ComplaintsforMeineke Car Care Center #1809

• Initial Complaint

  09/21/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 9/10/21 I brought my car in with an oil leak, and my check engine light on, the mechanic stated that I would have to pay $147 to perform a diagnosis on my car. I returned on 9/16/21 to get the services performed, which was a full diagnostic of my car and check the engine light. Mieneke kept my car for over 24 hours before I got a text for the results of my diagnostic. I approved the repairs for $421. When I arrived on 9/17/21 to pick up my car, I noticed my engine light was still on, so I immediately called to let them know. The female Tammy at the front desk told me that they didn’t check for the light. But further discovery it was overlooked. On the morning of 9/18/21 I discovered I still in fact had an oil leak. On 9/19/21 they then took another look at my car and found another $600 in repairs that should have been found if a diagnostic was in fact done on my car. I was accused of damaging my oil pan within 2 days of my car repair. My car is still leaking oil and no resolution

  

  Business response

  09/29/2021

  The original complaint was for an oil pressure light and the CEL.  Meineke proposed to diagnose the oil leak, which was authorized on Sept 15 at 1:17 pm.  The finding from that diagnostic was a large oil leak coming from the vacuum pump.  No oil was found on the dipstick.  An additional Job was added to replace the vacuum pump (with an OE part) and seal.  Along with that, but not documented or charged to the customer, was the replacement of the oil-soaked coolant hose and addition of oil to the engine after the repair was completed.  The customer authorized $421.65 to pay for the oil leak diagnostic and replacement of the vacuum pump.  The hose, coolant, and oil used to complete the job were free of charge.

  Oil leak diagnosis time was looked up in the Motor Labor Guide.
  

  The customer still had a CEL and oil drip and returned the car for service on Sept 18.  The CEL was from a defective oxygen sensor.  The oil leak was from the oil pan seeping from the gasket, apparently from a significant impact to the oil pan at some point in the past, obviously much more than 2 days prior because of the rust accumulation on the impact point and scrape.  An estimate for $629.18 was offered to cover the cost of repairs to the oxygen sensor and oil pan and the cost of the oil change.  The oxygen sensor should have been found on the initial inspection, but the focus was on the diagnostic for the large oil leak, which is what was addressed.  These repairs are in no way related to the original repair, which was needed and proper to do first.  Small oil leaks are notoriously difficult to locate when there is a large oil leak coating the engine.  It was simply covered up and there may be more small oil leaks on the engine.
  

  So, to address the Customer's Desired Resolution: Repair - the vacuum pump job is complete and problem free.  Finish the Job - Oil Leak Diagnostic - Complete.  Vacuum Pump Replacement (to remove the damaged vacuum pump leaking oil) - Complete.  Hose, coolant, and oil  - Complete. Explanation of charges - all documented.  The oxygen sensor and oil pan gasket jobs can be initiated as soon as the customer Authorizes repairs.  Please be aware that the CEL will be scanned again upon arrival and more codes may be present.  Other issues with the vehicle engine may present at that time as well.
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  When I went to Meineke at first for oil change, they quoted 129 dollars to change my spark plugs. I ordered only an oil change. The very next day, when I was going to change the spark plugs, I couldn't find them and call Meineke. I was told the mechanic change it by mistake and forget to erase the code. However, the engine light came back after erasing, I brought it back to them they told me it was an oxygen sensor and this was going to fix the problem! Almost a week later, when I get my car, the engine light was still there before leaving the garage and they quote me another 600+ dollars to fix it. When I talked to the manager, he said "There was no misfire problem last time. It came after changing the oxygen sensor. I have 5000 dollars scanner tool". All in all, they gave me a quote to fix the engine light and they never mentioned there could be something else. I know it is an old car but I didn't get the car out without an engine light. I couldn't give more details due to word limit

  Customer response

  08/22/2021

   

  My problem was the engine light. 

  I was told the quoted process would fix that. I was never told it could be something else. If that was the case, I would have kept in this way for a while too.

  Now, I want them either fix it so that engine light will not come back at least two weeks or refund the money.

  The part we disagree the manager says this is an old car many problems may come up. I agree with that but I didn't even get the car with the light off. 

  Kind regards,

   

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

  

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  We changed oil and spark plugs (mistakenly) on 6/20/2021.  Customer plugs were left in a cup holder and the technician assumed that the plugs are part of the job.

  The vehicle is a 

  2008 MAZDA TRUCK CX-7 4-140 2.3L DOHC
  VIN: *****************
  License: *******

  Over 101,000 miles

   

  Vehicle came back with the complaint of a CEL (Check Engine Light) ON.  We replaced  fuel / air ration sensor and the oxygen sensor because of the computer code in the vehicle on 7/19/2021.  No misfire code was observed during the computer scan.

  Vehicle came back with a CEL on for a misfire.  Confirmed that a coil was bad by moving the coil to another plug and confirming that the misfire moved with the coil., thereby eliminating a bad spark plug.  This code is unrelated to prior work.

  The customer declined any further work.

   

   

  In response to the customer's complaint:

  A CEL is an indicator of a condition that the vehicle's computer has an indication of a malfunction.  The vehicle computer must be diagnosed to determine what codes are present.  A CEL that is on is, by definition, working.

  The CEL originally indicated a bad fuel/air sensor.  The fuel/air sensor and the O2 sensor were replaced and the vehicle computer cleared of codes.  Since this code has not come back, the quoted repair did resolved the issue, as it did not present again.

  Currently, the CEL is ON because of a misfire caused by a malfunctioning ignition coil and the subsequent misfiring spark plug.

  The vehicle coil is the original.  Meineke did not supply any of the parts involved in the misfire.

   

  For a vehicle of this age and mileage, this is normal failure.  There is no way to guarantee that another failure will not occur at anytime.

   

   

   

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