Autobahn Automotive

We replaced your alternator over four months ago in AugustWhen you came into the shop a week ago to have us check your oil leaks, we noticed that you had your valve cover gaskets recently replaced by yourself or someone elseThe upper timing cover seals were leaking and the valve covers were either leaking or not cleaned down after the replacement...which had nothing to do with your prior repairs with usThe timing cover seals are not uncommon to see leak as they are years oldI'm sorry that you feel we are responsible, but I tell everyone how it is and I don't sugar coat anythingIf we were responsible, I would make every attempt to make it rightI will honor the warranty on your alternator if the need arises, and you are welcome to come see us in the future for any other repairsAlso, we were not contacted in August by the owner and we were not contact on Dec 22nd as statedWe did see the vehicle approximately ten days ago to recheck it at no cost to the owner

I thought about the customer's side of it and I sent him this email with no responseI hope to prove to him that I run an honest business and I would like the chance to prove to him just thatHere is a copy of the email I sent him a few days ago at the email that he provided
"***, When I responded yesterday, I was thinking defensivelyAfter giving it thought and seeing your side of it, I didn't realize that we upset you and I would like to apologizeIn my opinion, the oil leaks are not related to our repairs, but I will replace the upper timing cover gaskets at no charge to you if you would allow us to do thatI would like to prove to you that I stand behind my work and I run an honest businessPlease let me know how you would like to proceedSincerely, Dave M Autobahn Automotive"
This is a time consuming repair that is unrelated to the alternator replacement, but I would like to regain ***'s trust again and I would appreciate it if he would give us that chance to prove it to himDave M

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: What was said in response to my complaint is false. After this situation I do not trust this shop and would like nothing more than my money back. If the owner and/or manager of this place doesn't know what's going on (which is highly unlikely), he/she should beware because this individual/s is going to ruin this business.
Regards,
[redacted]

We replaced your alternator over four months ago in August. When you came into the shop a week ago to have us check your oil leaks, we noticed that you had your valve cover gaskets recently replaced by yourself or someone else. The upper timing cover seals were leaking and the valve covers were...

either leaking or not cleaned down after the replacement...which had nothing to do with your prior repairs with us. The timing cover seals are not uncommon to see leak as they are 15 years old. I'm sorry that you feel we are responsible, but I tell everyone how it is and I don't sugar coat anything. If we were responsible, I would make every attempt to make it right. I will honor the warranty on your alternator if the need arises, and you are welcome to come see us in the future for any other repairs.Also, we were not contacted in August by the owner and we were not contact on Dec 22nd as stated. We did see the vehicle approximately ten days ago to recheck it at no cost to the owner.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

We replaced your alternator over four months ago in August. When you came into the shop a week ago to have us check your oil leaks, we noticed that you had your valve cover gaskets recently...

replaced by yourself or someone else. The upper timing cover seals were leaking and the valve covers were either leaking or not cleaned down after the replacement...which had nothing to do with your prior repairs with us. The timing cover seals are not uncommon to see leak as they are 15 years old. I'm sorry that you feel we are responsible, but I tell everyone how it is and I don't sugar coat anything. If we were responsible, I would make every attempt to make it right. I will honor the warranty on your alternator if the need arises, and you are welcome to come see us in the future for any other repairs.
Also, we were not contacted in August by the owner and we were not contact on Dec 22nd as stated. We did see the vehicle approximately ten days ago to recheck it at no cost to the owner.

Review: I towed my car to autobahn because my water cooled alternator went bad while I was on the road. They recommended that I have my pulley belts, battery and the coolant along with the alternator (because some coolant would be lost while replacing the water cooled alternator) to which I agreed and gladly paid the total of $1,287.21 of my hard earned money thinking my car was going to be returned to me in good working order. They also listed a few recommended repairs for the next visit which were unrelated to any leaks because my car had absolutely no signs of leaking coolant or motor oil until the days following my visit to this shop. The "repairs" came with a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty but after a second visit to this shop they gave me an estimate for $1,000+ to repair the leaks. I check all fluid and oil levels on my car on a weekly basis and my car never had any leaks but since my car left that shop I now have to add coolant and motor oil every three days or so. This is no coincidence, my car didn't ever even show the slightest bit of signs of coolant or motor oil leaks and suddenly after taking it for repairs at this shop my car leaks a significant amount of both coolant and motor oil in just two or three days. Before writing this complaint I went to another mechanic shop to get an expert opinion and explained what happened and the mechanic said that I was cheated because it was highly unlikely that I could develop such a leak so quickly and so soon after visiting a shop.Desired Settlement: I would like to have the leaks repaired but I'm skeptical about leaving my car with them again so I would rather just have my money refunded to me so I can put it towards the costs of the repairs needed with another mechanic.

Business

Response:

We replaced your alternator over four months ago in August. When you came into the shop a week ago to have us check your oil leaks, we noticed that you had your valve cover gaskets recently replaced by yourself or someone else. The upper timing cover seals were leaking and the valve covers were either leaking or not cleaned down after the replacement...which had nothing to do with your prior repairs with us. The timing cover seals are not uncommon to see leak as they are 15 years old. I'm sorry that you feel we are responsible, but I tell everyone how it is and I don't sugar coat anything. If we were responsible, I would make every attempt to make it right. I will honor the warranty on your alternator if the need arises, and you are welcome to come see us in the future for any other repairs.Also, we were not contacted in August by the owner and we were not contact on Dec 22nd as stated. We did see the vehicle approximately ten days ago to recheck it at no cost to the owner.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: What was said in response to my complaint is false. After this situation I do not trust this shop and would like nothing more than my money back. If the owner and/or manager of this place doesn't know what's going on (which is highly unlikely), he/she should beware because this individual/s is going to ruin this business.

