On March 4th my daughter had her 2000 Kia Sportage taken to Meineke Car Care Center to have the starter checked and possibly replaced. Several hours later she received a call, from the owner, saying "we need to do a diagnostic, is that cool?" My daughter contacted me and I told her to see how much it would cost. The owner told her "twelve fifty" and she authorized it over the phone.
A few hours later she received another phone call telling her that there was no compression on cylinders 2 and 6, the sportage is a 2 wheel drive FOUR cylinder. She was told that it would cost between $5000-6000 to have it fixed. She contacted me again and I told her to have the tow company pick it up and return the car home, any mechanic that didn't know the difference between a four and six cylinder is not a mechanic I want or need working on my vehicle.
When my daughter went to pay for the diagnostic check, she was told that it was $112.50. She informed the man behind the counter, who was identified as the owner, that over the phone she was specifically told "Twelve Fifty". The owner then became a bit snarky and said "why would I tell you that?". My daughter paid the bill and came home to let me know what was going on and show me the invoice.
The invoice only showed that an inspection fee for a diagnostic check for $112.50 along with a note at the bottom that states "1.5 hr diag found that the car has compression on cyl 1@45 cyl 2@0 cyl 3@0 cyl 4@50. Front wheel bearings are bad needs to be replaced. The tech states a new motor is needed for the car to run"
The wheel bearings had been changed prior to the vehicle going to Meineke Car Care Center. They were also NOT authorized to check anything else beside the starter. Previous diagnostic checks that have been conducted on this vehicle require nothing more than the diagnostic machine to be hooked to the computer that is located under the dashboard. When asked for the diagnostic report my daughter was told that there wasn't one.
Upon looking under the hood on March 6th it was discovered that the engine had been taken apart, vacuum lines had been removed and not replaced, screws where taken out of the engine and coolant fan and not replaced, spark plugs had been removed and the top of the engine block was not replaced and was not placed in the sportage. At this time, the car is completely inoperable.
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