My sister recommended Quality Auto Service to me. I had met the owner's wife but not him one time two years ago. My nephews hang out with their son. Because of this I gave the owner the benefit of every doubt. Here's my story... Oct 21-Made appt. for following Monday to repair headlight tailight and diagnostic on oil leakage, engine missing.
Oct.24-Brought car in 8a.m. I Sugested tune-up as well. Owner said cars in this age range rarely required tune-up but he would look car over for repairs. I did not hear from repair shop until late Tuesday the 25th in response to my call to them about the condition of my car. Oct 25th- Owner said plug wires were arcing indicating need for tune-up, car needed valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket and rear seal repaired. He said the car was dirty with oil making it hard to diagnose and he was very busy with other customers. He asked me for the keys to the back hatch to repair the tailight. He said my car would be finished the following day. Oct 26th- Car not done Oct. 27th- Owner said I caught him at a really bad time when I called- that he was having problems with a customer-car still not ready-but since he had access to the cluch because of other repairs I should let him replace it as he felt I had 3-6 months left on it. He said he would charge only for the parts as the labor had already been done in the course of the other repairs. I gave him permission to do the clutch. Oct. 28th- Owner called saying I could pick up my car. I paid 945.00 for headlight , tailight,clutch, rear bearing seal, valve cover gasket, and oil pan gasket. I wrote check and drove car away from shop noticing the clutch had much less resistance, the engine was still missing. I went to put gas in the car thinking that the missing was caused by the fuel injection system which sometimes occured with this car if I used cheap gas or was low on gas. While drving to the gas station the car stalled out three times while I was driving. As I pulled into the station about one mile away, a man said your car is smoking. I turned off the ignition and we looked under the hood.We found fluid spewing out from the valve cover gasket area. The man told me to get the car right back to the repair shop- which I did. The owner and technician looked at my car and the owner admitted to forgetting to do my tune-up. In addition he told me that his technician had recommended that he replace the valve cover and not just the gasket-he said he was just trying to save me some money. He said he would charge me only for tune-up parts and the valve cover. I told him the car souded different to me-like tapping noises that weren't there before-especially upon acceleration. He said that the sounds were probably there all along and I couldn't hear them because there was so much sludge in my oil. He also mentioned that I might be acutely sensitive to sound as some customers are directly after repair work. At this point, the owner's technician walked over and reminded the owner that he had found metal shavings in my oil pan. I asked what does that mean- and was told it could posssibly be a rod or a bearing. I said those noises weren' ever there before please take a closer look at the car. Oct. 31- Owner called and said car was ready. I paid 171.00 and drove car to my daughter's house two miles away. The tapping nises were still there, but there was no missing in the engine. It was late in the day and I did not take the car right back to the shop. I would take it in the morning. November 1- On the way to the shop I noticed that the alternator gauge on the dashboard was reading very low-8-it normally reads at 12-13. The owner was amazed that there something else wrong with the car as he felt he had pretty much fixed everything. Lter that day I got a call from the technician telling me that the alternator was bad. I asked him about the engine tapping. He said I had one week to two years on that engine because of the metal shavings he found in the oil pan. He also said there was no way of predicting when the engine would seize but it most certainly would. I asked about engine rebuilding and discussed maybe trading it in. The tech said he could charge it up and I could take it to a dealer and not mention the tapping. I told him I would feel terrible if the engine blew on some unsuspecting buyer.I was scared that the engine would go without warning. I was thinking what would happen if I had my grandchildren in the car or my mother. I asked how much would it cost to rebuild it. He said a remanufactured engine was best and that he would give me a good deal because some of the work that goes into engine replacement had already been done. He offered to call around to find me the best deal possible. Later that morning he called me and said the engine would be around 1700.00 dollars, the altnator around 200.00 and total cost to me would be 2300.00. I asked if th engine was warrantied-he said that the engine was warrantied for 75,000 miles. I thought that seemed reasonable to me and asked him what a remanufactured engine actually was. He told me that if all a shop does is remanufacture engines than it is better to buy one of those than taking the engine to a machine shop. He said if anything is wrong with a remanufactured engine it would malfunction within the first 15,000 miles. I