ComplaintsforLoganville Auto Center, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  04/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They Told Me I Had Blown Head Gaskets On My ********* Guy ******** Quote I Would Not Even Entertain The The Idea Of Working On My Van *** Quote. Turns *** I Had A Leaky Freeze Plug A Part That Cost $1.19 & $100 To Fix It. He Said It Would Cost Any Where From $6000 To $7000 TO Fix It. I Had To Pay Them $110.65 To Get My Van *** Of The Shop. I Deserve A Refund!

  Business response

  04/26/2022

  I spoke with the customer yesterday about this situation.  In January, the customer called and requested an estimate for an oil pump.  Our service manager was skeptical that this would be the issue because in our experience, we rarely see oil pump failures on this type of vehicle("we never put oil pumps in these vans"-could be confused with us saying we would not work on the van). The customer communicated to us that his van is losing/has low oil pressure and that there is a ticking noise.  We communicated that we would need to do some diagnostics and he agreed to the $100 fee and had the van towed in.  Upon inspection, we found that there wasn't any coolant(antifreeze) in the radiator.  We felt like the noise and issues the customer was concerned with was a result of the van not having any coolant and overheating.  We filled the radiator and pressure tested the cooling system.  We found no external leaks at that time(3 months ago).  Because the van overheated, we performed a block test that revealed exhaust gas in the cooling system which means it failed the block test.  At this point, the focus shifts to the nature of a bigger issue being present.  Regardless of the initial cause of the overheating, that repair is inconsequential.  When a vehicle fails a block test, the next step is to remove the cylinder heads and have a machine shop pressure test the cylinder head for damage(cracks/leaks).  This is what we consider "major surgery" and is usually not wise to do on a vehicle that has over 200k miles.  We discussed this scenario with the customer and I think he heard us say the we refused to work on his van. Our policy for all vehicles with such high mileage is to not replace cylinder head gaskets but instead to recommend replacing the engine.  In our experience, it works out better long term to not do extensive repairs on the top of the engine(i.e. head gaskets) and expect the bottom end of the engine to not give trouble shortly after "major surgery".  We gave an estimate for head gaskets but considering the initial customer complaint in addition to the failed block test, we recommended an engine.  The customer declined the repair and picked up the van. The only thing billed to the customer was the diagnostic fee.  We documented the diagnostic trouble codes for the check engine light, we pressure tested the cooling system, we performed a block test, and we gave estimates and recommendations based on the information we had at that time.  No repairs were made.

  Customer response

  04/26/2022

   
  Complaint: 17106695
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  Business response

  04/26/2022

  I am not familiar with the process of BBB so it is confusing as to what I am needing to do. We did what we said that we would do for the price that he agreed to pay.  Three months later, he is saying that he had a freeze plug leaking. If we would have seen a leaking freeze plug and made the repair, that would not have had any bearing on the fact that it failed the block test.  Even though we didn't find the original coolant leak that potentially caused his overheating issue, the fact that the block test failed is eventually going to be something he will have to overcome.  Our company policy to either do or not do certain repairs doesn't effect the time and energy necessary to discover the issue at hand.  Once a diagnostic test is complete, the customer is given the choice to proceed however they feel comfortable.  Some repair shops may have other policies and would be willing to use liquid additives in the coolant to potentially seal the head gaskets internally.  Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not.  The fact that we are not willing to do certain repairs doesn't affect the time involved in diagnosing an issue.  I respect his position and understand where he is coming from but I also understand that we did not fail to do the thing he agreed for us to do.

  Customer response

  04/28/2022

   
  Complaint: 17106695
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  When They Had My Van ***** Was No Water In The Radiator Thats Why They Didn't Notice The Leak

  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

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