European Auto Service, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2016/07/15) */
July 7, 2016
RE: Case # [redacted]
on 4/19/16 [redacted] brought her 2000 BMW [redacted] in stating that her vehicle monitors would not set and pass [redacted] testing. Service adviser checked the vehicle in and told [redacted] the...

diagnostic would take about 2 hours and the diagnostic fee would be approx. $200. She signed the write up/car check in form authorizing us to do the inspection. 4/20/16 our technician found a, swollen Vacuum Line, replaced the Vacuum Line then took the vehicle for a test drive to see if the new Vacuum Line would clear the codes/faults and reset the monitors. As technician was pulling back into the shop driveway be noticed steam erupting from under the hood he inspected the steam issue and noticed the radiator had burst. The technician immediately reported his finding to the service adviser and the service adviser immediately called [redacted] and told her what was happening. [redacted] then stated to our service adviser that the vehicle had been overheating but she had not noticed any leaks. Our service adviser gave her the estimates on fixing the radiator and thermostat (call made 4/XXXXX @ 12:31pm) Estimate for radiator, thermostat, radiator mounts, coolant and labor was $650. The radiator was mounted on a piece of cardboard and tied to radiator support with misc. wires when the vehicle was brought in. [redacted] approved the work and estimated costs. The parts were ordered and the work was performed. Once the radiator, thermostat, radiator mounts and coolant were installed, technician pulled the codes again and found 7 different codes/faults; CODES: (227) E3EU111 OBD U P1188 FUEL TRIM BANK 1, (202) P0170 FUEL TRIM BANK 1, (228) P1189 FUEL TRIM RANI( 2, (203) P0173 FUEL TRIM BANK 2, (242) P0305 MISFIRE CYL. #5, (243) P0366 MISFIRE CYL. #6, (241) P0304 MISFIRE CYL. #4, then a smoke test was performed to the system. The smoke test found that the Crank Case Vent Valve Assembly was leaking and an Air Mass Meter Hose was needed because it had been repaired prior to arriving at our shop with duck tape. Due to the misfire codes it also needed Spark Plugs and (3) Ignition Coils. Our service adviser called [redacted] back again on 4/22/16 to inform her of our additional findings. The additional costs were approx. $754., plus the $650. = $1404. There was never a discussion regarding a tune up or free spark plugs, the spark plugs needed to be replaced due to misfire codes (242) P0305 MISFIRE CYL. #5, (243) P0366 MISFIRE CYL. #6, (241) P0304 MISFIRE CYL. #4. [redacted] approved the additional work and costs, The parts were ordered and the work was performed. We never discussed. discounts, however, we did help her with deducting hours off the labor charges. We waved the 5200. 2 hr. diagnosticfee and discounted the labor costs by 5 hours on all the work performed. Coils and Spark. Plugs 1.0 hrs, Thermostat @ 1.1 hrs, Radiator @ 1.6 hrs, Crankcase Vent Valve @ 3.B hrs, Vacuum Hose @ 0.5 hrs, = 10,0 total hours to install all parts mentioned above. We only charged [redacted] for a total of 5.0 hours of the 10 hrs. performed. This gave her a 5 hour labor discount totaling 5493, and did not charge her for the new Vacuum Line hose, costing $25 total
discounts for labor and parts $518, On 4/25/16 [redacted] picked up her vehicle, signed off on work performed and paid in full $1404.39.
[redacted] called back a day or two later and stated she had taken her car to the BMW dealership and had her car re-diagnosed and they told her the thermostat was leaking. She was told that she would need to bring the car back to the shop so that our technician could look at the vehicle again to verify if the thermostat was leaking, which we would have covered under warranty. She was asked to fax over the BMW dealership diagnostic report or to bring it in with her when she brought the vehicle back. We never saw any dealerships diagnostic she claimed to have gotten. in her complaint she claims she took her vehicle to 'a private mechanic for a window problem. Her complaint never mentions the BMW dealerships diagnoses and this was the main reason she stated to us she was certain the thermostat was leaking. She was told that there might be an additional diagnostic fee of $98.50 if we found there were additional problems from the work we had already performed, She asked to speak with the owner, in which the owner agreed to wave any additional fees to have her vehicle inspected again.
[redacted] brought the vehicle back to the shop, we took the vehicle into the service bay, [redacted] waited while our certified BMW technician re-inspected the vehicle. He performed a pressure test and found that the leak was coming from the water pump and coolant pipe, it was seeping onto the water pump pulley and slinging it onto the thermostat housing. The owner told. her of the technicians findings and no diagnostic fee was charged. [redacted]. left with her vehicle.
