Mechanic ruined my car. What should I do?

I went to pick my car up from the shop on 5/26/06. I paid $491.46 for the work that was done on my vehicle. I took it in to have the timing belt replaced. They changed the timing belt, balance shaft belt, seals, and water pump. I have a 1990 volvo 740 GLE 16 valve. I went out and decided to check all of my fluids before I left. I noticed that there was no coolant in the coolant reservoir. In addition, I noticed that someone had left some tools in my engine compartment. I proceeded to fill up the reservoir with coolant. I went in to talk to the service person about it and I gave him the tools back. He said that someone must have forgot to replace the coolant that was lost while replacing the water pump. He checked the reservoir and discovered that it needed even more coolant, which was after I had almost emptied the one gallon of coolant that I keep in my trunk. He said that there was likely air pockets in the tank and that was the reason that it was low after just filling it. As a result, the service person gave me $20 dollars cash and said that it should not have happened.

With the service person standing there, I noticed that one of the hoses coming of of my engine was missing. I asked him why the hose was gone. He stated that the hose was taken off because it has a tendency to burn out the sensor on the air intake. I now know that the missing hose is called a pre-heat hose. The cost of the hose at the Volvo dealers is over $50 dollars. I called a few people to ask what this hose was for. A person at the service department at Jim Fisher Volvo and Napa Auto Parts said that the hose heats the car up in order for it to start properly. In addition, the said that I could not pass DEQ without the hose. Furthermore, the Jim Fisher service guy stated that he had never run a car without the hose, so he was not aware of all of the effects associated with its removal.

When I was trying to leave the shop, upon startup, the engine shook very badly and stalled three or four times. In addition, it was very difficult to turn the wheel without some considerable effort. I asked the service person about it and he said the idle was off and that it took awhile for the power steering pump to work. On my way home, I noticed that there was shaking coming from the engine. In addition, there was a noise coming from the passengers side in the engine compartment. It sounded like something was rubbing somewhere. I wanted to take the car back, although it was a day that the service person stays for people to pick up cars, there are not mechanics on duty. When I got home, I checked under the hood and noticed one of the screws on the timing belt cover had not been tightened. As a result, one of the belts was rubbing into it.

While I was on my way to work the car started to over heat. By the time I pulled into the parking area the car was starting to smell like it was burning up. When I was done with work at 8:45 AM, I took the shuttle bus back to my car. I checked to see what the coolant levels was. I noticed that there was no fluid in the coolant reservoir. I got some coolant out of my trunk and I poured it in. The coolant was leaving the reservoir as fast as I could poor it in. Then I noticed that the coolant was pouring out from the under the car. I looked under the car and it seems like the coolant was coming from the engine itself. I think that my car has suffered some significant engine damage! What should I do? I don't want these people working on my car any more. The level of incompetence shown is above and beyond. Would they be required to fix any damages that their incompetence caused?

Reply to
austjeremy
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Incompetence seems to be running rampant, look at the fellow that ended up with glass beads in his motor. I would say "Get a Lawyer" you deserve more than piece of mind. I would say it is time the incompetent were put out of business or at the very least educated to the point where they might be able to provide a reasonable service. $491.46 is one heck of a snowball.

Sorry but after reading your story I feel that I could use a little coolant.

Reply to
KLB

Where do you live? If in the USA I suggest

1) Call and ask to talk to the service manager explain and see what you are told. If no satisfaction, which in this case means Volvo dealer or a qualified shop doing the dx and repair go to2: 2) Call local consumer protection and the better busines bureau. Tell them what happened.
Reply to
Steve

Wow, that's quite a mess. It sounds like the shop definitely screwed something up and should be responsible.

That preheat hose though, I always rip those out myself whenever I work on a Volvo. I've seen more than one $400 air mass meter ruined when the preheat thermostat stuck open and sucked in hot air through that hose. The original purpose is to help the engine warm up more quickly but unless you live in a climate where the temperature regularly drops below zero it's useless.

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:

Reply to
James Sweet

The short advice is get a lawyer. Tomorrow. Call the State Department of Commerce and find out who regulates auto repair businesses and talk with them. Do that tomorrow too. Take the car (have it towed on a flatbed) to a reputable mechanic (e.g., a Volvo dealer) and have them inventory and document the damage that was done. If there is a Better Business Bureau locally, file a complaint.

