Pennsylvania Auto Inspection travails

I haven't checked to see if the 10 days Pennsylvania allows for inspection are calendar or working days, but I missed both. 10 days is pretty short when you have a vacation scheduled for part of the time. However missing by a day seems to have had no bad consequences. The delay was partly for the vacation and partly because the garage I picked at random seemed to be pretty marginal, and also seems shady.

A young mechanic at the garage said my backup light wasn't working, and having "jumped" it, said the problem was in the backup switch. They ordered a new switch, but said it would have to be a special order since neither Napa nor Toyota had it in stock. The mechanic was a friendly guy, and when he left out a part which affected the engine air intake, drove over to my house to put it in.

I called a few days later, concerned about getting inspection completed within 10 days. There was a mixup when I called, and I was told to come in although the switch wasn't yet there.

The owner apologized for the mistake, then said "Did they tell you it [the switch] would cost $300?". They hadn't given me any cost information, and I was shocked, but felt there was nothing I could do. Then that weekend I researched 97 Corolla backup switches online and found the cost $37.10 and are generally available for around $30. That made me a bit suspicious, so I got out and checking the backup lights found they worked perfectly!

I was leaving on vacation until the following Friday, so spent a lot of time wondering what to do. I hadn't paid the garage anything, but already had their emissions sticker, and didn't know if I could switch to another garage, and even if I could it would mean further delay, and I was already 7 days into the 10 day period allowed for the inspection, even assuming the State meant work days. I even wondered if complaining too much could get me in trouble with the local police, not knowing how well they might be connected politically. I had visions of getting tickets for minor infractions.

I finally called that Tuesday and told them the backup lights were working, so I wanted to cancel the order for the backup switch. This the owner accepted with no objection. I then went in that Friday, day 11, and they gave me my second sticker after a cursory check. The owner merely made a comment to confirm the backup lights were now working in an offhand way, as if the ways of cars were mysterious to him, and we agreed it was good not to need such a "$300" part.

I felt lucky to get off with paying just $67 for the inspection. I did find out that there is a process for complaining to the State about this sort of misdiagnosis and overcharging, so that may explain their mild reaction when I said I didn't need the part. And it seems my fears of more local corruption were not at all justified, just late night paranoia. I think should report the whole experience, but the garage was careful not to put anything in writing, so I would have no evidence to offer the authorities.