Complaint Review: Japanese Auto Care Specialists

I had asked the merchant Japanese Auto Care Specialists, 5992 NW 7 Street, Margate FL 33063 to repair my Air Conditioning (it was blowing cold then blew hot and then shut off by itself) and also that my speedometer needle was shaking when I drove (was working then not working). I dropped off the car on Friday January 16 in the afternoon and the manager said that they will need the weekend to fix the A/C and check the speedometer.

On Monday January 19 I picked up the car and saw that they had replaced the entire A/C module where the A/C controls are located on the inside car dashboard. I test drove the car and all was working including the speedometer. I then paid for the work via Discover Card and drove off. Shortly thereafter (about 10 minutes) the A/C failed to work (should blow cold). I then called back the manager the same day and he said to bring the car right back and we will fix it. I proceeded to bring the car back the following morning January 20 and left it with him.

I called him that afternoon and picked up the car at about his closing time 5:30 PM. I checked the A/C and he had also showed me the old parts that were taken out of the car (old A/C control module and old oxygen sensor). I drove off back home and then the same thing with the A/C happened again about 5 minutes later (blew cold then blew hot then it shut off by itself). I also noticed that the speedometer did not work at all!

I called him back right then and there on his cell and he told me that he was sorry about that and to bring the car back AGAIN to his shop. I decided that this garage was not qualified to fix my car's problems even though that they call themselves Japanese car specialists (My car is a 1999 Honda Accord). I made the decision to get the car's problem fixed at another shop. I then called Discover a few days later and entered a dispute against the merchant.

These are my principal points:

--I asked him to fix my car's problems and event after 2 tries they were unable to fix them. I actually received the car back after paying over $800 in worse condition than when I initially saw them.

--The second mechanic told me that they did not fix the car correctly and the reason was that the A/C was not working because the main radiator fan was burned out. The car ran hot and there is an auto shut-off feature in Hondas that cuts off the A/C when the engine reaches a certain operating temperature to prevent the system from working too hard and burning out its components. As you can see by his invoice the first mechanic did not replace the radiator fan.

--My second mechanic also told me that the A/C module which Japanese Auto Care Specialists charged me $375 to replace in his 15 years of working on Hondas they never break or go bad. He told me that was an unnecessary work to my car. If they had done the work correctly they should have replaced the radiator fan and not the A/C control module. The first merchant also replaced the oxygen sensor for $196, which my second mechanic also told me this was unnecessary.

--My second mechanic then proceeded to fix my car and said that the speedometer cable was cut through, that is why my speedometer was not working at all after I picked up my car from Japanese Auto Care Specialists the second time. Japanese Auto Care Specialists charged me $205 for a speed sensor that they did not fix.

--Under Florida state law no mechanic can work on your car without getting prior authorization from the customer. I was never contacted by Japanese Auto Care Specialists about what my car actually needed, they proceeded to know what was wrong with my car and replaced the 3 parts as listed on their invoice. My second mechanic told me this after I had told them my story.

Lenmarion
Coral Springs, Florida
U.S.A.