Salem Import Service, Inc.

Review: I took my 1999 Subaru Forester to Mark Dearing of Salem Import Service to have head gaskets and a timing belt replaced along with other things that are repaired when you have the motor out, etc at this point in the vehicles "life". We also discussed that if anything else was found while this work was being performed that needed to be repaired, he would call and would make me aware of the problem (s) and get permission to proceed with fixing the problem(s). We were in contact multiple times while he was working on my vehicle, all seemed to be well. I paid in full and picked up the car. Less than a week after picking up the car, I had problems while traveling out of town and had to have my vehicle towed to a shop and was without my vehicle for over two weeks. The issue was the radiator, which Mark was told to fix but he did not because he didn't think it needed it. The problem was, when the radiator was replaced (by [redacted] Service in Charlottesville, VA) they found that the transmission lines were in not in place from when Mark worked on the car and it rubbed holes in them and those had to be replaced as well. Last night, I was driving back from out of town again and started having major issues again. We were able to make it home and had the car looked at. Found out the problem was caused during the original repair by Mark and was not fixed properly (can provide detailed lists of all problems and repairs if needed) nor was I informed of this problem when Mark had the car. I called Mark and was told multiple things during our conversation. He said that they saw the problem but couldn't get the part (I still should have been notified and we just ordered the part from Advance Auto, wasn't a problem to order. He also had to order all parts he needed to do the work he did so I don't see why with this issue, ordering a part was a problem), he then said came across the problem when they were done working on the car (it's still a major problem and he could have called me and informed me of it, not just not tell me and send me on my way), then he said that he just forgot to tell me about the problem, and last he told me that he did think the problem would be that big of a deal so he didn't tell me about it. He did offer to put the part needed in for free but I denied this as I do not want him working on my vehicle as he has proven he does not perform repairs properly and withholds very important information about the car if he chooses too. I also feel it should have been repaired when he originally caused (or found as he says) the problem instead of waiting until I have been put in danger twice now because of his error and I brought it to his attention.Desired Settlement: I do feel Mark should refund the charges I have incurred to have the problem(s) he caused and chose to not inform me of or fix but I have not asked him to do this as he only offered to do the repair himself. As stated above, I do not trust him or feel safe about him working on my vehicle as he has proven himself to not perform repairs properly or be honest about problems/repairs. I also would just like the Revdex.com to know as to prevent this happening to other potential customers in the future.