thought alright I will have a nearly new car for around 3500.00. I had already spent 1200.00-the tech said I had so much in the car already that I might as well do it. I said ok. He said the engine would be there in two days and that he would be done on Friday. Nov.2- I called the shop to find out what the warrany conditions were- I asked to see a copy of the warranty. The tech told me he didn't have one that it came in the box with the engine. I asked where the engine was purchased and offered to tract the warranty by phone or online. He told me he wasn't sure-maybe checker auto. He got nasty with me and told me that the engine had already been ordered and I would see the warranty when it arrived. I didn't want to back out of the deal and told him so. I also said I would call checker myself and if he bought it somewhere else to let me know. I didn't want to argue with him. I called checker auto and spoke with wayne who told me he just got off the phone with the tech, that he was pretty upset because I wanted warranty information. He told me he would look up the invoice and tell me what he bought and what the warranty was. I asked him what the price of the engine was and he said he could not tell me how much the shop paid for it but that they always do good work and I was in good hands. He thought the warranty was for 3 years and unlimited miles, but he would call me back. I went to the shop to lock the car and the owner came out to greet me. He said I usually charge 3000.00 for engine replacement and that I was getting a good deal. I told him I spoke to checker auto and was not getting the warranty that was promised to me. He then said he would take care of me and that I was getting a really good deal. Nov. 4th- I called the shop to find out if my car was ready and found out that the engine hadn't arrived yet. The owner told me it would be delivered that day and my car would be ready Saturday or Monday. Nov 7th- I called to find out if my car was ready yet. The owner told me it would be ready Tuesday. Nov 8- I called the shop and found out my car was still not ready- the tech's wife had just had a baby and that my car would be done by Friday. Nov 11-The owner called me telling me my car was ready. I said I would pick it up on Saturday. Nov. 12- I came to pick up the car and read the warranty which was written on the invoice. It was a shop warranty on the engine written for 3 years or 36,000 miles. I argued with the owner and the tech because I was told I bought a 75,00 mile warranty and the owner said he would take care of me. They told me the warranty I was talking about came only with a new engine which the tech angrily pointed out to me using a poster on the wall. He threatened to yank out the engine right now but I was ging to pay for a different engine-the new one. I yelled back at him arguing that I was not confused and now I understood why he was so angry when I had a simple warranty question the week before. I told the owner to remove his employee away from me at which point he came toward me still iiinsisting that I misunderstood the warranty provisions. I told my son-in-law who was behind me to call the police. He warned the tech to stand back the tech calmed down. I began to write on the invoice that I was promised a
75,000 mile warranty. The tech told me I couldn't do that. I did it anyway and paid the bill 2200.00 with a check. I was scared and angry and I just wanted to get out of there. I asked the owner to not let the tech do any work on my car. Nov. 16th- I was driving the car back from my daughter's house when I rounded a corner and heard the car screech. It then died . I could not get it to start again. Some passing motorists helped me move the car to a side street. The next morning I towed the car back to the shop. Nov. 18th-I was told the car needed a new clutch slave cylinder and a power steering pump bracket. The screeching was caused by the missing power steering pump bracket and the clutch would not engage becuse there was no hydraulic fluid in the cylinder. I said fix it. The said that I should call the Jeep dealer for the bracket and that I would just have to put up with the screeching until it came in. My warranty clearly states that any odd noses that are not addressed will void the warranty. I told him I would find the part and to fix the slave cylinder. He called me later that day to tell me the car was ddone. I paid 171.00 and left with the car. I ordered the part from Jeep and was told it was a special part from Milwaukee and that it would be in the following Friday. Nov.21- The screeching got really loud and it seemed the whole front end was shaking as I drove down Kipling Ave. I was near the Jeep dealer where I ordered the part and brought it in to find out what was going on. I had only driven a few blocks and was afraid to drive it any farther. Jeep said the serpentine belt was almost ready to fall off and that was what caused the screeching noise. They also said the power steering pump was leaking and that the transfer case was leaking. I paid 96.00 and went to work. Nov. 29-The warranty required an oil change at 300-500 miles. I honored it at Jiffy Lube because I was afraid to go back to the shop. Dec. 1-- The headlight and tailight that were supposed to be fixed are both out again. What should I do-What would you do?