I bought a 1996 Dodge Stratus with high mileage. The car was carefully looked at by a trusted mechanic before I bought the car. The only problem reported was a minor oil leak.
I saved up money to have the repair done and called around for estimates. I had 4 estimates to determine the cause of the oil leak and Pro-Tech was willing to od it for free. They garunteed me excellent customer service and complete satisfaction. The first step in repairing the oil leak was determining exactly where it was coming from by putting a dye into my oil. We took the car over and they put the dye in. I drove my car for a day and then returned to have the problem diagnosed. I was told the leak was coming from my head. I asked for a quote along with a list of all the parts needed to do the repair. I called several places and recieved estimates.Pro-Tech was not the lowest, but I decided to return because they had been great in the beginning.
They quoted me 495$ for labor, which was fine, but I had to purchase 300$ in parts. I bought the parts listed on the print off and set-up an appointment to drop my car off. I dropped the car off after hours on Thursday, March 23. I was not asked to sign any type of paperwork which struck me as odd. Friday they began taking my car apart. I had made arrangements to take the heads to another location to be machined as it would be cheaper. I had someone else drop the head back off to Pro-Tech Saturday morning and repairs continued. While my friend was there the gentleman at Pro-Tech showed him a crack in my exhaust manifold and explained that it had to be replaced. My friend agreed to the 185$ it would cost to purchase another one and left. My friend called to let me know of this and all was fine. The exhaust manifold would be in on Monday and I would be able to pick up my car.
On Monday I called Pro-Tech to find out how much money I would need to bring or send if I wasn't able to pick up the car. Rueben told me he was not sure how much it would be because they had to put a thermostat in it and replace a timing belt. I asked why my car needed a thermostat and he told me it had never had one it. I'm not car savvy so I didn't know if that was a true statement or not. I asked about the timing belt. He said they had run into a problem. My timing belt was fine when they took it off, but when they had the car back together and started it up, my timing belt was shredded. I asked him why that happened and he said he didn't know but they had my car apart and I wouldn't be able to get it until Tuesday.
We got off the phone and needless to say I was upset. I had my friend call on Tuesday morning to see if he could get anymore information. He was told it would 786.75$ to get my car back. They said they still didn't know what had happened with the timing belt, but they wouldn't charge me for the labor, however, I would have to pay the 55$ for the timing belt.
That means I was paying:
$495 - labor
$185 - exhaust manifold
$680
PLUS
$55 - timing belt (that they broke)
$19.63 - thermostat (that my car didn't need)
$754.63
Plus tax and a fee for shop supplies and you get to 786.75
I was a bit livid about the cost, but I was willing to bite my lip if my car was running properly and they explained it all to me. I went to pick up my car and went into Pro-Tech. Rueben was immediately on edge with me. He looked at me and said "You wanted to see your parts?" Of course I did, so he took me in back with my friend and showed us the exhaust manifold. The one Rueben showed us had a very small crack in it with no hole. It did not look like the one my friend saw the day he dropped off my head. I was too upset to think about it and proceded to pay Rueben and leave. I go outside and get in my car.
I turn my car on and its making a loud noise and rocking front to back. I popped my hood and looked at my motor. My whole motor was rocking. I turned around and went in and got Mike, the mechanic that had repaired my car. I showed him what my car was doing and asked him what was going on. Mike told me he didn't know what was going on because he didn't know how my car was running when I dropped it off. I told him my car did not run like that when I dropped it off and I wanted it fixed. He said my only option was to drive it and see what happens. I asked if it was safe to drive my car the way it was and what to do if something happens. He said to just drive it and if something happened because of their repair work they would fix it. Mike went back inside.
I got in my car and went to a mechanic I trusted. I asked him and his son for their opinions. While they were looking over my car they pulled out several pieces of a broken light bulb and commented on how sloppy the work was. Many wires and cables that should have been tucked back into place were left on top of my motor. The two men agreed it was one of two things wrong. There were either vaccuum hoses undone or hooked up wrong or the timing was off.
I then went to another mechanic for his opinion. This mechanic is the one who inspected my car before I bought it. He listened to my car and was disturbed by what he heard. My car sounded nothing like it had when he saw it. He popped my hood and began inspecting things. He also determined there was something wrong with my timing.
I spoke with both mechanics about what had happened. Legally I should have gotten all parts to my car, should have been informed when they added parts like the thermostat, and that they are legally only allowed to charge me 20$ over their written estimate unless I sign a paper that says otherwise. The only paper I ever signed was my reciept when I picked up my car.
I took my car back to Pro-Tech today, Wednesday, March 29. I told them what was going on and that they needed to fix it. I will once again be with out my car until tomorrow night at the earliest.
I will update this if they correct the wrongs to my satisfaction and make me a happy customer.
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