Cowboy-Up Automotive LLC

We are a reputable and respectable businessWe on many discussions have informed them that they are more than welcome to bring the vehicle for us to inspect and to this point they have declined to do soHowever on another note our agreement to repair the vehicle was with the warranty company of witch has through inspections of their own determined that fault does not lay on cowboy up and that the cat that was not replaced was not something they paid for nor was it something placing us at fault being that the third cat was not faulty and that the 3rd cat and sensors are wear and tearthe customer has been informed of thisTherefore making the complaint invalid according to the warranty companyWe stand by our work 110% and therefore just to confirm the warranty companies inspection we have offered the customer a free diagnostic to confirm this issue and they have failed to do soThe opportunity is still extended to the customer should they decide to come in

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:You are correct in that I did not contact you or the warranty service upon discovering the issuesThe reason for that was I knew something wasn't right w/the wheel/suspensionThe brakes were clunking a LOT when I applied the brakes, and that was from day oneI didn't feel comfortable returning to your business as if one has the feeling a job wasn't done right in the first place, why would you want to return?? I did send you an email on 7/which you chose to not respondI would be more than happy to forward it to you for proof that I contacted you once the repairs were done at the dealership.The other part was you mentioned my right front axel would eventually need to be replaced--but not whyI asked the dealership to check that as well and they said nothing was wrong with it. If you choose not to take ANY accountability in this, then it's a very hard lesson learned for me--NEVER to return to your business
Sincerely,
*** ***

This customer NEVER contacted us with any warranty concerns giving us an opportunity to diagnose what was wrong (understanding that theres a month mile warranty so despite what any dealership may have said we can not confirm this as the customer NEVER CONTACTED us not to mention she stated
that this issue started a month laterIf there was an issue or noise it would have presented itself immediatelySo unfortunetly we are unable to prove any of this not to mention how a rotor is not possible to be installed incorrectly

The following is a letter from the warranty company. Having knowledge of these issues I would like to offer my inputAfter the catalytic converters were replaced there are in this car the two catalytic converters that were replaced in this car are integrated into the exhaust manifold they were the only catalytic converters that indicated they needed replaced so there was no reason to investigate the third converterHaving completed the work around 11pm staying past close the customer then headed out for montata I believe but only made it to nebraskaat some point in nebraska the radiator blew out from the bottom and the vehicle was overheated and driven until it died as opposed to being shut offthe customer immediately blamed cowboy up and made accusations such as the radiator was damaged by cowboy up and hastily patched and that according to the shop the vehicle was currently at the job was done was in a way that made no sense and cowboy up was responsible for all damages incurred as well as the cost of a rental carthese claims were later found to be completely unsubstantiated by the shop that was working on the radiator and that it was common for this car to have a radiator fail in this way at this mileage and the remarks the shop made about the previous repair were untruethe car then had other work done at *** *** *** it was a tune up spark plugs were fowled possibly as a result of overheating at which time there was no other issue to indicate there was an issue with the parts replaced by cowboy up and *** *** *** diagnosed this as a fix for their issuesafter these repairs were complete the very next day there was a diagnosed issue with the catalytic converter and osensors and assumptions from *** *** *** that the catalytic converters were never actually replaced by cowboy upthe osensors were not replaced by cowboy up and the catalytic converter that I received pictures of were hard to make conclusions on and showed different rust and wear patterns to the parts directly connected to them and another picture of a catalytic converter covered in rust and it was apparent cowboy up had nothing to do with as it was under the car past the manifold but before the muffler so that is why it looks like it had never been touched, several weeks and other shops have worked on the car since their involvementI as an intermediary received word of the catalytic converter issue and contacted cowboy up they were very receptive to the issue told me to relay to the customer to bring the car in and they would see if their repair was at faultI then received a call from the customer who expressed to me he didn't think this would go smoothly and informed him of what I was toldA short while later I was informed that the customer was not happy with his call to cowboy up and would I investigate why they wouldn't confirm they would make the repairI then contacted cowboy up and was informed that the customer wanted cowboy up to pay for the tow into their shop as well as a rental car for them so they would have a vehicle in the interim and an assurance that they would not have to pay for anythingcowboy up would not agree to any of these terms based on the fact that they had not had a chance to inspect the vehicle to validate any of their claimsI then contacted the customer who denied that they asked for a tow or rental car and they were upset that they were asked to leave the vehicle and it would be looked at the following week but seemed fine with dropping the vehicle off at a scheduled time to be looked at which they were unable to accomplishI then offered to make the appointment myself and asked for his availability for the next week to which he replied "whenever"I easily made the appointment for 9am monday morning 1/18/and contacted the customer to let them know the date and timeI then reviewed my emails to see another picture from *** *** *** which showed the rusted on bolts were on the catalytic converter that was never touched by cowboy upIt is my opinion that the customer isn't willing to follow a process to come to a beneficial goal and mentioned to me that they were preparing a court case before they were even willing to let the matter be investigated which was also the case when their radiator blew out in nebraska as well as making demands for repayment of rental cars and threatening legal actionIt is my opinion that the osensors should be replaced to determine if the catalytic converter is bad at the customers cost that if the 3rd catalytic converter needs to be replaced it should be at the customers cost and if the catalytic converters that cowboy up replaced are bad they should redo their work assuming it wasn't a result of neglect, the actions of another shop, or the radiator blowout which would have caused corrosive chemicals to damage the integrity of the manifold and catalytic converter integrated into itThe osensors are in no way cowboy ups responsibility as they did not have any involvement in their replacement and the car has gone several weeks with no indication there was any issueI find that the customer is quick to make demands and threats to try and intimidate people and get assurances that they are not due and they are often untruthfulI also find it odd that they make no mention of the incident in nebraska and are once again blaming cowboy upI think the customer would find people more receptive if they gave them a chance to inspect and fix things and requesting things as opposed to laying blame before all the facts are in and making demands and threats before following through with a reasonable and standard operating procedure as an attempt to get something they are not entitled toI also find it odd that the car has been out of cowboy ups hands twice but they should have sole responsibility for issues including parts they had no involvement with after an issue that included overheating.respectfully *** As mentioned in the letter cowboy up automotive has made an effort to inspect the vehicle and the customer has declined to do soIt also states in the letter the numerous issues that have taken place and how cowboy up has done nothing incorrect in this situation

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I mentioned the radiator blowing up in my complaint, so I'm not sure why [redacted] is saying I haven't acknowledged that.  What I've said, however, is that it is highly unlikely the radiator malfunction caused the damage to the front and rear catalytic converters.  Why?  Well, only one of the converters in the front is rusted and tarnished (the one they replaced - the one they didn't touch doesn't have nearly as much visible wear or damage), and the converter in the back is well out of the range of the radiator.  Furthermore, the coolant did not sit on the engine for days, weeks, or months; the [redacted] dealership in Lincoln, NE repaired the car and cleaned off all the coolant they could within a couple of days of the malfunction.  [redacted] also states here that the rear converter is obviously rusted, but that couldn't be Cowboy Up Auto's fault because it's not where they were doing the work; however, that completely incorrect.  Cowboy Up Auto told us they replaced one of the front converters and the single converter in the rear; the converter with the bolts rusted to the mounting bracket is the REAR converter, which Cowboy Up Auto claimed to have replaced.  The one converter Cowboy Up Auto did NOT replace is the OEM converter which is still in the front of the car; ironically, this converter shows the least amount of visible rusting and damage out of all of them, and it is the only one that nobody claims to have touched.  Thus, I agree with [redacted]'s assertion that the one picture does show a converter that has obviously not been replaced, but it is incorrect that this part was not included in Cowboy Up Auto's original work order for the car.  As to the phone call, I did not tell Cowboy Up Auto I wanted them to tow the car, only requested that they pay for a rental, and I did not tell [redacted] that I did not ask them to cover a rental, I told him I did not ask them to TOW the car.  As I said before, and as [redacted] somewhat acknowledges, I called to try and set up an appointment time but [redacted] was completely unwilling to give me a set time to bring in the car.  It is true that when [redacted] called them they gave him an appointment time of Monday morning, and I will indeed be bringing the car in Monday morning, but I find it very telling that [redacted] was completely unwilling to give me anything close to a set time, but was so willing to work with [redacted].  In addition, the work done at [redacted] was more than just a tune-up.  It involved leaking valve covers, valve adjustments, and spark plugs, which [redacted] stated looked to be damaged from age, not from the radiator explosion.  These, however, were not issues on Cowboy Up Auto's part, and the only reason they were covered under the warranty is due to the fact that we were sold the car with certain claims as to its mechanical condition; I ended up speaking with the owner of the dealership who sold us the car and he agreed to authorize the warranty company to do the repair, even though it was outside of the normal warranty coverage, as the car was sold with certain guarantees and had been in the shop three times in the first two weeks of ownership (once for the converter replacement at Cowboy Up Auto, once for the radiator problem, and this third time for the spark plugs, valve adjustments, and valve cover).  