button start. He obviously didn't know how to drive the car, so I said "If you don't know how to drive it I'd prefer to drive it in myself."

That made him angry. He got out of the car and said that his insurance wouldn't allow me to drive it into his shop, and that if he didn't drive it himself he couldn't tell if it was safe. This in spite of the fact that he did the inspection on the car before mine without bothering to bring it inside at all. Well, I needed to get the inspection, so I said, "Okay, go ahead and drive it." To which he angrily said "I can't help you. You'll have to find somebody else." And he stormed back into his shop, with me chasing and saying "At least give me back my papers!" Which he did with a scowl.

I apologized to him but he just grumbled at me. I don't know, maybe somebody kicked his dog this morning. Or more likely he tried to kick somebody else's dog but missed. I guess he felt insulted that somebody would suggest that maybe he didn't know how to drive a car. But there's no way he'd have known how to put it in drive or how to put it in park or how to back it out afterward.

So I went home and went on line and found another place about two or three blocks away from the first guy. I waited my turn, and this guy just told me to drive the car in without even being asked. He had no interest in driving it. The inspection is perfunctory. Maybe ten minutes and $26 and I was on my way with my new sticker, good for another year, and now I know where to go next year.

The second guy was as friendly as the first guy was grumpy.

 

[CyberGus]

I'm sure we could overflow this thread with horror stories of bad automotive service. Glad you were able to give your business to someone more accommodating.

I once went to have an oil change in the DeLorean, and asked if they had worked on one before. "Oh yes, there a guy who brings his in all the time." Great! I pull in, and he proceeds to stand in front of the car and ask me to open the hood. "Ummm what for??" I ask. "So I can change the oil, duh" he says.

Anyone who has seen Back to the Future knows that the trunk is in the front. The engine is in the rear.

 

[camalaio]

That was the first clue: He knew from my papers that I have a Model 3, but he didn't know that there's no fob.

I would not expect someone that doesn't own a Model 3 to think "Oh, Tesla Model 3? No key fob!". Nor was your communication that the phone is the key wholly true (we give the keycards to the service people, not our phones).

 

[GoSharks]

Customer service is a two way street. You can’t good or reasonable service if you are unhelpful about it. What’s so hard about spending 1 min to give him the keycard and tell him how to operate the car?

 

[youngmcdonald]

OP’s first explanation was so wrong (about the key fob) that I didn’t even need to read the rest. I did anyway and a sense of Tesla ownership entitlement was just smothered all over it.

 

[daniel]

His question about the fob told me that he'd never driven a Model 3 before. Had I given him the key card I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts he would not have known what to do with it, or where the "shift" lever or park button were. I always drive my own car into the service bay. Nobody else has ever made a stink when I explained that this car is different.

But it was his attitude that led to my post. He was just plain uncivil. That's actually not all that common here.

 

[camalaio]

His question about the fob told me that he'd never driven a Model 3 before. Had I given him the key card I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts he would not have known what to do with it, or where the "shift" lever or park button were. I always drive my own car into the service bay. Nobody else has ever made a stink when I explained that this car is different.

But it was his attitude that led to my post. He was just plain uncivil. That's actually not all that common here.

Maybe your last point is the most important. Here in Canada your expectations would not fly, I can say that much.

From my side (and it appears others think this too), it sounds like you're almost making fun of them for perhaps not knowing "where the shift lever or park button were", which doesn't make sense to me. It's a strange car that does things very differently. He is not a lesser person by not having worked with a Model 3 before, especially since it sounded like you weren't being very accommodating regarding the key differences of the car.

 

[Candleflame]

Just out of interest, I wasn't aware that the USA have safety inspections. which states have them? Are they hard to pass?
With the rusty, half fallen apart cars driving around the USA I thought this didnt exist?

 

[SageBrush]

Ever since the Prius in 2004 I have been in the position of not being sure another person knows how to drive the car. I usually start off the conversation by saying "the car is a <xyz>, and it is a bit different." If the person says "no problem" I hand over the fob/card and then tag along to lend a hand or intervene if needed.

 

[RayK]

But it was his attitude that led to my post. He was just plain uncivil. That's actually not all that common here.

Haole? I ask because every time I've been to HI, the locals have been warm and friendly. Maybe because I'm Sansei and perhaps the locals think I'm one of them .

 

[CyberGus]

Just out of interest, I wasn't aware that the USA have safety inspections. which states have them? Are they hard to pass?
With the rusty, half fallen apart cars driving around the USA I thought this didnt exist?

Depends on the state. In Texas, they check basic safety stuff (lights/horn/wipers/brakes) and some cars get an emissions test, depending on the model year.

There are other states that have no inspection at all, but they are mostly the "flyover" states where everyone drives farm equipment anyway.

Vehicle inspection in the United States - Wikipedia

 

[Knightshade]

When I took delivery of my car new from Tesla, they actually had forgotten to get it inspected before delivery (and BTW- delivering a new car that hasn't been inspected is illegal in my state- but it was the Q3 2018 rush so I guess nobody cared and it was hardly the first illegal thing about my delivery)- But anyway it meant I couldn't get non-temp plates or my registration until it was inspected....

So Tesla contacted me in a panic (after I reached out to them saying hey my temp plates expire soon- where's the real ones?) to tell me to take it to a specific shop- which is apparently where they normally get all their inspections done for new cars when they're actually doing their jobs correctly.

So now even though it's a bit out of the way I take it there for inspection each year since I can at least be confident they know how to operate the vehicle correctly, and they've been pretty friendly the couple times I've been there so far.

Reminds me I need to get my 2020 inspection in the next couple months

 

[SomeJoe7777]

I think you could have and should have been more tactful with the inspector.