Regards,

Business

Response:

I thought about the customer's side of it and I sent him this email with no response. I hope to prove to him that I run an honest business and I would like the chance to prove to him just that. Here is a copy of the email I sent him a few days ago at the email that he provided. "[redacted], When I responded yesterday, I was thinking defensively. After giving it thought and seeing your side of it, I didn't realize that we upset you and I would like to apologize. In my opinion, the oil leaks are not related to our repairs, but I will replace the upper timing cover gaskets at no charge to you if you would allow us to do that. I would like to prove to you that I stand behind my work and I run an honest business. Please let me know how you would like to proceed. Sincerely, Dave M Autobahn Automotive" This is a time consuming repair that is unrelated to the alternator replacement, but I would like to regain [redacted]'s trust again and I would appreciate it if he would give us that chance to prove it to him.Dave M

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: First off this business displays the Revdex.com logo without having an accreditation by them. Not sure if that is allowed or not.

I brought my vehicle to this business for tire and brake service, and soon after picking up my car I had more problems than I went there with. My car stalled and the service engine light came on. I called and brought the car back in. They were very quick to tell me the problem I was having was unrelated to the work they performed. They told me I needed a new cam and crank sensor. I left my car there and picked it up the next day. Thirty minutes later I was having the same issue with the car again. Bring it back the next day and they tell me the sensors they put in were faulty so they would have to order new ones. Come back the next day after the part are ordered and they make the same repair again. They try to sell me on some other repairs which I refuse. This time the car runs fine for close to 18 hours before it stalls and I have the same problem again. Soon after not only does the service engine light come back on, but so do many other lights.

With no intention of bringing my car back in I call and ask for a refund which the guy Allen tells he doesn't think I'm entitled to. The owner Dave then grants me a refund for the labor. Take my car elsewhere just to learn that the reason why I was having the same problem over and over is because they never replaced one of the sensors that they said they replaced and charged me for. Call the owner again to get refunded for the part that was never replaced and he then claims that this second shop was trying to trash him. After this second shop does actually replace the crank sensor then the car runs perfectly fine.

For a shop that is supposed to be so specialized in certain types of vehicles you'd think this repair wouldn't have been a problem. Considering the repairs they were trying to sell me in between I think they knew exactly what they were trying to do.Desired Settlement: I received most of my money back which I am happy with. I don't want anything to do with this business again. I would however like the Revdex.com to investigate them displaying the Revdex.com logo without accreditation. I'd also just like the Revdex.com to be aware of the practices of this business before other unsuspecting people get taken advantage of also.

Business

Response:

I'd like to make it clear that I run my business with integrity and honesty. I also go above and beyond for my customers, such as our hours of operation are 8am-5pm and I opened my shop two hours early for [redacted] to allow him to come in and speak with me about his car and provide a place for him to wait for his ride to arrive. As for the defective crankshaft position sensor...I personally saw the sensor getting replaced and we showed [redacted] the old part and new part we were about to install. It is very possible that we received a defective part and we offer a 12,000 mile/12 month warranty in case this happens. There is absolutely no reason we would not install the part he paid for especially when it was causing obvious symptoms. If [redacted] claims that the part was defective, we would have replaced it again for free, but he insisted that we refund his money, which is not our warranty policy, but I did grant him a refund. I apologize for the inconvenience, as it is frustrating to us as well. We didn't make the defective part, we installed it.As for the accreditation. We were once accredited by the Revdex.com and some websites that I do not have control of may still have the Revdex.com logo posted, but I am not aware of which ones. The websites that I monitor and/or control do not have the Revdex.com logo posted. To resolve this, I applied to be accredited again, as I have an A+ record and meet the criteria. In conclusion, I am sorry for [redacted]'s bad experience. In the past many years, he has been the only customer who has been unhappy with us because I go above and beyond to make sure that every customer is treated like family. I am glad that he found an auto repair facility that he feels he can trust and I wish him good luck in the future. I will still honor the 12,000/12 month warranty for the other repairs that he had done with us if the need arises.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: I know at this point it is one's word against the other, but again I'd like the Revdex.com to be aware. Dave in fact did not show me the old or the new sensor. The fact that he would lie about this only further solidifies that this shop has something to hide. Keep in mind, they put in one "faulty" sensor and I did bring the car back in to give them a chance to resolve the issue. They "put in" a second sensor and the problem was still occurring after that. Also in between these problems the shop was attempting to sell me other services that did not truly need to be done. Dave claims they went underneath the manifold to replace the sensor, which to my knowledge on an all wheel drive vehicle, the whole thing must be taken out to replace that part. The mechanic who did resolve this problem also actually did show me the old and new sensors for me to compare and also took pictures.The brand new sensors that the car manufacturer produces has the word "Continental" on it. The sensor taken out of my car did not have the word Continental on the side indicating it was one produced the year the car was originally made.

Regards,