This, however, has nothing to do with Cowboy Up Auto's work or my claim against them.  As for being kind, when the radiator explosion initially happened, I called Cowboy Up Auto and asked if there had been any damage to the radiator, calmly; I also specifically told [redacted] in that call that I did not know how the damage had occurred, and that I was not blanket accusing him of doing it, but as there was damage to a part that the dealership who sold us the car claims was NOT there when they sold it, I had to call him and ask.  He told me they did not do any work on, or damage to, the radiator.  I said fine and that was the LAST Cowboy Up Auto heard from me on the radiator.  I did not push the issue, I did not debate it with them, I did not accuse them of lying -- I said okay, thanks, and left Cowboy Up Auto out of the radiator discussion entirely.  It is true the [redacted] dealership said the damage to the radiator turned out to be in a place that would make it unlikely Cowboy Up Auto was responsible, and that was fine.  I did not call anybody immediately threatening legal action here either, it was only after a half-hour long phone call with [redacted] where he refused to help cover the cost of a rental car (even if they found the whole issue WAS due to the parts they installed) that I said I would be resorting to legal action.  I was initially very polite, very calm, and even at the end, I did not curse, nor did I raise my voice, only stated if they could not provide a loaner vehicle or rental car that I would be forced to pursue the cost through legal action; one of [redacted]'s mechanics, however, DID yell and curse at my wife when she tried to set up an appointment time.  I did NOT ask Cowboy Up Auto to cover the cost of the O2 sensors, even though they were functioning in proper order before this issue.  I did NOT ask Cowboy Up Auto to tow my car.  ALL I asked Cowboy Up Auto to do was replace the converters they claimed to have replaced, possibly replace the third as it may have been damaged as a result of them not replacing the rear converter and/or not replacing the front converter (or replacing it with a used part), and provide us with a loaner car or a rental car for the time it would take them to do this.  That's it.  While some of [redacted]'s assertions are accurate, I think he may be a bit confused as to which parts exactly Cowboy Up Auto told us they were replacing.  He does acknowledge the rear converter appears to have never been replaced, but he is incorrect in asserting that the rear converter was not one of the parts being replaced on the original work order.  The only reason I am holding Cowboy Up Auto liable for the third converter, which they do not claim to have replaced nor ever claimed to replace, is that this converter was working fine when they had the car, it was working fine when the [redacted] dealership inspected the car after fixing the radiator, and it was working fine when [redacted] did their inspection of the car.  It was not until a problem showed up with the other front converter, which Cowboy Up Auto claims to have replaced, that suddenly there was an issue with the third converter and the O2 sensors.  Cowboy Up Auto seems to be claiming that all the rust on the front and rear catalytic converters is due to the radiator explosion, and that is just impossible, as evidenced by the pictures of the rear converter.  They also seem to be very eager to claim the converters were damaged by the O2 sensors; they haven't even seen the car yet and when I called [redacted] was already convinced the O2 sensors caused this problem, without even having looked at the car yet.  To me, this seems like someone who is already planning their cover story to try and get out of their responsibilities.  I am almost positive that no matter what Cowboy Up Auto finds on Monday that they will claim it to be the result of the O2 sensors no matter what they actually find.  I may be incorrect, but at this point it seems highly likely.  I made no assumptions about what was wrong with my car until it was inspected by [redacted]-certified technicians; [redacted] is making assumptions, that conveniently free him of responsibility, without having been able to so much as crack the hood yet.  And to that effect, I do understand his unwillingness to pay to have the car towed and agree to cover the replacement of all three converters and the O2 sensors and this and that and the other, without having seen the vehicle yet, but that's NOT at all what I asked him to do.  All I asked for was that he provide us with a vehicle while he was fixing the converters he claimed to have already fixed (and potentially the third that may have been damaged as a result).  As I said before, I would have been willing to shoulder the cost of the O2 sensors on my own.  Up to this point, the dealership has done everything they were supposed to in order to do right by us, and the warranty company has as well.  As I told [redacted], this is not a problem I at all believe is the warranty company's responsibility, as the issue lies with work done by Cowboy Up Auto.  I have had no problems with the work done by either the [redacted] or [redacted] dealerships, and there are no issues with parts otherwise warrantied, or not, in the car.  The problem here lies strictly with work that was either not done entirely, or not done at all, by Cowboy Up Auto.  I appreciate [redacted]'s assistance in getting an appointment time set up and I regret that he even has to be involved, as it's not really his problem to deal with, to be quite frank.  The issue here is solely with Cowboy Up Auto.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I have included photographs of the rusted "new" catalytic converters.  As you can see on the rear one, the bolts have been in place so long they have rusted and fused to the metal and must be broken off to be removed....

