The claim that a leakdown test "beats a compression test every time" is a big statement. A compression test tells you if there's a problem, and it takes about ten minutes with a $20 gauge. Leakdown tells you where the problem is, but now you need compressed air, a regulator, and a gauge set that reads correctly. For a guy just checking if a $500 beater is worth buying, compression numbers do the job fine. Leakdown matters when you already know something is off and need to find out if it's rings, valves, or a head gasket. Saying it wins every time is like saying a torque wrench beats a ratchet. They do different things.

Man, the sneaky part is that $500 is just the lunch money, you also stopped the 2pm vending machine run that always came with those deli trips. That hidden cost is where the real shock lives.