Business ProfileforLima Auto Repair

I took my truck to Lima auto repair for diagnosis ,he charge me 125 dollars just for telling me that my valve cover from the driver size was broken, I already knew that, I wanted to know why this happen, then when my car was still in his mechanic shop the owner Mike Bruin called me and he told me I need to perform a further internal inspection of the motor of your truck to pin point why your car is not working. He said he was going to pin point this for 747 dollars, then he called me again and he told me ,timing chain need to be replaced and also a phaser. I when inside the shop and I check my truck and was already disassembled camshafts , rocker arms ,phasers were visible. Mike didn't provide me a written estimate with a organize price for parts and for labor,he just told me i will paid 3362 dollars.He finish the job and return me my car, as soon as I drive my car home , car begin shaking and making noises, I couldn't believe I had the same issue prior to timing chain damaged, I was really concern over the issue, I was testing the car on the freeway and car begin shaking and not accelerating properly. I called Mike , he told me to return the truck to the shop, I did, he spend almost 6 days with my truck , he called me I went to the shop in the company of my husband and children , i authorized my husband to talk to Mike , because I couldn't understand why I paid for a internal inspection and diagnosis of the truck , and why Mike couldn't pin point the main cause of my vehicle failure. He told my husband he changed the motor oil for a thicker one, he never specify why he did that, he just told my husband if truck continue with problems was going to be the motor, I couldn't believe why he was making those conjeturs about the motor of my truck without performing any test that are required to diagnose that condition of the motor (as a compression test or a leaking test).My husband also ask Mike, what is your opinion of the truck , he also said is running good. We took the truck ,as soon as I drive it for the second time after leaving the shop, truck begin shaking and making sounds in the same manner. At this point I didnt trust Mike,he was saying truck is running good when this was false .I knew my truck have a mechanical failure, and I couldn't believe Mike that truck was running good, when I still was having the same problem.I spend time asking for opinions of other mechanics until I finally took my truck to JV El Monte auto repair.This shop made a compression and leaking test of the motor,everything came out good,then they gave me a written estimate of the cost of parts and labor for the repair that I needed for my truck, i new my truck was not working properly.I tried to get my money from Lima Auto repair ,I made the complaint with the BAR, Mike Bruin made an agreement with the agent of the BAR, that he was going to make me a refund of the money,in the same day that he was going to gave me a refund, he retracted himself.

You towed your vehicle in for diagnosis. Our minimum diagnosis fee at the time was $125, which you authorized. We performed an inspection and noticed the obvious hole in your driver side valve cover. At that time we contacted you to let you know our findings and advised you that removal of the timing chain cover was necessary in order to further diagnose the cause of failure. You authorized the additional labor charge of $747 to remove the timing cover and inspect for damage. Upon removal of the timing cover, you were contacted via phone and advised that the timing chain had snapped. As a result, when the timing chain snapped, it also damaged the timing chain guides, ignition pulsator ring, and both variable timing sprockets on bank #2. The camshafts and rocker arms were untouched on both banks. You came in for us to show you what we had found, and at that time you were advised that it was possible that the intake/exhaust valves could be bent as a result of the timing chain breaking. You were given the option to remove the cylinder heads and check for damaged valves, or replace the engine all together, and our last option for you was to replace the items that were visually damaged and re assembling in hopes of getting the engine up and running again. In person, you authorized replacing the damaged items stated on the invoice for a total of $3,364. You were advised that this would not guarantee the engine would run as we were unsure if the valves were damaged or not, however, you opted to take this route anyway. Upon completion, the vehicle was road tested and it was running as it should. We returned the vehicle back to you and days later you came back stating the vehicle was shaking and the check engine light was on. At that time, we road tested the vehicle and were unable to duplicate your concern. There was no charge and you were advised to monitor and return if there were any other concerns.
On 3/15/21 we received a credit card dispute for the charges you authorized when you were here. Your credit card company denied your dispute at their discretion. A Bureau of Automotive Repair representative showed up at our facility in regards to your complaint. The representative informed us the vehicle was now at a different shop due to drivability concerns. Per the information supplied by the representative, your vehicle has an additional 1,000 miles since it was at our facility, indicating the repairs performed by us did in fact fix your vehicle, otherwise you would have not been able to drive it. The shop you currently have your vehicle at, stated there is an issue with cylinder #3 which is on the passenger **** of the engine ( bank #1 ), and is unrelated to the repairs we performed. At this time, the components we installed in your vehicle are still in working condition, per the B.A.R representative and yourself.
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Honesty, integrity, and workmanship is what has kept us in business since 1987. Our main goal is to keep our customer's vehicles running for as long as possible and we strive do so in our customer's best interest.

Regards,
Lima Auto Repair