I have gotten two cars repaired at Lone Star Engine Installation in Dallas, TX off of I-30 and Carroll ave... I had not checked them out before hand, but now wish I had!!!
The head gasket goes out on my 1991 toyota Mr2 first... I check prices at area shops and actually (funny enough) get a referral for Lone Star Engine, Installation... I have them replace the engine with a rebuilt long block, 1844.00 (paid in cash)... It takes much longer than promised, and, was about 400.00 more expensive than quoted. Also, when I get the car back, it has a broken temperature gauge, a ripped intake coupling hose, and an accelerator cable broken, as well as scratches on my carbon fiber hood and fenders as well as the front bumper (due to parts being placed on the car).
I take it to the owner, Raphael, and show him the damage, -he refuses to pay for any damages-neither the hood, the gauge, the hose coupling or the cable are replaced and I am informed that I can pay to have them fix it, or bring them the parts and they will be so nice as to put them on for me.
They try make the scratches slightly better by waxing it with some paint stripper and tell me they will hook me up with a guy who can give me a discount on a paint job. (whatever)... Looks better, but not as it was before... I drive it for a month, and decide to put it on Autotrader because I purchase another vehicle, and on top of that they'd trashed the car out where I was just sick of looking at it. (I didn't want to have to go thru the cost/hassle of suing, so I figured I'd just sell it)..
In a few weeks time I have to take the car back to them for oil leak issues... They fix it... Several times they fix it in fact, telling me it is something new each time. Finally the oil will not stop leaking after replacing several things... I find out my seal around my dipstick is leaking as well as my oil pan gasket from my local kwik lube and tune... So, I take it back to Lone Star and they fix the problems. (I think it was probably that the whole time, in fact, but& they couldn't figure it out and had me repair numerous items in blind diagnoses...)
So, thinking it's finally fixed for good, and having a new engine, I thought it should be easy to sell and I had no need for the car because I had purchased a different car... (By now it would've been sold 10 times if I didn't keep on having to put it into the shop for repairs due to shop negligence and/or faulty craftsmanship)... Before I can even set up an appointment to have someone see the car, the head gasket pops -again - now, under warranty... They fix it, no charge, but (this becomes an issue later) they say it overheated... (they still fixed it even though it says on their warranty, they will not validate the warranty under circumstance of overheating—this tells me, they accept responsibility for the overheat and it was not my fault)
They fix the engine with a brand new head only, with the original rebuilt long block remaining... They replace the temp. Gauge, but not the accelerator cable... While it was in, they lean on my car to do the engine and bend body panels... They take giant quarter size chunks out of my paint in various places. After I get the car home, I notice these thingsI take it back up there and I talk to the owner about it-again, he denies my claim saying, I had a bad paint job anyways and that he never touched any body panels... (the body panels are removable and are not load-bearing... It is mandatory to take them off whenever doing any engine work whatsoever)
After all that, I have to take it back to them for oil leaking out again... in addition, come to find out, a rod was bent from the start... I take it in to have them fix it after a week of driving it, thinking it may be a breaking-in type of noise where something needs to seat correctly... It wasn't, apparently, and they tell me the head needs to be redone due to a bent/bad rod... They have the car for over three weeks trying to get it right...
After I get the car back, twice more, I have to take it into the shop for them to fix the engine - once for a leaking oil pan, which, blew the day I got the car back from the shop... Also, that same day, the owner decided to insult me after demanding, in a phone call to my wife, that we pick the car up immediately. Raphael, the owner, said he had no more room for the car and would leave it, unlocked, outside his place of business with the key in it and he would not be responsible for it after close of his business day. My wife informed him not to do that, as it could be stolen or vandalized and asked him to wait for the following day for us to pick it up. The owner refused and said if we did not pick it up, it would be towed and we would have to pay impound and storage fees. My wife responded by telling him, that if not for his faulty workmanship and delayed repair times, he would not be in a predicament of "no space left for us" and that had he repaired the car right the first time, he wouldn't have to wait for one more day, also that he had no right to abandon or tow the vehicle. (This conversation took place as I was en route to work and had to be there at 3:00 that monday).
She then asked if maybe we needed to speak with a lawyer to deter him in his course of "abandoning" the car in his lot and/or towing it away due to our one-car situation and my presence being demanded at work with the only working vehicle. (&the new car I had recently purchased had a fuel computer go out so we only had the Jeep Cherokee and the Mr2 working) The owner asked what our attorney's name was, and after my wife produced the name, hung up on her. She then called me on our cell phone and relayed the events. I had her call into work for me saying I would have to be late due to this guy abandoning our car and/or towing it for no good reason. I picked her up, so I could get the car, and went up to the shop.
