Advance To Stop Reading/Clearing CEL's?
 

Mentioned this in the Chevy Avio thread. Last week at a local (NC) Advance Auto, the guy on duty went out to read and/or clear a code on a customer's car. He mentioned in passing that in a couple months they would be "prohibited" from doing this.

He didn't elaborate "prohibited" in what way, although the intonation and body language had "by law" unspoken as best I could understand.

Anyone else caught wind of this? Federal or state legislation? Change in Advance or local store policy? Backroom deal cut with the OEM's to make people go to the dealer?

i could see "clearing" as being an issue, but reading should not make them culpable. maybe their advice can be litigated. I hate lawyers......

I can certainly understand why they would refuse to clear codes without fixing the problem, but it sounds more like a liability issue than a "new law."

Almost certainly liability, when I worked at Napa we were not allowed to work on customer cars, even if it was just putting in a headlight bulb or helping an old lady replace her battery despite the fact that most guys were trained techs. If anything goes wrong just a little, expect a lawsuit.

Retired Military in SA:

Over the years - I've seen employees at the local Auto Zones reading codes from OBD2 scanners in the parkling lot.

I need to pickup some odds and ends from them - may ask this question while I'm in there.

Sounds as if instead of "by law" it's "by lawyer".:rolleyes:

That's what I suspect too.

well then just go buy your own scanner,you can get good ones for under $100.

ODB2 scanners are cheap, I just use my friends so its even cheaper.:D

On the newer cars their use is limited though. When the airbag light came on, on my Chevy last year it wouldn't pick it up. Needed some sort of GM specific scanner for that.

Sad sad sad, the lawyers are winning, our grandmothers are losing.

i believe that would be the tech II scanner.GM only and about 1200-1500 used on ebay.

I'm still looking for another car manuf. that has a product with functionality similar to a "vag-com"
http://www.ross-tech.com/

While VCDS is definitely not a factory-supported or endorsed option, the enthusiast community has done more than a little reverse-engineering such that I could buy a vag-com cable for $100, free download the software, and see every code that my VW was capable of throwing. I could reset the Airbag light (and see its codes), other systems that it could see codes and interact with were factory alarm, tail-light reprogramming, default instrument cluster brightness....those guys at ross-tech have a good product.

I have never seen an equal for ANY other car manuf for any price under $500. $1200 on ebay for a special code scanner...ALMOST makes we want to buy another VW/audi...
...almost, because It'd need fixing so often that I'd NEED the advanced code reader =)


I'm still looking for another vag-com-like product for ANY other manufacturer.

i'll agree there.i love my vag-com.

There's no legal issue that I'm aware of. I can check/clear codes as much as I want to, and I don't need a signed repair order to do it. I do it a few times a week for local body shops.

Maybe Autozone is simply tired of losing money and wasting time on mooches who just want free advice, and then go to a junkyard, or shop on-line for the best deal. :rolleyes:

Oh that's not bad! If I had a couple trucks I'd probably consider buying one, but they don't break to often so its not a big deal.