La Mesa Service & Tow

Review: I found out about this place through a friend. He told me that the mechanic would do an honest and fair job to service my vehicle. He gave me a quote and then the diagnosis on my vehicle. I went around to other mechanics and they said it was a good deal, but a little too good and not to trust them. I went against everyone's suggestions. I scheduled a day to drop off my vehicle and was told my vehicle would be ready within 3 days. When I went to drop off my vehicle they asked for a 300 dollar deposit. I've never heard of such a thing. I went ahead and did it, because I need my vehicle for school and work. 3 days turned into 4 days, and between those days they asked for more money. The 4th day I went to pick up my vehicle. We waited about an hour for them to finish up. They said it was ready and they took my cash (they only take cash or money orders), I tipped them for the service I thought they completed. About 30 minutes later, they let me know that my vehicle wasn't ready. That it wasn't going pass 30 mph. Then the mechanic dropped me off at home. Days later I called and asked what is going on with my vehicle. They told me it's ready for pick up. I go to pick it up and it sounds like a tractor. The mechanic told me that I have to get a catalytic converter, and that he "cleaned it for me". My battery died when I go home. I called him and told him that my battery died and he came to jump my vehicle and told me to let it run for an hour, then said he had to go because he had other work to do. What about the $1400 dollars I spent with you? Then he suggested that I may need a new battery. My vehicle ran for over an hour and it still didn't work. I later texted him and he said that there was nothing he could do for me because his hands were tied and he that I should be happy with the work that was done and the price of it. I took my vehicle to another mechanic. The mechanic told me that if he cleaned the catalytic converter for me, what he did was illegal. Im waiting until I have the money to pay him to check if they did in fact clean it, because then I will handle this situation accordingly. .Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund,my car is worse than it was when I brought it in there. I've had more problems with it since it's been in their care. I have a warranty for them to repair services to my vehicle, but what's the point if they didn't "service" is properly in the first place?

Business

Response:

This letter is in regaurd to complaint ID number [redacted]. I am speaking

on behalf of the shop owner because I am the one who preformed the automotive

work in which the complaint is based. My names [redacted].

Im not exactly sure whether [redacted] goes by the last name of [redacted] or

[redacted]. My records indicate she used the last name of [redacted], so I will

address her accordingly. Ms. [redacted]s

vehicle a 2004 chrysler sebring, 2.4 liter dual overhead cam, came to the shop

I work at the request of a very good friend of mine a few weeks ago. I looked

over ms [redacted]s vehicle as a favour to my friend. It was brought to my shop

one afternoon not by ms. [redacted] but by my friend. I looked the vehicle over

pulled diagnostic trouble codes from the vehicles computer. The major complaint

from ms. [redacted] and what my friend eluded too, was that it had a lack of

power, the engine ran rough and the check engine light was on.

The codes that were pulled from ms [redacted]s vehicle consisted of a

cylinder # 3 consistent misfire, an air injection pump code and a bank 1 sensor

2 oxygen sensor heater circuit code. I had some concerns about the codes that

were pulled, my main focus was identifying why cylinder # 3 was not firing

properly.

That day as a favour to my freind I

eliminated her ignition system and fuel system as being possible causes. Her

ignition coils were firing fine and tested within specification and her fuel

injectors were activating normally. It was passed our businesses hours, so I

told my friend that more testing was required to identify the problem and that

it should be fixed as soon as possible. I had my friend relay that message to

ms [redacted] and that she may contact me to set up a time to come in.

Ms. [redacted] promptly called me we set up a time to come in for further

testing of her misfire. I believe it was a day or two later that she brought

her vehicle in. She left it for the day to be picked up in the afternoon after

we had identified what the issue was. I had already eliminated two possible

causes for the misfire. My next concern was that it may be a compression issue.

