Quality Mobile Auto Repair

Quality Mobile Auto Repair did not repair car as promised. Did not return old parts as requested. The owner refused to make warranty repairs.On January 8, 2014 I contacted Quality Mobile Auto Repair because I needed some repairs done to my car. I own a 1996 Toyota Camry LE 2.2 engine. I spoke with the owner, [redacted], and described the problems with my car. I told Mr [redacted] that my car was loosing power intermittently after being driver for an hour or more. We agreed to meet and he would tow my car to his shop,perform a diagnostic and do the necessary repairs. A few days Mr [redacted] called and told me what the problems were. He stated that I had a massive oil leak and a tune up was needed. I told him I just did a tune up a few months ago and if I needed a tune up to to save my old parts because I had a warranty of some of my parts. He also said he found a few other things wrong with my car. He quoted me an estimate of $1,139.53. The following items were included in the estimate; towing 60, distributor seal kit 19.59, replace distributor gasket 90, valve cover and tube seal set 78.99, replace valve gaskets and tube seal 90, oil change 29.99, spark plugs 55.12, spark plug wire set 84.50, complete tune up labor 90, remove and reseal oil pump 320, oil pump gasket set 19.88, pcv 9.72, pcv grommet 8.11, Kelly tires 2@ 52.99, mount and balance 30,valve stems 6, disposal fee 5. A week later he returned my car and I paid him in full. I didn't see my old parts in my car and I questioned him about it. He said that he forgot to save them and threw them in the trash. I told him that according to NC law that he was supposed to return all old parts. He said he would take care of it and never mentioned it again. About a week later I noticed that my car was still loosing power and not driving very well. I called Mr. [redacted] and told him was the car was doing. He stated that he didn't notice anything like that and was I sure. I asked him if he had done a diagnostic as I asked him and he said no. I told him that he didn't do as I paid him to do. He then said he would come and get my car again and that he would need to keep it for a few days to drive it and see if it loose power again. He said that he would make sure to do a diagnostic test. I told him that was my major complaint and the reason why I agreed to let him do the repairs. We again agreed to meet and he would tow my car back to his shop and check it. The next day I was driving my car and the oil light came on. I immediately stopped and checked my oil level and found out that I need to add some more oil. I ended up adding 2 quarts of oil. The next day I checked the ground under my car and saw several oil spots. I took pictures and sent them to Mr. [redacted] and called him and asked if he really did fix the oil leak. At this point I really became concerned about if the oil leak was really done or if he just charged me for it. I asked about any warranty's and when was he going to come get my car and really do the repairs this time. He towed my car again to his shop and a few hours later he called and told me that he found another oil leak and he would fix it for another $400. I became very upset and told him to just bring me my car because I was going to take it somewhere else and have the repairs done at his cost. He became angry and said If anyone else worked on my car it would void my warranty. I have given him my car several times for him to make warranty repairs and yet my car still leaks oil. I had to take it to another shop and have a diagnostic test done to find out what was really wrong with my car. I called him and told him I was not happy with his work and wanted some of my money back. He became very angry and said he wasn't giving me any money back. I havecalled and texted him several times and he has not responded. I have also sent him numerous pictures of the oil leaks made by my car. Mr [redacted] also charged me for part that he didnt buy but he told me that when he did oil pump he didnt buy new part but just used old part.Desired SettlementBecause it is apparent that no repairs were made to fix oil leak. Mr [redacted] should refund all monies associated with oil leak repair.Business Response I first met Mr [redacted] in Feb or March of 2013 when he bought this 96 Camry. The car had sat up for 5 years & was a 'No Start' with dry-rotted flat tires and squirrel nests in it. It had 150,000 miles on it. The drivers window was halfway down with rotten duct tape still almost holding the window up. I winched it onto my flatbed at the address he gave me in [redacted] and the key was left on the floorboard. The car smelled horrible inside & the girl riding with me asked were we hauling it to the junkyard! I replaced his fuel pump, strainer, fuel filter, flushed every injector, cleaned the gum & varnish from the fuel tank by hand (the tank had a sickening smell), I replaced the timing belt, water pump, antifreeze, battery & replaced the window motor. The duct tape wouldn't come off easy and the door had a broken door-panel. I put Premium Gasoline in the tank and didn't put that on the bill. I have all of these parts receipts. I also allowed Mr [redacted] to make payments over a 5 month period for the repairs and he cheerfully remarked once on the phone last summer how I never