German Auto Service and Sales

I reject their response. I have spoken with the [redacted], the USA division, regarding this matter, I have been advised fallows:- Leaks do not cause burned out clutches.- They either did not put in a new clutch, they attempted to fix just one piece, or they just plane and simply put it in wrong.- Any "consumer error" is not our responsibility due to the above reasons.- When I told them that German Auto said it was a consumer error from a born and raised in France driver, they literally laughed; Europeans only have manual clutches, so the theory of it's consumer error from someone who doesn't know how to drive a clutch, is preposterous, my husband knows how to drive a clutch. Therefore he also knows when the clutch is burning. - Porsche warranties their products for 2 years, unlimited miles. (German Auto is not an exception)On May 27th 2014 my husband took the Porsche to [redacted], to try & fix the AC Belt, which was put back incorrectly and broken due to the incorrect re-installation after "fixing" the clutch, there were no oil leaks. The 2 hour diagnostic performed by German Auto was way off. Not to mention that they didn't claim there were oil leaks until after replacing the new clutch kit. [redacted]:- Put in a new left rear sensor (German Auto did not catch this) - One Axle- Air duct at fan shroud - And verbally advised my husband to take the Porsche back to German Auto due to the clutch beginning to slip again. There were no oil leaks prior to bringing in the car, and there were none after. German Auto was attempting to scam us out of another $5,000.00.  My husband hired a paralegal by the name of [redacted], to witness as he test drove the vehicle around our neighborhood, he was also present as my husband dropped off the vehicle at German Auto for the clutch issue. Approximately 23.6 miles were put on the vehicle after pickup.  The car was not smoking during the test drive around the neighborhood, there was also no smell present. As I have stated before when a clutch is burning, it smokes a lot, and smells. However the clutch peddle was not catching until pushed down all the way to the floor board. No new clutch does this. When dropping off the vehicle my husband told [redacted] (whom he was speaking with, also the mechanic that worked on our vehicle) to look at the vehicle while it was on and in motion, he showed him there were no leaks, no smoke, no smell & informed him of the issue at hand with the clutch. All the while Mr. [redacted] took notes. Last Thursday [redacted] called me at work, he admitted we called in 9 months ago, and admitted that leaks don't cause a burned out clutch. He agreed that my husband knows how to drive a clutch, but that they still are not going to warranty the product, and work. I informed him that Porsche warranties  their product for 2 years, he had nothing to say to that. As they stated in their first response, they record all conversations. So they should send that to you. The fact of the matter remains, they either did not put in a new clutch kit maybe because they tried to just fixing one piece, but charged us for the whole kit, or they really did put in a whole brand new clutch kit, but put it in severely wrong. Either way, I was doing them a courtesy by bringing the car back to them, and giving them the opportunity to fix their mistake, I gave them yet another courtesy in attempting to resolve the matter through Revdex.com, I am out of courtesy, I have contacted the [redacted], there will be repercussions for their actions, what they did was either just wrong or a scam. Either way it is their responsibility to fix the issue at hand.  Regards,[redacted]

The repairs performed on this vehicle were over a year ago and are passed warranty period. The customer was advised at the time of repairs and signed their signature to their repair order at time of pick up which stated "severe oil leaks, vehicle is unsafe to drive, customer was...

advised and declined further repairs etc. etc." We saved the original failed clutch from this vehicle that we replaced do to the memorable experience with this customer upon there last visit in. It has the matching production date code of the vehicle and is very obviously failed. We showed them these parts when thay came to pick up the vehicle. Again reiterating this vehicle should not be driven but towed due to the further repairs it needed. We never replaced the A/C belt, the customer was never charged for this repair and it is not a charge on their invoice.We record every phone call made to and from our business. We have no record of a call being made to or from this customer since they picked up vehicle on 11/8/13 at 4:31pm.

