Excel Auto Repair & Collision

The customer came into the shop (Excel Auto Repair Collision) on March 26th with his 2006 [redacted]-6i for an oil change, the mechanic on the scene also noticed a mound crack on the oil filter that was previously there and alerted the customer, we also placed an invoice for the crack. After changing the...

oil in the car, the customer left with the car. A few hours later, the customer called the shop and said that the oil light was showing in his car. We told the customer to put more oil in the car and bring it back to the shop. We put the car on the lift to inspect what the problem was. The mechanic inspected the car and saw the crack had gotten significantly bigger than before, and the oil was dropping from the car. We told the customer that we had to order a mount, which can only come from the car dealership and since it was Saturday; we had to order the part for Monday. The dealership was only able to deliver the part to us on Tuesday. On Monday, the customer called and said that he needed the car that day, so I went to the dealership that day to go and pick up the parts, put them in and added more oil to the car. (There was no charge for the replacement of the part, the adding of the oil, or any other labor charge.) Monday evening the customer came to pick up the car, and it was driving smoothly. The next day (Tuesday) the customer called again and said that his car was not starting, the mechanic went to the customer's house and saw that the battery was dead, so he jump started it and brought the car to the shop. The customer showed us that the engine light was on. We then diagnosed the Camshaft sensor which changed the light and turned the engine light sign off. (Like previous time, there was no charge). The next day Wednesday, the customer came to pick up the car and it saw that it started and drove smoothly once again. On Friday the customer called again and said that he took the car to another shop and replaced the time belt/chain; he then proceeded to explain that the charge for the replacement of the time belt/chain came out to $1700 and was looking at us to reimburse him for the money that he spent on the fixing his car. We explained to the customer that if the time belt/chain was the original problem of the car, there is no way that the car would be able to start and run smoothly when we had it. Even if we had changed the time belt/chain we only charge about $400-500 max (we also submitted this to [redacted], a nearby shop and for the Timing chain/belt a total of parts and labor it came out to $317) We also made a few calls to different shops nearby and they told us a total for parts and labor would be somewhere around $300–$500, again, nowhere near $1700. The car that he owns is a ten year old [redacted], which had about 80,000 miles on it. Car manufactures recommend that you change the time belt/chain when the car gets to about 80,000 miles. In conclusion, this is the statement of the events that took place, we shouldn’t be forced to recompense him for something that we did not cause nor have any part in doing. This is clearly not our fault. Attached to this statement we have the different invoices from different shops when charged for the replacement of the timing chain/belt. If there any questions please feel free to contact me at any time.Sincerely,

The customer came into the shop (Excel Auto Repair Collision) on March 26th with his 2006 [redacted]-6i for an oil change, the mechanic on the scene also noticed a mound crack on the oil filter that was previously there and alerted the customer, we also placed an invoice for the crack. After...

changing the oil in the car, the customer left with the car. A few hours later, the customer called the shop and said that the oil light was showing in his car. We told the customer to put more oil in the car and bring it back to the shop. We put the car on the lift to inspect what the problem was. The mechanic inspected the car and saw the crack had gotten significantly bigger than before, and the oil was dropping from the car. We told the customer that we had to order a mount, which can only come from the car dealership and since it was Saturday; we had to order the part for Monday. The dealership was only able to deliver the part to us on Tuesday. On Monday, the customer called and said that he needed the car that day, so I went to the dealership that day to go and pick up the parts, put them in and added more oil to the car. (There was no charge for the replacement of the part, the adding of the oil, or any other labor charge.) Monday evening the customer came to pick up the car, and it was driving smoothly. The next day (Tuesday) the customer called again and said that his car was not starting, the mechanic went to the customer's house and saw that the battery was dead, so he jump started it and brought the car to the shop. The customer showed us that the engine light was on. We then diagnosed the Camshaft sensor which changed the light and turned the engine light sign off. (Like previous time, there was no charge). The next day Wednesday, the customer came to pick up the car and it saw that it started and drove smoothly once again. On Friday the customer called again and said that he took the car to another shop and replaced the time belt/chain; he then proceeded to explain that the charge for the replacement of the time belt/chain came out to $1700 and was looking at us to reimburse him for the money that he spent on the fixing his car. We explained to the customer that if the time belt/chain was the original problem of the car, there is no way that the car would be able to start and run smoothly when we had it. Even if we had changed the time belt/chain we only charge about $400-500 max (we also submitted this to [redacted], a nearby shop and for the Timing chain/belt a total of parts and labor it came out to $317) We also made a few calls to different shops nearby and they told us a total for parts and labor would be somewhere around $300–$500, again, nowhere near $1700. The car that he owns is a ten year old [redacted], which had about 80,000 miles on it. Car manufactures recommend that you change the time belt/chain when the car gets to about 80,000 miles. In conclusion, this is the statement of the events that took place, we shouldn’t be forced to recompense him for something that we did not cause nor have any part in doing. This is clearly not our fault. Attached to this statement we have the different invoices from different shops when charged for the replacement of the timing chain/belt. If there any questions please feel free to contact me at any time.Sincerely,