once called him asking for money...I always waited until he called to run his credit card over the phone each month. I thought I had a customer for life that would tell everyone he knew what I did for him even when I had other customers waiting in line just for me. I even played 'middle man' for him & traded the old tags for his title from the lady seller he bought it from at her work on [redacted] He called me up & said they were fighting over the car title & the seller was holding it from him & would I be willing to go get his title from her. I even paid someone to drive him to the [redacted] main DMV office and they waited while he got his registration and plates done. I only charged Mr [redacted] $10 total for running both errands just so he could have a car even though it cost more than I ever intended to charge this customer. The $10 fee is itemized on his 1st repair receipt from July 26 2013. Mr [redacted] was changing oil for a living and I remember when I was in his shoes starting out 20 years ago. It feels good to help people...I believe it was the right thing to do and I would do it again anytime for another person desperate in need because that is the kind of person I am...that is the way I treat my people....and I could provide hundreds of real folks phone numbers that would all have only great things to say about my company and the unique service that we provide. This is who I am and this is the way I require Quality Mobile Auto Repair to operate on a daily basis..everyday. I left the corporate shops because of the thievery I witnessed. You don't believe me? OK..do this: Take your car to a shop and get an alignment done... now go 4 miles down the road to the next shop and get a free alignment check...guess what? They will say it needs alignment & you can test that all day long & every shop will lie to your face & say your car is out of alignment! A lot of big shops are liars. Do that one simple test & you will see the real truth when the guy behind the counter says...it needs alignment sir... Anyway, Mr [redacted] paid the final installment on July 26 2013, I towed his car back to his apartment on [redacted] across from [redacted] (Because the tires were all still 8 yrs old & dry rotted) and I did not hear back from him until the first week of January 2014. On Jan 8 2014 Mr [redacted] called and said the Camry was loosing power after driving 90 minutes and his local parts house had read his codes for free and he needed me again. He also stated that I had broken his door-panel the year before and that I should fix it for free. Mr [redacted] now has a new residence 20 min north of [redacted] Mr [redacted] seemed friendly & he kept saying how much he trusted me. I looked at the spark plugs and wires and they were soaked with oil coming from the valve cover leaking into the spark plug holes. This also correlated with the free diagnosis his parts house had just given him. Also, he was adamant up front that he will not pay any diagnosis charges/fees from me. So I says "OK Sir, lets tune it up and fix the oil from leaking all over these spark plugs & wires & then I will drive it and see what happens since you need this stuff already anyway". Mr [redacted] says he has already tuned it up though. The car totally had the wrong spark plugs in it and they were oil soaked and I pull one out & show him that fact. So he agrees to the tune up and then I will let it run for awhile & see what happens. Also, the car still has 2 of the dry-rotted tires that are 8 years old! He wants [redacted] tires to match the fronts and says he can get them for $52.99 ea. My cost on those [redacted] in his size is $50.73 ea wholesale... so there is no money to be made but at least he will be safe right? While loading the car up, I notice that oil is steadily dripping at a rate of 1 drop every 4 seconds and there is already a big puddle on my flatbed. So I point it out and he says go ahead and price out the leak.. I trust you. I go back to my shop and put it on the car lift and I see 3 leaks...valve cover, distributor, & oil pump gasket. So I fix the leaks and tune it up and it stays dry under there while running now and I put his tires on and I try to fix his door panel best I could for free & I return the car after letting it run a few hours. I have yet to this day never seen this car drive bad by the way..Its a smooth runner. I have drove it up hills, WOT wide open throttle 0-60, cruise around on country roads, I let it sit still idling for hours one day. It did not leak and it never ran bad so I returned the vehicle. He specifically would not allow me to perform diagnosis and he never got charged for diagnosis either & his receipt shows that. A few days later he sends me hostile texts and threatens Revdex.com, NC Fraud Dept, News Agencies, taking my business license, newspaper, TV, Small claims court, he has sent 109 texts in all. I have saved them all. So I humbly ask for 'one more chance' because he says its still leaking oil and running bad. So I go to his work & he has a rebuilt distributor that he bought thru his work....I install that for free and he still has not replaced the cracked distributor cap that I tried to replace which he previously refused! He says the parts house still owes him a cap! I take the car back once again & this time I replace every single seal on