Have your lawyer call the garage and demand the service records, the name of the mechanic and his or her credentials. Have your lawyer offer a settlement of refunding your money plus having the garage pay for the towing to the Volvo dealer and pay for all repairs to restore the vehicle to correct specifications.

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. The mechanic must have been either (1) totally inept or (b) stoned or (c) both.

Reply to
Tim McNamara

Also, sort of '2a' -- the local newspaper(s) and/or television station(s) in many cities and towns have a 'consumer advocate' reporter who will support aggrieved citizens in cases such as this. The prospect of widespread bad publicity is often a powerful factor in making a recalcitrant service manager change his mind about what can or cannot be done for the complainant.

cheers,

Henry

Reply to
Henry

Which shop in PDX did this to you?

Reply to
zencraps

Hold on there

Just about everybody would like to know just who the culprit is but so far the best thing the fellow with the original complaint has done is not to have stated who.

By stating who the whole thing could backfire on him. Best to wait until the situation has been resolved especially if he or she resorts to legal consult.

sorry, just wouldn't want things to get any worse than they are

Reply to
KLB

On the one hand I can understand your perceived need for caution and anonymity, I suppose, but really, how could him posting the name of the shop backfire?

Assuming his report is factual, "truth is a defense."

I pretty much do my own wrenching now anyway, but it is nice to know who the incompetents are in the local area, so I can avoid making a referral.

Also, I am just wondering if it's anybody I know.

Reply to
zencraps

Because the consumer can't make the statement, "if you don't make good on this, I will let the whole world know about it". In fact rather than giving you a favorable resolution to your complaint, they will be setting out attorney's to try to silence you and get revenge for a misinformation campaign before they had a chance to square things.

Naming names is a powerful tool today with the internet. Don't overlook this any time you have any consumer problem. You can quickly broadcast the names to the whole world, but it is too powerful of a weapon to loose before you have used it to your advantage. Once you use it, you are facing a dealer or shop that is seeking revenge rather than a good solution.

Don't let naming names get ahead of the possibility of a favorable resolution. It will provide little or now leverage and may backfire. However the threat of naming names will provide a great deal of leverage.

Reply to
Stephen Henning

Not to beat a dead horse (oh what the hell, I guess I'll flog it), this is a fairly low activity ng, and information here will not notify "the whole world."

A better forum for that would be Turbobricks.com, but the moderators probably would delete the reference forthwith.

FWIW, how could telling the truth constitue a "misinformation campaign" warranting the shop "setting out attorney's to try to silence you?"

Odds are the putz running the shop couldn't afford to buy lunch for a lawyer, let alone retain one.

Reply to
zencraps

Ahhhh...Yes

But in order to Flog a Dead Horse it must first be Dead

Patients, Patients the Horse is not Dead until it stops talking.

We must wait until austjeremy slays the Horse.

Then we can have a Flogging Good Time

Reply to
KLB

In language you can understand. Don't piss off the dealer unless he doesn't make good on the complaints. He has just discovered what went wrong and has offered to make good. If he doesn't make good, then it doesn't matter if you piss him off, but now it is not a good idea. In fact the threat of pissing him off might help make him get off his A** and doing something, where pissing him off will just make him mad enough to do not do anything.

Honey will get better results than SH**.

Reply to
Stephen Henning

Reply to
austjeremy

Your tale is woeful.

I'm trying to figure out what happened, and my guess is that after the work was done, the hose wasn't put back on right, causing a coolant leak.

Probably the tech ran the car for awhile to make sure it was OK: it would be fine, for a bit, until overheating set in, but odds are he turned it off and waited for you to pick it up, blithely unaware of the coolant / overheating problem.

By the time you got it, some damage had already been done, and it got worse the more you drove it, leading to a warped cylinder head due to overheating.

These blocks are tough, but your head will need, at minimum, to be magnafluxed and resurfaced (and quite possibly replaced).

I wouldn't trust those guys to add air to the tires, let alone work on my car.

Reply to
zencraps

gee im sorry to hear about that, my partner is a volvo mechanic and maybe able to gove you advice, on what or who to contact

Cheers rachael

Reply to
Rachael

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