flexible bake lines

[turbotime@webtv.net]

I have been on the list for well over 5 years and this is the first time
I felt compelled to post. I am a technician at a very respectable
independent Audi, VW, & Porsche shop in central New York. Some of you
have met me at Watkins Glen where I have done the tech inspection for
the NEQ the last 5 years. Some of you have failed the NEQ tech
inspection and know I will not take any crap when it comes to your
safety and the safety of the  other students and instructors at the
track. We have the same attitude at the shop, from the owner to all the
techs, safety comes first. As a certified New York State automobile
inspector a crack in the covering of a flexible brake hose fails the
safety portion of your inspection every time. This type of failure
doesn't fall under "inspectors discretion" the rule is written that way
so it can not be misinterpreted by anyone. This part of the New York
State inspection law is written so that we can all be safe from people
who are too cheap or stupid to know what is right or wrong. If after I
told a customer that their car failed inspection for a cracked brake
hose and they laid the "pressure test" bullshit I just read in my e-mail
box on me, their inspection sticker would be scraped off, their car
registration would then entered in the New York State inspection
computer system as having failed for a unsatisfactory braking system.
They would then be issued a 10 day waver and be nicely asked to never
bring their car here again. We don't want customers like that in our
shop nor do we need them. Melvine, in our shop the DOT approved front
brake hoses would be about $35 a piece, the rears $30 a piece, the shop
rate is around $60 an hour, it should never take more than 2 to 2 1/2
hours to do all 4 hoses, bleed and test drive. I'm not sure what your
shop calls a "brake fluid unit" but the system only holds around 24 oz.
anything more than that would seem excessive.   
                   TurboTim