ComplaintsforThe Lube Center

• Initial Complaint

  02/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  On 12/27/23 I paid $730.70 to The Lube Center (TLC) at **** ******* ***** ******** ** ***** for a routine oil change on my 2017 Toyota Prius. I drove the car approximately 1.5 miles home afterwards. I next used the car approximately 2 days later. I drove it one block and the car was vibrating and the engine smoked. It then cut off and would not restart. I had an engine warning message to immediately take it to a mechanic for service. I had to have it towed to my garage (******** ******* **** ******** ****. I did not suspect the problems were due to the oil change since I never heard an oil change problem could cause problems like this. The garage worked on the car and then informed me that it had been overfilled with oil. Instead of 3.9 quarts, it had been filled with 3.5 gallons of oil. The bill at this point was $554.45. I contacted the manager at TLC (*****). He stated they were not responsible for the work but agreed to notify his supervisor and have them call me. No one ever called me back. I repeatedly called ***** over many weeks and requested a response. He stated that the disclaimer on the receipt meant they were not responsible to cover the cost of my repairs. The read: "If you suspect an issue with your vehicle that is related to our service you must contact the service center immediately. Failure to do so will void the warranty". I did not suspect it was a problem with the oil change so this disclaimer did not apply. Furthermore, I did not suspect an extreme oil overfill of my car since their receipt stated they put 4.4 quarts of oil in my car. My family was without this car for 25 days causing great inconvenience. The total cost of the repairs were $679.45. I am requesting to be paid for this plus a refund of the cost of the faulty oil change. There was gross negligence in the oil change provided. At this point I am only asking for the cost of the repairs (receipt available) and the cost of the oil change.

• Initial Complaint

  08/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  We took the car in for an inspection and ended up being told that we had to have new brakes, tires and brakes. Rear Calipers on both sides 225.12 rear brake rotors both sides 162.52. Pennzoil full service 49.99. Rear brake service 179.99 Subtotal =755.61 Taxable parts 630.61 Non-taxable parts 125.00 Sales tax 33.42 = 789.03 During the above work was done. Is when the oil cap got broken and the lug nut was stripped. They took the tires off to check them out and that's when they let us know that we needed new tires . And when they did the inspection it only took them 10 minutes max where it should have taken them about 15 minutes. They went through the inspection so fast that they put the wrong year of the car on the back of the inspection sticker it was supposed to be 1999 and they put 2000 on it and said that it wasn't a big deal. We had to fight with them several times to even get the money for the oil cap. Sincerely ******* ******* ***** ********** **** ******** *** ********* *** * ********** *****

• Initial Complaint

  05/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I took my car to shop for a repair that turned into a nightmare. My car is worse then when it went and is unsafe to drive now. They blame me for neglecting my car ..I have plenty of receipt of repairs done on my car that prove otherwise. They rip me off and got over 1,000 out of me. They should be held responsible for paying for my car to be corrected by a mechanic that knows what they are doing.

  Business response

  06/09/2022

  This customer brought the car in for a valve cover gasket replacement because it was leaking oil out on to the engine. We removed the valve cover and found the engine cylinder head completely gummed up, we brought her out to the car and showed her. The reason the valve cover was leaking so bad was because the PCV port was stopped up with the gunk in the engine and the motor could not breathe. We also found the VVT solenoids were stopped up with charred oil. We did replace the VVT solenoids and the valve cover gasket but there was too much gunk in the motor to save it. The customer took the car to the dealer and they told her the exact same thing but she tried to lie to us and say the dealer claimed somehow it was our fault. We consulted with the service manager at the dealership and saw the invoice that told her the same thing we told her. Hyundai refused to replace the engine after investigating the service history because the oil had not been changed at the correct service intervals and had been serviced very few times in its life. It is also untrue that she spent $1000 on this, she paid us $518.23 to remove the valve cover, remove the VVT solenoids, replaced them, remove the cam position sensors , clean them, clean out the pcv hose and intake port and attempt to remove gunk from the cylinder head caused by a lack of oil changes. We tried to help this customer as much as possible but the car was too far gone, this is no way our fault. We love our customers and have not survived 23 years of business by taking advantage of people. If there is ever a problem that is our fault, we take care of the customer immediately. 

  Customer response

  06/09/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. Regards, ******** ********* The company will continue to lie and cover there rear. But Karma always wins.

• Initial Complaint

  04/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I complained to one of the employees at The Lube Center about my car making a noise from the rear end of my vehicle. I was told that the car was given a test drive by another employee, and he identified my tie rod ends as the root of my problem, so I have them replace my tie rod ends immediately and was told that the noise is now gone. I drove my car off the lot and went over a pothole to see if I still heard the noise I was hearing - and I did. I made a u-turn back to the shop and had them put my car on a lift so I can point to where I thought the noise was coming from. I point to what they identified as the emergency brake line and they noticed the line was loose, so they zip-tied it. I give my car another stress test over a pothole and low and behold the noise is completely gone. I called my bank to dispute the charge made at TLC because the tie rod ends did not fix the noise issue; the zip-tie to the brake line did, but was denied because TLC argued they did everything they were supposed to do perfectly. I was wrongfully charged over $200 for them replacing my tie rod ends. My tie rod ends were never making noises and did not fix my issue, I never needed them replaced. It’s established that the noise that I was hearing was due to my emergency brake line. If I were to go outside right now and cut the zip-tie off the emergency brake line of my vehicle, the noise would return again, and I can easily prove this. This company is in denial and doesn’t want to own up to their mistake. They replaced something on my car that didn’t need to be replaced and I’m being wrongfully charged for it.

  Business response

  05/10/2022

  Rear sway bar links were rusted out and broken.  Replaced at his approval.  Exhaust rattling and recommended he go to an exhaust shop, we are not an exhaust shop.. He came back and we found an emergency brake cable was rusted.  Gave an estimate for the repair and you declined.   We did a temporary fix at no charge.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