So we have a family car that pretty much everyone in my family drives and reently it broke down, So we took it to I think Toyota of Durham (mark jacobson) to fix it, so these people did a full check and charged us close to 1,000 dollars to repair some parts of the ignition/engine. And the repair people assured us that was the only problem.So we got the car a few days later and the entire car is like fucked up, the brake doesn't work anymore, the engine sounds like its going to blow, and then the people there told us that they "might" have made a mistake fixing the car and since they are so nice, they told us to pay another grand to take car of the problem that they caused.....but now their bullshit mangaer will not acknowledge its their fault anymore and now blame us for the new problems. I mean all we did was pick the car up and drive home and it broke down.....i mean WTF.
2/9/2008 4:21:43 PM
what you do is take it to toyota and drop it off in front. give them the keys and tell them to call when its fixed.if you are 100% that it was them who messed it up, then call 5 on your side.[Edited on February 9, 2008 at 4:52 PM. Reason : ]
2/9/2008 4:43:47 PM
2/9/2008 4:46:15 PM
this would be a much better thread if you could post exactly what the repair tickets/diagnosis said
2/9/2008 6:31:25 PM
exactly, dont give them another dime and make sure it gets fixedmy horror story... since i do most of the work on my car myself, i try not to take my car to the shop for anything but an inspection. well when i was selling my car, one of the people i work with said they were interested in it. since Apex Transmission was right next store they said they would take it over there while i was out in the field. i called over before i left and told them that the wheels didnt need to be taken off bc the rotors and brake pads were brand new. so when i get back and go over to pick it up i realize the right rear brake is fucking up, somthing it has never done before. i got talk to the dude that wanted to buy it and he showed me the writeup they had done. well they put on the report that the right rear brake cylinder was fucked up and that one of the lug nut bolts was broken off. neither of them were broken prior. they agreed to get me a new lug nut bolt because i proved to them it wasnt broken before, but they refused on the brake cylinder. basically, they broke stuff and tried to play it off like it was broke before so dont take your cars to the fuckers at apex transmission
2/9/2008 6:40:57 PM
sounds like someone pressed the brake while the wheel and drum was off..
2/9/2008 9:42:40 PM
ill bet thats what it is, i replaced the brake cylinder and it still drags the tire sometimes
2/9/2008 10:02:04 PM
Pissed themself in the back seat?!?!?
2/9/2008 10:12:06 PM
We sued those mofos in Durham county court, won the case, they had to pay for the court cost + fix the car...
4/20/2008 5:27:41 PM
nicegg on the follow up post too
4/20/2008 8:14:30 PM
what about compensation for time lost? Money and/or rental car?
4/20/2008 8:50:41 PM
^3BEAUTIFUL
4/21/2008 10:57:12 AM
my story... Had a '96 Camry with engine problems. I took it to a trusted mechanic who deals with all makes and models to get it looked at. He takes a look and finds a couple of problems (all mechanical engine problems, nothing electrical) and gives me an estimate. Then I decided to take it to Fred Anderson on 70 to get the repair work done since they obviously specialize in Toyotas (biggest mistake ever). Got the car back and it had all sorts of electrical problems it never had before. Obviously they screwed up the electrical system doing their repairs. I take it back to FA and tell them to fix it because these problems weren't there before. Get a call back saying the alternator and some other stuff is bad and needs to be replaced at a cost of like $500. I tell him there was nothing wrong with that stuff when I got it looked at before so I'll come pick the car up and take it back to my mechanic to get it looked at again. I pick up the car and magically all the problems are gone. Coincidence, I think not. Never went back there again.
4/21/2008 1:09:22 PM
ignorance is a mechanic's biggest weapon against you.know your shit before you walk into anywhere you don't trust.
4/21/2008 1:22:01 PM
There are definitely some shady mechanics out there but there are some jackass customers, too. One time, I put a water pump on a truck and a guy called up demanding that I fucked up his rear brakes. I didn't even move the truck, touch the wheels or anything that could have possibly affected the rear brakes. This is like calling the plumber that fixed your sink and telling him he owes you a front porch light and it happens quite often to mechanics.
4/21/2008 1:55:51 PM
^^^ Why didn't you get your trusted mechanic to work on it for you?
4/21/2008 7:39:24 PM
^ Because I was an idiot and thought a place the specializes in my make could do better work. I've learned my lesson.
4/22/2008 8:11:05 AM
why are dishonest mechanics so fucking rampant? I went to get my wheels balanced and these guys decided to drive off my car when I wasn't looking, (for 1.3 miles???) tell me my tires are too worn for a balance to work and then try to sell me new tires. Then they refused to balance them. I told them to eat a bag of dicks and gimme my keys. They said I still had to pay, so I told them they'd better fucking balance my wheels. Then the try to tell me there's a nail in my tire (wasn't there before) and that I need new rotors. I finally get my $20 balance and leave. I do all the work I can't but I don't have access to stick on weights or a balancing machine. Where can you go for items like this? What's a trustworthy alignment and wheel balancing place? It sure as shit isn't firestone on new bern.
4/22/2008 9:27:19 AM
^I've gotten 2 sets of tires and 2 alignments (plus an inspection and a couple random oil changes) at NTB in crossroads, and they've never tried to claim I needed extra work.[Edited on April 22, 2008 at 9:58 AM. Reason : h]
4/22/2008 9:58:35 AM
don't get me started about the NTB at crossroads. I took my car there for an inspection last summer and was told my tires were too worn to pass. The guy then tried to dell me some overpriced performance tires. I promptly took my car across the street to jiffy lube, they took a measure out to measure the tread depth and passed my car without any hassle.
4/22/2008 10:20:46 AM
^^ NTB USED to be awesome about 1-2 years ago. They changed management and it went to shit. A couple of guys I used to know left because of it. When I went back after management change, the manager refused to work on my car because it was a Porsche. I told him I've had alignments done there before, and he continued to refuse service. I told him I wanted a refund because I had paid for the 5 years free alignment. Then he said he would "see what I could do." I provided him a couple receipts to PROVE my history with the place and all he did was give me grief acting like he was going out of his way for me. BS. The quality of work for an alignment was piss poor. (they gave it back to me STILL out of tolerance claiming "its the best we can do.") No the hell it ain't! They fixed it eventually that same day, but wasted an hour of my time. Won't go back there... EVER.And with the new v8 under the hood, I don't trust anyone with the car, with the exception of the guys at EP.It's more money, but European Performance FTMFW. Always gone to them in the past, always will in the future. Tolga is the man.Someday, I'm going to need tires. Anyone have any suggestions based on recent experiences? (not to hijack the thread or anything)[Edited on April 22, 2008 at 10:54 AM. Reason : .]
4/22/2008 10:43:31 AM
for alignments and balances, i always take mine to gowers on south saunders, the guys there actually know what they are doing, its a little pricey, but they are the only ones that i trust to work on my truck besides me
4/22/2008 10:46:53 AM
NTB on Capital tried to pull a scam on me. I ordered tires off the internet. Called around one Saturday morning trying to find the best price on installation and they said they'd do it for $x price. I took the car up there and it magically went up in price. Then he acted like he was going to do me a favor and lowered the price a little, but still nowhere near what they had quoted me over the phone. After some not-so-kind words we came to an agreement and I got them installed. They're still shady as hell IMO though and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.
4/22/2008 12:10:53 PM
^ they didnt quote you the valve stem, tire disposal, air inflation surcharge, and the rust and dust fee over the phone?
4/22/2008 1:51:14 PM