Services — Lux AutoHause

Your check engine light is on.
Here's what happens next.

A check engine light is not a diagnosis — it's a signal that something worth investigating has been flagged. What happens next depends entirely on how seriously that investigation is taken. We take it seriously.

$285
Level 1 Testing — Flat Rate
2 hrs
Dedicated Diagnostic Time
99.25%
First-Attempt Accuracy
208-994-6408

The Standard

Every car gets Level 1 Testing.
No exceptions.

If your check engine light is on and you want us to fix it, the process starts with our Level 1 Testing package — $285, 2 hours of dedicated diagnostic time. We don't care if AutoZone already pulled the codes. We don't care if your uncle is a mechanic and already diagnosed it. We don't care if another shop already told you what it needs. If you want Lux AutoHause to repair your vehicle, we diagnose it ourselves. Full stop.

Why We Don't Skip Diagnosis
This isn't stubbornness — it's how we maintain a better than 99% first-attempt repair accuracy rate. We don't fix cars based on someone else's guess. When a previous scan, a well-meaning family member, or another shop's estimate is the starting point, we're building a repair on a foundation we didn't verify. That's how wrong parts get installed and real problems go unfixed. Two hours and $285 is a small price to know exactly what you're dealing with.
Two Separate Numbers. Both Transparent.
The Level 1 Testing fee is separate from any repair quote. The $285 covers 2 hours of dedicated technician time, factory diagnostic tools, and a confirmed root cause — that's the diagnostic service. If you authorize a repair, the repair quote is its own number: parts and labor bundled together. You know both numbers before we touch anything.

If the diagnosis reveals the repair doesn't make financial sense, we tell you that too. You still walk away with an accurate, confirmed diagnosis of what's actually wrong with your vehicle — which is more than most shops provide even after charging you for the repair.

What You're Not Getting

The OBD-II port shows 1–2 codes.
We read all of them.

When a parts store scans your car, their scanner reads the codes that have been passed from the vehicle's control modules to the OBD-II port. That's typically 1–2 codes — the ones the system decided were important enough to flag externally. Our factory-level diagnostic tools read every module in the vehicle and every code stored in each one.

What a Parts Store Scanner Reads
The OBD-II port is a standardized interface — it was designed so any generic scanner can pull the codes a vehicle has flagged for external reporting. When a parts store finds 1–2 codes, that's what the vehicle chose to broadcast externally. It does not represent everything the vehicle knows about its own condition. The rest stays in the individual control modules, unread by anything that isn't a factory tool.
What We Actually Find
We routinely find 10–20 codes across the ECU, transmission module, ABS module, and body control modules that tell a completely different story than the 1–2 codes a generic scanner surfaced. The OBD-II code is the symptom. The full module scan reveals the cause. This is the difference between replacing an oxygen sensor because a code said to, and discovering that the real problem is a vacuum leak causing the oxygen sensor reading to go out of range. One approach fixes the car. The other costs you $300 in parts that didn't solve anything.
◆  A parts store code pull is free. The wrong repair based on that code pull is not. We've seen $1,200 in replaced components that didn't fix the vehicle because the root cause was never properly identified.

What's Included

Two hours. Every module.
One confirmed answer.

Level 1 Testing is a dedicated 2-hour diagnostic session. Not a scan-and-guess. A technician works through every layer of the diagnostic process — factory scan data, component testing, power and ground verification, and manufacturer test procedures — before a single part is recommended. The full detail of what's included is on our Level 1 Testing page.

OE Scan Tools & Software
We use factory-level diagnostic platforms — ISTA for BMW and MINI, ODIS for Volkswagen Group vehicles, XENTRY for Mercedes-Benz. These are the same systems used by authorized dealers. Factory software reads the full fault memory across every module, live sensor data, and guided test routines that generic tools don't have access to. There is no generic scanner equivalent.
Load Testing
Many faults only appear under electrical load, at operating temperature, or under throttle. A vehicle that reads clean at idle can have a measurable, real fault that only surfaces under the right conditions. Load testing recreates those conditions in a controlled way so we find what's actually failing — not what looks suspicious on a cold scan at the parts store parking lot.
Power & Ground Testing
Bad grounds and voltage drop account for a significant share of electrical misdiagnoses across the industry. A component can throw fault codes repeatedly and be replaced multiple times without ever fixing the problem if the underlying circuit is compromised. We test actual voltage delivery and ground integrity at the component level — not just at the battery terminals.
Factory Testing Procedures
Every European manufacturer publishes diagnostic flowcharts for fault conditions — step-by-step procedures that walk through measurements, component tests, and elimination logic to arrive at a confirmed root cause. We follow them. This is the most reliable path to an accurate answer, and it's the reason our first-attempt repair accuracy holds above 99%.

Next Steps

You know the number
before we start.

Once we've identified the root cause, you get a complete repair recommendation with a bundled price — parts and labor together. No line-item guesswork, no "we'll know more once we get in there." You know what the repair costs before we touch anything. If the answer is a $40 sensor, the estimate reflects that. If it's a $3,000 repair on a car worth $4,000, we tell you that too.

A Complete Repair Recommendation
After diagnosis, you receive a confirmed root cause and a repair estimate with parts and labor bundled. We don't present a range. We don't say "starting at." We give you the number. You decide whether to proceed. If you authorize the repair, work begins. If you don't, we return the vehicle with a documented diagnosis so you know exactly what was found and what it would take to fix it.
When the Repair Doesn't Make Sense
Not every diagnosis ends with a repair authorization, and we're comfortable with that. If a thorough diagnosis reveals that the repair cost exceeds what the vehicle is worth, or that you're looking at a combination of issues that don't make financial sense to address together, we tell you. Clearly. We'd rather lose a repair job than have you spend money that doesn't benefit you. That approach is why people come back.
$285
Level 1 Testing
2 hrs
Dedicated Time
99.25%
First-Attempt Accuracy
3yr/36k
Repair Warranty

Not Sure?

Not sure if you need
Level 1 Testing?

Bring your car by. We'll pull codes in the parking lot and tell you honestly whether Level 1 Testing is actually necessary.

We've Sent People Home for Free
We've had customers schedule a full diagnostic appointment, we pull codes in the lot, realize it's a loose fuel cap, tighten it, clear the code, and send them home — no charge. If the light comes back, come back and we'll dig deeper. We're not here to sell diagnostics for the sake of it. We're here to fix cars correctly, and that starts with an honest assessment of whether there's actually a problem worth chasing.
The Truth Up Front
The difference is we'll tell you the truth up front instead of letting you spend $285 to find out your gas cap was loose. If we pull codes in the parking lot and the situation clearly warrants a full diagnostic session, we'll tell you that too — and explain why. Either way, you leave knowing where you actually stand.

Stop guessing.
Get an answer.

208-994-6408

Mon – Fri · 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM