On Thursday, March 3, finding myself in need of repair to the starter of my 1997 Nissan Altima with a 1994- 4 cylinder, automatic engine, I requested a tow truck to take my vehicle to Cobb/Adcock automotive repair garage at 413 Old Hickory Boulevard, Madison, TN. The mechanic quoted me a price for the replacement starter of $169.00 and further quoted an estimate of $286.00. We agreed that I wanted him to do the repair. When I called him at 2:00 P.M., he promised the car would not be ready until 4:00 P.M. Due to the fact the starter sent him was the incorrect one for my car. Because of a doctor's being late for a medical appointment, I was unable to get from Hermitage, TN to Madison, TN by 5:00 P.M. On Friday, March 4, I arrived at the garage around 2 or 3 P.M., paid him and drove my vehicle away. Upon getting home, I detected a loud scraping noise coming from my vehicle when starting it. I called the garage and told the mechanic about the problem. He informed me he would check the problem Monday, March 7. On Saturday, March 5, I discovered the car drove oddly and took it to have a tire replaced that I knew needed replacing but discovered that the right rear tire had the 4 lugs loosened and the tire attendant suggested that driving a little longer would have created a situation where the tire and wheel would have fallen off. There had not seemingly been the case before Friday or Saturday. When I returned the car to him on Monday and he heard the noise, he responded that it was the fly wheel. My telling him that AutoZone representatives suggested the problem was a bad starter was met with his telling me he would replace the starter on Tuesday, March 8. On Tuesday, I returned the car to him and he promised to check it, correct the problem and that I would need to call him around 4:00 P.M. When I called and returned, the car sounded worse than before. His response to my return was he couldn't warranty out anything any further and still insisted
The problem to be a defective fly wheel that would require dropping the transmission to correct the problem. I stopped at a tire repair shop to ask if the attendants could help me determine a solution to the problem. They recommended my going to San Martin Tire Store in Hermitage. I did and contacted a mechanic, Adam, who tested the starter and determined the starter defective. When he removed the starter, I took it to Advance Automotive, the auto supply store chain from which the Cobb/Adcock mechanic said he bought the replacement starter. The Advance Automotive representatives tested the starter and determined it was defective and exchanged it for another starter. The starter that was supposedly installed at Cobb/Adcock garage had Nissan stamped on it and the metallic portion was silver-colored with a black plastic or rubber area. A part came off in the hand of one of the Advance Automotive attendants as he handled it. The replacement starter received from Advance Automotive had the same shape as the former but a different color combination and appeared newer.
Upon returning to Adam, he put the newly replaced starter in place, the vehicle no longer has the noise, and starts as well as before the Cobb/Adcock misadventure.
Please notice the difference in the amount the Cobb/Adcock mechanic listed as the pricing for the starter from Advance automotive ($189.94 3.00) as compared to the price on the receipt for the replacement directly from Advance Automotive ($134.99).
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