Economy Radiator Tire & Repair

Review: I took my car to this shop to have a transmission I bought somewhere else installed. The day I picked it up it was shifting better but started to overheat the next day. I added oil and the temperature gauge went back down to normal so I assumed that I fixed the problem. The very next day my car started to overheat so I took it to Jiffy Lube to have them look at it because they had just changed all my fluids a few weeks prior. As soon as their employee started my car to pull it into the garage, the radiator started smoking and was left with a 6 inch wide crack. I then proceeded to call parts stores for a replacement used radiator because I'm low on money after having the transmission replaced. I then taped the crack and filled it with water and drove it home, having to stop every 7-8 minutes to add more water so my engine wouldn't blow up because I couldn't afford a tow truck either. Made it home and my fiances father, (who is a mechanic of 30 years) goes to change out the radiator 3 days later (because I had to order one and missed 3 shifts at work due to this). When he pulled out the old radiator he reported to me that the new transmission was never hooked back up to the radiator which caused it to overheat and crack. He then called Economy radiator tire and repair and reported the issue. Whomever he spoke to said he would talk to his boss and call us back. 3 days later my fiance finally got fed up waiting and called them back to speak to the boss. we'd met him in person before. Told him the whole story and how I had his daughter with me at the time it overheated and we could've been stranded on a 108 degree day. The man then told my fiance I should've had it towed to his shop right away instead of driving it home and repairing it ourselves and that there is nothing he can do to make the issue right.Basically its our fault for not being mechanics ourselves and knowing that a transmission is supposed to be hooked up to a radiator in order to not destroy both the radiator and the new transmissionDesired Settlement: My fiances 11 year old daughter and I had to breath in coolant fumes and smoke, were almost stranded in 108 degree weather, I missed 3 shifts at work between my two care giving jobs where I need to be present to ensure the health and safety of my disabled clients, and I had to spend almost $200 on a radiator and labor that I otherwise wouldn't have needed had this licensed mechanic shop done their job correctly. Could've cost me twice as much. Radiator is in their title.I want a refund at least.

Business

Response:

Ms. [redacted] brought us her vehicle on July 5th, 2014, she arrived with a male friend([redacted]). Ms. [redacted] and [redacted] explained that they'd like us to replace their transmission, stating they had purchased a used one themselves already and declined any diagnostic's concerning the repair. Our repair orders state in several areas that used, or customer supplied parts are not warrantied in any manner(parts, or labor) and she had signed and initialed our work order. I asked them of they had any other concerns that they'd like us to look at and they said they had none. The transmission repair went flawlessly, we ran it for a couple hours to make sure there were no leaks of any kind(ATF, coolant or oil) and is per our procedure took for 3, 5 mile test drives, checking and topping off the fluid each time. If there is ANY failure regardless of component we do our best to catch it before the vehicle is handed back to the customer. A couple days after the repair my office manager received a call from the customer stating that they had a radiator failure and asked if it was related to our repair, we said there was no way of knowing though it was unlikely and it would be best to bring it in so we could look at it which we would do for free, they declined. I personally took a call a couple days later from [redacted] stating that we had caused a radiator failure during the transmission installation and they had repaired it asked what we would like to do about it. I responded that it was summer time and cooling system failures were common and often times weren't related to anything other than the heat but if they had brought it in and could establish our fault or we could find any reason that we had liability in the matter I would make it right. I told [redacted] that the [redacted] website even suggests going back to the original repair facility to work out any issues prior to making a complaint. Our opinion prior to the Revdex.com complaint was that our transmission replacement had nothing to do with their unfortunate breakdown and as a family owned and run business with many small children among our employees, we strive to always be a passionate advocate of our customers safety and well being. After reading Ms. [redacted]'s complaint I am certain that we weren't responsible for her radiator failure as there are many, many technical flaws in the information that she gave. I understand that the consumer doesn't understand the complexities of a modern automobile and we try to be patient and diplomatic when dealing with customers as money is an issue with everyone and it is pretty easy to associate one thing with another when it happens in a short time period. The 03 Mitsubishi Lancer belonging to Ms. [redacted] had 209,812 miles on it and it doesn't surprise me that it has a number of issues, most cars do with that kind of mileage on it. As far as the radiator having to be hooked up to the transmission to allow the radiator to operate, that just isn't how things work. The cooling system is completely independent of the radiator system in that a thermal switch sits in a coolant passage that tells the fan to come on to cool the radiator. The transmission however is dependent on the radiator for cooling the transmission fluid and it is attached by two fluid lines. If either one of the fluid lines from the transmission wasn't hooked up it would spew transmission fluid on the ground and make a puddle larger than the vehicle as there is approximately 8 quartz of fluid in it and then the transmission wouldn't work or shift in any manner. If the high pressure transmission lines weren't hooked up, the vehicle would still cool properly but the vehicle wouldn't move a single inch under its own power. My sympathy goes to Ms. [redacted] for her many vehicle problems in July and we were glad she chose us to replace her transmission and I am glad to hear that it is still working today, however her misfortune was in no way related to our repair and we feel it wouldn't be right to issue her compensation that she isn't entitled to. Our shop has the lowest shop rate in the area, half of all the other shops in the area so we don't have a customer appeasement budget, in saying that I would like to also add that we ALWAYS make right any of our mistakes regardless of the time or cost and our commitment to repairing vehicles at the lowest cost in California and getting them out quickly is unmatched by anyone as we are open 7 days week. We by far have the largest clientele in the area with a mixture of retail and large commercial customers and I am always proud to say that our passion for excellence is eclipsed by none. Owner [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

