Eugenes Auto Repair

See PdfDesired SettlementSee PdfBusiness Response Contact Name and Title: [redacted]Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXXContact Email: [redacted]@eugenesauto.comIn February 2013, this customer, [redacted], towed his 1993 Toyota Pickup to my shop in very bad condition. It had no power, smoking from the tailpipe, and would not stay running. Upon initial inspection, I pulled the engine oil dipstick and noticed coolant was mixing with the oil, indicating that the cylinder head gaskets were blown and needed to be replaced. On top of that, it had a transmission leak, brakes were very worn and rusted, so we suggested him to scrap that 20 year old vehicle. [redacted] decided to replace the head gaskets regardless. We removed cylinder heads, and brought them to the machine shop for resurfacing. While we were waiting for the heads to be machined, we pushed the truck outside so we could keep taking care of other customers. There was nothing to be done on his truck until the cylinder heads were returned to us anyway. After receiving the heads, and beginning to assemble the engine, we noticed cracks on the timing belt, looseness in the water pump, and cracked crankshaft sprocket. We took pictures of them, and received authorization from [redacted]. After the job was completed, it was no longer was mixing coolant and oil, had much more sufficient power, and the customer picked up the vehicle and drove it home. Approximately 4 months later, when warmer weather arrived, [redacted] complained of the truck overheating, we inspected the radiator and noticed it was very rotted and missing the cooling fins. We gave him a quote and [redacted] refused to do the job. He then replaced it himself. A week later, [redacted] called and said the truck was still overheating. But because we didn't replace the radiator, we had to do diagnostics on the vehicle first, to make sure radiator was replaced and cooling system was bled correctly. [redacted] refused to pay for diagnostics, and we haven't seen him since then.Business Response Mr. [redacted] brought his vehicle in initially for smoke from the tail pipe and no power. The truck was towed to the shop because it was not drivable. While we were diagnosing the problem, we noticed the coolant mixing with the oil. This indicates a blown head gasket. After giving Mr. [redacted] the initial estimate of replacing the head gasket on February 25, 2013 he agreed to have the work done. After replacing the head gaskets, and starting to reassemble the engine, we noticed the timing belt was very old and dry-rotted and it was not safe to put back on. The water pump, which is driven by the timing belt, needed to be replaced as well. Doing this now saves a lot on money in the future, seeing as everything was apart, we would not charge him the labor for these extra replaced parts. He drove the vehicle back home on March 6th with no issues or smoking from the tailpipe. Only 4 months later he returned to us with an overheating concern. On July 18th, we gave him an estimate for the radiator replacement, because the radiator was corroded and missing most, if not all of the fins. Mr. [redacted] replaced the radiator himself after refusing us to do it. About one week later he returned to us with the truck still overheating. But because we did not do the radiator job, there are no guarantees that it was done correctly, and that voids the cooling system warranty. We are a very busy shop, have a good reputation around town, and Mr. [redacted] keeps calling and harassing the shop and its workers via Phone. We always stand behind our jobs, but in this case, his complaint with the overheating issue, is not related to the previous head gasket job that we did.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)My Toyota truck that [redacted] tried to fix still has coolant in the oil. He is not accepting responsibility, he makes himself out to be as if he is perfect without making any mistakes! [redacted] DID NOT fix my truck correctly, if he fixed it like he says he did, wouldn't it be drivable? It still overheats so he did not fix the original problem. I went to his shop several times about it and [redacted] said "keep driving it, it will break in." I would like to see these photos that they took and the phone records of the harassment! I never authorized any other job to be done on my Toyota. [redacted] is avoiding responsibility about the entire job, meanwhile, time continues to go by, and I can not drive my overheating, non-drivable truck!!Business Response Mr. [redacted]'s toyota pickup left our shop running and driving very well on March 6th. It was only on July 18th that the truck started overheating, due to a bad radiator. The customer replaced the radiator HIMSELF and therefore voids the cooling system warranty. If the radiator is installed incorrectly or not bled properly, the engine will overheat. Again, we DID NOT replace this radiator, Mr. [redacted] did the job himself and we are not responsible for someone else's mistakes.