Complaint Review: Lone Star Engine Installation

Two weeks ago, my engine in my car blew. On Nov 13^th (Monday)  I researched engine installation places and found “Lone Star Engine Installation” located off Ann Ave in Dallas. I called and spoke with the owner, Rafael Sanchez. He was VERY nice. He offered to come tow my car to his shop for free and quoted me the price of $1800 for a rebuilt engine installation. I asked him several times if $1800 was the total for everything and he assured me it was the “total for everything- that’s parts and labor”. I then asked if they worked with warranty companies and about how long it would take to have my car fixed and ready to be picked up. He said they worked with warranty companies often and that the car would be ready in two days (Wednesday). He had one of his guys “Jason” call me and get the address of where my car was. They were going to tow it, and then call me with an update and get my warranty information. Two days later, I still hadn’t heard anything. I was under the impression that my car would be ready that evening so I called around 11:00am. I spoke with Jason again who said he couldn’t give me any details because he wasn’t the one working on my car. He told me that I would receive a call back NO LATER than 12:30-1:00 that afternoon. I waited and heard nothing. I called them again around 3pm. I was then put on hold for 10 minutes and told that no one was there to talk to me. They said they would have someone call me back. At 5:00, I got off work and my husband picked me up. I had HIM call thinking that maybe he could get some answers, after all the car was supposed to be done already. They put him on hold claiming that “they were closing and weren’t sure where the guy was we needed to talk to.” My husband asked to speak with the owner- they said he couldn’t talk to him. At this point, we decided to drive to the shop so they would be forced to talk to us. We get there, much to their surprise and they’re sitting around drinking beer. They show us an invoice that is HUNDREDS over the original $1800 he quoted me saying that if we don’t approve the invoice that they can’t do anything else. We were appalled, especially since I had asked multiple times if the price of $1800 was the total and being told it INCLUDED ALL PARTS AND LABOR and by the fact that they had NEVER called me back or talked to me when I tried to call them to get some information. After making a big deal about the price change, they then said that they would roll the costs of these additional parts into the amount they claim for the warranty (under the table) .They showed me my car- still completely torn apart. We asked again WHEN the car would be ready and said that we needed some communication, no matter the situation. At this point, I was taking my husband to work in FRISCO from KEMP and then back to DALLAS for my job and then at the end of the day had to go back to FRISCO from DALLAS and then back home to KEMP. We did this thinking it would only take two days for the car to be fixed. They told me the car would be ready in another two days (Friday) and they promised to call us first thing the next morning.

The next morning, I heard from Ariel, another one of their employees. He told me that they called the warranty company and that I needed to fax some information to them before they would cover the engine. After dealing with the warranty company (that’s another story) we determined that they would not cover the costs of the engine. I called Rafael and told him this. I said that I couldn’t pay the additional money and that I would only pay the original $1800 that was quoted to me. He then said he had quoted me $1850 at the beginning and that he had to put new sparkplugs on the car which would be an additional $50. That brought the price to $1900 plus tax. I agreed to this price and asked when it would be ready. I was now told it would be ready the following “Monday or Tuesday.”

Monday rolls around- I hear nothing. Tuesday comes- I hear nothing. Wednesday comes and they tell my husband that it would be ready by 1pm on Thursday. At this point, they have had my car for 10 DAYS, a whole 8 DAYS above what they originally quoted. On Thursday (the 11th DAY), Ariel called me and said my car was ready. I asked the price and he goes “Uhh, I think your husband told Rafael to add more parts”….I was surprised by this because I had CLEARLY told Rafael that I DIDN’T want any additional parts. I gave Ariel my husband’s number just in case he had okayed something I wasn’t aware of. My husband called me right after their conversation and said they told him that we owed them $2369.19! I immediately told him NO WAY, NO HOW. They never called about any additional parts and we had never approved any additional work! I had told Rafael that I could ONLY pay him the $1900 plus tax. I told my husband EXACTLY what Rafael had told me and what I had agreed to. I under no circumstances wanted to pay the additional $569.19 they claimed we owed. My husband gets to their shop to pick up the car and tells them that we never agreed to the parts. They start calling him a liar and told him if he refuses to pay, they won’t let us have our car back! They added on this money and now are blackmailing us so we have to pay! I literally could not believe they were pulling this crap. I wanted to call the cops. My husband is ready to just pay it so we can atleast have our car back. He tries paying with his credit card and they tell him they won't accept it- probably because they know there's more purchase protection on credit cards and are used to having people make claims for unfair charges. After all we had been carpooling for 11 DAYS at this point. I reluctantly agreed and we paid and left with the car. An hour later we decide to go get some dinner and we take my car. 5 minutes into the drive THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON! We take it by an Autozone to see if it’s anything major or if they could tell us what was up. They said it’s something with the oil but that we need to look online and see if we can get the exact cause. We looked it up and decide it’s nothing major- we just need a new filter or something. The next morning I get into the car to drive it to work. It begins to rev up (high RPM) but it won’t go over 60mph. It starts ticking and tapping. The same noises it made right before the engine blew the first time. I freak out and turn back around and creep down the side of the highway til I get home (less than a mile). At this point, we had been without a car for 11 days, been pushed around and lied to, blackmailed for more money, called liars and now the car is still broken down.

My husband did more research and found that Rafael has done this MULTIPLE times. He’s nice in the beginning and then takes your car hostage until you decide to pay him what he wants. He has rental houses that he doesn’t tend to. His tenents live in horrible conditions and when people sue him, they get nothing because he cleverly has his assets in business entities that can’t be touched. There are multiple bad reviews, ripoff reports and his rating with the BBB is a big ol’ F. He needs to be shut down! This place is full of CROOKS, LIARS and THEIVES. They don’t care about people, helping people or even doing their work right- all they want is to swindle people out of their hard earned money!! I had to take my car to someone else and they are quoting us an additional $500 to fix the MESS that LONE STAR ENGINE RUINERS left us.