attached are my receipts for the work I had done and the part I had to buy. They are each in two different lightings, in case they are hard to read. Thank you for your help.

Business

Response:

I appreciate the Revdex.com giving me the opportunity to respond to Ms [redacted]'s complaint. In the retail industry we have consumers and we have "abusive consumers". Most consumers expect value for their dollar and take ownership of their decisions good or bad, others will go to great lengths to blame others for their bad luck or decisions. "Abusive consumers" are under the assumption that businesses and society in general owe them a free ride. Ms [redacted]'s has been maliciously disingenuous about her interactions with Economy Radiator, Tire and Repair and it is apparent to anyone that reads our invoice that Ms. [redacted] isn't telling the truth. First Ms. [redacted] contacted our business and received an estimate on a transmission replacement for her car, they said they would provide the transmission and we told them that the labor would not be warrantied as is the practice in every shop across our great nation. Labor on used and customer supplied parts are never warrantied and not only did Ms. [redacted] initial our disclosure portion of our invoice indicating she understood our policy, also in big hand written letters on the invoice she signed and received were the words "Customer is providing transmission no parts or labor warranty". When Ms. [redacted] and her male companion showed up with the vehicle to be dropped off for the repair I asked them if it was diagnosed and if they were sure that the transmission needed replaced the male(Josh) accompanying her stated "that it(the transmission) was gone". Not only did Ms. [redacted] lie about the labor warranty as evidenced by the invoice she signed but bringing up the issue of the transmission diagnostic is really moot because they're not complaining about the transmission so even her logic is hard to follow. Apparently the used warranty-less transmission they provided and we installed is working great as there is never any mention of its operation in either of Ms. [redacted]'s complaints. I think even a passing reader can tell how bad of condition Ms. [redacted]'s vehicle was in as she admits that they found her motor oil "bone dry", that is a very telling observation in that they often run their vehicles low on oil. We replaced their transmission, made sure IT was full of fluid and test drove, if there are any other indicators that another system has an issue we call and inform the customer if there isn't an indication then just like every other shop in the country we focus on the repair at hand. Ms [redacted] is a typical "abusive consumer" that wants her entire maintenance challenged vehicle repaired each time she goes to a shop no matter how unrelated her complaints are to the original repair. We'll not be paying for a radiator, we definitely plugged the radiator in. Conceptually the idea that the radiator fan plug has anything to do with the radiator cracking is another admission in gross driver negligence. If the fan is unplugged the car would overheat, indicating the condition on the cluster REQUIRING a conscientious driver to pull over and let the vehicle cool off or get towed somewhere where it could be inspected, the idea that it was driven till the radiator cracked is pure apathetic abuse but it goes along with the low oil level theme. As far as having another relative or mechanic ascertaining the vehicles condition after our repair, the question begs to be asked if they are so knowledgeable why didn't they install Ms. [redacted]'s transmission in the first place? In finishing let me point out one extremely glaring fact the Ms. [redacted] has wrong. Per ALLDATA Repair S3000, which is one of 3 professional services that provide vehicle information for repair facilities in the United States for a monthly subscription fee a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer ES with an automatic transmission takes 7.7 liters or 8.1 quarts of automatic transmission fluid not 4 as she stated, this information is provided to ALLDATA by Mitsubishi Motor Company. FYI, it is impossible to "wreck" an engine with an overfilled transmission as Ms. [redacted] stated but it is one of the many lies, exaggerations and logically challenged statements made by Ms [redacted] in her inaccurate diatribe. As the largest repair facility in our area with thousands of loyal customers, a majority of which are low income as well as numerous commercial customers we strive to provide the lowest rates(40-60% lower than comparable shops) 7 days a week. Some businesses choose to appease customers regardless of how abusive or hard they are to work with and while we are willing to meet each person more than halfway we prefer to be selective with our clientele as they know they will receive the highest quality work at the lowest cost anywhere. While we are glad that Ms. [redacted] transmission is working well for her and she seems to have found auto repair that she is happy with, we sympathize with her recent misfortunes and we wish her well in the future.