I reject their response. I have spoken with the [redacted], the USA division, regarding this matter, I have been advised fallows:- Leaks do not cause burned out clutches.- They either did not put in a new clutch, they attempted to fix just one piece, or they just plane and simply put it in wrong.- Any "consumer error" is not our responsibility due to the above reasons.- When I told them that German Auto said it was a consumer error from a born and raised in France driver, they literally laughed; Europeans only have manual clutches, so the theory of it's consumer error from someone who doesn't know how to drive a clutch, is preposterous, my husband knows how to drive a clutch. Therefore he also knows when the clutch is burning. - Porsche warranties their products for 2 years, unlimited miles. (German Auto is not an exception)On May 27th 2014 my husband took the Porsche to [redacted], to try & fix the AC Belt, which was put back incorrectly and broken due to the incorrect re-installation after "fixing" the clutch, there were no oil leaks. The 2 hour diagnostic performed by German Auto was way off. Not to mention that they didn't claim there were oil leaks until after replacing the new clutch kit. [redacted]:- Put in a new left rear sensor (German Auto did not catch this) - One Axle- Air duct at fan shroud - And verbally advised my husband to take the Porsche back to German Auto due to the clutch beginning to slip again. There were no oil leaks prior to bringing in the car, and there were none after. German Auto was attempting to scam us out of another $5,000.00.  My husband hired a paralegal by the name of [redacted], to witness as he test drove the vehicle around our neighborhood, he was also present as my husband dropped off the vehicle at German Auto for the clutch issue. Approximately 23.6 miles were put on the vehicle after pickup.  The car was not smoking during the test drive around the neighborhood, there was also no smell present. As I have stated before when a clutch is burning, it smokes a lot, and smells. However the clutch peddle was not catching until pushed down all the way to the floor board. No new clutch does this. When dropping off the vehicle my husband told [redacted] (whom he was speaking with, also the mechanic that worked on our vehicle) to look at the vehicle while it was on and in motion, he showed him there were no leaks, no smoke, no smell & informed him of the issue at hand with the clutch. All the while Mr. [redacted] took notes. Last Thursday [redacted] called me at work, he admitted we called in 9 months ago, and admitted that leaks don't cause a burned out clutch. He agreed that my husband knows how to drive a clutch, but that they still are not going to warranty the product, and work. I informed him that Porsche warranties  their product for 2 years, he had nothing to say to that. As they stated in their first response, they record all conversations. So they should send that to you. The fact of the matter remains, they either did not put in a new clutch kit maybe because they tried to just fixing one piece, but charged us for the whole kit, or they really did put in a whole brand new clutch kit, but put it in severely wrong. Either way, I was doing them a courtesy by bringing the car back to them, and giving them the opportunity to fix their mistake, I gave them yet another courtesy in attempting to resolve the matter through Revdex.com, I am out of courtesy, I have contacted the [redacted], there will be repercussions for their actions, what they did was either just wrong or a scam. Either way it is their responsibility to fix the issue at hand.  Regards,[redacted]

I've been taking my cars to German Auto Service for years. Jim, one of the owners, is incredibly knowledgeable and always giving us honest evaluations of the problems with our BMW's. Their prices are fair and we've recommended several people with different european cars and they've all had positive experience as well.

We have a 2005 ** Passat TDI with about 75,000 miles. It has been pampered and all oil changes, air filters and such are regularly maintained. I usually do most maintenance work myself but we just moved to Scottsdale area and I have not had the time. I looked online and found German Auto. Now my story begins…
My experience with German Auto has been among the worst I have ever had. In fact, I do not generally write negative review assuming that most issues are singular events. However, in this case we began with a visit and just became a revolving door of the issue recurring and the car needing to be dropped off again and again and again. It is my opinion that the technicians do not have the ability to think beyond their OBD II scanners. In our case we took the car in because it was going into limp mode. German Auto repaired the turbo. We drove the car about a short while (less than a month) and the car went back into limp mode. Back it went for another turbo related repair at this point my wife told them it was shifting oddly too. My wife picked the car up Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2013 and made it about 10 miles before the car’s console lit up again. They told her bring it back Friday morning. I showed up with the car and was told “Sorry we have no one here to drive you home (it was so pathetic that one of their customers offered me a ride) again I mentioned that the car seemed to be shifting oddly. They kept the car several days. We got it back but again we had it a short time when suddenly the car overheated. Now the car needs a whole new set of cooling system parts. A few more days in the shop, we’re several thousand dollars into German Auto now. Christmas night we drive to visit family and the car starts shifting like mad then goes BLAM! Okay, I admit, I’m quite angry now. I have the car towed to a ** garage and call German Auto the next day. German Auto’s solution is for me to pay to have it towed to them so they can “look it over” I ask them why the transmission was never inspected and they assure me it was and that there is “No way there is a transmission issue”. ** slaps and OBD II scanner on it and, yep, transmission is shot. I ended up taking it to a transmission shop in Chandler to get it fixed they towed it for free and they did a complimentary scan. I was absolutely shocked when they said there are two cooling system issues being reported. Back to German Auto I go for warranty work on the work they had done less than one month before (which included replacing the thermostat again). Now three months later April 2014, the thermostat is bad again. Do you think I am going back to German Auto? Not on your life!!! I leave it to you to make your own decision.

