Malfunction indicator?

Steve wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

If the light doesn't come back on with the same code, it was truly fixed.

Really.

Ugh, I figured it might be something like that, but they were already into me for $100+ for the diagnostics (allegedly to see if it was just a malfunctioning light), and by that time it was just too much trouble to take it elsewhere. I have this survey form from Toyota, wonder if complaining will accomplish anything...

Steve wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

$200 converts to just under two hours labor at the usual dealer shop rate.

Have you asked (nicely, because you're trying to get a question answered, not lynch somebody) what exactly took them two hours and why two hours were charged?

What should the parts cost? Would any dealer charge this much, or do you think my particular dealer is outta line?

Asked the dealer about this, here's their response:

I looked into the repair - $100 of the labor charge was for the diagnosis to find the failed O2 sensor, and the remaining is for the replacement and then retesting to ensure that the failed O2 sensor was the only cause of the check engine light.

So it is a hundred bucks to plug in the code reader and another hundred for simply replacing and then plugging in the code reader again. This is why I try to do as much as I can on my own and ask a lot of questions here when I need to before I do it. Tomes

Well, you have to have a code reader to begin with. The good ones aren't cheap.

"Sam in Savannah"...

I think a cheap one will do. One just needs to read the code and then ask what it means here. The point made here is that it takes about 5 minutes to read a code, and then maybe another 5 minutes to look up what it means if the crack mechanic does not know already.

And, yep, I have a reader, got it for Christmas some time ago. A vey handy and cost effective thing to have. Tomes

I bought the cheapest Actron OBD II code reader, and while it reads the standard SAE codes, I wish I had bought a little more sophisticated model that could read sensor values and non-standard codes.