Took my vehicle to Martin Cadillac (Martin Automotive Group) in West Los Angeles for repairs. Was quoted a price for "quality GM" parts. Had the distributor rebuilt on the car as well as some additional work. A couple of months later, the car died again. When I towed it to my regular mechanic, he informed me that Martin had charged me for OEM parts and had then installed much cheaper after-market parts that failed. Had to have the entire job (which I paid Martin $1,000 for) completely redone again.
Filed a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair and eventually had to sue Martin Cadillac in small claims to recover a portion of the amount I paid for the repairs. Judge ruled in my favor, but only gave me a small portion of what I was out of pocket.
This was clearly fraud on the part of Martin Cadillac. After charging me full price for GM parts, they installed much cheaper after-market parts and pocketed the difference. Had the parts not failed, I would have been none the wiser. I could see it being a simple error if it were one part, but the rotor, cap, module, and coils they installed all had to be replaced.in fact, my regular mechanic informed me that the coil they installed wasn't even for my car.
I have a classic car, but that's no excuse. My regular mechanic was able to get actual GM (AC-Delco) parts to redo the work on 30 minutes notice on a Saturday afternoon, so the GM parts aren't hard to find.
Martin Cadillac has one of the biggest shops in the Western US. The difference in cost between what I paid for the GM parts vs. The cheap "made in China" parts they put on was hundreds of dollars. You do the math!
Worst part is, they will get away with it. I actually tried to report them to the police for fraud and was told it was a "business dispute." If I did to someone what Martin Cadillac did to me, I'd be in jail.
Unless you are under warranty, think twice about taking your vehicle to them.
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