My car died while it was running. So at a friend's advice, I take it to C&J Auto and Repair in Rogersville, MO. Without any diagnostic computers in their garage, they tell me they believe it is the battery.
They take the battery to O'Reilly's and wait to find out the results of the battery test. They tell me I should hear something by the end of the day. I didn't get a phone call. On the next day they finally call telling me the battery had a bad cell, but they didn't have the funds available to purchase the replacement battery, which sent the first red flag flying. I have never had a garage tell me they can't afford to buy the parts to fix your car. They tell me the battery is going to be $125 and the total would be $155 ($30 difference).
I tell them that sounds high for a battery. So I wind up driving to Nixa to pick up a battery for $77 at Auto Zone and driving it out to Rogersville. I pull the battery out and they proceed to put it in my car. They go to start it, and it doesn't start. They then try to tell me there is a way to reset the computer on my car and it should start once its reset. I told them there isn't a reset function on the computer, but they spend their time trying all the tricks they know to reset it.
Nothing works. Needless to say, my car leaves their repair shop the way it came in—towed. I had it towed to Daytona's in Sprinfield, which has always provided good work. Within a couple hours, they call and say it's fixed. It was a $1.69 fuse that had shorted out. Total of the bill with battery, towing, and analysis for a $1.69 fuse has now climbed to over $200.
A day later C&J calls me up wanting $40 for their work. I explained to them I felt a little taken considering I had to run and get the battery and deliver it to them and then have my car retowed somewhere else because they didn't have to tools to conduct even a basic computer analysis. I offered them $20 to put the battery in.
It was at that time, Curtis explained all the work he had done to the car including checking the fuse boxes. He did not know at that time the problem was just a fuse. Obviously, if the fuse box was checked and each fuse was pulled, he would have seen the fuse controlling the ignition and fuel pump had blown. He insisted he pulled out each fuse. When I told him it was a fuse, he blamed it on Daytona's analysis computers; however, all Daytona had to do was put a 20 amp fuse into the car, and it started up like nothing was ever wrong.
I continued to tell C&J that I would give them half for putting the battery in, knowing they didn't check the fuses like they claimed. At this point, Curtis got angry and threatened to place a mechanics lien on my car while calling me a f*ker and offering further insults. However, this place isn't professional enough to issue any written estimate for their customers to sign. Before I knew it, the owner was demanding $60 for his work, or lack of.
I would be very careful before taking your car here. They don't have the tools to diagnose modern cars, and they obviously don't do a careful inspection of the car as proven by their overlooking the blown fuse. Stick with a reputable garage like Daytona's. Had I stuck with them, my bill would have been a fraction and I wouldn't have to hassle with the lack of professionalism of C&J Auto.
0 comments