ComplaintsforJDT Musclecar Parts & Resto

• Initial Complaint

  04/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  April 7th, 2023, I drove to the mechanic's shop to pick up my '66 Plymouth Satellite after it was worked on. After ten minutes of driving my car home, which is a ****************************** as I came up to a stop, and I lost four hours of my day. I had to pay $373.05 in a tow fee and an additional $868.08. I have requested from the mechanic, via messenger that he compensate me $1,500 for issues after leaving his shop. He moved parts without talking to me, he took my horns off and added a different one without notifying me(not the only parts that were done outside of what I only needed). Once home, it had a cracked coil, the new wiring was hooked up to a bad ballast resister which caused my car to break down. Ballast resister, Distributor cap, Distributor rotor, Volt coil and spark plugs, as well as another tow and labor. He never test drove it after working on it. Did not fix past issues that he had caused(oil leak(never had until he worked on it and changed my valve covers) and transmission leak, which we discussed) After leaving it there, my gas gauge does not work the same as when I dropped it off, the temp gauge was never hooked back up after we talked about him doing it, and parts have been moved, removed and added without talking to me(coil that was laid down when was upright(not all can lay down and he moved mine) and the electronic ignition which was put on the firewall(where I don't want it).I was never given bill of work/parts/hours even when asked more than once, or left over parts after taken off. I was never given notes on parts that were sold. He made me feel like I needed new parts that were never needed as the ones were new, just so it was his way. I'm waiting on my headlight harnesses as well as the parts I have requested to have back. He replaced the turn signal switch without notification(I didn't want done). Extra leaks that made no sense per his original text to how he changed it to an "almost leak". There scratches in my paint from his shop

  Business response

  05/09/2023

  This is ***************************** owner of Jdt musclecar parts.

  I have never had this type of treatment from any of my many customers.  The repairs that were done to the 66 satellite in question were all talked about when taking this project on ***** wanted the to have a stock appearance and make the car her own. The car had many racing inspired modifications done to it that she told me she didnt like. For instance the had the wrong offset rear wheels which caused the tires to rub the quarter panels causing damged that sh didnt like,and i absolutely agreed with...so new correct not worn out leaf spring were installed and new correct offset wheels she ordered which i helped her save almost $400 dollars on and 2 months more wait time to recieve these wheels from my contacts that i deal with alot. As for engine and leaks and returning the car to the proper look and function she wanted i aquired all original style parts and her old ones i posted for her and sold traded for those correct parts. She had a budget and i told i would work with her on that so i could help her get the where she wanted it to be within her budget. Me being able to control the hours need to install, restore or buy new parts as i did,i sold her new parts at my cost and many of my own parts that i had here i gave her and restored these parts to complete the job. So as the i removed the racing parts that arent meant for street use as she likes to cruise and show the i needed to get the correct style parts back on the stock engine....its not a racing engine.

  So for those parts to be removed as in the exhaust headers which she didnt like because she told me was replacing spark plug wires all the time due to them being burned by the headers...so i swapped them out with factory style exhaust manifold that i have in stock.....didnt charge her for those.  gaskets and bolts were and a trip to the exhaust shop to make new head pipes to attach to the exhaust pipes which i never charged her any labor to take it there just for the job of the pipes.

  With the correct engine parts now in place the said coil she refers to was not mounted in the correct location and neither was the electronic ignition which should never be mounted in the forward area of the engine bay this car in ******************************************************** 1972-73 all cars had electronic ignition.  The engine already had new spark plugs,distributor with cap and rotor so no replacement was needed other than correct length spark plug wires.

  So after wanting a correct factory looking engine bay for said coil the factory location is right in front of carburetor on the intake,she has stated the coil was mounted previously on the side of the inner fender which is where it was but when she purchaces all new factory wiring harnesses  that are not cut with no splices and have the correct connectors and correct proper length that coil would not be mounted in that area no longer and i am not one who spends hundreds of dollars on new factory style wiring is going to jump right back into cutting up and splicing a new harness. I was putting the car together as she wanted factory looking.   As for the after market horns that were installed i would again have to modify the new harness that already has the correct length wires for the horn in place.   Also when installing the front headlight harness there are jumper harnesses or pigtails her factory ones that were broke,corroded that wire companies do not offer they arent made.   I reached out to them and asked if i sent the one decent one i had from the car if they could copy and make pair?   He said absolutely! So thats me wanting to have all new stuff on the car factory appearing with no cost to her and on my own time and with companies i deal with daily...