When I got there, the owner was behind the counter. I asked him what the problem was. He told me the car was ready and he had no storage room for me. He also said, and I quote, "You need to learn how to control your wife and teach her to say thank you"... Which, I found out later stemmed from the fact that, unknown to me, in that same "abandonment-or-towing" conversation he had mentioned that he fixed the engine when it overheated to be nice and that it was actually my fault it overheated... Not his... (even though his shop broke my temp. Gauge and did not fix it so I could even see that it was overheating, mind you)... Sooooo, before I committed a felony assault on this owner guy for insulting myself and my wife, I asked for the key... intently focusing on saying nothing but that... He informed me he would have someone pull it out of the garage for me... He pulled it out front end pointing away from me... (this is important)
I took the car to work, which I was an hour and a half late for due to his dramatics. After arriving at work and parking, I walked away from the car and happened to look back, to see a large spot on the front bumper had been scraped clean of paint and my corner light was cracked... (not like that before i took the car in to him that time)... I was fuming!!! I finished out my work night, shaken and distracted, only to come back to the car with a pool of oil settling underneath it... It had popped the oil pan gasket they had just fixed because, even in their description, the seal did not cure long enough... So it was ready and so imperative to remove my car from their premises... Why, again??? (I'm thinking to cause a scene so as to distract from noticing a large blemish on the bumper)...
Now I talked to an attorney describing my dilemma how every time i take the car back to get fixed, it is either improperly repaired and/or damaged further... My attorney advised me not to have them touch it again... However, I needed them to fix the oil pan again&it was under warranty!!! I just spent $4000.00 on replacing engines with these guys and my savings is thoroughly tapped out! I have no alternative if I have to sell the carI can't wait any longer, I've already passed up almost ten prospective buyers!!!
So, against my better judgment and the advisement of my attorney, I tow it in to get fixed and to show them the damage. Of course, guess what? They deny the damage claim. They fix the oil pan, but refuse any and all claims other than the mechanical one, even after the insultthank goodness I talked to the desk guy David instead of the owner... I really didn't want to talk to him, because I was angry at his insults... (David talked to the owner for me and got the verdict of not responsible from him.) I told David of how the owner insulted my wife and I, and he was astounded and even apologized for the guy. I told David that even before that, every time I was in the office, it felt like the owner was avoiding coming in contact with me like hiding not to have to deal with that guy again.
I went home and the owner, Raphael actually called my house to tell me he was not hiding from anyone. Was not hiding from mein fact, the message he left, verbatim was I'll come to your house and talk to you if you want - to me, sounding menacing, like he wanted to goad me into a fight. I got the car back, and tried to sell it, the potential buyer even puts a 500.00 deposit down. On the test drive, the car blows, well, something-. My best guess was a rod. I limp it home and have to tow it up there again, under protest, because I still do not have another $1000.00 laying around to fix their mistakes. I did check it out before I brought it to them againlooked low on oil. I didn't even notice before, but the gasket they just had replaced, had a leak againmuch smaller this time. I guess the oil leaked and the engine suffered.
Now, they tell me it'll be two weeks until they will have it close to ready. Who knows.??? I'm currently trying to go every avenue i can to get these guys to reiburse me for their damages.
I have body damage quotes topping $2000.00, not to mention, the lost potential buyers, or that everything still keeps on going wrong with the engines...
Yeah, I didn't even begin with my Jeep Cherokee... Funny enough, the dipstick was leaking on it when i got it back and the temperature gauge was disconnected on it as well. Now it had an incorrectly indexed (misaligned) distributor that i took to the dealer to get fixed... I can't take both cars to them or i'll have none!!! It has started leaking oil from the valve cover and who knows how long everything else will hold up!!!
Side Note: My wife works with a girl who had problems with and engine company not even putting in a dipstick... Guess who???
Their card reads: LONE STAR INSTALLATION CENTER INC.
Professional engine installation
by qualified technicians
I'd say, what a laugh, but I'm not laughing... Neither should anyone else... These guys are scammers and theives... From the rumors i have heard, their employees are illegal and they sell drugs out the back door... Who knows??? Nothing would surprise me with the lack of professionalism i've seen with these guys!
Do not get ripped off... Steer clear of this horrible place!!
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