Marc
Makaha,#2Consumer Comment
Tue, January 03, 2006
I beat a shop in court for the same reason. They had advertised an engine rebuild with a warranty. My "new" engine never ran right, eventually croaked, and I sued. The shop's owner said that because I hadn't had the heads done, it voided the warranty. The judge asked him is it was advertised like that, and since it wasn't, (I had the ad in court) I won the case. Your case sounds similar.
Todd
prescott,#3Author of original report
Tue, January 03, 2006
The company never asked if I wanted to have the head serviced in any way. If they had recommended it as necessary, I would have done it. I had already allowed them to do a number of things beyond the basic rebuild they said were necessary. Subsequent mechanics said the problem was they did not replace the radiator, but instead refurbished it in some way. I would have paid for a new radiator if asked to. However the main issue is that when the car started to run hot, but before it actually overheated, I brought it back to the shop, where I was told it was the catalytic and sent for a new one. When it still ran hot after that, I brought it back again and it sat for a few days without any work being done on it. When I inquired, I was told to take the car and bring it back later since they did not have time to fix it right now, but that it was safe to drive. If I had not driven it, the car would never have overheated and the head would not have cracked. All they needed to do was honor their warranty and do what ever needed to be done at that time. Directing me to drive the car was their mistake and any damage that occurred to the car was due to that error. BTW, I am no longer pursuing compensation. I just posted the report as warning to others. I may bear some responsibility in all this, but all who have looked at the car agree the original rebuild was not done correctly.
Marc
Makaha,#4Consumer Comment
Tue, January 03, 2006
When they did the rebuild, did they want to service the head and "deck" the block? They should have. It would have added a few hundred dollars to the job, but most customers balk at paying for it, instead insisting that the head needs no work. They THINK the shop os ripping them off by wanting to send the head to the machine shop. In fact, even removing the head from a modern engine can warp it enough to cause damage. Sounds like you got half a rebuild. Whether it's their fault or yours remains to be discovered.