Mechanic Mike's Automotive

RE:   In response to [redacted] claim, I would like to say that [redacted] and [redacted] are my personal neighbors who live next door to me. It wasn’t because my shop was the closest,  she brought the car to me because she felt she could get the best and cheapest deal from me because we...

are neighbors. At the time, May 29,2015  (the vehicle mileage 145668) I recommended replacing the water pump because it was leaking, and it is customary to replace the thermostat at the same time .4  months later she called on my personal phone saying her car was at the bottom of hill and overheating, and asked if I could come and take a look at it after work. After work I went over to her house next door and [redacted] stated that he had put a hose on that had come off, at the bottom of the radiator, back on and added water to reservoir , so when I opened up the cap to make sure that there was at least something in radiator, and sure enough there wasn’t. I then added water to the engine so I could take it on a test drive. [redacted] and I then took it on a test drive up and down the hill, and  it wasn’t overheating.  When we drove to the bottom of the hill we did then notice  a burning electrical wire smell. When we arrived back at [redacted] and [redacted]’s house I got a volt meter and checked the charging system, which hadn’t charged. We noticed that the smell of burning electrical wire came from the alternator so I suggested that he bring the car in the following morning so we could replace alternator and put Lexus specific coolant because water is not good for this type of vehicle. The following day [redacted] brought in the vehicle and we called [redacted] and told him the price, which he then said to proceed with put on a new alternator. We replaced alternator and put in coolant specifically for his Lexus and took it on a test drive, where everything had appeared to be fine. [redacted] then came and picked up the vehicle and paid the bill on September 30, 2015.A week later [redacted] called and left a message on my answering machine saying that his vehicle was overheating and then   the following day [redacted] called again  and said that he was going to bring his vehicle to the shop. I then asked him if he put coolant in the vehicle in which he responded that he did I recommended that he get his car towed if it is overheating. He continued to drive to my shop with the temperature gage, in the car rising  to the red line.  He called me about ten minutes later saying that his car had stalled on the freeway. He then had the car towed to my shop where I then noticed that the lower radiator hose had blown off . So, I asked [redacted] where he put in the coolant and he had told me he put it in the reservoir, just like [redacted] had previously done. So, I explained to him that you can’t put coolant into the reservoir, you have to put it into the engine. Therefore, his vehicle did not have any coolant in it and he drove it to my shop, which is ten miles away, and drove it until it couldn’t drive anymore. I told [redacted] that it seems to have no compression and I’ll check it and give him a call back. I checked the compression and found that he had zero compression in all of the cylinders so I called [redacted] on the phone and explained to him that because he drove his vehicle in the condition it was in he had burned up his engine, and that I would get back to him with some options, such as a used motor or a new one from the dealer. A few days later [redacted] called and asked what was going on with the car and I told her that she needed to replace the engine and the car had no compression, which [redacted] hadn’t mentioned to [redacted]. She was furious and hung up. The following day [redacted] and [redacted] showed up at my shop in the morning, making a big scene in front of many customers stating that he was going to sue me and ruin my reputation. I proceeded to give [redacted] his keys to his vehicle as he requested and to calm the situation down I explained to him that I would talk to my insurance to see if this is something that would be covered under my insurance. I then talked to my insurance and explained the situation to them and they informed me that this would not be covered because we were not liable for the damages done to the car.                                      ...⇄       Thanks,                              �...⇄ [redacted],   Mechanic [redacted]s automotive

I had my truck in over a 7 day period off and on including two stays overnight trying to have the engine tuned and an oil change. The engine runs worst now than when I took it in! Also don't waist your time trying to setup an appointment, it took 8 hours before they even looked at it. They told me they could not refund any of the $442.37 because they took more hours then expected to try to find the problem, of which they didn't. The tech told me to take it to a professional service and tell "him" what they found that was the issue. My "service engine" lights stays on and the engine is hard to start in the morning.

Review: RE: Lexus

At the end of May, there was a noise in my engine. Because Mechanic [redacted]’s was the closest place to drive too, I took my Lexus there. [redacted]’s shop called me and said that I needed a new water pump, that they had changed the thermostat and replaced the radiator cap and that I could come down to pick up the car. I don’t remember even getting a quote, they just called and said it was ready to pick up.

My car had never overheated before and I was not sure why they changed the thermostat. At the end of September, my car started overheating. [redacted] came by and checked the car out. He said drive it to his shop the next morning which was Saturday. He called the following Thursday and said it was the alternator and said it would be $980. I wasn’t having an issue with the car charging, I was having an issue with it overheating. They put fluid in the car and changed the alternator. [redacted] never fixed the overheating problem that I specifically called him about. Instead he fixed the alternator that HE SAYS HE COULD SMELL IT BURNING AND THAT WAS THE PROBLEM. Did I even need a alternator?????

They never gave me a quote and [redacted] told [redacted] to get [redacted] on the phone and said, “What, is the alternator made out of gold”? [redacted] said im not paying $980 for an alternator So [redacted] reduced the price to $650. [redacted] asked for the parts, but they were not returned to us. I called and found alternators for $145.00 with life time warranty wow.

We picked up the car, and the following week It started overheating again and I called [redacted] back and I stated it was still overheating . I was not having a problem with my car charging, but with the overheating. So, Saturday morning, [redacted] checked radiator water and started to drive toward Escondido to take it back to [redacted] and it just lost all power on the freeway So we called a tow truck to bring it back to [redacted]s.

