I’m not a professional mechanic, but I’m a hobbyist. I do 95% of the work on my own cars, and have spent hundreds of hours in a independent shop working on race cars with the owner.

Good for you for going about this the right way, and getting a second professional opinion, and involving a third party. While unsavory shops do sometimes try to sign you up for work your car doesn’t need, it’s much more common for drivers to insist that their car is fine, despite obvious and often dangerous issues. Just head over to r/justrolledintotheshop for a laugh and a revelation of what exactly we share the roads with.

You are fighting the good fight, and helping to make an environment where mechanics can’t deceive drivers without recourse, and where drivers might actually take a (legitimate) failed inspection seriously.