ComplaintsforExeter Automotive

• Initial Complaint

  09/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 5/15/2022 I spoke with ***** from Exeter Automotive about working and changing the freeze plugs on my 2002 Isuzu Rodeo he quoted me a price and I told him I would be showing the car into the shop in the next day or two. On 5/17/2022 we towed the car into the shop. I had explained that my head gaskets had already been repaired and that all I needed was the freeze plugs changed out that the car was not running yet and this was part of the problem. A couple of days later the owner of the shop **** called me and told me that they had torn apart my motor and that the timing was off and a bunch of other things that they had done a compression check on my motor which with my type of motor you can't do that it will bend the Pistons it could cause all kinds of problems to the motor doing a compression check without it running I told him that they were not supposed to touch my motor and that I was not going to pay him $2,500 Plus to tear apart my motor and fix whatever issues he was saying was wrong which it just gotten finished there shouldn't have been any issues with that part of my motor regardless they should have not touched that part of my motor. **** informed me that it was going to be $480 for their work that they did cheering into my motor I told him it would be a few days before I could get somebody to help me tow my vehicle from their shop back to my house and that is what I did if a few days later went to the shop to pick up my car we were left waiting over an hour for the owner **** to show up which he never did I ended up paying them $200 taking my car &leavin Since then my car will not start will not run the freeze plugs have not been done because I don't know what kind of damage they have actually done to my motor with the work that they did that they weren't supposed to I cannot afford to have somebody go through the whole thing once again to find out exactly what is wrong but I do know that the motor is more than likely blown due to this shops negligence

  Business response

  10/07/2022

  Good day, my name is ***** *****, owner of Exeter Automotive. I’m going to explain what actually happened with our experience with ****** ******. The car was towed in with what the customer thought was a water leak. They thought it might be the freeze plugs. Upon adding water to the radiator, the water came out as fast as we could add it. The water was coming out from behind the timing cover, we removed the front cover to see if we could see where the water was coming from. The water was coming out from under the intake, there’s a pipe that runs from the water pump to the back of the engine, there’s a hose that hooks to the pipe and an O-ring where the pipe goes to the water pump. The water was coming out of the pipe or the hose, we did not see water from the freeze plugs. The car was out in the back of our Shop, we tried to start the car to move it into the shop. It would not start. We towed the  car into the shop so we had the tools to work on the car. We were told that someone had replaced the head gasket and timing belt. Since it didn’t start we checked the compression and there was no compression. We checked to see if the timing belt was on correctly and it wasn’t, which can damage an engine. I was trying to help her out and reset the timing belt to where it should be. It still had no compression. At this point,  I talked to ****** and told her that whoever she had do the repairs previously, did it incorrectly. I explained to her that it would have to be taken apart again because the valves were bent, which I had nothing to do with. I told her that the repairs that it would need would cost approximately $2500. I honestly did not want to do the repairs because once a car is worked on by what I’m assuming was a shade tree mechanic, you never know what you’ll find. I told her she could come and get her car. As far as her comment about checking compression, the true way to check compression is with the car NOT running. Unfortunately she does not know what she’s talking about. I don’t mean to sound callous, I’m just stating the facts. The whole problem is that whoever did the repairs for her previously did it incorrectly and she just can’t afford to get it fixed. I feel bad for her but this is a real complicated motor and to get the timing belt on correctly is really difficult. It was on incorrectly and was caused from the previous person who worked on it. She talked about me not being there when she came into the shop, she had told me three different times on three different days that she would come by and never showed up. I start my day at 6:30 AM and usually leave at 4:30 PM. On the third day that she said she would come in at a certain time, she didn’t. I then left for the day. Honestly she should be going after the person who did the work in the first place. She told us that the car would not run, how did she know that if they didn’t try to start it? The engine was already damaged before it came into my shop to check for a water leak. My final thought is, why didn’t she take her car back to whoever tried to fix it in the first place, but apparently only made the problem worse.  I pride myself on being an honest, fair, mechanic/small business owner. I’m not a professional letter writer and this is the truth to the best of my ability. 

  Customer response

  12/06/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  
  Sorry to just now respond to this but I never received this email until today. Not sure why it hadn't shown up sooner is beyond me... I have to say the response from Exeter Automotive is almost all a bunch of lies and not what all had happened. I did not expect him to admit his wrong doings but to completely flip the truth and include lies is a complete shock... One question Mr ***** should. be asked is why does he refer my motor to an ISUZU MOTOR? My year Isuzu Rodeo is made with a Honda Motor. even after tearing into it and bending the pistons (they were fine and un bent when bringing car into the shop. Maybe if he knew what he was doing he should of realized what my motor was. also no one asked him or anyone at the shop to do anything but change the freeze plugs. the order was written up as reach freeze plugs only. I didn't ask for anything else from him or anyone at his shop. so why did he take it .on himself to do all this other stuff to my vehicle? And the Machanic who worked on my head gaskets is not a shade tree Machanic atleast he knew it was a Honda motor. How could the shop and **** know what my timing was off if they couldn't even tell the motor was a Honda not an Isuzu? like I originally said ***** and his shop Exeter Automotive did not do what was on the order to do and took it upon themselves to tear into my motor and damage things that never should of been touched by him. sincerely ****** ******
  

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