Complaint Review: Gold Coast Auto Care Center

On June 30, 2004 I took my perfectly running 1997 Mitsubishi to the Gold Coast Auto Care Center at 4601 W. Hypoluxo Rd. in Lake Worth, FL simply for a 60,000 mile maintenance check. I paid the $412 bill then proceeded to drive the car home (2 miles). While driving I noticed a check engine light illuminated in my dash.

The next time I drove the car was to work the following morning. While driving, the car suddenly stopped accelerating and the engine revved up. The car would not accelerate but would only roll along at about 20 MPH. I nursed it to work. I called Tony (the manager) and was told to bring it in the next day because they closed before I got off work.

After work this behavior continued and I nursed the car home. The next morning I returned it to Gold Coast, Tony said they would look at it later and that I was to call at 5PM to see if it was done. I called back and was told me that they added conditioner to the transmission and that it should be OK. I worked so I could not pick it up before closing but he told me he would leave the receipt and key under the mat (I have a spare key).

When I went to drive home I was shocked to find that the car still had the check engine light on and ran the same way! The next morning my Dad and I brought it back. My Dad was angry about the whole thing and felt I was being taken advantage of. He asked for a district manager's phone number and was told by Tony that HE was the manager of all the stores in Palm Beach County and that he was the only one who could help us.

Later that day he called to say it needed a shifting solenoid ($304) and would have to pay for the part and for 2 hours labor to get it fixed. He called two days later to say they had replaced the solenoid but now the overdrive was messed up and the car needed to go to a transmission shop for a possible transmission replacement! Also he informed me I owed him another $389. He also refused to give my Dad and me a copy of the receipt for the new part, saying he had already sent it in to the main office.

This is ridiculous! Gold Coast never paid to fix my transmission. My Dad is friends with Kevin, who manages an Aamco Transmission shop, who ended up repairing my transmission at a cost of another $1500.00. He told us that the transmission conditioner that Gold Coast unnecessarily adds to (and charges for) cars getting maintenance checks most likely was the culprit. Stay away from this place, it's a rip-off waiting to happen.

Courtney
Lake Worth, Florida
U.S.A.