I will simply copy and paste from the email I sent to their customer service...
This took place at
Store # 0444
711 East Ridge Road Rochester NY 14622
About 4pm 4/15/06
I visited the store for a NYS Inspection and was turned away because of the model of the car.
The car is a Honda Insight with 13K miles on it.
The car would not start on the lot because it had been stored for the winter and I had driven it only
a short distance to get to the store. I jump started it in my driveway and drove it there minutes before
talking with the service manager. All it needed was a jump to get it into the station, they refused.
I could understand the concern for the safety of the technicians but this is not an issue here. There are no dangerous electrical parts that a technician could possibly come into contact with while conducting a simple inspection or jump starting the vehicle.
All high voltages are clearly marked both with warning labels and are thoroughly insulated in bright orange jacketing.
All high voltages are located under the vehicle in the center and have plating covering all junctions.
The wire running to the High Voltage battery runs through a covered channel under the vehicle. There are no high voltages anywhere near anything that would have been touched by a technician today. The 12 volt electrical system and it's battery are an entirely separate entity from the Hybrid Drive Batteries. All service work on this car short of disassembling the transmission and clutch (where the Hybrid Motor is located) is identical to that of any other car on the planet.
I asked them if they would Inspect the car if I jumped it with another car, answer was "No, It's company policy that we are not allowed to touch a Hybrid for safety reasons."
I was told that it is your company's policy not do any service at all on Hybrids? Your company sells parts for the bloody things!
I find this to be an extremely ignorant policy. Your company needs to do some homework. After waiting for over an hour for my sister to arrive so I could jump the car, which took all of 30 seconds from the time she pulled into the parking lot, I am thoroughly enraged. What should have been a simple 30 minute job for any professional service station turned into an extremely unpleasant afternoon. From what I've read on the DMV web site Form #s CR79 and VS35 a certified inspection station DOES NOT reserve the right to refuse to inspect a vehicle based on it's model unless it is classified as a home made or custom built vehicle.
I will confirm this on Monday Morning. If I find that this is the case I will be filing a complaint with the NYS Commissioner of Motor Vehicles office.
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