Kwon's Auto Repair

Hello [redacted].  The Bureau of Automotive Repairs came by and closed the case.  I hope this response will be sufficient.  Thank you.This is a response from Kwon's Auto Repair, regarding the ID [redacted].Like the customer's statement mentioned, he brought in his vehicle for an oil change...

and the replacement of the crankcase breathing gasket.  When he first brought in the vehicle, he knew about the check engine light being on, and he believed that the replacement of the crankcase breathing gasket would fix the problem.  We did not diagnose the vehicle for its check engine light, but only did the requested work for an oil change and the replacement of the crankcase breathing gasket.  Therefore, we did not know what prior issues the vehicle came in with, other than what the customer mentioned.  We tried to placed an order for the crankcase breathing gasket, but we were not able to find that part by itself.  The customer said that he had the exact part number, therefore we placed an order through the local Porsche dealership, finding that it was a wrong part.  The part that the customer was looking for was not the part number he gave us, and the dealership confirmed to us that the crankcase breathing gasket does not come separately, but with the driver's side valve cover.  We recommended the valve cover to the customer, but due to cost, the customer refused to buy the part through us and bought the part himself.  The customer picked up the vehicle, and brought it back to us the second time with the valve cover he purchased.Due to the valve cover being purchased outside of our business, it is our policy to not provide warranty for the work done.  We specifically explained this to the customer and had it written on the invoice, which he had agreed to.  Also, the customer did take back the vehicle, once the customer had decided that he would purchase the part (which was a special order).  After the repair, the check engine light still came on.  We mentioned it to the customer that we would recommend a diagnosis, but he did not want to pay for a diagnostic.  This incident has been seen by the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) by the California Department of Consumer Affairs.  It has been concluded that there would be no refund nor a reimbursement for the above repairs.  According the BAR, this case has been closed.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I maintain that Kwon's Automotive did not do the test correctly if there are different results are received at another smog station or they did not warm up the car properly before testing. The business that said the car passed did mention that it probably wasn't properly warmed up as a speculation as to why another business would not pass the car for smog. Seems that Kwon's is aware of this and purposefully didn't warm the car up so it would fail and then offer to make bogus and un-needed repairs at their shop for which they charge you when the repairs are not even needed.
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: I brought my to have the oil changed and filter and replace the driver side valve cover due to a bad crank case breathing gasket (requires entire valve cover replaced). I picked up my car and before I left [redacted] told me about the engine light being on, at this point I'm not sure why the light would be on? it wasn't on when I dropped it off. I was also told by [redacted] and his mechanic that there was a code related to low idle and running lean. I asked do you know why it's running lean? The response from the mechanic was; probably just the computer needs to re-learn to adjust air/fuel mixture. That made sense to me, I've herd that before and figured it would just turn off after it had done this driving it 50 miles or so and told him I would be back to get it smog certified. [redacted] told me I need to get the engine light problem fixed before he can do the smog. I was curious and asked again about the engine light, he mentioned he could look into it but needed to charge me for additional testing. I'm thinking wait a minute, the light wasn't on before I brought it here? why am I paying him to check out my check engine light? I wasn't happy about this and felt like something is wrong with this situation. Decided to take my car to another auto repair shop that has experience on Porsche after driving it for weeks with the engine light still on (apparently it didn't re-learn the mixture) New mechanic tells me error code detects bad cam shaft sensor(used to maintain timing for air/fuel mixture). I told him to proceed with replacing it. I get a call and he says, that didn't fix the problem. I told him about the valve cover swap at the last shop and he pulled it off and discovered the rotor tabs on the cam shaft, one was broken off and another one was bent. It can't be fixed, need to replaced. needs a new one. The mechanic told me this must of happened when they replaced the valve cover. This is now estimated to cost me $2,500 for the replacement and maybe more. I called [redacted], (he didn't seem to surprised to hear from me) told him of the incident and proceeded to plead his case while denying any wrong doing. Which I was expecting.Desired Settlement: Pay for the repairs of the damage done by their negligence. and a refund for the work leading up to the damage caused in the first place. I'm not paying a guy to ruin my car and then waste my time by having a qualified mechanic fix his negligence.

