Sage Automotive

Review: After several prior experiences with Sage, mostly positive, we took our car to Sage after it began having issues stalling out coming to a stop. We had already replaced several parts on the engine and front end and were planning on really stretching the life of the car out as long as possible after having paid it off a couple years prior. [redacted] told me that we had a burnt valve, but that it was "a good little car" and was worth fixing. After a week in the shop, I returned to pick it up and [redacted] spoke to me before I left to tell me it was now smoking a little bit. He said it was likely due to something they had dropped into the engine while working on it and that if there were any further issues to let him know immediately. Not a good sign. The car in fact smoked quite a bit from first through third gears now, a new phenomena which did not clear up. Three days pass, and for the first time in seven years the engine light had came on. I pulled over to check the oil level and found that there was absolutely no oil in it. Strange, considering I had also paid Sage to change the oil while it was in the shop. I had to put three quarts of oil in that night alone.So I took the car back to Sage, explained the problem and after over another week in the shop (two weeks plus total, thus far) we got the car back. But it was still smoking. The problem does not seem to be fixed, and after really monitoring the oil level closely it again dropped to nearly nothing. Again, I had to put several quarts of oil in it and we're only one day from retrieving it from the shop. Again, we took the car back to Sage. Another week passes, we hear nothing from Sage. No phone calls, nothing. I have to pursue answers about what is going on with our vehicle because these guys became silent.When I get in touch with [redacted], he tells me they took the head off the car and had it machined. Replaced the gasket etc., put $400 of his own money into the vehicle but that its essentially ruined. He says they cant get the rings to seal up. [redacted] then attempts to tell me that we were trying to get a new car, something for nothing, that these problems were all happening before we brought it to him. He was attempting to spin the situation that he was in fact the victim, despite the fact he had already charged me a thousand dollars for parts and labor and it was our car, bought and paid for, that was ruined after taking it to his garage. It was like [redacted] was pulling out every excuse he could in an attempt to circumvent responsibility for his garages work. This was a very different side to [redacted] than I had previously seen. When the possibility of legal ramifications were brought up, [redacted] was quick to encourage me to do so. Pointing out how much more in legal fee's it would cost us. We took the car to the [redacted] dealership who told us we should ask for our money back from Sage, that the work that was done at Sage was not done correctly and (among other things) that we had a valve cover gasket leak which was causing the smoking. Considering [redacted] had told me they had did this work not once, but twice, it makes you wonder about the veracity of the claims made by Sage. The [redacted] dealership told us our engine had deep issues and that it was going to cost us $2800 - $3200 minimum to fix it depending on the options we pursued. The work done initially by Sage, which lead to the engines inability to hold oil could have very well been the catalyst for the rings going up essentially ruining our motor. We use to routinely tell people how great Sage was, now we feel like fools and will be digging out from this experience for years to come. Considering the age of the car, mileage, blue book value etc. in comparison to the cost of getting it fixed we opted to purchase a new vehicle. Making this entire experience a very costly one. Note: This message was posted under a pseudonym for privacy purposes only.Desired Settlement: Our vehicle was ruined by the "mechanic" that runs Sage Automotive. At the very minium, we would like a full refund. A replacement is more in order, but considering how poorly we were treated we will have to see how our complaint is handled with the Revdex.com before moving into the next phase of complaints.

Business

Response:

Customer brought in 04 [redacted] In February of 2014 because it had a bad miss. After diagnosing it, determined it was a burnt valve. Would cost around 1000 dollars to fix it. Customer asked if it was worth it and I asked if they had been having any other problems with it. Customer said no. So we replace valve. Car ran fine. 2 weeks later car comes back with no oil in it. We add oil and notice it smoking. Do compression check. Its good. Ask customer again if they had any problems other than valve, they say no. Tear down car again, free of charge, send head to machine shop. No problems. Put back together. Cost the shop 600 dollars that cost customer nothing. Car continues to burn oil. I never said we dropped anything in the motor. total load of BS! Few days later,customers boyfriend comes in shop starts using f word and gets confrontational in parking lot. I get upset and boldly ask him if the car has been burning oil before they brought here. He says about 2-3 quarts every 2 weeks. I realize then I'm dealing with someone who wants a brand new car for the repairs we did and was not truthful. He threatens to sue me. At this point I'm so pissed off I tell him fine go get a lawyer It'll cost more than the car is worth. (out of anger since he's cussed me 3 times at this point). He leaves, I never see him again. This job was almost a year ago, why they are just now pursuing this I have no idea. I have been in business for 13 years and never had a complaint through Revdex.com. I was willing to work with customer at the time until her boyfriend got confrontational, They have made other derogatory complaints about me on [redacted]. etc... that I have kept copies of.