On May 23 I had a local Pep Boys Auto repair my leaking oil pan gasket on my Nissan 240SX. After being charged $324.69, I brought my car home and the next morning found a bigger puddle of oil on my garage floor than before I brought it in for repair.
I put the car up on my ramps to see what was leaking and found the leak was coming directly from the gasket of the oil pan.in addition, the cork gasket was sticking out in 3 places, and one part of the cork sticking out near a screw was actually broken. They had not seated the gasket properly causing the leak.
I brought it back and told their manager, Carlton Davis, of the problems. They put my car up on their lift, and in 10 minutes told me the leak was fixed. I asked to see their work because I know to properly fix this takes a few hours. At this point, I knew this was not a reputable and honest business.
When I saw the oil pan gasket, the loose cork in 3 places was gone. They had cut off the parts that were sticking out with a blade. I pointed this out to them and they said that they did not do that and that's the way it was. But assured me they tightened all necesary screws to prevent further leaks. Hesitantly, I brought the car home and the next morning found a new puddle of oil on my garage floor.
I brought it back a third time and this time they tell me that my oil pan has a microscopic leak and needed to be replaced. They claim the leak was so slow they didn't catch it the first time. They made a "deal" with me that if I paid for the replacement oil pan, they would not charge me for any labor.
I let them know that wasn't a deal expecially when it had only be 3 days since they fixed my oil pan gasket and was still under warranty. Anyway, I went along with their scam even though I suspected there was nothing wrong with the oil pan itself. So after another $149.18, I have a new oil pan with a supposedly non-leaking gasket.
The next morning, there is an even BIGGER puddle of oil on my garage floor.in theory I know I should bring my car back to them to really fix it right, but who knows what other problems they will make up to charge me more money. And I'm not even sure they can really fix a relatively simple job like an oil pan gasket.
To really rub salt into my wounds, after I paid for the oil pan, the manager Carlton Davis, asked me to call their 800 line and give them a good rating for doing me this "favor" for me. Then his supervisor who was ringing me up asked me to rate their service from 1 - 10.
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