AutoStar

Not having received 'follow-up' response from business (in response to customer's 'rebuttal' of 6/4), called AutoStar -- spoke to owner Vitaly [redacted].Mr [redacted] re-asserts that AutoStar did nothing to damage Mr [redacted] engine. He says AutoStar has made every effort to work with Mr [redacted] on repairs, but has found it very difficult to do so at times, as Mr [redacted] will go long periods without communicating with the business (out of country, etc.), and still has not paid his original repair bill in full.AutoStar remains firm in its position that it cannot assist Mr [redacted] further at this time.

Revdex.com NOTE: Complaint was initially closed as 'Answered' back on 5/9 when we did not hear back from Mr [redacted] within 10 days of business response. Revdex.com received an e-mail from Mr [redacted] 5/29, indicating he had been out of the country without e-mail access, but still wished to respond. What follows is Mr [redacted] 'rebuttal,' sent via e-mail to Revdex.com on 6/4/17: I am rejecting this response because:I would like to take this opportunity to prove Auto star response as wrong. I first dropped the vehicle in October for PCV valve and there was a bearing for rear right wheel to be replaced. There was no noisy timing chain at this point. The bearing was replaced successfully and the PCV valve was also to be replaced during this time I had to travel outside the country. I came back on November 15th and found the valve was not replaced, so I went online and ordered the part. Due to thanks giving and holidays they did not get to working on my car until January. When I went to pick up the car it could not even start and that's when the mechanic confessed that after he replaced the PCV valve he tried going into the timing chain to adjust it and that's when everything got messed up, but he promised that he would complete it in a couple days. At this point my car has been at the shop for a 4 hour job replacing a PCV valve. Eventually I was called to pick up my vehicle They called me first week of January and told me the car is completed and good to go and when I picked up the car now is when there was a noisy timing chain but they told me it will idle itself once I drive around. On February 13th I picked up the car and when I got near my house I could smell something burning and parked in the garage only to realize all my coolant was leaking and oil leaking in large volumes but when I called the shop they had closed for the day but I managed to reach the mechanic on his cell phone and he came and found the coolant hose was loose and the oil pan was loose. The timing chain was noisy not running smooth with p11, p21, p1171 and p1174 codes. He tightened the hose and pan temporarily and we added coolant and oil and said I have to drop the car back to the shop. This when they called me and told me I needed to replace my entire timing chain which would cost around $3000 which really confused me as my only problem initially was to replace the PCV valve which I already paid for and the mechanic is the one who messed around with the timing chain which had no problem. I decided to pay for the parts because this had become ridiculous. On June 17th 2016 Dave the manager called me to pick up my car and told me he apologized regarding their mechanic messing up my timing chain and he told me I need to just use the car even when there is a engine shaking and the engine light blinking. He said the car is good to use even with this issue. I picked up the car and the shaking kept on and when I asked to shop to re[air this that's when they said I need to replace the whole engine. I believe the shop should take responsibility for their mistakes of messing up my engine.  Thank you[redacted]

Dear [redacted]Mr [redacted] brought in his vehicle to our shop in January 2016 (2003 Land Rover HSE with 193000 miles) for a PCV update and noisy timing chain. We gave Mr. [redacted] an estimate with wholesale prices, because our mechanic (his friend) asked for a closest friend discount. He gave us...

the go ahead to replace the timing chains and guides. When we opened the motor, we found sludge everywhere inside. All internal parts were effected. Mr [redacted] was advised that additional parts may need to be replaced. Typically, if there is sludge built up, VVT Cam shaft Sprockets need to be replaced. Mr [redacted] declined installing new VVT Cam shaft Sprockets because of their price. We replaced just the chains and guides per customer’s request.  After repairs, the car was running better, however replacing guides and chains did not fix the problem. Mr [redacted] picked up the car, paying only for parts and not labor. He test-drove the vehicle and noticed some leaks and rough running. We inspected the car and found oil leaks from the valve cover gaskets, as well as coolant leaks from water pump (although we replaced O-rings during the first repair). Regardless, we decided to fix all of the leaks at no charge, even though none of our previous repairs caused these leaks. Rough running was due to worn out VVT Sprockets that were not working properly. Check engine light was on for the same reason. Mr [redacted] picked up the car and drove it until December 2016. Mr [redacted] called us with a complain off losing power and rough running. We inspected the car again and recommend replacing the engine, due to high mileage and sludge build up. Furthermore, our first bill was never paid in full. Mr [redacted] did not answer the phone and it took him more than a week to call us back. In addition, during the full duration of us working on his vehicle we provided Mr [redacted] with a loaner car at no charge. Last time it took about one month for Mr. [redacted] to pick up his car.