  As for her saying there are scratches in her paint....i have never scratched or damaged her car,treated the car like i do all my customers car with some worth alot more but it doesnt matter.  

  As for the leaks on the car when i first got the car the transmission pan was leaking and it had oil leaks as well,bad enough i couldnt tell where from....i replaced the intake manifold and valve covers with correct factory parts as agreed on in which the project was taken on. After the first-time the car being in the shop and verified when it left i didnt have leaks she informed the trans was still leaking and i would cover that...as i got the back and wiped the transmission pan down before leaving for the day,the morning i came in and had a puddle of fluid on the floor.... after digging deeper into leak i found the shifter shaft seal leaking and notified her of the leak and told i took care of it and did install another transmission pan gasket to be safe....after that repair i had no leaks on the floor.....this was done all the while i was waiting for the new windshield to come in and get installed through my ***************** used for years at my cost not retail to keep it in her budget because she said it leaks and wanted it replaced.

  The oil leak she said was from the valve cover gaskets but i could not duplicate that only oil i found leaking was from a smashed up dented racing style oil pan thats on the car that i did give her a quote for a factory style which i knew it wasnt in the budget.

  And on the day she picked up the car to head home she called me and said it died on her and tried to help diagnose the issue on the phone....i was waiting for my son to get to the shop so i can go help her..i couldnt leave the shop right at that moment because i had a sheet metal order being delivered and have to be here to recieve it and check in for any damage.  However i had my son go to her location so he could help her by letting me know what the car was doing or not doing....or ateast help get it off the road until he could come and take my spot and i would go look at the car.....she had already called the tow truck and car was loaded.   I thought she was going to bring it back here but she had it towed 40 miles home instead of 10 miles here....i then told her i could be there on Monday to look at the car when she was off work but wanted me to be available sooner which i knew i couldnt.   Then sends me these tickets for parts that didnt need replaced other than the coil because it was cracked....it most certainly wasnt cracked her at the shop or i definitely wouldve replaced it....as for the ballast resistor for the ignition system,  there is nothing that i would neeed to replace that part unless it was bad,it either works or it doesnt no in between  and she drove the car out of here running under its own power.

  Another thing she needed to do when installing all new engine bay wire harnesses is that i found the main dash harness was melted, and had been chopped and spliced severely and i could not properly connect her new engine harnesses to the main dash harness without it being replaced and i didnt charge her any additional labor....nowncomes to the old out dated aftermarket temperature gauge thats in the dash. She has always said her car was over heating and after i dug into that harness i found out whoever installed the gauge just cut into the factory temp gauge wire that is calibrated for the factory gauge in the dash to operate that gauge which will read incorrectly and could cause damage to factory gauges and the voltage limiter curcuit because the factory gauges use a 5volt reference to power the those curcuits. Fuel,temp,oil

  She wanted me to after she just spend $800 on a new harness to reconnect that old gauge which i said im not going to cut up your new harness.... new aftermarket gauges come with their own calibrated sensor that goes into the the water pump housing or intake....not to be used with factory sensor!

  Ive stated those things with ************** never left her in the dark about anything ive done to car to make what it needs to be for her to enjoy it and have fun, she has told me this car has been to multiple shops and she has told me the screwed her over but she never did anything to them like she is doing to me...many of my customers know her car have seen it here at the shop and ive told them shes doing and they cant believe it. Im doing what i love and my problem is im too and i go the extra mile and use my contacts for people only to get this.... 

  As for a resolution i dont know whats fair but since this has happened ive been working on her statement  and i will add up all the parts and things i purchased at my cost,labor i didnt charge, labor to go get the parts for the a/c parts, trip to exhaust shop so they could fix their mistake which was free,pair of factory style exhaust tips i had so the exhaust wouldnt be under the bumper and come out where it suppose to be.,  like the front swaybar i added to the car to help in the cars handling ,cleaned blasted,painted,new bushings and links,lower tabs welded on etc...I did alot for her to make the car right again and to have all of this over a coil and ballast resistor is just mind boggling to...I know i never damaged her car and made scratches in paint thats just not right the car has many imperfections as its not a restored car its a driver... I still treat it the same as my own.

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