the entire front of the man's motor at no charge....including the oil pump seal...a 5 hour job! I stand under the car and let that thing run for hours! No leaks period!! In all the confusion I throw away his mickey mouse cheap plug wires he had bought even though they looked old and were oily..he says they were under warranty. However, While I had the car the last time, I just went ahead and bought a dang distributor cap out of my own pocket and threw the one with the crack in it in the garbage. Im not gonna let him not replace the cracked distributor cap and come back complaining every 5 minutes for a ghost problem that I have never seen, so I did replace the distributor cap at my own cost just so I know the cracked one is in the trash can now...and it ran great even with the cracked cap! If his other mechanic says 8-9 year old dry-rotted tires are OK (WOW)...and if his parts house has the authority to diagnose & tell him what parts to buy and then if he doesn't replace a defective cap after I point to the crack with my index finger and say to him "do you see that crack there"? and if I am forbidden from getting paid to diagnose it or get paid to fix a leak when every time I fix an oil leak, the increased oil pressure make another old rotten seal spring a leak, and if I have even tore down the front of the engine again and replaced every seal known to man free of charge and stood there under the car and let it sit there and run for hours bone dry...no leaks...free dist. cap..all free of charge. Why do I owe this gentleman a dime? I have all of the receipts that prove I bought all of the parts I sold this guy. I have a sophisticated surveillance camera system that has recorded the entire job being done too by the way & I have watched it and its a nice film. I have proof! Who wants a copy?? I am one of the best Master Mechanics in [redacted] county brother. I am tired of bending over for this guy. I have done everything in my power to resurrect a car that should be in the junkyard right now. I have ridden in the car with him doing 80 on country roads in the middle of the night with deers jumping out in front of us with him telling me my work aint right when this Toyota runs smooth as silk after replacing a cracked distributor cap after he outright refused to buy the part. I have been sent 109 texts - its almost extortion when you threaten all he has threatened. I Will Not Hand Over A Dime! I have went over & beyond to try to help him. Now he has to find a new mechanic to trust. [redacted]Consumer Response The car sill has a oil leak that was supposed to be fixed. I took pictures of what was supposed to be a repair job but it doesnt look as if anything was done. The oil is still leaking out of the same area. There is no proof of any work being done as he was not returned any old parts. According to a Toyota manual to replace oil seals the exhaust system must be taken off. I will forward pictures of oil leaking on ground and extra quarts of oil that I have to keep putting in car. Regardless of how old the car is he was paid to do a job that he did not do. If he did then where are the old parts? Show me proof of work and why didnt he provide old parts as requested. Why did he tell me that if you repair one oil leak you would get another. And then try to charge me for another oil leak repair job. If the job was done properly the first time I would not have to keep asking for car to be repaired. I would be willing to have another master mechanic check behind him and give him results. Bottom line the oil leak was not repaired but I was charged.Final Business Response The customer was given all of the old oil seals in a zip lock bag we replaced as requested and he knows that. The customer is after vengeance and has made several serious threats. According to the customer, he was also in the car repair business last year as a certified vehicle inspector too, so he knows exactly what he is talking about and what he is trying to do. The customer is just attempting to tarnish and damage us at this point. There will be no refund. There will be no money payoff in exchange for not seeking action against us like he had threatened early on. This is a planned attack - we have already performed free repairs for the customer early on until we realized we were being targeted by him. The customer may be illegally attempting to extort money from the company and defame the company unless he is paid a settlement like he threatened early on. The vehicle has already been repaired at the companies expense 2-3 times, sometimes with customers own parts as requested. There is no warranty on customers supplied parts. The customer has enjoyed this whole event because he has personal issues and is just trying to hurt somebody. He indicated on text how happy he was with our work and we have proof of that. The customers complaint is unfounded; we have different forms of proof that the work was done. The customer has no case at all and is doing spite-work. If any other person ever had a similar complaint we would bend over backwards to help as we did with this guy, but he has a vendetta and we will not ever play into that. His car is fixed and it got fixed for free already and he knows it and we have proof. END OF STORY. Go try to squeeze someone else man. This is all gonna backfire on you shortly.