Complaint Review: Michigan Motor Exchange

This individual happens to sell TV's and appliances for a living at a well known place of business so I will use an analogy that he can relate to.  If you advertise a TV to be on sale for $2,000 if when I come in to buy it you suggest that I may need an HDMI cable or a DVD player while I'm there and I agree to buy them and walk  out spending $2,500, it doesn't mean that you "bumped" the price, I simply bought more items to go with my TV.

This is very similar to what takes place in our business, we quoted you a price for a remanufactured engine installed in your car.  The contract clearly defined what did and did not come with the job.  When your wife came in and signed the contract she also authorized up to $450 for additional parts to be replaced as needed.  The price for the engine and labor never changed, it was an approval for additional parts, (i.e. a HDMI cable or a DVD player). 

Every car we service is different than the last and we have no way of knowing what else it may need so we get pre-approval for a $$$ amount rather than specific parts, we are letting the customer know up front to expect to need more parts.  Most of these parts can't be inspected until we remove the engine from vehicle, you simply can't see them all.  Replacing the parts now not only makes sense but it saves cents because when parts are purchased through us there is no additional charge for labor to put them now.  If the customer waits until later to replace them not only will the still have to buy the part but they will pay about $85 per hour to replace them and some parts require several hours to replace.

Not all customers can afford to replace every part we recommend and we are happy to go over the parts with them and help choose what is best to be done now or later.  Not every part recommended is a must, some are preventative maintenance.  We offered to do this with you but you didn't want to listen to a word we said and abruptly cancelled the job after the engine and sub frame where removed.  Had you attempted to communicate with us about the parts, your bill could have been LESS than the contract your wife signed by differing to replace some of the parts.

You were charged $610 for towing and the labor performed, we even credited you retail price for your old engine core.

I personally spoke with the husband of the woman you say your wife works with, we did an engine job for them back in 2008, according to him they eventually scraped the car out but it was NOT because of the engine, Michigan Motor Exchange honored all warranty work for them.

Michigan Motor Exchange is proud to have served metro Detroit with its engine needs for since 1945.

What this man wrote about Michigan Motors was kind. Everything He said was true I was told over the phone a really low price, got their bumped me up $ 450, called back 3 days later and bumped Me up another $1000. My wife told a coworker, too late for us about Michigan Motors. They bumped Her up,She paid the extra money and the car had to be scrapped. I GAVE THEM A $1500 DEPOSIT,SALESMAN WAS SLICK. I have never paid money before work was done. After finding out how lousy this company is I refused the repair and cost Me $950. I donated the car. I tried to get a full refund. They tried to justify and said They were Christian organization, trying to use God to justify a major scam.

    SHAME SHAME SHAME
  
    my wife takes this poor woman to work because She gave her last dollar to Michigan Motors

Venus The Fly Trap must be getting hungry. Bees and butterflies are getting scarce, and fruit flies don’t make much of a meal. We tried to warn these little creatures too, but their brains are just too small to comprehend. They land, and then nature’s Law of Unintended Consequences takes its toll.

All kidding aside, the insinuation by the company’s response that these are the ravings of some imaginary disgruntled former employee are laughable if not absurd, but it brings up an interesting point. What kind of work can be expected from a company that publicly admits it had (and maybe still has) disgruntled, vengeful employees building engines or working on customers’ vehicles?

The company’s response conveniently tries to divert the reader’s attention from the deceptive business practices that our report highlights. Blame the messenger for the bad message. Our report is based on first-hand information as well as first-hand observation, and can easily be verified by anyone who calls them for a quote. Yes, you will be told the phrase “plus tax and core charge”, but that empty phrase is just that. You need to extract the information, and you will not get an actual price until you show up on the premises. Watch what happens to the quoted price at that point.

Nothing in our report disparages the company’s product. It simply questions business practices that most consumers would consider shady and unethical.  Who really has any use, for example, for a 250,000 mile warranty that expires in 36 months? New car warranties from Hyundai and now GM are for 100,000 miles and a more realistic time period-like a full decade. If their engines are better that the competition’s, why not simply say “instead of 36 months, unlimited miles like our competition’s , our engines are warranted for 250,000 miles, unlimited time. Oh, by the way, a lot of warranties do cover towing, car rental, and many are in fact transferable. Shop around and see for yourself.

Notice too, how the issue of parts pricing is conveniently left unaddressed in their rebuttal. Is this, to paraphrase  Al Gore’s words, “An Inconvenient Truth”? Slander, by its definition, is the telling of a lie, intended to damage someone’s reputation. Read our original report and their rebuttal carefully, then ask yourself: who is slandering whom?  One way to prove slander is to allow a third party to examine the facts and draw its own conclusions.. The Detroit media have done a superlative job in the past in exposing corruption in city government, and have highlighted shady dealings in governmental as well as private businesses. Why not invite one of them to examine the facts and report their findings? We would gladly let Michigan Motor Exchange decide which news channel or newspaper they would like to pick as arbitrator. Fair enough? Let’s see who winds up in “The Hall of Shame”. Don’t hold your breath.

We all know, a vengeful angry person will sometimes take irrational actions, blinded by their own denial of guilt and without concern for consequence to the hurt they may cause others.  In a self-centered spiteful act, “scammerguard” (also believed to be known as or related to “motorguard69” & “rashad”); who is believed to NOT even be a Michigan Motor Exchange “consumer”, is attempting to cause harm to this company, it’s employees and their families.
 
Could this unknown slanderer be connected to a former employee who was caught and dismissed for unethical and dishonest activities?
 
The facts are simple.  When Michigan Motor Exchange quotes an engine over the phone, it is standard procedure for our sales staff to quote the engine price “with good core exchange + tax”.  Our written “Work Order” is thoroughly covered and explained to our customers in addition to advising them on general maintenance parts recommendations.  No work is started, nor additional costs added, without the customers’ knowledge and approval.
 
The State of Michigan Bureau of Auto Regulations has set firm standards to protect consumers, and we strive to go above and beyond, in meeting these guidelines.  Inspectors from the states B.A.R. have even told us that our approval process is outstanding.
 
Our business survives and relies on referrals, repeat customers and word of mouth.  Proof of this fact is in having provided quality service to over 75,000 customers over the past 66 years.  We have an A+ rating with the BBB even though we do not pay to be “accredited” by them.  This says a lot about our company and our ability to satisfy those who may encounter a problem.
 
Our customers realize that to invest in the vehicle they already own and know,  is a better investment than putting money into buying someone else’s high mileage used “jalopy”.  They also are certainly smart enough to know that a Michigan Motor Exchange engine, although nice, does not make their vehicle “magically” become “brand new”.
 
In regards to our Warranty, it is anything but “Run of the Mill”.  There is no co-pay or deductibles, like many competitors or warranty companies.  When there is an issue, you are serviced directly by one of our company representatives.  Although we are unaware of customers attempting a “drive to the moon”, we are aware of customers who have driven hundreds-of-thousands, of trouble free miles on our engines over many, many moons!
 
It is because of the continued Blessings of God and dedication of our employees that we are still here after all these years.  We will continue providing honest, quality service to all of your engine needs.  We invite you to give us a call or stop on bye to see for yourself.
 
Sincerely,
the Navarre Family of Michigan Motor Exchange (and yes, that is our real name).