On 05-24-06 I took my car to Champion Car Wash to get a maintance tune-up which consisted of changing the spark plugs. The employee told me that the car needed a new roter, distributor cap and wires and could do all this for an extra $34.95 so I told him to do it. When he told me my car was done I went to leave but the car was running rough, I know the car is cold blooded so I pulled out into parking lot and went to the Romulito's restaurant in the same parking lot when I went to leave the car would not start. I walked back across the parking lot and talked to the employee, Bobby who had done the work on the car, so he came over with another employee and asked me to pop the hood of the car and that is when I first realized that the hood latch inside the car had been broke. I tried to start the car again and it would not start so Bobby and the other employee pushed my car back across the parking lot into the work stall. He then spent 2 hours attempting to get my car running and everytime I went out to ask how it was coming he just kept telling me that he was checking it out.
Finally by 3pm I called my son to come down to the business location. About 3:30pm my son & his friend showed up and he talked to Bobby and Bobby told my son he could not figure out what was going on with the car. At that point Bobby had put a new coil on the car thinking this might be the problem, that did not solve it. Finally the car started and was able to maintain and idle. So I told Bobby that I was going to take my car to another mechanic and have it checked out. He told me that Yes to take my car in to get checked out and fixed to my satisfaction and to bring Champion Car Wash the bill. So I got in my car, went about 10ft and the car spit & sputtered and died again and then it would not start at all. So they pushed the car back to the stall, popped the hood and repeateldy tried to get the car running again. My son suggested that he take the spark plug out to check it and when Bobby did this is when my son compared the old spark plug to the new spark plug and the new spark plug was considerably longer then the old ones. So my son called Dave's Auto to ask if it made a difference or not if a spark plug was too long and he said yes it definately makes a huge difference and could cause considerable damage. Bobby stated that he followed "the book" and that is the size it called for but realized by comparing the 2 plugs that they were the wrong size.
At this point he took all the new parts off the car and put back all the original parts and the car still did not start. So at this point, 5 hrs & 15mins later, I told him to not to mess with the car anymore. I requested to speak with the manager who was not in. They got him on the phone and I explained to him the situation and he said to take my car in and get what needs to be done and come back in with the bill. I repeateldy asked for him to put this in writing and he told me that my bill would be good enough. I repeatedly told him that my car was running great when I came in and it should be running just as great when I left but ultimately the car never started again and I had to have the car towed.
My son offered to tow the car for me for a minimal gas charge. Later had to have the car towed to mechanics to be fixed. I have a $60 towing bill, a $65 dollar diagnostic charge and a $490.23 repair bill. I was without a vehicle for 11 days total which created a hardship on my household. It came to the conclusion of the mechanic that the ignitor inside the distributor itself had blown due to the incorrect roter, spark plugs and distributor cap being placed on the car by Champion Car Wash. I had spoke with the manager 3 times within the 11 day time frame and he repeatedly told me to just bring the bill in once I got it. When I took the bill in he offered me $50.00 because they didn't feel responsible for the repairs that had to be done to my car. At that point I asked them for a copy of Bobby's certification because on their radio add they claim to have certifed technicians on the job. I was then informed that they don't have any certifications and that they are not needed and that they are just a car wash. That was when I told him that I was insulted and was out the sum of $615.23 and that I intend to seek legal advice to get refunded the money I am out. I have tried to make contact with the owner Mr. Smith with no avail.
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