Modern car diagnosis

Car diagnosis is becoming a real public relations problem these days. Owners are often far behind the curve in understanding just what's involved in the running of their cars. When asked to pay for problem diagnosis, they complain as to what it's for or why so much? In the old days when cars were simple and little specialty equipment was needed, charges were very small or sometimes nothing at all. Often just pattern failures of just a few componants were all that were needed to determine fault. That has all changed over the years.

Many thousands of dollars are spent each year by good shops for equipment and information systems needed to find out what's wrong with your car. It takes the constant expensive education of bright technicians to keep up with the latest changes.

There is only one thing more expensive than diagnostic charges..... the "free" guessing of the uninformed.
A common myth: Techs can just hook up a piece of test equipment and it tells them instantly what failed.
A common myth: Some shops don't charge for diagnosis. Believe me they do. It's just hidden elsewhere.