The tow truck took it to [redacted]’s shop. [redacted] says the car overheated and the hose he put on fell off and warped the engine or piston and the car was not holding compression. [redacted] stated, “Didn’t you see the water on the ground”? [redacted] said there was no water at all on the ground, and could see after the tow truck took the car that there was no fluid on the ground. [redacted] said to [redacted] that it was under warranty since [redacted] is the one who replaced the thermostat assembly and hose. [redacted] said give me till Monday to figure out what to do and I will call you as [redacted] was a witness to this. ON THURSDAY, I still had not heard anything, so I called the shop as we assumed he had been working on the vehicle. When I called, [redacted] said he was not fixing it. So Saturday, [redacted] and [redacted] drove down to have the car towed somewhere else. Come to find out, he had my car parked in front of the business, not stored inside his shop, with the vehicle unlocked. [redacted] again asked [redacted] if he was going to fix the vehicle and again asked for the parts. [redacted] said he doesn’t keep the parts and no longer had them. As for fixing the car, [redacted] said, “What for free and he said NO”. At this point, [redacted] asked him for the keys to the car and turned to him and said that we were going to see you in court and that it would cost more for an attorney than to fix the car. A few minutes later, [redacted] comes out of the shop and says, “Hey I have insurance, that is what it is for, right and I will open a claim”. [redacted] thought great, he is taking responsibility for it and took the car to another shop. So [redacted] owner stated the claim had to be opened with the insurance companies, my insurance and [redacted]’s and that I needed to initiate it. Come Monday, I contacted the shop through their contact us at page on the Mechanic [redacted]’s website and I also sent him a text stating that I needed the insurance information so I could get the claim going and get my car fixed. For the next two days I did a second and third request through the website and only 2 text messages with no response to any of them .Desired Settlement: $10.000 to have new engine installed or his insurance information to open a claim to get repaired

Business

Response:

RE: In response to [redacted] claim, I would like to say that [redacted] and [redacted] are my personal neighbors who live next door to me. It wasn’t because my shop was the closest, she brought the car to me because she felt she could get the best and cheapest deal from me because we are neighbors. At the time, May 29,2015 (the vehicle mileage 145668) I recommended replacing the water pump because it was leaking, and it is customary to replace the thermostat at the same time .4 months later she called on my personal phone saying her car was at the bottom of hill and overheating, and asked if I could come and take a look at it after work. After work I went over to her house next door and [redacted] stated that he had put a hose on that had come off, at the bottom of the radiator, back on and added water to reservoir , so when I opened up the cap to make sure that there was at least something in radiator, and sure enough there wasn’t. I then added water to the engine so I could take it on a test drive. [redacted] and I then took it on a test drive up and down the hill, and it wasn’t overheating. When we drove to the bottom of the hill we did then notice a burning electrical wire smell. When we arrived back at [redacted] and [redacted]’s house I got a volt meter and checked the charging system, which hadn’t charged. We noticed that the smell of burning electrical wire came from the alternator so I suggested that he bring the car in the following morning so we could replace alternator and put Lexus specific coolant because water is not good for this type of vehicle. The following day [redacted] brought in the vehicle and we called [redacted] and told him the price, which he then said to proceed with put on a new alternator. We replaced alternator and put in coolant specifically for his Lexus and took it on a test drive, where everything had appeared to be fine. [redacted] then came and picked up the vehicle and paid the bill on September 30, 2015.A week later [redacted] called and left a message on my answering machine saying that his vehicle was overheating and then the following day [redacted] called again and said that he was going to bring his vehicle to the shop. I then asked him if he put coolant in the vehicle in which he responded that he did I recommended that he get his car towed if it is overheating. He continued to drive to my shop with the temperature gage, in the car rising to the red line. He called me about ten minutes later saying that his car had stalled on the freeway. He then had the car towed to my shop where I then noticed that the lower radiator hose had blown off . So, I asked [redacted] where he put in the coolant and he had told me he put it in the reservoir, just like [redacted] had previously done. So, I explained to him that you can’t put coolant into the reservoir, you have to put it into the engine. Therefore, his vehicle did not have any coolant in it and he drove it to my shop, which is ten miles away, and drove it until it couldn’t drive anymore. I told [redacted] that it seems to have no compression and I’ll check it and give him a call back. I checked the compression and found that he had zero compression in all of the cylinders so I called [redacted] on the phone and explained to him that because he drove his vehicle in the condition it was in he had burned up his engine, and that I would get back to him with some options, such as a used motor or a new one from the dealer. A few days later [redacted] called and asked what was going on with the car and I told her that she needed to replace the engine and the car had no compression, which [redacted] hadn’t mentioned to [redacted]. She was furious and hung up. The following day [redacted] and [redacted] showed up at my shop in the morning, making a big scene in front of many customers stating that he was going to sue me and ruin my reputation. I proceeded to give [redacted] his keys to his vehicle as he requested and to calm the situation down I explained to him that I would talk to my insurance to see if this is something that would be covered under my insurance. I then talked to my insurance and explained the situation to them and they informed me that this would not be covered because we were not liable for the damages done to the car. Thanks, [redacted], Mechanic [redacted]s automotive