ComplaintsforToole's Garage

• Initial Complaint

  08/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Looking to purchase a vehicle, I brought in a car I was considering to buy into the Toole's Garage branch in ******** (*****************************************************************) on August 8th at 1pm for a pre-purchase inspection for which they charged me $149.95. I left the car, a 2013 *** X3, with them for 1 hour and 15 minutes, when they called me to say the inspection was done. I went over the report with them, that only indicated minor repairs were necessary (worth roughly 10% of the purchase value, or $933.99 plus tax). I had myself noticed that the trunk didn't open automatically and noted that to the mechanic, who said it was probably just a trunk motor issue (he did not check), a few hundred dollars at most, and that he would send me a quote for it, which he did not. Based on this feedback, I went ahead a bought the car (from NMotion, a dealer in ***** **, who does not offer warranties as they themselves don't inspect the cars they sell). I drove the car home, and noticed a noise, so I decided to bring it to my mechanic in ********* (Palto Alto Bimmer, ***************.). To my great surprise, the ********* garage found a slew of issues with the car, the smallest of which was that the trunk control unit had actually been taken out of the car entirely (which increases the cost of that repair tenfold). In total, the repairs are worth more than the ~$9k I paid. A non-exhaustive list of the issues are: the turbo has an issue and needs repairs (source of the noise), the battery needs replacing, the tires only have a couple thousand miles on them, there are upcoming inspections needed on the car on September 1st, the *** codes show that the charge pressure is too low, the oil pan gasket has an oil leak, and the trustarm bushing need to be aligned. I tried calling Toole's garage ******** on August 11th at 9:12am, but they refuse to do anything other than refund the inspection. I would never have bought the vehicle given the actual state of the car, and cannot afford the necessary repairs.

  Business response

  08/16/2023

  Dear *********************************, it seems like we have a miscommunication concern. According to our records and the documents you provided, you ultimately agreed with **************'s recommended findings and had the work performed elsewhere. Other recommendations that were offered elsewhere are mostly future maintenance. The optional auto hatch function was overlooked by **************, for which we apologize. As you can see, we tested the vehicle battery and it tested good at the time of inspection, so we did not recommend replacing it. We normally don't recommend future maintenance items during a pre purchase inspection as a pre purchase inspection is to let someone know of the current condition/state of a vehicle for which that person would otherwise not know about. These inspections help a person from purchasing a vehicle with **************** defect or major body damage intentionally hidden or not disclosed from a seller.  

  Customer response

  08/18/2023

   
  Complaint: 20456761
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Although I do appreciate the apology, the trunk hatch issue you are referring to in your answer is a $1k mistake in and of itself.

  Going through your website and your inspection report, I would point out that the following are not, as you say, future maintenance, but rather immediate issues that should have been noticed and of which I should have been made aware of:

  - the *** codes in the car clearly indicate that the air pressure in the turbo is too low. This is evident both from the noise when starting the car (which is the first point you say you check in your inspection) and from checking the car computer - which is one of the things you claim you do on the description of your Pre-*************************** ("Scan computer for trouble codes") and in your inspection report ("OBD2 system scan for system status")

  - the oil pan gasket has a leak, which is something both your website ("Leaks we look for signs of oil leaks, transmission fluid, or coolant leaks") and your inspection report ("Fluid Leak / Seep Evidence")

  - the thrust arm bushings need alignment - something you say you check in your inspection report ("Suspension Components Condition")

  These items are all, as quoted above, integral part of what the report claims was checked in the inspection. Thus, the inspection was either performed negligently or some steps might have been skipped. This, in addition to the fact that both the battery and the tires will need to be replaced very soon, and that a series of checks (brake flush, microfilter replacement, standard scope) are coming up in less than a month - which I wasn't made aware of - led me to buy a car based on inaccurate information Toole's garage Stockton gave to me.

  I hope you can understand that your response is thus unacceptable. 

  Sincerely,
  
  Cosima Du Pasquier

  Business response

  08/23/2023

  At Tooles Garage we service a wide range of vehicles from diesel, gas, hybrid, foreign and domestic. Anything from a **** *** Isetta to **** F-750 commercial trucks. With such a wide range of vehicles it is impossible to know what options every individual vehicle is equipped with on a daily basis.
  
  If you were unhappy with the rear hatch being manually operated at the time you were thinking about purchasing the vehicle, you could have questioned the seller or even asked our team to look into it. I saw no mention of any specific concerns before we performed the pre-purchase inspection. We do not consider this a mistake on our part as the trunk is operational.

  
  At the time of our inspection the vehicle in question had no active DME codes and no check engine light on as seen in our inspection report. A DME code could have triggered during the 75 plus mile drive to ************. This is unfortunate, but not uncommon when purchasing a used vehicle from a private party.

  
  I see no provided evidence of an oil pan gasket leak at this time. You are welcome to bring the vehicle in question back to our ******** location for further inspection of this claim.

  
  Alignments in general can not be inspected visually as most of the alignment adjustments are minimal. Alignments are also not performed during a vehicle's pre-purchase inspection.  
  The thrust arm bushings needs alignment is not a common recommendation. You should talk to the other shop about this recommendation to clarify what they are actually recommending and why.

  
  In addition, the battery, tires, brake flush, microfilter, & standard scope are all future maintenance items. As stated before, future maintenance recommendations are not the purpose of a vehicle pre-purchase inspection as all vehicles require future maintenance.

  
  Tooles Garage will not cover or pay for any recommended repairs on the vehicle in question now or in the future.

  ***********************

  General Manager of Toole's Garage

  Customer response

  08/25/2023

   
  Complaint: 20456761
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1. I brought up the truck hatch issue both with the seller and with your mechanics, after I noticed that the report didnt say anything about regarding the issue. I had someone with me at the time who can attest to this claim. Both your garage and the seller told me it was surely a small issue worth a couple hundred dollars, and your representative went so far as to tell me he would send me a quote for the part replacement he thought it would need. At no point did he actually check what was wrong, even after I insisted on showing him the issue on the vehicle.
  2. I had already driven 20 plus miles from the seller to the garage, and I highly doubt that an extra 70 or so miles would make such a huge difference on the codes. In addition, when starting the car, the turbo noise is obvious and should have been caught, as it is the very first point you list on your inspection. 
  3. The fact that your garage did not catch the oil leak in the first place is not a great indication of the quality of your work, and I dont see the point of driving out and back 150 miles for your garage to verify it. Ill happily get the issue confirmed by a third local garage.
  4. My mechanic caught the alignment issue in less than an hour. Your inspection report indicates that steering condition and function including bushings are checked. If this is not in fact part of it, your document is misleading. 
  5. Your report says you check the tire age and threading and the battery - what is the point of checking the state and age of an item and not telling the prospective buyer that they imminently need to be replaced? Why else would one check them?
  
  Its clear you are not talking any responsibility for negligent work that caused me and will cause me a heavy financial burden. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Cosima Du Pasquier

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