I just took my '03 Honda Accord EX in for an inspection, and they came back telling me that my Headlights are "off", and need to be adjusted. They want $20 bucks to "adjust" them. Am I being ripped off? I keep my car in excellent condition. It just seems like a real easy way to add $20 bucks to the cost of the Inspection/Sticker... etc...

What do you think?

 

hmm have you hit anything with ur car? thats about the only reason i could seefor the headlights going out of allign. or maybe some poorly done front end body work. pull up to your garage or somthing at night and just look at where your headlights point, u should be able to tell if they are way out of alignment.

 

Nope... No accidents / front end work, etc... I just get that funny feeling that I just got stiffed for $20 bucks.... They said that they hooked it up to some "machine" ... Instead of arguing, I just paid the dough, so I can't do your test. I'm just wondering if anybody else has had this problem... Talked to mechanic and asked for the Alignment printout from the machine that they used. Guess what? That particular machine does not print out or save the alignment info...

The mechanic was gracious and nice, but that still does not mean that I'm not getting royally screwed.... (LOL) ... Am I being too ****? Any mechanics out there that can add some light to this?

 

Headlight adjustment is very easy and is typically a DIY item. I aim my own against the garage door as mentioned above. I've never been asked to pay for an adjustment on them.

Also, I don't think $20 for work that takes about 20 minutes is getting royally screwed. $60 an hour is a normal rate.

 

sounds like you are getting the run around for me, first of all most places dont check the alignment of headlights, and even if they do no one cars. At least it was only $20, around here inspection is $40ish, $60 for me lol. Did they say they could fix the problem?

 

I'm told that my inspection stickers are going to cost in the $75-80 range. I'm still trying to figure out if I can get a legal inspection after my installs ..... I plan to have a Random Tech cat in the mid-pipe, but the primary cat is getting deleted by the turbo. The secondary cat is where most cats are located. This will still need a cheater since there isn't going to be a cat between the O2 sensors.

 

you could probably still get one legally, really depends on the engine mangement.

no cat+OBD1+CEL+loud exhaust+tinted tail lights=$60 inspection for me lol

 

Thanks for chiming in everybody... Thanks for you comment falkore24... I just don't like feeling that I got ripped.... no matter what the dollar amt.... I do feel a little better after speaking with the mechanic. I no longer feel that I got ripped...

 

Engine management will be AEM FIC piggyback controller. ODB2 will still be there, so maybe it can be legal. I plan to have a recirc dump too, so I'm good there as well. Does the BOV have to be piped to the intake pipe?

 

wait so they charged you $20 to align the headlights?