Computer Diagnostics in Your Driveway

What the Hundred Dollars Buys

Most people have had the parts store read a code for free, then had a shop charge them to read it again. A code is a starting point, not an answer. A P0171 tells you the engine is running lean. It does not tell you whether that is a torn intake boot, a weak fuel pump, a dirty mass airflow sensor or a vacuum leak behind the manifold.

The flat fee covers a walk around safety check and a real scan with a bidirectional tool, which means we can command parts on and off and watch what the car actually does. We read live data, not just stored codes. Then we tell you what is wrong in plain English, and what it costs.

If you have us do the repair, the $100 comes off the labor. If you would rather take the answer somewhere else, that is fine too. You paid for the diagnosis and it is yours.

The Calls We Get Most

• Check engine light. Usually a sensor and an hour of labor. Sometimes not.
• It will not start. Crank, no crank, click, or it starts and dies.
• It died and will not come back. Often charging or a failed module.
• Something feels wrong. A noise, a vibration, a smell, a warning that comes and goes.

Intermittent Faults Are the Ones Worth Paying For

A fault that happens once a week is the hardest thing in this trade. A shop that keeps your car for three days and hands it back saying it never acted up has still charged you. Working at your house means we can look at the car in the state it actually failed in, with the cold start or the wet weather or the load that triggered it.

One of the jobs Brandon still talks about was an 85 Camaro in the rain. Turning the key on with the engine off and touching the brake pedal killed the whole car, and it took resetting through the door sensor to get it to crank again. It was an internal short in the starter. Nothing about that shows up in a code list.