I began visiting Hovson's Tire and Auto Repair in March. During my first visit very little repair work was performed despite the fact that I asked that they determine what was causing the check engine light to remain on.
From 3-10, I visited Hovsons's on an almost monthly basis. For more than a year and a half, the check engine light remained on without ever being repaired. One might wonder why I continued to visit Hovson’s for that length of period. My failure in this matter was that I believed the owner and his son, Vic’s verbal assurances that they are honest and forthright. I alone am accountable for believing that their assurances and continuing to patronize a shop whose abilities have proven to be extremely limited and even, inept..
None of the tires which they installed during the period I patronized the shop, lasted more than a year. One tire disintegrated less than 30 days after being purchased. When I returned to the Shop, Vic said that it was not covered by the warranty, though he failed to ever provide a written guarantee describing what protection was provided for the tires.
They installed a used oil pan because my old pan had a crack. Yet less than a year later, another shop informed me that the threads where the pan bolt fits, are worn.
The electric motor repaired in May which controls the electric passenger window, again became inoperative in August. Longevity is not something which characterizes the work provided at Hovson’s.
From 1 through 10, Hovson’s could not find the cause why the interior of my automobile was permeated by the overwhelming smell of oil nor why my driveway was stained by oil. Though the engine was sent to another business to be cleaned and though they poured in new oil and changed the filter, the smell continued. Again, Vic stated they could not find the cause for the smell though both he and his father suggested I return on another day so that I could leave the car with them for an entire day in which they could perform a thorough inspection. The peculiar thing is that the car was left with them for an entire day and sometimes for as many as 2 to 3 3working days, yet they could not find the cause of the smell.
Exasperated and actually quite frustrated with what became an evident technical failure on the part of Hovson’s repair people, I took the car to AAMCO in the city of Glendale. With 30 minutes after leaving the car at the shop, I received a call advising me that a broken gasket had been located, from which oil had spewed over a period of several months, splattering on my engine and even on my battery. The residue on my battery caused my battery light to come one. When I first pointed this out to Vic, he replied that I had been careless and not cleaned the battery terminals. I guess he and his men did not notice the large amounts of oil splattered all over the engine.
In November, I filed a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair. Earlier today (12/23/08), a representative of the bureau called and informed me that he spoke to Vic who said he was not responsible for the oil leak. He may not be responsible for causing the leak but he was responsible for repairing the leak, particularly since I paid for all such repairs. The representative informed me that Vic had said that in his shop’s efforts to address the continuous smell of oil, they replaced the oil pan. This is wholly untrue as the oil pan was replaced because the original pan was cracked. The smell of oil began a few week after the oil pan had been replaced. Altering history doesn’t make an allegation true.
Vic did admit that his shop was not qualified to repair the check engine light, a fact he never disclosed in more than a year and a half in which I paid his shop money to repair my car. The state representative advised me that Vic was willing to pay for an examination of the vehicle, which he said would be performed by another shop. I advised the representative that I do not want anyone at Hovson’s touching my car again. The trust I once had for Vic, his father and their shop, has been dispelled and I would be foolish to patronize their business ever again.
On 3 separate occasions, Hovson's also kept my car overnight and in one case, for 2 1/2 days, during which the repairs were never completed. Renting a vehicle added to my expense and inconvenience.
During my last visit, the owner said the vehicle's transmission was about to become inoperative and said it would cost a minimum of $2000.00 to perform repairs. Minutes later he added that he did not know the extent of the damage to the transmission and would only know this if he "opened it up." How could he know that the vehicle needed repairs and even quote a cost of $2000.00 "minimum" if he had not opened up the transmission.
He and his son also offered to sell me a "salvaged vehicle." Vic said he could obtain one for me at the cost of $18,000.00. A salvaged vehicle has little if any value so if you wish to resell it at sometime in the future you will find that its value is nil. And let me not going into detail about the obstacles you may encounter in insuring a salvaged vehicle.
On the day they offered to provide me with a salvaged vehicle, I overheard Vic speaking to someone on his cellular telling them to draw up a sales agreement for a vehicle someone had just purchased from his shop. Evidently, they are diversifying and selling vehicles. How coincidental that my vehicle’s transmission is about to give-up and how convenient that they have a vehicle in stock I can purchase from them.
3 months earlier, while visiting Hovson’s, Vic showed me a beautiful Toyota convertible which he had repaired. He explained that the back bumper had been damaged while the vehicle was driven by its former owner. He stated that the vehicle had been part of a scam, in which the previous owner filed an insurance claim, which alleged the vehicle had been totaled though the only real damage was consigned to the back bumper. The owners collected the money and the vehicle was sold and after being purchased by Vic, repaired and put up for sale. I think the incident speaks volumes about shop owner’s ethics.
I strongly urge people who are experiencing serious mechanical problems with their automobiles, not to consider visiting Hovson Tire and Auto Repair. They are basically a “hit and miss†repair service and will “nickel and dime†you, as you naively hope they will remedy any problem afflicting your automobile.
DO NOT PURCHASE TIRES FROM HOVSON, they are poor quality, will not last, and are at best shoddy.
Company Address/Phone:
Hovson Tires & Automotive Center
4385 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 666-7992
Company Stats: http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbcompany_fbcl0w
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