ComplaintsforNorthside Auto Repair Service, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This complaint is on behalf of my elderly mother and my brother, who had a disability. We feel they were taken advantage of. My brother’s car broke down, and they took it to Northside Auto. They took months to see what the problem was. They never called to say how much it was going to cost to look at and try and fix. Finally after being tired of waiting, my mother took the car to a car dealership for another look. The dealership told them the car was unrepairable and that the motor was damaged. This didn’t take them long to find that information. Northside Auto kept the car way too long. They should have told them promptly that the car was unfixable. It was a major burden for my family to share a car. Northside Auto also charged them around $3,000 in the end. This was for a broken car that was never fixed. The car wasn’t even worth that much! They wasted months of their time, and took advantage of them. That’s not ok to charge $3,000 and not explain the cost beforehand.

  

  Business response

  04/28/2023

   In reference to complaint number ********.  This vehicle came in
  needing to pass emission we advised them that the check engine light was
  no working and would need to replaced to pass emissions We checked the
  spark plugs and they were in need of being replaced, we got  the
  authorization to do the tune up. We also noticed that there was a
  coolant leak from a heater hose and a vacuum leak from the intake. We
  received authorization to do both. They then called back and declined
  the intake, they did take the intake with them so they would have it if
  they decided to do it at a later date. We did refund the $389.00 for the
  intake at a later date when they brought it back for a return.
  
    The second time it came back was for a simple oil change with wiper
  blades with no other complaints.
  
  The third and final time it was here was that it died while driving and
  would crank but not start. We went through all systems that would cause
  these issues. The parts we checked had already been replaced by someone
  other then our shop. We did advise them of this and got authorization to
  replace some parts that we thought could be defective,this did not fix
  the issue and put the original parts back on vehicle . We also advised
  them this did not fix the issue and we thought it could be in the wiring
  harness because when the vehicle would start the engine sounded good  I
  did mention that they may need to take the vehicle to the dealer due to
  where our diagnostic lead us to the parts had already been replaced and
  this had been an ongoing issue prior to them getting the vehicle and us
  looking at it.
  
  
  Thank you
  
  ***** *******
  
  Northside Auto Repair

  Customer response

  04/30/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  The first time the car was dropped off was for emissions.  That is correct.  The bill was $1,240.20 and the emissions did not pass.  That was not fixed.  They told you the parts were new and not needing to be replaced.  Apparently you decided to do other work on the car instead of solving the issue, which was emissions. You also did not tell them how much your work was going to cost for authorization.  You did work and then gave them a bill at the end, a very expensive bill.  
  The last time they dropped the car off was because it didn’t start.  My mother told you repeatedly to not fix anything until you gave her an estimate.  She told you to ask her first before any work was to be done.  Instead, you chose to not communicate.  You never told her what work you were going to do.  She never authorized anything, and instead you kept the car for weeks!  Finally when you realized you could not fix the car, you gave them a bill for $1,873.76.  A diagnostic should not be more than $150-$200.  You took advantage of them and overcharged them.  You did not fix the problem.  You took their money, and you need to refund them and take your parts.  You don’t work on a car when the engine is busted.

  Those two visits alone cost them a total of $3113.96 for a car that was never fixed.  
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******* 

   

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason the complaint will be closed Answered]

  

  Business response

  05/02/2023

   We did inform them it would not pass emissions without removing the instrument cluster and replacing the bulb for the check engine light. A vehicle will not pass emissions with the check engine light on or or not working and the work was declined at that time to replace the bulb. The engine ran fine after we did the tune up on the 1st visit with this vehicle. We will leave the parts on the vehicle and we will refund the money for the parts, We will just need the credit card that was used to pay for them. 

  Customer response

  05/04/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  Our issue is with the bill for $1873.76.  That work was not authorized.  When we brought the broken vehicle back to the shop, the instructions were to diagnose the problem and to not work on it without getting approval first.  We are ok if you charge money for the diagnosis because we understand that takes time, but we did not give you authorization to work on the vehicle at that time.  So we would accept $1874.76 minus a diagnostic fee, which should be no more than $200.
  
  
  Regards,
  
  **** *******   

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason the complaint will be closed Answered]

• Initial Complaint

  02/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have owned my truck for 27 years and perform all maintenance on it with the exception of bringing it to a shop 14 years ago for a timing belt replacement, then bringing to Northside Auto for another timing belt replacement on Dec. 27th, 2022, 7:30 AM. In general, a timing belt replacement is 4 to 6 hours. The service manager at the shop is named Kerry, which I spoke to at least twice before bringing the truck in for service. I did asked him about the work load. He told me "bring it in Tuesday morning" then he said "tomorrow" not sure why he said that, but perhaps I should have brought in on Wednesday and that's an issue right away. I gave Kerry all the parts needed to complete the job with the last one given to him on Jan. 16th, first thing in the morning. I then asked him, "When can I get my truck back"? he said Wednesday. On that day I waited till 3:00 PM and called them to be told that he was at the doctor's, which has zero to do about having my truck ready, major issue! There was another time when Kerry told me his "timing man was out sick" another delay. Between 12/27 and 01/16 they did minor repairs. One of them was to place the ECU module back to original place and to do that the heater blower unit had to be removed, but they never placed the blower back where it was. See pictures. They changed the oil, but over-filled it, see pictures. There was a wire going to the coil circut that was butt-sliced, very strange and not going to guess why, see pictures. As I was writing the check out to Kerry, he told me about a nut on my steering knuckle that was striped, which I already knew about, but not the reason why I took my truck in. I would like to know why there where looking at it. On 01/30 @ 8:00 AM, 2 weeks after I brought it the final part to Kerry to put my truck back together, I asked "when do I get my back"? He said "9:00 AM", and NO mention of a radiator leak. Then he calls back to say 12:00 PM, which means he has no clue about what's going:

  

  Business response

  04/28/2023

    In reference to complaint number ********. The vehicle came in not
  running so we did not know if there were any other issues with the
  vehicle. Customer advised us that he has replaced many parts himself. We
  updated the customer on why the vehicle would not start customer was
  insistent on supplying his own parts,which took time to get in. Once we
  got it running we noticed it had a coolant leak from the radiator and
  the customer stated it did not have one before it came in. I advised the
  customer that we did not know if it did or not since it was not running.
  We did offer him if he was to get a radiator we would install it for
  him, the customer refused and picked up his vehicle and we did work on
  the pricing for him to help him out.
  
  
  Thank you
  
  Kerry *******
  
  Northside Auto Repair

  Customer response

  05/01/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  First of all, I have yet to hear from the owner after two months of filing this complaint.  I also asked Kerry to have the owner contact me BEFORE I found out that the radiator was damage.  I told Kerry: "I'm coming over there to pick up my truck"  when I saw the damage to the radiator, I knew that it was done on purpose and I was not going to debate with him about how it was done.  Kerry claims that he offered to install a new radiator for me and that conversation NEVER took place! that means that he's lying about that.  Kerry does not speak of any other issues that were in my compliant, why is that?  I have a good reason to believe that the owner does not know about what is going on with his business.  Please have the owner contact me at ###-###-####.
  
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******

   

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason the complaint will be closed Answered]

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