rev:text
| - Was a satisfied customer for 5 or 6 years, but then came a dramatic change in the fall of 2014. The shield beneath the engine of our Lexus came loose. They reattached it. When it came loose again, I had them remove it. In so doing, they failed to secure the shields in the front wheel wells. Both came loose and were shredded by the tires. They cut out the shredded parts, leaving two gapping holes.
But this is about our Camry. On 9/25/14, they replaced both front axles and the valve cover gasket. On 10/31/14, they replaced the oil pan gasket assembly. On 12/29/14, the car was leaking some kind of fluid. I figured I'd better get a second opinion, so took the car to Johnston's Automotive on 24th Street. They put the car up on the rack and couldn't believe the "shoddy" work that had been done. The left front axle was spewing transmission fluid, the newly installed oil pan gasket was cracked and the pan itself was dented, but at least it didn't leak. A number of bolts were missing. The valve cover bolts were just sitting in place but not tightened. Also missing were the exhaust hanger bracket and cotter pins to the tie rod.
I took the car back to Discount Brakes that day and showed them the "laundry list" from Johnston's. The manager said they would make it right. A week later, they said the car was ready. I took it back to Johnston's for a post-mortem. They showed me that two bracket bolts for the wiring harness were still missing and that nothing had been done to the oil pan gasket. They said putting in a cork gasket is the cheap way and that silicone is the proper way. There was nothing in the way of an explanation, nor an apology for the shoddy work done by Discount Brakes, leading me to believe that this was not an uncommon occurrence. Obviously, I won't be back.
|