On 4-21-08 I met with "John". I had brought my '99 Ford Taurus wagon to another mechanic, who replaced a few obvious problems to try to solve my car's overheating problem. They couldn't figure out what the problem was and had referred me to Chimera Radiator.
John told me unequivocally, since I was concerned about never-ending trial and error solutions that it would cost me $40 and that I would receive a 100% guaranteed analysis... That if it failed I would not pay and get my $40 back. I agreed. They diagnosed "plugged radiator" and wrote it on the Repair Order I was given.
Before they ever did anything to the radiator, I got a call. They said that they noticed a hose with plastic fittings had a crack... That whoever had done the thermostat replacement probably bumped and cracked it without even knowing so, and that that was the problem. I authorized that "guaranteed repair" and paid $208.62. I never made it home; it overheated.
Since I had a scheduled conference call, I filled and refilled the radiator until I
eventually got home (my cell phone battery was dead and left me no choice but to go home).
I called Chimera after my call. They told me it now had to be the thermostat, despite the fact that I had just changed that as well as the radiator fan housing assembly, serpentine belt and radiator cap.
I took the car back to mechanic number 1 who agreed to change the thermostat, despite having changed it once already. Chimera said it had to be a faulty thermostat that was installed. Still no change; it still overheated. I did show the first mechanic the hose and mentioned Chimera's comments about the damage maybe occurring during the thermostat change. I did not hold them at fault as Mechanic #1 was very obliging and there was no evidence about when or how it occurred.
That is when a major problem was brought to my attention by mechanic #1. He looked at the hose (I brought the old one to him). He showed me that it was from on top of the engine and nowhere near the thermostat which is below the engine and on the opposite side of the car. My receipt says "NEW LOWER HOSE..." This is a total lie.
Since there was nothing changed that helped the overheating problem and I had paid for a guaranteed analysis I took it back to Chimera. They kind of shrugged their shoulders. I mentioned that the first mechanic and I thought it could be a head gasket problem. Chimera said "no way". But there was nothing else that it could have been since they checked and said there was no problem with the water pump. The fan motor, radiator cap and serpentine belt had been changed, and all the hoses were inspected. Pressure test were performed. All for naught.
Chimera agreed to allow me to provide a head gasket repair product called liquid glass. I ordered it and had it sent directly to their shop where they signed for and received it. I paid for it. John instructed me to talk directly to his mechanic to let him know how it was to be installed. I stressed that the system had to be completely flushed out as this product has a bad reaction when in touch with anti-freeze.
I went so far as to tell both John and the mechanic this and that I had successfully used this product before. I explained that I had purchased a special fitting to go in-line and allowed me to attach a garden hose to the system so that I could run the car and allow the system to get 100% flushed out.
John went on to tell me that the city wanted his business out of that location and that he would insure none-the-less that the engine would be thoroughly flushed out. He was going to use his system for flushing it out.
Then I directed the mechanic even further that after the system was flushed out and the product was installed to call me. I told him the product recommends that the car be driven on the highway to really heat it up. He was supposed to call me when that process was complete so I could pick up the car and drive it before going to the next step. I had even discussed with John about leaving the product in the radiator and never changing it with anti-freeze. John convinced me that we should go back to anti-freeze and I could see his concerns and so agreed that that would be done when the process was complete.
I got the call and went to the shop to take the car and drive it to get it really hot. When I arrived, to my dismay, the car was sitting there with anti-freeze in it already. I was disgusted as I had been so careful to walk them through this step-by-step. The correct process was supposed to be I would run the car to get it hot; then it was to be drained and allowed to cool over night before changing it for antifreeze. We never got that far because they decided on their own to change the procedures without my consent. I asked the mechanic if HE had driven it to get it really hot and his response was "I didn't have the time".
I figured there would be a problem as they hadn't listened and refused to pay anything although I was presented with a bill for about $275 I think... They kept all the copies in disgruntlement and said that was it... We were done.
If I didn't discover what I am now going to reveal, I would have lived up to that. I called back later that afternoon and Heather in Cimera's office advised me that John was "out of town". I requested a call-back which never came, so this is unknown to them what I am about to say.
The mechanic never flushed the product out completely before adding the antifreeze. The two products reacted and now I have a totally gummed up coolant system. I doubt it is feasible to repair. I have paid everyone a total of well over $500 as well as paid for parts that I picked up for the described repairs. Now there is no hope of repairing the car I believe. The mechanic just did NOT listen and now my car is ruined. It has been sitting for two weeks waiting for a callback by John which obviously isn't going to come.
For that reason I am posting this consumer complaints. I will follow your procedures from here forward and will advise you of any additional attempts by Chimera to resolve the problem they caused.
Thank you for having this forum available to report Rip-Offs.
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