However, at the same time, if a service person didn't know how to open my door and asked where the push-start button was, I wouldn't have let them drive the car either.

I think you probably did the correct thing and went somewhere else where the service person knew how to take care of your car.

 

[PoitNarf]

There are other states that have no inspection at all, but they are mostly the "flyover" states where everyone drives farm equipment anyway.

No inspection on EVs in NJ since all they do now is plug into the car and see if it’s throwing any error codes, primarily for emissions testing. It’s nice to not have an inspection sticker in the bottom corner of my front window

 

[daniel]

Maybe your last point is the most important. Here in Canada your expectations would not fly, I can say that much.

From my side (and it appears others think this too), it sounds like you're almost making fun of them for perhaps not knowing "where the shift lever or park button were", which doesn't make sense to me. It's a strange car that does things very differently. He is not a lesser person by not having worked with a Model 3 before, especially since it sounded like you weren't being very accommodating regarding the key differences of the car.

I was not making fun of him. I very casually asked if I could drive the car in and he rather gruffly said No, and asked for the fob, though he had seen from the papers that it was a Model 3. It is not an insult to say that this car is different and note that he apparently had not encountered one before and I didn't want mine to be the one he learned on. But I didn't say any of that. I explained that my phone is the key and that I'd walk to the car with him so that it would unlock and drive for him. It was after he didn't know how to get in and asked for a start button that I again asked to be allowed to drive the car.

His garage is one bay opening directly into the parking lot. But rather than civilly explaining that his insurance would not allow that and asking me how to operate the car, he got out and stormed away.

Note please, that he did the inspection on the car before mine in the parking lot and never brought it into his garage! Yes, he apparently felt insulted, and FYI I have Aspergers and zero social skills so perhaps I was not as tactful as I might have been, but I am polite and I've never encountered a reaction like his.

On-line reviews say he is quick but has a bad attitude.

People here are generally friendly and since I moved here almost two years ago, plus my several visits before that, I have had consistently nothing but friendly encounters with everybody.

And, FWIW, when I lived in North Dakota and occasionally visited Winnipeg, and later when I lived in Spokane and spent summers hiking in southeastern British Columbia, I found Canadians to be universally friendly. I cannot imagine a Canadian storming off in a huff because I asked to be allowed to drive my own car. Maybe they'd have explained that they could not allow it, but storming off in a huff, certainly not.

Just out of interest, I wasn't aware that the USA have safety inspections. which states have them? Are they hard to pass?
With the rusty, half fallen apart cars driving around the USA I thought this didnt exist?

Every state is different. Some have no inspection at all. The inspection on my car consisted of photographing it from all directions and noting the odometer reading. The inspector I ended up going to never asked to drive it. He was standing behind the car when I stopped in the service bay so he'd have seen that the brake lights work. At both places the inspection takes a few minutes (based on the two people ahead of me at the first place before my personal encounter with him).

 

[holmgang]

I would not expect someone that doesn't own a Model 3 to think "Oh, Tesla Model 3? No key fob!". Nor was your communication that the phone is the key wholly true (we give the keycards to the service people, not our phones).

I visited a showroom and asked for an unscheduled test drive. Person there was very accomodating, and allowed me to test drive one unaccompanied. He pulled out a car from the garage onto the lot, came back inside where I was waiting, and said "it's all yours".

I got in, started adjusting the seats and mirrors and all that. I'd known from videos it was controlled via steering wheel. Then i went to put the car into drive -- i'd known from videos it was a column shifter -- but it wouldnt engage gear. It was raining heavily and I was didnt want the embarassment of running back inside and asking how to operate the car, and possibly having a "bothersome" supervisory drive. Sat there dumbfounded for while, had to get back on youtube to see the starting procedure, before realizing the key card was on the seat and needed tapping on the dash

 

[jelloslug]

Just out of interest, I wasn't aware that the USA have safety inspections. which states have them? Are they hard to pass?
With the rusty, half fallen apart cars driving around the USA I thought this didnt exist?

It depends on the state. In my state there are no inspections at all. If you can make it run and drive, you can get a license plate issued and drive it.

 

[CyberGus]

For those criticizing the OP for possibly being too curt: I hear you, and personally I always try to be friendly to encourage reciprocation.

But...

Anyone that has worked in a service industry knows that all kinds will walk though your door. If you want their money, you suck it up and take it. If you can afford to refuse business from the unwashed hippies, or anyone in a MAGA hat, then go ahead and be rude. Personally, if your check clears then idgaf if you didn't instantly become my bff.

No business has ever advertised "WE'RE #1 IN CUSTOMER SERVICE! (as long as you're nice)"

 

[john5520]

Not having witnessed the tone of the exchange from start to finish, I only have your word on when he got triggered, but it could have been from the very first interaction. It could also have been the simple fact that you pulled up in a Tesla. Still, how you talk to someone can make all the difference even if what you said seems petty on paper. And that goes both ways.

With that said, that's no excuse for the shop owner to be an @hole. He should have taken the high road and said what needed to be said calmly. It's been a long time since I've run into the type, but I simply take my business elsewhere. Check him out on Yelp. See what others say and maybe add your 2 cents. Check Google too. That usually gets their attention.

 

[Incredulocious]

Depends on the state. In Texas, they check basic safety stuff (lights/horn/wipers/brakes) and some cars get an emissions test, depending on the model year.

There are other states that have no inspection at all, but they are mostly the "flyover" states where everyone drives farm equipment anyway.

Vehicle inspection in the United States - Wikipedia

To clarify, in most states (including all those states marked in yellow), there is no “safety inspection”. All those states in yellow (like California) have only emissions tests to help keep pollution in check. Looks like 20 states have some sort of safety inspection.