Business

Response:

Hello [redacted]. The Bureau of Automotive Repairs came by and closed the case. I hope this response will be sufficient. Thank you.

Review: Took my vehicle here for smog test and it failed. They offered to 'repair' the auto there. Took car to another auto shop ([redacted]) and the vehicle passed. Nothing was done to the car between the time it failed and the time it passed. I called Kwon's and asked for a refund and was refused. Informed them that seems shady that my vehicle doesn't pass at their shop but does at another. Seems they did not do the procedure correctly or they are involved in unfair business practices.Desired Settlement: I would like to have a refund of $61.75 from Kwon's Auto Repair and investigated for unfair business practices to help prevent others falling victim.

Business

Response:

Kwon's Auto Repair[redacted]March 31.2015Revdex.com[redacted]To Whom It May Concern:We understand that the customer was not satisfied with the service given on February 3, 2015. Thevehicle that was smogged that day was a 1991 Chevy Camaro Z28, as written on the complaint letterreceived. Knowing this vehicle is an older car, we warm them up to ensure that we can get the bestemissions results as possible. We understand that confusion can arise when the vehicle was taken toanother business, and passed, yet it failed at our business.When a smog inspection is done to a vehicle, there are 3 sections to the inspection for vehicles olderthan the year 2000. The sections are visual inspection, functional check, and emissions test [redacted]

[redacted]'s vehicle passed 2 of the 3 sections of the smog inspection. The section the vehicle failed onwas the emissions test The vehicle emitted above maximum allowed emissions, which resulted infailing. Emission levels that are outputted by every vehicle is different, and cannot be controlled oraltered by the smog technician. The emission levels are monitored by the smog machine, and theresults are determined by the state of California We do not know the history of the vehicle nordiagnosed it, so we cannot say a specific reason why the emissions were very high. We took extratime to warm up the vehicle before the test to have better results. If the vehicle was in storage andnot driven around often, emissions can be high. If the customer's vehicle was in storage for anextended period of time before the smog inspection, this can be the reason for the fail. However, wedid warm up the vehicle by trying to prevent that, but it could be a possibility that by the secondsmog inspection the vehicle was driven more and also warmed up to get better results. Pleaseremember that this is only one speculation.The smog inspection and procedures we have done on this vehicle was done correctly according tothe Bureau of Automotive Repairs. Also, we have the required notice sign at our office that explainsthat the smog inspection fee is due whether a vehicle passes or fails a smog test When he called torequest a refund for the service, we denied this because we believe we did the smog inspectioncorrectly. We also mentioned to the customer that if he was still not satisfied, he can contact theBureau of Automotive Repairs to file a complaintWe believe we did all we can to do a proper smog inspection, therefore we cannot refund the servicecompleted. If the customer is still unpleased, he may contact the Bureau of Automotive Repair at[redacted].Thank you.Kwon'sAuto Repair

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I maintain that Kwon's Automotive did not do the test correctly if there are different results are received at another smog station or they did not warm up the car properly before testing. The business that said the car passed did mention that it probably wasn't properly warmed up as a speculation as to why another business would not pass the car for smog. Seems that Kwon's is aware of this and purposefully didn't warm the car up so it would fail and then offer to make bogus and un-needed repairs at their shop for which they charge you when the repairs are not even needed.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Kwon'sAuto Repair[redacted]April17. 2015Revdex.com[redacted]To Whom It May Concern:Second response to the complaint ID [redacted].Like mentioned in the past letter to the response of the first complaint, there is nothing we can offer.We did everything according to regulations, and did warm up the vehicle before the smog.We believe we did all we can to do a proper smog inspection, therefore we cannot refund the servicecompleted. If the customer is still unpleased, he may contact the Bureau of Automotive Repair at[redacted].The Bureau of Automotive Repair handles all procedures and regulations for the automotiveindustry in CaliforniaThank you.Kwon's Auto Repair