Free check engine light
My opinion on free check engine light services. Also a video added at the bottom from a morning news show about this free diagnosis scam. There are a few different companies that offer free scans of your vehicle to let you know why your engine light is on.
Just a few examples are several very popular auto parts company's. And one of the largest retail auto repair transmission services. You can probably guess who they all are. These companies would not be throwing down plenty of advertising dollars if this service did not create a generous amount of revenue for their companies. The free check engine light service may seem like a great deal at first. But it can lead to complications, and even large auto repair bills if your not careful.
Free check engine light diagnosis?
Let me give you a real world example of how this complementary service can backfire on you. I recently moved across the country to secure a new job working for local government. I left 20 years of loyal customers behind. A longtime customer that had his check engine light pop on and contacted me. I recommended that he purchase a diy auto scanner so he could tell me what codes were set, so I could help him further. Also this way he could retrieve the code and clear the check engine light himself in the future.
I explained to him, how simple it was to plug in the scanner and hit the read button. Then to write the code number down and hit the erase button to clear the codes. He agreed and visited a popular chain auto parts store to buy one of these DIY auto scanners. Here is what happened to my long-time customer. When he went to the parts store and asked to see the auto scanners available, a young man behind the counter offered to scan the vehicle for free.
My customer took the sales clerk up on the scan. He later told me that he wished he had said no to this free service. The young man pulled an O2 sensor voltage low code specifically for bank one sensor 2 from the cars computer memory. The parts counterman said all you need to do is replace that sensor and reset the check engine light. My customer's car was just out of warranty, as it had rolled slightly over 36,000 miles. He bought the oxygen sensor and a special tool to replace it. The grand total spent at the local parts store was $165.
He went back to the parts store and they pulled the same code for bank one sensor 2. To make a long story short my ex customer took his vehicle into the dealership and the vehicle had a bad catalytic converter. This was covered under the emissions warranty 7/70. The repairs were completed at no charge. He asked for a refund at the local parts store, but was denied because oxygen sensors and electronic components are not returnable as per store policy. This is to stop the try before you buy parts changers.
DIY auto scannersIf you reset your code and the check engine light comes back on. You can either take your vehicle into a dealership or auto repair center armed with the first stage of diagnosis to supply to your repair center. This will let the shop know that one you are an educated automotive consumer and two you will have performed the first step in diagnosis, which is to retrieve and clear the codes. This process will save you money on your auto repair bill. If you have some do-it-yourself skills you may be able to repair this fault on your own. A scan tool, coupled with the diagnostic chart for the code that has been set is 100% effective in solving even the most complicated problems. A good automotive scan tool that can read data streams will cost around $140. Add a user friendly online auto repair manual for your specific vehicle, this will cost $30. So for about $170 you would be able to take care of unlimited check engine lights yourself. Or you could spend triple that for one single auto repair.
Free check engine light service warning
They say that nothing in life is free, and this applies to the free check engine light diagnosis. Let's be realistic, no company will spend millions of dollars on advertising that does not return anything for their investment. The two companies that I did not mention have different strategies at turning their free check engine light service into profits.
As in the above example, if you set an oxygen sensor code this does not mean that you need to replace an oxygen sensor. It means that you need to diagnose the code to find out what the problem is. The service Company that offers the free check engine light diagnosis will pull your code and then prepare an estimate to solve your problem. In some cases, this estimate has been padded to include the diagnosis that they said was free.
My favorite part of this check engine light video is towards the end the news anchor tells the mechanic what happened to her when she went in for diagnosis of her service engine lamp. The story caused so much pain for the mechanic he had to cover his ears. Free check engine light help video
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He replaced the oxygen sensor and returned to the parts store to have the code cleared. On his return trip home within 5 miles the check engine lamp came back on. 
