Complaint Review: Anything Automotive - Clive Iowa

I will have to address these concerns one at a time, since they are both inaccurate and untrue. First of all, as I mentioned in the title area, Anything Automotive does not sell cars, in the case that is mentioned, we were attempting to help another customer, when we mentioned that they were selling their 1998 Windstar (I believe it was a 98) since their son was going to be moving out of the country for his job and would no longer be needing the vehicle. When "Littlelady" dropped her cavalier at my shop for an assessment of it's problems, she was there because she had been referred by another customer of ours, we checked her vehicle out thoroughly and addressed her concerns that the transmission was slipping and was shifting erratically. There were also some other minor concerns that I no longer recall since this occurred over a year ago. We found that the transmission was in need of an overhaul or a complete replacement which we explained to "Littlelady", along with our recommendations for the other repairs which were inconsequential next to the transmission problems she was experiencing. She was quite belligerent about the explanation and called her father to come out with her after work. When "Littlelady's" dad arrived, he was a polar opposite of "Littlelady" and was nice to talk to and quite level headed. I explained the estimate to her father and he was quite understanding about what we had found. After some deliberation, they decided that her Cavalier was not worth fixing, since it was not in the best of cosmetic shape, as well as having the previously mentioned mechanical issues. They asked if we knew of any good car lots to go to, since they wanted to find a reputable small dealer, we mentioned some people that we knew that had car lots, and then she mentioned that she would like to have a minivan since she had young children. I was a bit surprised at this since she was quite young herself. I mentioned that another customer of ours had a minivan that he was interested in selling and it was at our shop at the time. He had been an automotive technician for many years and had recently put a rebuilt transmission in the van and had made some repairs to the rear brakes. We did not tell her that the transmission was "NEW" we told her that it had been replaced, and also explained the other repairs that we had been told about. Keep in mind that I have known my van-selling customer for many years and trust him implicitly, I also know that he was a VERY competent auto technician. "Littlelady" and her father looked at the van and we said it would be ok to test drive the vehicle after calling my other customer and checking with him. They were gone for about a half hour during their test drive and when they returned, "Littlelady" and her father said that they liked the vehicle and were interested in purchasing it. They wanted to make sure that they got the back seat for the van since it was in my other customers garage and we assured them that we would get it for them. (Which we did) I told them what the price on the van was and they decided they would purchase it the next day. They showed up the next day and paid for the van and then asked how they could get rid of their other vehicle. We agreed to take her old car and dispose of it for them, they gave us the title, and we handed them the title to the van. Basically we brokered the deal between her and our other customer, just trying to be of service to both parties. "Littlelady" left thrilled with her new vehicle that her dad had bought for her. She has also stated that we somehow "skipped" a title, which is untrue, since we weren't the ones selling the vehicle, we just helped to facilitate it. Granted, there may have been some late fees, since the previous owner was not using the vehicle for a couple of months since he was out of the country for his work. (sorry about that but not under my control) Several months later, she came in and complained that the transmission was slipping badly and she was hearing the brakes grinding. We looked at the vehicle for free even though we were under no obligation to do so. We found that the previously clean and clear transmission fluid was now muddy and dark, and the transmission was slipping as she said. We determined that the transmission had failed and would have to be replaced. The front brakes were starting to grind, but to my knowledge they had not been changed. I asked my other customer about it and he said that the front brakes had been changed once already, and then he did the rear brakes a few years after that, right before he had sold the van. When we told "Littlelady" what we had found, she was again quite belligerent and verbally abusive to myself and my employees. At this point, I could see how she might be upset about what had happened, but at the same time, from my perspective, I was now in the middle of something that was really not my doing or my workmanship etc. Fortunately "Littlelady's" father showed up soon after and intervened. I explained to her father what was going on with the vehicle and told him that I definitely could sympathize with her plight. I quickly found out that her father was the more levelheaded of the two. After talking with "Littlelady's" dad, he realized that something would have to be done about repairing the minivan. He apologized for her demeanor and conduct and mentioned that she was "a bit hard" on vehicles. Again, wanting to be helpful (doh!) I offered to try and help them out. I explained that I would be willing to donate my labor to try and help her out, all I asked is that they pay for the parts that were required. He and "Littlelady" were pleased with this scenario (as well they should have been since I didn't make a dime off anything to this point, and indeed I never did since everything was done at cost.) I gave them several options for repairing the transmission including replacing it with a new one which was quite expensive, and installing a used transmission from a salvage yard. I even offered to completely rebuild the transmission myself which would have added another 10 hours to my time spent on the project. The ended up deciding on installing a used transmission since it was cheaper than either of the other two options and since it was cheaper than rebuilding the unit and she would get the van back a day sooner, they decided on the used transmission. We then spent almost two full days of our time replacing the transmission with another used unit (which I recommended against) and replacing the front brakes and rotors, which were now showing bluing from being overheated. During the repairs, I saw signs of obvious neglect and abuse including corn stalks and dirt caught in the subframe area. I was a bit put off after this since it appears that she was a little more than "hard on cars" but a deal was a deal and we completed the repairs. They paid for the parts and picked up the vehicle. We didn't hear anything from them for about 7 or 8 weeks and then "Littlelady" called upset that the transmission was acting up again. (I can't say as I was surprised by this given what I had seen previously) I asked her to bring the vehicle in so that I could see for myself and she agreed to do so. When "Littlelady" came in she was really on a roll--verbally abusive, angry, swearing etc, ("Little lady" must refer to her smaller physical size and not her sweet outgoing attitude) This time her father was nowhere in sight and after I test drove the vehicle I didn't initially find anything out of the ordinary, the van drove fine and there was no slippage from the transmission. Then I did notice that every once in a while the transmission would take a little longer to shift out of gear, not really a big deal as long as it's not slipping. When I returned I told her that the only thing I was noticing was the odd late shifting problem and I told her that the transmission may be experiencing a sticky valve in the valve body and that it may not be the end of the transmission. She wanted to know why I couldn't install another transmission. I then explained that since it was a used part (that I had recommended against in the first place) it only had a 30 day warranty which she had already been told when the work was performed. At this time she was spewing a torrent of slurs, curses, and insults. Why couldn't I "Give" her a new transmission? Why do my transmissions keep breaking? You sold me a piece of sh*t! ("I" hadn't actually sold her anything as I explained earlier) This is a ripoff! You must not know what you're doing! Can't you do anything right? (I must say here that I take a great deal of pride in my workmanship, and for the record I am an ASE DOUBLE MASTER Auto Technician and my shop has fewer "comebacks" for work performed than any other shop I ever worked in or heard of.) Well, I was about at the end of my already too long rope, and I again tried calmly explaining that the salvage yard was not going to be nearly as charitable as I was concerning the matter and I had tried to steer her clear of a used transmission in the first place. By this point she was starting to break out the big swearwords and was further threatening me, so I decided that it was time for her to leave. I asked her to please leave and that I can't do any more FREE work for her on the van. When she refused I finally had to have the local police come and remove her. Seeing her complaint on RIPOFF.com was quite a shock since the last time I saw her and the van, the van still drove ok and would get someone from point a to point b. It has been almost a year since all this happened so I can only surmise that her driving habits finally killed the transmission all together, so of course now it's someone's fault besides hers. I feel that I went above and beyond for this person, and got nothing but grief in return. Hopefully she can find someone else that's as big a charitable soul as I was.