Bill55AZ

We have safety inspections here in Utah, and the station tells me the outer tie rod ends are bad. With the car jacked up, I can get a little movement by gripping the tires at 3 and 9 oclock positions, but not much. Looks like about 1/8th inch at the edges of the rims. Another inspection station says they are fine up to 1/4 inch, but I have to get the dealer to inspect them in order to override the first station.
This car has under 71K miles, with at least a third of that on freeways. There is no clunking, no uneven tire wear, no unusual effort to steer, etc.
Of course, they offered to replace them, at $72 each joint, plus labor, plus the alignment....
Autozone has joints for $27 each....
Am I right to suspect the first station is just trying to sell me parts?

Gwampa

Sounds like "they" got quite a racket going. Try calling your state attorney general's office for consumer affairs or similar state org's. and file a complaint. Rackets like that need shutting down. For good.

decomm54

Your got it right, they're a racket in Utah and about everywhere else. He may be trying to "sell repairs" or may be overly fussy or not know too much about tie rod ends. If he works for a general automotive repair shop most likely he's "selling repairs". I got so sick of it I put together a web page: utahinspectionracket.tripod.com which links to research and articles on periodic vehicle safety inspections and why they don't increase safety or reduce accident rates. But here in Utah we're probably stuck with them, one time I complained to a state rep and he said everyone makes so much money off of them they'll never go away- even though they're just a boondoggle.
You can complain about that inspector to the safety inspection people, but past experience says they won't do a thing to a guy who says your tie rod ends might be bad. The only time they temporarily suspend the license of an inspector is when they catch him doing something truly outrageous, and that usually has to do with being too lenient rather than too strict. In future, try to stay away from inspectors that also do general automotive repairs unless you know them to be honest, mechanics usually look at inspections as only a tool to "sell repairs." I've had good luck with some of the inspection only places-"Just Inspections" on 72nd So. and State in Salt Lake City is good, Bateman's out near Redwood Road (1232 W. 7200 So.) is good, Quick IM State Inspection 3141 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT is also really good. The last one is run by a guy from Bosnia, and also does minor repairs but has never tried to sell any unnecessary repairs. Good luck with this! If everyone knew what a racket safety inspections are, and started to complain to their state reps, the program could be ended. Efforts have been made in the past, but the car dealers and their lobbyists have always managed to defeat them. There's some serious money to be made from safety inspections, which is why they're so hard to get rid of. You never hear of a state getting rid inspections if they're making money off of them by farming them out to private business. New Jersey just ended their safety inspections-so there is some hope, but New Jersey was actually losing money on them. Utah is the only state in the west that still has passenger vehicle safety inspections. They're a dinosaur that needs to die.

scott37300

I did the tie rods on my 04 impala with only 45,000 miles on it this summer, inner and outer. The outers are super easy, couple hours at the most if you have never done them before. I chose to just do all 4 inner and outer when I did it because they are fairly cheap and fairly easy to do, especially the outers.

I even got the alignment correct after changing all 4 tie rods! Just measured off the frame to the front and back of the rotor. I was just trying to get it close and take it in for an alignment but they put it up on the rack and it was within spec, I was pretty happy with that.

I would just change them yourself and then take it back to the place and tell them to give you your inspection sticker!

If you have an advance auto you can order the parts online and pick them up in the store and use code EMW25 to get 20 dollars off an order of 50 bucks or more. Also code EMW37 will get you 30 off 75 if you end up spending that much.

Chantel

Both of the front tie rods ends on my 2007 Impala are replaced.The left side went bad a couple monthes ago and the right side went bad last week.Right side was about to fall apart.My mechanic Gerald did the work and installed the Moogs with a real lifetime warranty.Knows I am keeping it and cheap was not the way to go.I don't like cheap parts on my vehicles.

RacerX

Its even more sinister than that. They dont care about the condition of the car. The point is to instill in you if your car fails that it may be time for a NEW one. The state only cares about tax revenues. And a $300 tie rod job pales in comparison to the sales tax on a purchase price of $30,000 for a new Impala. Plus the banks are into the inspection program also because who else writes the loan if you dont have the $30K for the new car purchase? And what about the insurance industry? Cars with liens on them are required to have comprehensive and collision insurance with deductibles.

In NY, the program is so bogus that there are 2 different prices and tests. One for NYC and the other for NY State. The state test is cheaper but you cant get it if your car is registered in NYC. And the state only warrants a half-hour labor rate for the test so in NYC it doesnt merit actually doing the entire test which includes an active emissions test in addition to safety items. So guys wind up cutting corners and only concentrate on getting the car to pass the emissions section.

Even the expiration dates are odd in NY. In NYC, it was supposed to expire on the day of the inspection 12 months later, even though state law only says it expires 12 months after the date of the inspection(which could be the last day of the month). They tried this rule upstate NY in starting Jan 1, 2007 and it was repealed by July. That was an attempt to write tickets and raise money for those cash strapped counties.