Ms [redacted] had her vehicle towed to ourfacility from another shop sometime around September 24th Ms [redacted] mentioned that it was at two other shops but their repair estimates were"too expensive," Ms [redacted] has/had a working relationship with anacquittance of one of our technicians who agreed to look at it outside of theshop tin an effort o save her some moneyThe customer was notified at thattime that the engine had a broken piston rod that had pushed through the engineblock — the motor would need to be replaced.The vehicle sat on our lot at no charge tothe customer until the beginning of February when Ms [redacted] decided that shewanted repairs done to the vehicleShe spoke directly with Tony Santo's —owner — and we arranged a cost effective replacement for herThe vehicleinformation was logged into our shop at that time on February 2nd andan estimate was given for the engine replacementThe customer elected to havea used engine installed with a month parts only warrantyIt should be notedthat the engine was not rebuilt as the customer stated in her complaintTheold engine was removed and the new engine was installed with a new timing belt,drive belts, spark plugs and torque converter seals (parts required to performa quality used engine replacement).The engine replacement came in at estimate.There was an extra charge for a battery that was also needed as hers had deadcells and would not start the vehicleCustomer was notified and understood thenecessity for replacementIt should be noted that we drove the vehicle formany miles at moderate speeds to confirm that the engine was working asexpectedAt no time did we experience a problem with the gear shifter duringroad testingWe did note that the tires on the rear of the vehicle wereunsafe, and the right front wheel hub bearing was making noiseThe wheelbearing in particular was very loud, which may account for the noise she washearingMs [redacted] declined any further repairs and stated that she intendedto sell the vehicle shortly after the repairs were completedVehicle was delivered on February 11th.2015Ms [redacted] contacted us on February 20th to inform us that the vehicle would not comeout of parkAfter a short phone consultation we requested that the vehicle betowed to us for inspectionUpon inspection we found that the gear shifterassembly was brokenIt had appeared to have been forced and that force brokethe linkage at the bottom of the shifter assemblyWe removed the cable fromboth the broken shifter and the transmission to confirm that the shifter cablehad become frozenMs [redacted] was notified of our findings and given adiscounted repair option as a show of good faith — shedeclined the repair and had the vehicle towed from our shop.It should be noted that the engine startedand ran without issue when the vehicle was reinspected on February 20thIt didnot make any unusual noise when runningWhen the transmission was shifted intogear manually after the shifter cable was disconnected from the transmissionlinkage, the transmission engaged in drive and operated as expectedWe cannotconfirm or explain why the shifter cable froze after the customer took positionof the vehicle, but it was not a part of our original repair as it worked asexpected when the vehicle was tested and deliveredMs [redacted] was not chargedfor the subsequent inspection of the cable issue.In summary:The gear shifter cable problem is a separate condition not relatedto the engine replacementThe broken shifter assembly was caused by thecustomer attempting to force the vehicle into gearThe engine replacement workquoted to and requested by the customer was complete and functioning asexpected as of the inspection done on February 20thWhile we certainlyempathize with the customer, the issues they are experiencing are not relatedto the work we performedCopies of the work invoices are attached
Ms [redacted] had her vehicle towed to ourfacility from another shop sometime around September 24th Ms [redacted] mentioned that it was at two other shops but their repair estimates were"too expensive," Ms [redacted] has/had a working relationship with anacquittance of one of our technicians who agreed to look at it outside of theshop tin an effort o save her some moneyThe customer was notified at thattime that the engine had a broken piston rod that had pushed through the engineblock — the motor would need to be replaced.The vehicle sat on our lot at no charge tothe customer until the beginning of February when Ms [redacted] decided that shewanted repairs done to the vehicleShe spoke directly with Tony Santo's —owner — and we arranged a cost effective replacement for herThe vehicleinformation was logged into our shop at that time on February 2nd andan estimate was given for the engine replacementThe customer elected to havea used engine installed with a month parts only warrantyIt should be notedthat the engine was not rebuilt as the customer stated in her complaintTheold engine was removed and the new engine was installed with a new timing belt,drive belts, spark plugs and torque converter seals (parts required to performa quality used engine replacement).The engine replacement came in at estimate.There was an extra charge for a battery that was also needed as hers had deadcells and would not start the vehicleCustomer was notified and understood thenecessity for replacementIt should be noted that we drove the vehicle formany miles at moderate speeds to confirm that the engine was working asexpectedAt no time did we experience a problem with the gear shifter duringroad testingWe did note that the tires on the rear of the vehicle wereunsafe, and the right front wheel hub bearing was making noiseThe wheelbearing in particular was very loud, which may account for the noise she washearingMs [redacted] declined any further repairs and stated that she intendedto sell the vehicle shortly after the repairs were completedVehicle was delivered on February 11th.2015Ms [redacted] contacted us on February 20th to inform us that the vehicle would not comeout of parkAfter a short phone consultation we requested that the vehicle betowed to us for inspectionUpon inspection we found that the gear shifterassembly was brokenIt had appeared to have been forced and that force brokethe linkage at the bottom of the shifter assemblyWe removed the cable fromboth the broken shifter and the transmission to confirm that the shifter cablehad become frozenMs [redacted] was notified of our findings and given adiscounted repair option as a show of good faith — shedeclined the repair and had the vehicle towed from our shop.It should be noted that the engine startedand ran without issue when the vehicle was reinspected on February 20thIt didnot make any unusual noise when runningWhen the transmission was shifted intogear manually after the shifter cable was disconnected from the transmissionlinkage, the transmission engaged in drive and operated as expectedWe cannotconfirm or explain why the shifter cable froze after the customer took positionof the vehicle, but it was not a part of our original repair as it worked asexpected when the vehicle was tested and deliveredMs [redacted] was not chargedfor the subsequent inspection of the cable issue.In summary:The gear shifter cable problem is a separate condition not relatedto the engine replacementThe broken shifter assembly was caused by thecustomer attempting to force the vehicle into gearThe engine replacement workquoted to and requested by the customer was complete and functioning asexpected as of the inspection done on February 20thWhile we certainlyempathize with the customer, the issues they are experiencing are not relatedto the work we performedCopies of the work invoices are attached