WARNING- WORDS...

Good friend & coworker (female) has been having LOTS of car issues lately. First she was in an accident which completely totaled her fully paid for, poorly insured car. I spent a considerable amount of time making sure she didn't get completely screwed by the towing company storing her car. Her church ended up helping her to find a new (to her) car [late 90s Toyota Camry, IIRC]. She has had this car less than a month and it has some sort of major problem. The car completely died while driving and could not be restarted/jumped/etc. So, she called me from the middle of Blue Ridge Rd. during 5PM traffic for advice. I wasn't able to meet her, so I suggested she try Mission Valley 66. I've always heard good things about them... my step dad knows the guy that works there, and I'm pretty sure some twwers do, too.

They diagnosed the problem as the timing chain needing to be replaced. Work was done for somewhere in the neighborhood of $600. Now she has the car back and it is running like ass (Note: I have yet to see/drive the car during this time). She has returned to the shop twice now, once by herself and once with a male friend... and has been told a different synopsis each time (suggestions include replacing plugs & wires for $130). She has since visited SLS, and apparently an identical complaint was filed not too long ago for MV66. Apparently, they installed a used timing chain into the previous person's car and ended up having to pay for the new chain installed at another location. 2 new online reviews (28 Mar 09) are at 1 star... both say they have had horrible customer service and problem has not been fixed.

Anyway- what suggestions do you all have? She keeps calling me & I don't have the faintest idea of what to tell her at this point. I feel somewhat responsible because I suggested the location. She's also a small asian girl who is easily persuaded... so, who knows what the entire truth might hold.
Thanks in advance.

3/30/2009 9:45:12 PM

i just can't see that happening, i am still good friends with the owner since i used to work there, pm me some info and i can call tommy if you want and try to figure out whats going on, he will bend over backwards to help people out, unless they are just being a complete asshole, i dont know how many times that something happens, or somthing normal breaks when working on something else, and he eats it, i couldnt think of a more reasonable shop owner

a lot of times, people dont understand that he isnt obligated to fix occaisional unrelated problems but does anyway for free, and it comes back as them fixing a fuckup instead of cutting them a break, used to piss me off

[Edited on March 30, 2009 at 9:54 PM. Reason : more]

3/30/2009 9:52:14 PM

seconded, tommy is definitely a stand up guy. if something really got screwed up there, he'll take care of it.

my guess would be she's probably getting the run around from one or more of his employees.

3/30/2009 9:56:23 PM

mitch is more than likely the one that did the timing belt, and he's probably one of the few people besides dirty dan that i would let work on my vehicle, i just cant believe it left the shop not running right

it may have had some additional probalems before or due to the timing belt breaking, but i feel like i'm not getting the whole story here

[Edited on March 30, 2009 at 10:02 PM. Reason : its an interference engine, its possible it has bent valves ]

3/30/2009 9:59:57 PM

^^^Yeah- that's what I've always heard... that's why I was super surprised by this situation as well. The girl isn't one to be rude or forward about ANYTHING. So, I don't know how it has come to this. If I explain to her that it's another necessary repair and she isn't being f*cked over she'll be OK.

I just don't have time to babysit her dealing with car stuff anymore (dealing with tow companies took 20+ hrs)-- so I unfortunately don't know the whole story. My thought is that you're right... they bought the car off craigslist-- and I'm thinking it probably had quite a few problems from the start.

PM on the way.

[Edited on March 30, 2009 at 10:02 PM. Reason : moar]

3/30/2009 9:59:59 PM

the REAL question is what does this girl look like?

3/30/2009 10:08:10 PM

3/30/2009 10:09:14 PM

LOL... I don't take stalker pics of my coworkers. Sorry!

And apparently she talked directly with Tommy both times?

Ugh- this is exactly why I need to learn to not give a crap about other people's problems.

[Edited on March 30, 2009 at 10:28 PM. Reason : ]

3/30/2009 10:24:21 PM

^^^lol

Quote :

"Good friend"

Quote :

"I need to learn to not give a crap about other people's problems."

lol

[Edited on March 30, 2009 at 10:44 PM. Reason : hah]

3/30/2009 10:41:08 PM

you are not welcome here, go back to shit chat

3/31/2009 7:12:59 AM

I have nothing but praise for MV 66.

3/31/2009 7:23:20 AM

^thats not gonna fix the problem is it

3/31/2009 9:39:04 AM