- Report: #170105
Complaint Review: L&A Engine Rebuilders - Spring Valley California
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L&A Engine Rebuilders
537 Grand Ave Spring Valley, California, U.S.A.
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L&A Engine Rebuilders defective engine rebuild leads to extensive costs for correction; company refuses to honor warranty Spring Valley California
Below is a timeline of events related to the damage of my Toyota Camry at the hands of L&A Engine Rebuilders. I never received any compensation. I have had the car examined by three independent mechanics and they all agree that based upon my timeline, L&A acted in bad faith on several occasions, the result being severe damage to the engine of my car. I gave L&A ample opportunity to repair the damages, but they refused saying the warranty was void due to my negligence.
After speaking to my mechanics and my Lawyer, I believe I committed no negligent act nor would L&A be able to prove such in a court of law. I have also been informed that local small claims courts are very likely to rule in my favor if I pursue this matter through that route. Judges apparently have little sympathy for discount garages, especially if prior complaints have ever been made. If I go to court,I plan to sue for the following:
1. The cost of the original rebuild - $2500
2. The cost of all repairs due to that defective rebuild - estimated at $2600
3. use of a rental car while my car was at L&A thought they had no intent to fulfill the warranty - $100
4. Missed work and time spent dealing with this matter - 20 hours at $40 per hour - $800
5. Aggravation and suffering necessitating medical care - $2000
TOTAL - $8000
However I am willing to offer a one time opportunity to dismiss this claim if L&A will agree to pay for the necessary repairs to my car, totaling about $2500 (exact bill to be submitted). It is no longer an option for L&A to do the repairs themselves as I have immediate need for the car and you have already denied me service under my warranty. Repairs are thus already underway. This offer will expire in 30 days, at which time I will file the necessary papers to initiate a lawsuit.
TIMELINE - there are receipts from numerous sources to document this timeline (including L&A, Juan' s Mower Repair (installed CC at LA recommendation), Jiffy lube (flushed radiator), Bruce's auto (replaced radiator and water pump). Oil leak was also inspected at oil change shop.
7/03 - engine rebuilt, new crankshaft installed, radiator is rusty and allegedly rodded out; no further work is recommended; car runs fine after rebuild, but it never is top-notch. Concerns expressed at 500 mile checkup about this are dismissed as due to it being an old car.
4/27/04 - After 6000 miles, engine temperature elevates slightly above normal (but nowhere near the red zone); I check coolant and it is low and rusty; replace coolant and drive car to rebuilder. rebuilder checks exhaust by covering tailpipe with her hand and says catalytic converter is bad; performs no other inspection, except says to flush radiator.
4/ 27/04 - CC replaced; coolant is changed; radiator flushed.
4/30/04 - car overheats badly only one time (into red zone) and not driven again until repairs. mechanic replaces radiator and water pump
5/10 - car runs OK after service for about 1 week, but begins to blow smoke from tailpipe, run rough at idle and leaks oil visibly
5/12/04 - rebuilder agrees to fix oil leak under warranty; 3 days rental car
5/15/04 - rebuilder returns car and says they have no time to fix it right now. says oil leak is not that bad; she says its OK to drive;
5/18/04 - car overheats (but not to red); tailpipe cracks at CC weld and coolant leaks; mechanic says head gasket is now blown
Todd
Prescott, Arizona
U.S.A.
After speaking to my mechanics and my Lawyer, I believe I committed no negligent act nor would L&A be able to prove such in a court of law. I have also been informed that local small claims courts are very likely to rule in my favor if I pursue this matter through that route. Judges apparently have little sympathy for discount garages, especially if prior complaints have ever been made. If I go to court,I plan to sue for the following:
1. The cost of the original rebuild - $2500
2. The cost of all repairs due to that defective rebuild - estimated at $2600
3. use of a rental car while my car was at L&A thought they had no intent to fulfill the warranty - $100
4. Missed work and time spent dealing with this matter - 20 hours at $40 per hour - $800
5. Aggravation and suffering necessitating medical care - $2000
TOTAL - $8000
However I am willing to offer a one time opportunity to dismiss this claim if L&A will agree to pay for the necessary repairs to my car, totaling about $2500 (exact bill to be submitted). It is no longer an option for L&A to do the repairs themselves as I have immediate need for the car and you have already denied me service under my warranty. Repairs are thus already underway. This offer will expire in 30 days, at which time I will file the necessary papers to initiate a lawsuit.
TIMELINE - there are receipts from numerous sources to document this timeline (including L&A, Juan' s Mower Repair (installed CC at LA recommendation), Jiffy lube (flushed radiator), Bruce's auto (replaced radiator and water pump). Oil leak was also inspected at oil change shop.
7/03 - engine rebuilt, new crankshaft installed, radiator is rusty and allegedly rodded out; no further work is recommended; car runs fine after rebuild, but it never is top-notch. Concerns expressed at 500 mile checkup about this are dismissed as due to it being an old car.
4/27/04 - After 6000 miles, engine temperature elevates slightly above normal (but nowhere near the red zone); I check coolant and it is low and rusty; replace coolant and drive car to rebuilder. rebuilder checks exhaust by covering tailpipe with her hand and says catalytic converter is bad; performs no other inspection, except says to flush radiator.
4/ 27/04 - CC replaced; coolant is changed; radiator flushed.
4/30/04 - car overheats badly only one time (into red zone) and not driven again until repairs. mechanic replaces radiator and water pump
5/10 - car runs OK after service for about 1 week, but begins to blow smoke from tailpipe, run rough at idle and leaks oil visibly
5/12/04 - rebuilder agrees to fix oil leak under warranty; 3 days rental car
5/15/04 - rebuilder returns car and says they have no time to fix it right now. says oil leak is not that bad; she says its OK to drive;
5/18/04 - car overheats (but not to red); tailpipe cracks at CC weld and coolant leaks; mechanic says head gasket is now blown
Todd
Prescott, Arizona
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Marc
Makaha,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
Why quit? You may have a case in small claims.
#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,Arizona,
U.S.A.
They never asked about servicing the head
#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,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
It's your head gasket, alright
#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.
