Drive Rite - Auto Tech
Drive rite Lousy automotive repair shop

I took car to them because it was burning oil. The owner, Carl Northrup, who is a business acquaintance assured me they were capable of doing the repair work. No other problems existed. They have had the car in for service now 4 times since the initial date, 4/24 through 5/24 for a total of 21 days in the shop. The car now burns more oil than it did before I took it to them originally, meaning that it smokes constantly, which it never did before. 1. The check 'engine' light was never on before the repair and now is on constantly. 2. The check 'engine oil' light is also on constantly and before the repair was only on when oil was low. 3. The engine now runs rough as though it is missing, this was never a problem prior to their working on the vehicle. I initially asked for a written estimate and the owner, Carl Northrup assured me that they would repair the car for under $800.00 and that I wouldn't need an estimate.indeed, the initial bill was just under $800.00., plus the cost of a front end alignment that I requested. However, the car still burned oil upon picking it up, so I've returned it 3 times now with their repeated assurance it would be repaired correctly and would not cost me any more money. On the last (4th) return, they had the car for 11 days and when I went to get it they charged me $740.00 more. I agreed to pay $400. For the parts they claim they installed and I would pay the remainder if the car was actually repaired and working properly. IT IS NOT! It is burning over a quart of oil per approximately every 350 miles or so and the smoking is constant, with literally 'plumes' of smoke upon start up. Now they (Donna from Auto Tech) have called and harrassed me about the remainder of the bill, $340.00, which I refuse to pay. I have spoken with the mechanic, GALO PAEZ multiple times who insists that he did a proper repair job and the car should not be burning oil and he can't understand why it is. I've also spoken with the owner, Carl Northrup 4 times in the past two days and his assistant/manager, Ryan, neither of which offer an acceptable remediation to this problem. They offered to have a mechanic come to my home and pull the plugs, on this past Friday (5/29/09), he never came, then again on Saturday (5/30/09), he never came and they were supposed to call me today, Monday (6/1/09) to arrange for the mechanic. It is now nearly 5pm on Monday and I've not heard from them at all. I feel like they just ripped me off and no longer have any concern for the work they promised to perform and faild to do so. At this point, I've advised them that I have no faith or trust in their abilities to correctly repair the car and I will not bring it back to their shop for that reason. I have requested my money be returned in order to pay a reputable auto repair shop for the necessary repairs. Of course, they refuse to acknowledge my request. Return my money as the repairs not only didn't improve the problem, but created more problems, i.E., the check engine light on all the time and the check oil light on all the time and the engine is running rough as if it is missing or out of sync somehow.

Company: Drive Rite - Auto Tech
Country: USA
State: Florida
City: Tampa
Address: 3400 N Florida Ave
Phone: 8132739706

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