Complaint Review: South Bay Autohaus

History:

Purchased the car from Porsche Dealer in LA (LA Car Guy). They send all their vehicles to Southbay Auto House for inspection before sale. After inspection Southbay Auto House had said that the car is in tip top shape, no issues and the only thing was that I needed to have some minor work that the backlight were not working that I could take it back there and fix it for $150-$200.

I wanted to make sure that I keep the car with the same mechanic the whole time so I would never hear that the old mechanic did not do their job or did not follow through with something. I wanted to have continuity of care.

July 26, 2013— Mercedes Benz 2007 S550 was taken to Southbay Auto House for B MB Service (B Service Required Light was on.) The Check Engine Light was on as well. 

As you know, during Brake Inspection, the tires need to be removed to check the Brake System.

August 27th 2013— Drove the car to Newport Beach, On my way there, I saw the Check Engine Light come on! Called Qais at Southbay Auto House. He said to take the car to him since I was going to Newport Beach and he is in Los Angeles.

After I left my meeting, I called him again to tell him that now I am hearing a knocking sound right under the foot pedal and the car feels weird when I drive it. It felt like something was stuck to the wheel and when I would turn to left, the knocking sound would be louder. Talked to Qais twice and he told me that something is probably loose. I asked if it is OK to drive the car since I am in Newport Beach and he said don’t worry, it is fine, something is probably loose, not a big deal.

I called him again to tell him that the sound was much louder now, this was about 15-20 miles away from his shop. He again reiterated that it is fine and just get there as soon as I can.

Shortly after, the Left Front Wheel flew off the car as I was driving on I 5 going at speed of 50-55 miles per hour in the slow lane (traffic).

The car was towed to Southbay Auto House immediately. I was in a state of shock as to how a wheel could fly off a car!

When I arrived at Southbay Auto House Qais Told me that someone was probably trying to steal your tires and asked if I have any enemies that want to kill me or hurt me!

For the 6-8 weeks that the car was at the Southbay Auto House, I kept calling and asking how bad the damage was, what it would cost and when the car will be ready. I never got a call back although I would continuously call to ask the same question.

On 10/25/13 I picked the car up.

I was less than 15-20 minutes away that the Tire pressure light came on (Have video of this).

I immediately called Qais and he told me to go back to the Shop. I drove back to Southbay Auto House immediately. After spending 30 minutes on the car, he told me that he can not figure it out and he referred me to go to someone else off of highway 1 (a tire store). I took the car there and after waiting for 2 hours, I was told that they can not figure it out either and that they called Qais and I should go back to him. I drove back to Qais. When I got there, it was 5 pm and he said that it is late Friday afternoon and I should come back up again so they can check it out. He told me that this is not a big deal and it is a sensor issue. I explained to him that I am coming up from San Diego and this is a tough thing for me to constantly bring the car back up and down and the Quality Assurance was not properly done on my car. His response was, that is a part of fixing car and nature of the business.

The next day (Date) my wife called me telling me that the tire lights are on. I told her that Qais had told me that it is normal. She said that the car feels weird. I told her to pull over and check the tires just in case. She was on the freeway with the kids near La Jolla. She pulled into the gas station as soon as she was getting off the freeway (at the end of 52 when it enters into La Jolla). I was on the phone with her and when she got out of the car, she said that one of the tire is Flat! This is one of the brand new tires that were installed by Southbay Auto House. It was also the same tire that the tire sensor pressure light was coming on for, it is also the same Tire Pressure Sensor that was just replaced by Southbay Auto House.

We called AAA to come and replace the tire.

I called Qais and told him about this situation as I was very frustrated. He told me that this could happen and we probably drove over a nail or something and that it is a coincidence. I should drive the car up to LA for him to take a look at it. I told him that I have the spare tire on and I am not going to drive to LA with a spare tire (At this point I have lost all trust in Qais and his advise).

On (Date) I wanted to take the car to Discount Tire store and found that 2 of the other tires were flat now. I put air in those two tires and took then drove the car to Discount Tire Store in Encinitas. After inspection, I was told that I had no issues with the tires themselves, that there were no nails in the tires.  The main issue was that all the Tires were assembled incorrectly by Southbay Auto House

(Images and Videos available)

I called Qais and text him the photo of the incorrectly mounted tires. HE called me back and his response way “Don’t worry, s**t happens, it will be all fixed!”.

