It's A Matter Of Perspectives

So, last week I mentioned that my trucked failed its yearly state inspection because the emergency brake was not working. This continues of tremendous streak of this particular vehicle never passing inspection on the first try in the entire time I have owned it. After bringing my car to the family mechanic and getting the e-brake repaired I went back to the place I failed my inspection for my free re-test... at which point I failed again. According to the regulations the brake needs to hold to at least 1200 RPMs and while the guy told me I was close to that number he "just couldn't give it to me." At this point I called my family mechanic who told me that there was nothing else he could do the brake - he had made it as strong as he could. He then suggested that I just go somewhere else, because it seemed like the first guy was just giving me a hard time. [Sidebar: This goes back to me just not inheriting 'IT' from my mom. Whatever 'IT' is that makes mechanics or any other salespeople give some people leeway but not others, my mom has it and I do not. My mom could pull into a garage with her car not having any windows and pass inspection while I will fail because my truck only held to 1199 RMPs.]

This time I went to a smaller garage closer to where my mechanic's shop is and told him that I just needed to confirm my emergency brake was fixed. (He asked me if I had gotten it fixed, which I found weird. If I hadn't gotten it fixed, then why would I be there? That would seem like a waste of everyone's time.) I pulled in the bay, at which point I got to act like I knew something about cars and assist in my own car's inspection. This was an entirely new experience because every other time I have ever gone to get my car inspected I would simply hand over the keys and then wait outside the bay while the mechanic did whatever he wanted to my beloved truck. But this time the guy just saddled up to the window and told me to engage the emergency brake, put the car into drive and give it a little gas. I practically pushed the e-brake pedal through the floor, but barely tapped the gas pedal, not wanting to gun the engine and have my RPMs skyrocket as my car jumped forward and I failed inspection for a personal-worst third time. However, the guy told me I needed to give it more gas. It was then that I had to fight back the urge to say out loud the smart-ass remark that I was thinking, which was either going to be "I think I'd rather not" or "Oh, no thank you; I'm good."

However, more gas produced my engine going almost all the way to 2000 RPMs without my truck so much as budging. How the hell my emergency brake could hold that well and fail inspection the first time is beyond me. I could understand if I was as close as the first guy said I was and this mechanic simply wasn't as tight with the numbers, but I was well passed where I needed to be. I am now fully convinced that the first guy either didn't engage the brake enough or simply wanted me to come back and give him another $29. The rest of the re-test was a formality, because I knew I was all good for the remainder of my safety requirement. The kicker was when he printed out my window sticker, telling me (almost apologetically) that he was going to have to give a June sticker instead of a July one because that was when I first got inspected. For those of you who read my inspection ordeal last summer you know that this was exactly what I wanted. So, now I am done with car inspections for another year and I have learned of another garage to not bring my truck to next summer. Also, if I take nothing else from this, I've decided my mom is taking my truck to get inspected next year.