ComplaintsforBryant Brothers Automotive & Performance

• Initial Complaint

  06/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I dropped my car off for repairs on June 8, 2022. Over the next six months I paid $4,000 in deposits for repairs. Now over a year later the car has still not been repaired.I would like to have both my car and my money back. Clay ********************** will not return my messages. When I stopped by unannounced on June 1, 2023, I was able to talk to **** and told him I wanted my car and my money back. He said he needed to talk to his brother. Still no progress.

  Business response

  06/27/2023

  ****************** contracted us for the engine failure on his 2008 Miata MX5 SCCA RACE CAR (Photos Provided). The vehicle was brought to ** NOT RUNNING, and he stated that the engine had blown during a RACE in 2022.  He contracted with us to ASSESS the damage that was caused during his race.  
  During our evaluation we found the number 4 piston failure.  We are not 100% as to what caused this issue as this is a TUNED RACE CAR that our shop did not Build or Tune.  
  We removed the engine and sent it to the Machine Shop to have it rebuilt.  Once there, they informed us that this was NOT the *** Engine for this vehicle and that it was from an older Miata as the gaskets were slightly different.  The Machine Shop rebuilt the engine and sent it back to us where we installed it back into the car and cranked it up for the first time.  It ran rough at idle similar to an aftermarket camshaft.  
  Our shop had never heard the engine running up to this point.  
  When we reached out to ****************** to inquire if it had aftermarket cams in the engine, he said that it did not, and had ran smooth before the engine failure. We dug further and found that the original Intake Manifold had Aluminum shrapnel from the engine failure in it so we replaced the Intake Manifold with a used one with ********************** approval.  This did not seem to help anything as far as the running at idle issue.
  Again we removed the engine and sent it back to the Machine Shop to inspect (removed cylinder head).  A few tiny pieces of material (aluminum) in the engine from the first failure, but nothing that would cause the idle issue.  The Machine Shop cleaned everything and installed the head back onto the block.
  The engine was installed back into the vehicle at no charge to customer.  Once installed we cranked it and the idle was the same.  We did a test drive for the first time and appeared to run good off idle.  Once back at the shop it was noted the coolant temperature seemed to be a little high after idling a minute after the test drive.  
  We advised the customer of these issues and said we would dig further for possible cause.  We conferred with customer's Tuner, having him come to our shop and flash the Stock Tune file back onto the car which did not help.  We contacted numerous people that specialize in these cars for possible issues, but did not find anything. After countless hours of diagnostics testing and contacting ********************** Tuner, we have yet to find the issue.
  ****************** has met with the owners of Bryant Brothers Automotive at least 3 times in person and numerous telephone calls.  We would love to fix ********************** vehicle for him but he is out of time and we are out of resources.  We were contracted to rebuild his engine after failure, and we did exactly that.  We believe what caused the engine to fail originally, is still the issue.
  We have offered many options to ****************** including a Partial Refund or the option to get another opinion, and depending on the issue, we would cover repairs if found
   that Bryant Brothers Automotive are at fault.  
  
  In conclusion, we want all of our customers to be Satisfied, but given this specific situation, our options are limited.

  Customer response

  07/03/2023

   
  Complaint: 20187362
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Rather than address all of the factual errors in **** ************************ attempt to deflect responsibility, I'll stick to the facts.
  

  When I spoke to *********************** (no relation) on May 18th, for an appointment to see if the engine in my Miata could be rebuilt, I was told to drop the car off on June 7th, 2022, which I did.
  
  I was later told by Bryant Brothers that, yes, they would be able to rebuild my engine. Over a period of weeks Bryant Brothers requested and I paid $4,000 in deposits toward having the engine rebuild. 
  
  By April, 2023, **** provided the same convoluted explanation as to progress on the motor, before finally admitting that rebuilding the UNMODIFIED engine on the most popular 2-seat sports car in world history the ***** Miata was beyond their technical competence.
  
  Bryant Brothers has floundered around with my Miata for over a year. It didn't run when I dropped it off and 13 months later it still doesn't run, and their solution is to charge me $4,000+ and for me to take the Miata somewhere else to be repaired.
  

  I have only asked that the car and my money be returned.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  07/14/2023

  7-14-2023   After Speaking with ****************** June 16th about a resolution, ***************** said we had until Monday to communicate. We tried calling and left 2 Voicemails with ****************** on June 19th(Monday) and June20th(Tuesday) to resolve this issue. He did not answer and has not returned our calls.

  We would love to resolve this matter and move on. Feel free to Contact me at ************ or stop by our shop. 

  
  Thanks, Bryant Brothers. 

  Customer response

  07/14/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, I accept your offer.

  Thank you for providing a direct email for Clay *********************** Per my attorney, all communication must be in writing. I am ready to take advantage of the offer you extended in your reply to the BBB: We have offered many options to ****************** including a Partial Refund or the option to get another opinion, and depending on the issue, we would cover repairs if found that Bryant Brothers Automotive are at fault.. I would like to have a wrecker stop by and pick up my car and have it taken to another facility to verify what has been done and to diagnosis what is left to be repaired.

   

  Is my car ready to be picked up?

   

  ***********************

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  10/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They were suppose to fix my car around the month of January. The car is not fixed properly, it runs hot when I drive it about a mile or so. The Bryant Brothers over charged me. They say that they put a new thermostat on the car, if they did it should not be running hot. I had to pay over $4000 dollars. My car is not running properly.

  Business response

  10/17/2022

  First I would like to start by saying we apologize for your issues with your vehicle. After reviewing the phone calls between you and our Service Advisor that was handling your ticket, we discovered that on March 10th you called in and was telling the Service advisor about the issues you were having with your vehicle. He advised you that if you could bring the car back to us we would be more than happy to check it out to determine what the issue was and if it was something that was previously repaired by us we would take care of the issue. On this phone call you stated you were going to bring the vehicle back to us to check. We did not hear from you again until July 27th in which you called in to ask for another copy of your repair order from the previous work in January. Then we did not hear from you again until this Complaint on BBB October 7th

  .  
  Bryant Brothers Automotive will still be happy to help you with your issues if they are related to the repairs completed previously by us. This is why we provide Warranties and use Quality parts when repairing vehicles. 
  We value our Customers and we would love to resolve this. 
  
                                 Thanks, Bryant Brothers Automotive Management.

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