 Claiming this converter was replaced in the last 3 weeks violates the laws of physics.  Most of what was said in Cowboy Up Auto's response is untrue, some of it outright lies.  First, we did not have "many" conversations, we had ONE.  The warranty company has NOT said they cleared Cowboy Up Auto of ANYTHING.  The warranty company has NOT done an independent inspection of their own.  In fact, the warranty company told us that this issue IS Cowboy Up Auto's responsibility, and not a warranty issue, as the issue lies with work that was done, not with a new warranty issue on the car.  Furthermore, I haven't brought the car in yet to have them start on it because they told me it would be a week before they could look at it.  His claim that I have refused to bring it in is a direct lie.  Cowboy Up Auto says our claim against the warranty company is invalid, BUT THERE IS NO CLAIM AGAINST THE WARRANTY COMPANY!!!  They did their part - they paid a repair shop to do the work needed.  That repair shop then either did not do the work, or installed damaged/used parts, so the responsibility there has NOTHING to do with the warranty company, and is SOLELY on the shoulders of Cowboy Up Auto.  The O2 sensors and third catalytic converter were both functioning fine before this issue, and one of the converters that is now malfunctioning is one they claim to have just replaced.  The car has been inspected three times, once by Cowboy Up Auto, once by a [redacted] dealership, and once by an [redacted] dealership - at no point did anyone say there was a problem with the third catalytic converter.  Cowboy Up Auto did say that the O2 sensors looked a bit old, but they were functioning when the two catalytic converters were replaced, they were functioning when [redacted] inspected the car, and they were functioning when [redacted] did their inspection on the car.  The warranty company, out of the kindness of their hearts, agreed to call Cowboy Up Auto and schedule an appointment time for the car to be inspected and repaired, as neither [redacted] nor his associates were willing to give my wife, nor I, a specific time to bring it in.  All they would tell us is bring it in and they'll look at it sometime in the future, it was the warranty company who got a set time from them (Monday morning), but they STILL refuse to cover the cost of a rental car incurred because of their malfunctioning repair job.  I have pieced together all the paperwork and information necessary to start legal proceedings; once I have the total sum of rental car charges I will be finalizing the documentation and pursuing this through the 2nd Judicial District Courts.  I have also reported the business to the Colorado Attorney General's Consumer Fraud Division.  As stated above, the warranty company has NOT, in any way, shape or form, absolved Cowboy Up Auto of any responsibility, and has, in fact, told both us and [redacted] that this is Cowboy Up Auto's problem to deal with, not theirs.  This whole thing could have been avoided had Cowboy Up Auto either done the work correctly, or just agreed to cover the cost of the rental car for the two days it would take them to fix it.  To be honest, [redacted] could have the job done in a couple of days, and he'd only be looking at about $60-100 in rental car fees, not really that much at all.  [redacted] told me that paying $60 in rental car fees would force him to go out of business - that's what I was told, I couldn't make that up if I wanted to.  However, since he's putting it off until next week, I'm having to rent a car for the better part of a week, which will increase the amounts, and if I must make this a legal matter then I will be filling for not only the rental car fees, but also the time missed from work, replacement of the O2 sensors and third converter that were damaged in the process, all associated legal fees, a full inspection AGAIN to make sure there has been no other damage caused as a result of their mistakes, and repair of that damage if there is any - quite a bit more liability that I would be wiling to settle on if he would just do the right thing and provide us a vehicle while he repairs his mistakes.
Sincerely,
[redacted]