Review: A little over a year ago I took my husbands 1995 Porsche carrera to German Auto sales and services to have a new clutch kit installed and a new AC belt put in. There were no oil leaks in the car at the time that I brought the car in, also there was nothing wrong with the driver seat. When my husband picked up his car the service guy told him there is a very big oil leak in possibly the chain box, the guy said it would another $5,000 to fix it, my husband was very upset due to there being no leak prior to bringing the car in. We paid over $3,000 for the clutch kit and AC belt. As my husband left the lot there was a lot of smoke coming from the vehicle, he had it looked it and what they called an oil leak was actualy the AC belt not being properly installed it had broken and slipped off pieces of the belt had fallen into the car and were melted, he had that fixed, but he also had to press the clutch peddle all the way to the floor before it would catch and switch gears, it's supposed to catch half way. He called them and explained that the car feels like they did nothing, the guy told my husband the car has to settle. It's not our everyday car, so he let it settle, he took the car out of our garage to drive it around the neighborhood it still had the same issue, he called them again they said the Porsche guy wasn't in, we own a business ourselves and a couple of months later he had to go on a business trip, when he got back he drove the car again, just around our block, the clutch was still not catching, he put about 15 to 20 miles on the car, I called the shop told we needed to bring it in they told me the Porsche guy was on vacation, I waited a month and called back again, it took about a week to get ahold of the Porsche guy (they never call back) my husband brought the Porche in they were supposed to call us back after looking at the car, they never did, I called two times, the second time I got ahold of the Porsche guy, he asked me if odometer is broken. Number 1 when putting in a new clutch kit mechanics generally drive the car to be sure that the clutch is working properly in which point they would have known the odometer wasn't working. Number 2 in order to put in a new clutch kit (new clutch) the mechanic has to first disconnect the odometer which is wired to the side of the transmission then would have to remove the transmission. When putting everything back into place he would have known the odometer was broken. That's when I first realized they never took out the transmission which means they couldn't have put the new clutch in. The Porsche guy told me they still hadn't opened up the car yet, I asked them to call me once they had, and once they fixed or put in a new clutch. I never received a call back, so again I called them, the Porsche guy told me the clutch was completely burned out and we had it put a little over a year ago therefore they would not be warranting the product. The guy tried to say it was consumer error not knowing how to drive a clutch, my husband is from France, there cars are generally stick shifts, he has always driven a stick shift, and we have had the Porsche for many, many years, he knows how to drive a stick shift. Looking at the oil levels it is obvious there has been no more then 20 miles driven in the vehicle since they supposedly put in the new clutch. I spoke with a Porsche expert told them what was going on, what I found out what was it is impossible to completely burn out a brand new Porsche clutch in 20 miles not even 50, even if it was someone who didn't know how to drive a clutch, (to blame it on my husband is insulting) if they had installed a new clutch they would have without a doubt known the odometer was broken, and when burning out a clutch to the extent they told me ours was, there would be a terrible smell from it burning and smoke that would not only fill the inside of the car but it be visible from the outside, there is no way any driver would not know. The only time there was ever any smoke coming from the Porsche was when he picked it up, and he had a new AC belt properly installed not by German ago. There has never been a smell when he has driven the car.Desired Settlement: Install a new clutch kit, and I have new exhaust pipes that they could install complimentary, I would appreciate a phone call when the car is done as well.