A couple of days later, [redacted] called back again still claiming she went to the BMW dealership (Never a mention of a private mechanic) and stated again that the BMW dealership told her the coolant all over her engine was corning from the thermostat leaking. She spoke with the owner once again and he told her to bring the vehicle back in if she wanted him to do a second inspection and he asked her to bring any paperwork from the BMW dealership stating a leaking thermostat diagnoses. [redacted] brought the vehicle in a second time, the owner [redacted] inspected the vehicle (owner also a certified technician) and the findings were still the same. There were no leaks coming from the thermostat. The owner noticed that the water pump and coolant pipe had been seeping for quite some time due to the amount of dry residue present. [redacted] stated she knew the car needed a lot of repairs but she was just trying to get the car to pass ** she could get her registration tags. [redacted] left again with the same diagnoses, vehicle still needed a new water pump and coolant pipe. Thermostat was not leaking. [redacted] never presented any dealership diagnostic report at her second visit either. [redacted] states that when she brought her vehicle to the shop the check engine light was not on. This is true, the check engine light was not on when the vehicle arrived, the light had been cleared/erased prior to arriving to the shop. Now, if the problem with the vehicle that caused the check engine light IQ come on has been corrected and the codes are cleared, you need to drive the vehicle for approx. 60 miles or more before the monitors will re-set for the vehicle to pass [redacted] But, if the light has simply been cleared/erased and the problem that made the check engine light to come on in the first place has not been corrected, the check engine light will reappear and the code will be present once again.
We drove the vehicle after the above mentioned work was [redacted] for approx. SO miles to try to re-set the monitors. However, after 80 miles the monitors had still not re-set, so the service adviser advised [redacted] that she needed to continue driving the vehicle until the monitors re-set., Again, it takes approx. 60 miles or more to re-set the monitors after the codes/faults are cleared, (Each individual vehicle will vary in how many miles it takes for monitors to re-set) The reason her check engine light has reappeared and she can not pass [redacted] smog test is due to the fact that [redacted] still has many repairs needed on her vehicle and until those repairs are made it is most likely her check engine light will keep appearing and codes will continue to be present and her vehicle will continue to fail smog tests. in addition, when [redacted] brought the vehicle back to have the vehicle re-inspected (twice) at no additional charge, she did not ask us to find out why the check engine light was on. [redacted] only stated she was bringing the vehicle back in for a coolant problem., a leaking thermostat.
The overall vehicle was in very poor repair.
No refund warranted.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2016/07/24) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
When I took my vehicle in I was told by [redacted] the service advisor it would be $98.50 for an hour of there time, an if they couldn't figure it out within that one hour I would then be ASKED to give the ok for another hour. So why would you charge me for 2 hr right off the bat with out looking at the car for an hour first? I was also told by [redacted] that my car was only test drove once, so why did your tech drive 80+ miles before the car overheated, maybe driving for 80+ miles straight is what caused my vehicle to overheat because I never said I had issues with overheating, and if I did say that why did you guys not take precautions prior to driving the vehicle for example check my fluid levels or water pump since I allegedly said I had overheating problems? You also claimed that there was cardboard and parts held together by duct tape which I never saw and previous shops have never mentioned. You also stated in your response that there was no discussion of a discount but yet you allegedly gave me a discount totaling $493, that's a big discount to just give with out a discussion and from what my invoice says I only got a discount of $126.32. And I was told by [redacted] I "would not be charged for anything as far as spark plugs and other things" which I have saved on voicemail. And as far as me calling back I never said I took my car to the BMW dealers, I did state I took it to get re-diagnosed but didnt specify where, that's was your receptionist (Girlfriend) assumption, when I then asked to speak with the manager because she kept saying I had to pay another diagnostic fee she then falsely identified herself as the owner, after speaking with the actual owner I did take my vehicle back to a second look for only 10 min. I called again the next day asking that he take a even better look at the vehicle, agreed I took my car back again. and in your response you stated that "The owner noticed that the water pump and coolant pipe had been seeping for QUITE SOME TIME now due to the amount of dry residue present" if that WAS the case why was this not noticed during the first visit. And yes I did state my car needs repairs for example window regulators, door handles, and my ac not working. all things that dont affect whats under the hood or how the car runs. which are problems I am NOW having since receiving work from your shop. In your response you accuse me of clearing the codes prior to taking it to your shop which is false and makes no sense you state it takes 60 miles for cleared codes to reappear so if I did clear these codes they would have showed up after the 80+ miles you drove. not after changing the radiator, maybe the work you did was done wrong and that is why my CEL is now on. And prior to taking my car to your shop the ONLY problem stopping it from passing [redacted] was the secondary air system not resetting, it wasn't that there was a CEL on or that there were pending codes or cause the codes were cleared or because it needed more repairs, I have smog papers that state exactly why it wouldn't pass. Also you state in your response that my vehicle was in very poor repair. why was I not told this after the first visit or prior to getting work done?