ComplaintsforAuto Stop

• Initial Complaint

  11/08/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I brought my car in to have a knocking noise and shaking in my tire fixed. They noticed while looking at the car that I had a small leak in my alternator fluid lines so I told them to replace them as well. They took 24 hours longer than they said it would take and I had a feeling then that something wasn't right. Well I picked my car up on 11/5, drove out the 3 blocks home, than I get up the next morning for work and when I turned the car on it was extremely loud. I tried to go to the shop but they were closed so I continuedon my way to work, halfway there the check engine light came on so I turned around came home and had to get a rental car. They picked the car up on 11/8 and say that I have a compressed air hose on my turbo that needs to be fixed, I told them no. I had no issues with my car besides the knocking. No check engine lights no other noise nothing! Their mechanic obviously crushed or broke a hose while working on it. They refuse to fix it without me paying.

  Business response

  11/08/2021

  In reponse to complaint #********, dated 11/8 we state the following:
  The vehicle 2011 ********* ***** ** ****, arrived at the shop 11/4 for service.  The customer stated that the car had noises in the front (knocking sounds) and shaking while driving at higher speeds.  We brought the car in for diagnosis and immediately noticed that the tires were ‘chopped’ would absolutely cause shaking, vibration and road noise while driving.
  The car absolutely had a Check Engine light present.  We did not scan or do any diagnosis, but we absolutely have documentation that the light was present upon arrival.  The vehicle was notably loud from the engine and we could hear what sounded like chains rattling.  Once the vehicle was in the air, we were able to determine that a loose sway bar link was contributing to the ‘knocking’ sound.  We could visibly see that her transmission cooler lines were leaking transmission fluid, making this car unsafe to be driven.
  I spoke with Ms. ****** and she approved us to order and install 4 new tires and the transmission cooler line replacement along with the front sway bar links.  I told her I thought we could have it done that day. 
  Due to Covid-19, there is a national supply chain issue on parts and tires.  The tires I ordered for Ms. ****** did not come in until the afternoon on that initial day.  I am also short- handed, thus making the larger jobs take sometimes a little longer than anticipated.  I spoke with Ms. ****** at the end of the day and told her the job would absolutely be done the next day.
  We finished the job on Friday 11/5, and the customer picked up the car.
  When the car came in today, it sounded about the same as it did on Friday when it arrived.  Bad Transmission lines will NEVER cause loud noises.  We inspected the vehicle under the hood and noticed that she had a vacuum leak at one of the turbo lines which was actually melted.  This is actually a common problem with ***** vehicles – where the turbo line runs from the bottom of the turbo to the crankcase near the catalytic converter (which gets very hot).  It is in a very difficult place to get to – and would have been impossible for us to bend, break crush or otherwise during a transmission cooler line job.
  When we reported to her what we found, and that the cost to repair it was going to be $245 plus tax, she started yelling and accusing us of crushing or breaking the tube during our repair.  She stated also that she had had the turbo replaced along with the lines at another shop.  We suggested her returning to that shop to have this looked at.  Our repair was nowhere near the turbo which is in the front right of the car, the transmission lines we replaced were from the radiator to the rear of the transmission.  We did not touch/inspect nor move the turbo lines.  The sway bar links we replaced are in tact as specified. 
  We stand behind all of our work at The Auto Stop.  I towed the vehicle in at my cost.  I checked and double checked the work we performed last week and everything was repaired to spec.  The problems Ms. ****** has were NOT caused by us. In reponse to complaint #********, dated 11/8 we state the following:
  The vehicle **** ********* ***** ** ***L, arrived at the shop 11/4 for service.  The customer stated that the car had noises in the front (knocking sounds) and shaking while driving at higher speeds.  We brought the car in for diagnosis and immediately noticed that the tires were ‘chopped’ would absolutely cause shaking, vibration and road noise while driving.
  The car absolutely had a Check Engine light present.  We did not scan or do any diagnosis, but we absolutely have documentation that the light was present upon arrival.  The vehicle was notably loud from the engine and we could hear what sounded like chains rattling.  Once the vehicle was in the air, we were able to determine that a loose sway bar link was contributing to the ‘knocking’ sound.  We could visibly see that her transmission cooler lines were leaking transmission fluid, making this car unsafe to be driven.
  I spoke with Ms. ****** and she approved us to order and install 4 new tires and the transmission cooler line replacement along with the front sway bar links.  I told her I thought we could have it done that day. 
  Due to Covid-19, there is a national supply chain issue on parts and tires.  The tires I ordered for Ms. ****** did not come in until the afternoon on that initial day.  I am also short- handed, thus making the larger jobs take sometimes a little longer than anticipated.  I spoke with Ms. ****** at the end of the day and told her the job would absolutely be done the next day.
  We finished the job on Friday 11/5, and the customer picked up the car.
  When the car came in today, the engine sounded about the same as it did on Friday when it arrived.  Bad Transmission lines will NEVER cause loud noises.  We inspected the vehicle under the hood and noticed that she had a vacuum leak at one of the turbo lines which was actually melted.  This is actually a common problem with ***** vehicles – where the turbo line runs from the bottom of the turbo to the crankcase near the catalytic converter (which gets very hot).  It is in a very difficult place to get to – and would have been impossible for us to bend, break crush or otherwise during a transmission cooler line job.
  When we reported to her what we found, and that the cost to repair it was going to be $245 plus tax, she started yelling and accusing us of crushing or breaking the tube during our repair.  She stated also that she had had the turbo replaced along with the lines at another shop.  We suggested her returning to that shop to have this looked at.  Our repair was nowhere near the turbo which is in the front right of the car, the transmission lines we replaced were from the radiator to the rear of the transmission.  We did not touch/inspect nor move the turbo lines.  The sway bar links we replaced are in tact as specified. 
  We stand behind all of our work at The Auto Stop.  I towed the vehicle in at my cost.  I checked and double checked the work we performed last week and everything was repaired to spec.  The problems Ms. ****** has were NOT caused by us.

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