Took my '02 Sienna in for replacement of an out-of-warranty O2 sensor, having paid $30 at a service station to read the fault code when the "check engine" light came on. The service advisor indicated our minivan would be ready "sometime in the afternoon" and he would call us by noon. By 2:30 p.m., and no call, we called and were told that the mechanics were just getting back from lunch and would look at it shortly. At 4 p.m., we were called and told that the car would be ready "first thing in the morning". The next day, we were called and told that the O2 sensor was "seized" in the exhaust manifold, and the exhaust manifold would have to be replaced, adding $500 to the bill. I stopped work, paid another $42 for Fitzgerald to read the same error code, and took the car back to the original service station, where the O2 sensor was removed and replaced without changing the exhaust manifold. (Two months later, a second O2 sensor failed, the service station removed that one, also seized, and replaced it in the original exhaust manifold.) I'm sure I'm not the first customer at Fitzgerald whose O2 sensor failed, and I would bet that the routinely slap customers with an additional $500 charge for exhaust manifold replacement.
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