I performed a wet and dry 5 revolution compression test on all her cylinders

and found that 3 out of 4 cylinders were averaging about 150 psi of compression

which is well above the minimum 100 psi specifucation from Chrysler. However cylinder # 3 the cylinder in which

her misfire was occuring had 88 psi on the dry test and 98 on the wet test. At

that point I stopped my diagnosis and called ms . [redacted] to inform her that

she had poor compression in cylinder # 3 and that it was going to require much

more extensive work to identify the root cause of the misfire. It was going to

require the cylinder heads to be removed and inspected aswell the the engine

block mating surface would have to be inspected aswell. I told ms. [redacted] I

was aware of all the issues with her vehicle but my main focus was identifying

her misfire and fixing it as soon as

possible before we fixed the other issues. I gave her a tear down inspection quote,

and told her she would need a head gasket set which would be needed to put it

back together. She picked her vehicle up that day and said she would call me.

About a week later she contacted me agreeing to the tear down

inspection. She also requested some

additional things to be done while we had her engine apart. These items

would have been recommended based on the

nature of the work I was performing. Because she was a friend of a good friend,

I told her all the extra work I would do for no additional labor and I'd also

not mark up any parts and that all she would have to do is pay for the parts on

the additional requested work. The additional work was a water pump

replacement, a new timing belt, a new timing belt adjuster, a timing belt idler

pulley and a new thermostat. Two or three days later she brought her vehicle

in. I ran a couple of possible scenarios by her to gauge a time frame and

overall cost. I told her if it was just a leaking head gasket about 3 days and

no additional cost. If it was a mechanical failure like bad valves or a cracked

block or cracked cylinder head it could take more time and be significantly

more costly. After the cylinder heads were removed and inspected and the block

inspected. I informed her that the valves had been burned up in her cylinder

head and that some if not all of her valves would need to be replaced. There

would be additional costs and time. She

would need to have the cylinder head machined and assembled with new valves.

She agreed to the work. On the day we agreed to have her vehicle ready I

finished up the work, the motor was running good, the misfire was gone. I

called ms [redacted] and told her that her vehicle would ready that day. She

arrived a little early while the vehicle was being test driven. On the test

drive a serious lack of power was still noticed. We brought the vehicle back in

to see if there were any errors in the work performed. The issue felt like a

possible timing issue and since I had worked on the timing components a double

check was in order. Unfortunatley I deemed it to timely to fix it that day and

did not want her to have to wait for what could have been a significant amount

of time. I told her it was not ready and that I would call her when it was

ready. On the following monday, I spent the whole day chasing her lack of power

issue, and went over the work I performed and found no issue. Not until tuesday

morning did I figure out that the reason she had a lack of power, it was

because her catalytic converter had been clogged solid and burned the catalytic

converter aswell damaged the O2 sensor which correlated with the o2 code pulled

initially. I disconnected her exhaust and test drove it and her power came

back. At that point I called ms. [redacted] and told her she w ould need a new catalytic

converter to remediate the lack of power I also recommended an o2 sensor. I

quoted her additional labor and parts. Ms. [redacted] was unwilling to do any

further repairs. So I told her she could come and pick up her vehicle.

In my understanding the root cause of the misfire in her engine was

complex. At some point I believe she had a misfire and from what she told me

had a tune up service at another repair shop to remediate it. Because the

vehicle was driven for an extended period of time with a misfire it caused raw

fuel to be introduced into the exhaust system. This causes the catalytic

converter to clog and inturn makes it the engine unable to exhaust. If a

vehicle is continually driven with out fixing these issues it will cause the

engine valves to burn. Since ms. [redacted] did not want to do any further

repairs and fix her catalytic converter I felt that it would be malicious to

send ms. [redacted] on her way with a root problem still there. The chance that

she could re burn the valves we just replaced was there so I removed the

restriction in her exhsust system at no charge and told her she needed a new

catalytic converter and 02 sensor immediately but her engine was functioning

the way it was designed and that it was safe to drive but not recommended.

Unfortunately there is not much more I can do to fix her vehicle if she is

unwilling to pay for the parts she damaged. She is more than welcome to have

the additional work done to fix her vehicle.

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 was only told about my catalaytic converter after I already picked up my car. I wasn't given an option to pay more money, to fix my car. After I picked it up, you then told me about the issue and how you "temporarily fixed it". Which I didn't ask you to do. Are you even liscensed? I guess that is what I should've asked myself before going to you for work. This issue is not yet resolved.

Regards,