I was also shown that the brand new wheel is bent by Discount Tire Store in Encinitas

(Video available)

Discount Tire store replaced the brand new tire that Southbay Auto House had placed on the car, and they reassembled all the wheels back on again. They also notified me that the Tires are incorrect sizes, that the front and back tires are not correct and the Rims are bent. (video available)

The lack of care, empathy that I received from Qais after my call with him, I realized that he does not care about Quality of work that he has performed and he has no regards to my family’s safety. At this point, we can see a pattern of poor quality control, mistakes and lack of integrity or desire to provide excellent service.

On (Date) I took the car to MB dealership in Carlsbad and had it inspected by Dr. Ziggy. He told me the following:

1. Poor Quality of body work and paint job.

2. Mis-assembling of the sensors to cause the sensor to not work

3. Mis-programming of the sensors to cause the sensor to show wrong tires

4. Wrong Tires were placed

5. Mis-matched tires were placed

6. After market wheels were placed and I was never notified of this nor consulted

7. The wheel has a bend in it and I have videos to prove it.

8. Vehicle was not diagnosed for check engine light properly

9. I was never notified of recalled parts at anytime by Southbay Auto House that needed to be replaced and changed.

And add to it the Tire Assembly issue:

10. Mis-assembly of the tire parts

At this point, we have realized that all the work that Southbay Auto House has performed is inadequate and require Quality Control and decided not to drive the car until we can figure out what our next course of action should be.

On March 4th my wife took the car to grocery store to drive it and notified me that there are sounds that the car is making that are worrying her:

1. A sqeeky sound when the car is driving on the left front wheel

2. A sqeeky sound when the car is turing on the left front wheel

3. A sqeeky sound when the car goes over speed bumps  on the left front wheel

I made an appointment at this time with Carlsbad Exclusive Auto for (Date) and took the car there.

I was told that the following work needs to be done:

(attach work order)

The work was performed except for the Engine Holding apparatus.

 Note the following in the image above:

Checked and found a Brake Squeak form the Right Front Wheel!

R&R the Brake and Found the Brake Rotors are Aftermarket (The ones that Qais at Southbay Auto House had replaced after the accident he had caused us)

At no time, were we notified or asked to see if it is OK to use after market parts on our vehicle!

Please Note the following from the inspection results:

Checked and Found the right lower Control Arm Ball Joint Boot Ripped and Dried Out! I was told that this could be related to the accident.

Checked and Found the Thrust Arm Bushings Cracking as well!

We picked up the vehicle from Carlsbad Exclusive Auto on 3/19/14. The next day, my wife said that the vehicle was still making the noise but she was not sure when. It was no longer during driving or turning but when the car was going over the bumps. I was told by the Carlsbad Exclusive Auto that the sounds was related to the chairs and they had oiled it up.

On 4/1/14 I took the vehicle back to the Carlsbad Exclusive Auto and explained the situation to them again. They checked and said that they can now hear the sound and they diagnosed the following:

Checked and Found the Left Lower Control Arm Ball Joint Noisy., Also the Sway Bar Bushings are Sqeaking. This is the side the wheel fell off  and may have caused Both! This shows lack of proper diagnosis again by Southbay AutoHouse. Needs a left lower control arm and sway bar replacement to correct the noise.

At this point it is evident to me that all issues are related to the front left tire and it is related to the accident and that the accident is related to the fact that the left front wheel was not properly assembled by Southbay Auto House initially. Which caused the accident to begin with during their B service work.

At this point, we are having Carlsbad Exclusive Auto reevaluate all work. So far we are told that only after market parts were used. Currently the break on the right front side is making a squeaky noise due to the after market parts, and other parts that are breaking down.

As you can see, the Quality of work done on this vehicle is below standard. We are very unhappy not only from the stand point of the added cost and aggravation that Southbay Auto House has cost us, but also their incompetence that has put our lives, and other drivers’ lives in danger due to the poor quality of their work.

We are extremely dissatisfied with their work. As you can see, we are having to have the work that they have done all redone and we are finding more extensive damage to the car due to their poor quality of work.

The value of our vehicle has also been depreciated due to the accident that was caused by Southbay Auto House as a result of their improper assembly of the wheel and tire.