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Econo Smog & Tune

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Econo Smog & Tune Reviews (1)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/01) */
Wow, talk about hitting below the belt. There are a lot of people far and wide, hundreds for sure easily thousands, that would honestly say these are a bunch of lies...The cards that were played, attacking me and my shops credibility, let me see...

the old folks card, the tourist card, the 'guessing' card(I call that the shotgun approach, and have let a couple of my old techs have both barrels from me for even attempting that move((don't worry folks they won't ever work here again!!)))I'm third generation hard working, HONEST and straight forward with my customers and EVERYBODY is treated like I would want my family members treated. Now for some facts; the vehicle arrived at my shop running rough and my tech asked them to schedule a time to bring it in, stating the most common cause could be simply a tune up(plugs and/or wires), but we would obviously inspect and test to confirm...WE DON'T GUESS. The vehicle came from their son [redacted](a used car salesman @Jim's Auto Sales in Fontana), we also talked to [redacted] to find any history, repairs etc. [redacted] stated the plugs were changed approximately a year ago, so we scanned for info, fuel trims were the determining factor on where to go next. At idle LTFT were at mid teens(+12 to 17), STFT +3 to 7 and a few times -3. You see the symptoms were misfires, the codes were P0300, random multiple misfires and a P0303 misfire cylinder 3, [redacted] states the plugs were replaced (I really don't like taking someone's word for past repairs when the symptoms point toward that...I really wanted to look just to make sure, but didn't) I have 2 different online paid subscriptions to Pro Demand and Identifix, I prefer 2 so I can cross reference my data... I hate being incorrect. I also utilize 4 not 1 high quality scan tools updated to various different levels again to backup the quality of my diagnosis([redacted] had suggested I get some computers and testers???) I guess he doesn't know my facility very well. Don't mean to get off track so much, but if you knew me, you would totally understand. We found a common problem with a lot of vehicles with phenolic/plastic intake manifolds had gaskets prone to leakage, more obvious with a cold engine, we also tested for a bad coil pack(archive #XXXXXX Identifix, 6/16/2015). We found using a propane enrichment system during initial startup(3 times I verified before the engine warmed up, at which time the problem would lessen), and graphed it out on the OTC Genisys. The point I found with the propane that had the most drastic change was the upper plenum at cylinder #3 port. My tech phoned the couple to request an overnight stay for the vehicle to retest to verify before we changed a single part. My tech told me he had a very difficult time trying to explain to them what we needed to do to check to make sure we didn't replace something that wasn't needed. We got the okay and the next morning my tech repeated the propane test and again got identical readings( now I think that's pretty conclusive), but he went even further and found the PCV elbow had some cracks on the bottom back side that couldn't be seen until the part was removed. Now that
is when we called( I speak doohickey and sometimes try using that to help customers to better understand the technical information we are trying to get them to understand, my tech is getting pretty good at that too) to explain what we had found, the price and the parts needed, and to get their approval. I was given approval and asked not to accept payment from [redacted] that they would take care of it. The parts came in and the work was done to my meticulous standards, ask my tech, PLEASE. After the repairs were completed my tech repeated the propane test on both the plenum and the PCV elbow, everything was perfect! The customer was called and my tech went to pick the husband up in his own vehicle and commented on how much better the car was running, bill got paid. Several days later we got a call that the car was 'vibrating' while driving around Bullhead City AZ, about 28 miles north of Needles. I think that might have been a hot day since it is summertime 115+ degrees outside in the shade, one of the things I suspected in the very beginning was the possibility of a failing fuel pump module and we actually had done a static test in the shop and at that time the pressure was within spec. I personally have seen many Ford fuel pumps test fine in the shop environment and cut out during extreme conditions, had also had a hard time driving a vehicle for enough to force it into that level of stress. Didn't put that on the bill it carries a Mitchel time of .6(48.00 by my labor time) Just trying to save these folks a few bucks because I know they are on a fixed income,...good deed huh. This didn't seem at that time to be relevant to what else we had found, and proved. When my tech received that call he asked if the customers would bring the car in on Monday so we could see if we had missed something, the were a NOSHOW, the workload that was in play at the time they called was 5(FIVE) in progress and the earliest time was Monday. Now as I can see from the Revdex.com letter, the case was received on the 19th (June), reviewed on the 22nd(THE MONDAY WE ASKED THEM TO SHOW UP), the letter mailed to me on the same day, and received by me on the 25th, looks like it wouldn't matter, huh. The day I received the letter I actually opened it up since it seemed strange to get a letter from the Revdex.com, I had sat down to read and quickly realized the importance of it when the husband walked through my door, so I asked if he knew about this, he said it was [redacted] and that his wife was very angry...I apologized for the inconvenience and asked why he didn't come in on Monday and that I was hurt by the filing of the letter and the invalid claims, also that I would like to get the car in to investigate the issues. I will usually do this at my own expense up to the point that I find that our work was good and they obviously had multiple problems. He said since it appeared to be very busy at that time he would leave his name and number of my chalkboard so I could call him in when I was caught up. The chalkboard is right in front of me all day since we are a Smog Station I am in that spot most of the day, so I wouldn't forget, I told him I'd be happy to. I had to put off doing some of my work on other people's vehicles to draft this letter because it had to be filed by July 2, I hope they understand it was necessary, maybe you folks at Revdex.com can explain how many possible things can cause a 'vibration' in a vehicle. Help me out here you're on my side too right, just like the DCA and BAR. I could have spent this after hours time tonight with my 10 year old son and 8 year old grandson down here visiting, but I needed to be here in front of this keyboard. Sincerely [redacted], owner Econo Smog & Tune, Needles Ca

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Address: 115 West Broadway Street, Needles, California, United States, 92363-3949

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