Witnesses very often claim to have heard sputtering before a crash, even when the NTSB determines there was no mechanical problem. In this case, it was a Twin turbine engine. I’m not an expert on jet turbines but I cannot imagine a way that one could sputter. They’re not build like piston engines.

It’s a helicopter. A million things need to go right to keep them in the air.

Obligatory:

Whew. Some of these comments are pure trash.

You could say the only thing that got flushed...was his bank account.

Gatekeeping is the defining factor that makes any type of fandom or hobby a thing.

Everything I have just read tells me you should not be contributing as a writer and/or editor to automotive enthusiasts sites. Please find a job better suited to your knowledge base.

Step one: Know next to nothing about your subject matter.

Reading all these comments, may have to edit the headline: not sure if he still feels fine about it anymore.

That`s great, it starts with some flushed brakes, serpentines, injector clean - service writer’s never mean.

“small, but existent value,” and goes on to spend 20%, generously, of the car’s value in unnecessary service, at a 24 hour shop, on a Sunday.

Sure, but it’s not required to pass an inspection. And brake fluid only get contaminated if you have an opening somewhere in the system. If he never took the cap off (which, let’s be honest, he hasn’t), it’ll be fine for a while longer.

A writer for one of the largest online car blogs got handed to by a 24 year old service advisor who was really convincing when he said “yeah your coolant is uh, dark purple, it should be green. That will be $750"

I feel like the tape residue makes it 100% beater status.

Annual inspections are required in New York State, and I usually do this at my local dealer

^^ This 100%.  Dude got fleeced out of $750 of service that should have been recommended but not required.  They don’t check any of that shit in a state inspection, nor would they even know if was going to pass emissions testing without actually testing it.  

Jalop commit the deadly sin of visiting a dealership to have work done on his car, writes a thousand words justification letter asking for Redemption

I find it odd that there seems to be quite a large number of Jalops that are not comfortable with a wrench in their hands, which is weird for a car enthusiast site.

I think that your car needed none of those things to pass a state inspection but needed it to pass the dealerships inspection. 

The dealership model exists because selling franchises is great for the company selling the franchises (at least initially). And the dealership laws were created primarily to prevent companies from undercutting the franchisees (which would otherwise be tempting).