Rufus Discount Mufer & Brakes

An aftermarket cat converter was welded to my manifold on my 2004 [redacted] instead of a direct fit converter which cause my car to catch fireOn December 19,2013 , my son took my 2004 [redacted] to Rufus' Discount Muffler & Brakes to replace the cat converter . My son was on the phone to order the converter online and mr [redacted] stated he had a direct fix in stock. My son agree to let mr Rufus put the converter on for $450 plus tax . My son pick up the car and drove the car home and when my son got out of the car he notice a fire under the car where the converter was located. My son call mr Rufus the next day because the shop was closed at that time . Mr Rufus ask my son to bring the car back to him and we refuse because of the fire . I went and pick up mr Rufus and he drove the car back to the shop . Desired SettlementI wanted mr Rufus to replace the aftermarket cat converter he welded on my car with a direct fit cat converter which he agree to do to avoid a possible future car fire from happening.Business Response Customer came in and wanted a converter, I advised him that there were aftermarket and original converters to choose from. He chose to only fix one converter after I advised him that other converters were stopped up by using the diagnostic machine to determine the issue. He chose the aftermarket converter which was cheaper than the original converter. The next day he called and said that the car caught fire and I went and picked up his car to bring it back to the shop. When I picked the car up, there were no brakes. I advised him of the issue and he said someone else had put brakes on the car. When we looked under the car, there was no sign of a fire. But we advised the customer that there was a lot of oil leaks that could cause a fire. Also, whoever did the brakes had left the bleeder valve off and left brake fluid leaking everywhere under the car. I offered to put his converter back on at no charge. He didn't want us to that. We have tried to do all we can to please this customer and haven't been successful. He did ask for a refund, but per policy and the receipt signed by the customer, all sales are final.We determined there was nothing wrong with the aftermarket converter, and have often seen the customer still driving the car. We apologize for his unhappiness and hope to do business in the future.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I entered the place of business to inquire about them placing a part that I was going to order from an authorized dealer of the part for my [redacted] The part was a direct fit which was confirmed by representative of the company for the owner and myself called the company again while I was at the store. The company said it would be standard shipping for the part to arrive. Upon hearing of the shipping, the owner said that Lucky for me that he had the exact part to fit my car and would price match the competitor so that he could acquire my business that day. I agree since I was informed that he had the exact fit for my car. When I returned to pick up my vehicle later that evening, I was informed that everything was working properly and that my vehicle had to test driven to valid. I drove less that 5miles before my car had begun to catch fire under the hood. I was able to successful put out the fire and allow the car to cool down. I was able to identify the location of the fire which was where the convertor had been newly assembled. I contacted the owner and picked him up to view the car. I asked him about his work he mention that he had welded everything correctly. When we arrived at the car to transport to his shop , we both noticed that the brake pressure had became drastically low. I informed that I had my rotors rotated a week prior to his work being due and had to braking issues at all. He said that he identified leakage of engine oil that caused the fire and that he sealed it properly. Still in disbelief of the fire after picking up the car, I went to [redacted] of [redacted] on 12/23/13.I have the receipt to prove it. I was informed that an aftermarket catalyst convertor was placed on my car. This was the first time I was informed that an aftermarket part was put on my car despite numerous claims by the shop owner that an exact fit was place as agreed at the point of sale. I was upset for no welding not cutting of the any pipes are needed with an exact fit part. Furthermore,I was alarmed due to the fact that the pipes that he cut to fit my car had not be sealed to the engine completely due to the leakage as a result my life had been placed in risk of death. I asked him to put the direct fit part as he mention he had at the point of sale for [redacted] of [redacted] confirmed that an aftermarket part was assembled on my car. Since he was unwilling to do so , I asked for a refund along with the removal of all manufactured parts by him that placed on my vehicle. He refused along with making accusations that the fire was caused by the brake work preformed a week for he worked on my car. Which is nonsense,since all his related work was performed directly to the engine of the car. I have called to handle this matter in a professional matter which has resulted me being placed on hold for minutes at a time later to have the phoned hung up on me. Final Business Response We have been dealing with a mother and son regarding this car. The son came in regarding the [redacted] and was advised that we have aftermarket and original converters, he chose the aftermarket and only to fix one of the three converters. There are three converters on the car, two on the manifold and one on the mainline. Changing only one converter does not fix this problem. If the customer buys the direct fit, out of courtesy to the customer, we will install it free of charge.