Two weeks ago my check engine light went on. They cleared it and today Went to these guys to a smog and told him the situation and they tested and did not pass. Charged me and told me to drive my vehicle for 70 miles. Did so and still nothing. Bad info, finding out that driving 70 miles just won't do it. Mechanic told me there's an impossible way to do it with Google info. Wish they didn't waste my time, gas and money and would of just told me to do the way it's suppose to be. Used to really like this place. Just my experience
Glenn, We apologize for any inconvenience you experienced with our service. We understand it’s frustrating when expert advice doesn’t fully resolve your issue. After clearing the check engine light, resetting all engine monitors is required before retesting. The recommendation to drive 70 miles, while based on previous experience, it is an educated guess. Readiness monitors reset when they experience certain driving conditions for a period of time, not any set mileage. You can look up drive cycles for your specific vehicle that are more accurate to reset your vehicle's monitors, but many of the required procedures are not feasible to be performed safely on most of our busy Bay Area roads. That is why the recommendation is just to do normal driving for a period of time/miles and come back to check readiness monitors. This works over 95% of the time. Unfortunately, you were one of the 5% that it did not work for whatever reason. Due to your experience, we will adjust our recommendation in the future. We have developed a printed handout that will be given to customers that fail their smog test due to unset readiness monitors. The customer then has the option of what they want to do. We empathize with your frustration, especially considering time, gas, and money. Thank you for bringing this to our attention so we have the opportunity to correct it. We are here for you next time you need us. Thanks, The Quality Tune Up Car Care Team
Response from Quality Tune Up Car Care Center