Business

Response:

The repairs performed on this vehicle were over a year ago and are passed warranty period. The customer was advised at the time of repairs and signed their signature to their repair order at time of pick up which stated "severe oil leaks, vehicle is unsafe to drive, customer was advised and declined further repairs etc. etc." We saved the original failed clutch from this vehicle that we replaced do to the memorable experience with this customer upon there last visit in. It has the matching production date code of the vehicle and is very obviously failed. We showed them these parts when thay came to pick up the vehicle. Again reiterating this vehicle should not be driven but towed due to the further repairs it needed. We never replaced the A/C belt, the customer was never charged for this repair and it is not a charge on their invoice.We record every phone call made to and from our business. We have no record of a call being made to or from this customer since they picked up vehicle on 11/8/13 at 4:31pm.

Consumer

Response:

I reject their response. I have spoken with the [redacted], the USA division, regarding this matter, I have been advised fallows:- Leaks do not cause burned out clutches.- They either did not put in a new clutch, they attempted to fix just one piece, or they just plane and simply put it in wrong.- Any "consumer error" is not our responsibility due to the above reasons.- When I told them that German Auto said it was a consumer error from a born and raised in France driver, they literally laughed; Europeans only have manual clutches, so the theory of it's consumer error from someone who doesn't know how to drive a clutch, is preposterous, my husband knows how to drive a clutch. Therefore he also knows when the clutch is burning. - Porsche warranties their products for 2 years, unlimited miles. (German Auto is not an exception)On May 27th 2014 my husband took the Porsche to [redacted], to try & fix the AC Belt, which was put back incorrectly and broken due to the incorrect re-installation after "fixing" the clutch, there were no oil leaks. The 2 hour diagnostic performed by German Auto was way off. Not to mention that they didn't claim there were oil leaks until after replacing the new clutch kit. [redacted]:- Put in a new left rear sensor (German Auto did not catch this) - One Axle- Air duct at fan shroud - And verbally advised my husband to take the Porsche back to German Auto due to the clutch beginning to slip again. There were no oil leaks prior to bringing in the car, and there were none after. German Auto was attempting to scam us out of another $5,000.00. My husband hired a paralegal by the name of [redacted], to witness as he test drove the vehicle around our neighborhood, he was also present as my husband dropped off the vehicle at German Auto for the clutch issue. Approximately 23.6 miles were put on the vehicle after pickup. The car was not smoking during the test drive around the neighborhood, there was also no smell present. As I have stated before when a clutch is burning, it smokes a lot, and smells. However the clutch peddle was not catching until pushed down all the way to the floor board. No new clutch does this. When dropping off the vehicle my husband told [redacted] (whom he was speaking with, also the mechanic that worked on our vehicle) to look at the vehicle while it was on and in motion, he showed him there were no leaks, no smoke, no smell & informed him of the issue at hand with the clutch. All the while Mr. [redacted] took notes. Last Thursday [redacted] called me at work, he admitted we called in 9 months ago, and admitted that leaks don't cause a burned out clutch. He agreed that my husband knows how to drive a clutch, but that they still are not going to warranty the product, and work. I informed him that Porsche warranties their product for 2 years, he had nothing to say to that. As they stated in their first response, they record all conversations. So they should send that to you. The fact of the matter remains, they either did not put in a new clutch kit maybe because they tried to just fixing one piece, but charged us for the whole kit, or they really did put in a whole brand new clutch kit, but put it in severely wrong. Either way, I was doing them a courtesy by bringing the car back to them, and giving them the opportunity to fix their mistake, I gave them yet another courtesy in attempting to resolve the matter through Revdex.com, I am out of courtesy, I have contacted the [redacted], there will be repercussions for their actions, what they did was either just wrong or a scam. Either way it is their responsibility to fix the issue at hand. Regards,[redacted]