Ralph's Auto Repair

Review: I've had my car in the shop for 2+ months. My car broke down in February. I had my back brakes, back right wheel bearing, tension pulley & serpentine belt were all replaced. Now three weeks in, When they went to start it, the timing belt jumped and the car back fired. Well instead of replacing the timing belt or telling us this had happened. They decided to put the old belt back on and try to start it. It back fired again. They did this 3 or 4 times. By the 3rd or 4th time, the valves had bent and the engine needed replaced. They then called us, after they messed up our engine, saying we needed to either get a new engine, new head, or new valves and we were looking at paying a minimum of $800. After talking to the owner and saying we felt his shop was responsible. We agreed on a used engine with around 50,000k miles on it for $400 and he would waive the labor charges. At the 5th week we are told the engine they found was not the right size and they had ordered one from a junkyard. At 6 weeks we are told that they got ahold of the junkyard and the engine that the junkyard had was also the wrong size. So now instead of replacing the entire engine, they tell us that they are going to take the head off of the original engine they were going to replace our engine with, because even though it was a 2005 and ours was a 2002, the head would still fit. At week 6, we are told R[redacted] just got back to the shop after being in the hospital for 3 weeks due to a stroke. We are told that he was going to take care of everything. That we would not be paying $400 for the head of the engine since they were originally going to charge us $400 for the entire engine. A couple days later we call to find out that R[redacted] randomly went out of town without even telling his wife and would be gone for a week. At week 7, we call and they tell us that they have the engine completely put back together and for whatever reason it won't start. A couple days later we are told that there is a black security box that they want to remove to see if that's why. So we give them the ok to take it off. We are also told a guy from chrysler/dodge dealership is supposed to take a look at it to do some testing to find out why it won't start if this doesn't work. A few days later we call back. It was not the black box and the guy they were going to have come out had 2-3 weeks of work at his shop so he could no longer come out and there was going to be another person take a look. Well this person never took a look at it because according to R[redacted]'s (owner) wife there was no dealership guy coming out. She told us that they found a security box that they thought might be a reason why it's not starting. When we told her that the previous week we were told that black box was already removed and looked into, she said no it was never looked into. We call back the next day and the box was removed and it still didn't start. R[redacted] was back and told us that he was going to tow it over to a dealership to have them look at it. After about a week we find out it is a computer problem because they put in this new part on the engine and the computer wasn't recognizing it. R[redacted] said the dealership wanted $500 for them to just look at it and that he was going to take care of it. He said he would have it back in his shop and he would be working on it himself that weekend April 17-19. Today, April 27, 2015, My husband drove up to the shop to get something out of our car for he left in there from his past winter work. The car was not even at R[redacted]'s shop! He gets there and they tell him it is still over at the dealership. My husband drives to the dealership in Cortland, OH. The dealership tells him that they have been calling R[redacted] every day and cannot get a hold of him. That the reason the "computer" is bad, is because the cams that they put into the engine from the 2005 do not fit on a 2002. That the computer was recognizing this and in order for it to work. Either have the engine replaced with the 2002 like its supposed to be, or have the computer fixed. We also found out that R[redacted] had to call the junk yard and ask if he could use the head off of the engine because he did not know. We have been waiting and waiting for our car to be fixed. It is still sitting at the dealership. We have gotten lied to and we've honestly had enough. My husband has had to walk to work because of this and it has really become a burden. it has been 2+ months.Desired Settlement: Honestly, I want my car back. I want it back the way it was supposed to be. At this point I don't trust them to work on my car anymore. They obviously do not know what they are doing. I would prefer for the dealership to fix the car out of R[redacted] pocket not mine and I want my car back for free. I do not feel like I should have to pay the original $477 for all of the heartache and trouble they have put us through in the last 2+ months. We have given them plenty of time, plenty of mercy, and plenty of leniency. If we rented a car instead of my husband walking we would have spent hundreds of dollars. I feel it is the least they can do.