This “mechanic” scammed me out of $1700! I took my car to him to change the engine timing belt and he recommended a new engine. He offered a payment plan, but we agreed to pay him for parts and labor up front, so he could complete the job as quickly as possible. In the nearly 2 months that he kept my car, he continuously dodged my husband and I when we would call to check on the status of our vehicle. The first excuse for the delay was that he admittedly made a mistake and snapped some wires when replacing the engine and had to wait for the parts to fix it, then he had personal issues, then he didn’t have time, then he needed to consult another mechanic, then he was sick, then there was an electrical issue…those are only the excuses, in a long list, that I can remember. One day after I was fed up with his excuses and him dodging my calls, I told him I was coming to get my car. When I arrived, he wasn’t at the shop. My car was in the garage with the door open, and a pitbull, on a metal chain was guarding it. Of course, he wouldn’t answer my calls until another mechanic from the garage next door called him and told him to call me back. He tried to avoid me at all costs, until I demanded he show up to the shop and give me my car, which still had the “new” motor sitting outside of it. When he finally showed up to face me, he had another litany of excuses ready and when I refused to accept them and demanded my car, he wrote me a written statement that if my car wasn’t completed by the end of that day he would issue me a refund of $450. Mind you, I paid him $1700! I was willing to take my car, with the “new” motor from God knows where, still not in the car, and only ask for a partial refund of the “labor”. Three days past his deadline, I advised him my husband was coming to get the car, and when my husband arrived, the mechanic at the garage next door advised him that Julio had “stepped out” for a minute. My husband waited, while Julio dodged our calls. He finally texted me later to say that he wasn’t actually at the shop, and was home sick. He held us off for another 3 days, promising that the car would be done on Friday. Finally on Friday, I advised him that we were coming to either drive the car home, or tow it and collect the refund he PROMISED he would give us. I told him we were coming in the morning, he told me 1pm would be better. At 11:52am we advised him we were on our way with a tow truck. He kept saying we gave him until 1pm to finish it. We asked him if it would even be done by 1pm, he said no. While we were on our way, he offered to tow our car and all the pieces sitting outside of it to our house, so he wouldn’t have to face us. We told him we were already on our way with our own tow, and to please have our car and refund ready. When we arrived, he didn’t have our refund (BIG surprise!) and our car was still sitting in pieces, with the hood and front bumper unattached from the vehicle. We had to wait for him to at least put the front bumper and hood back onto the car, and load all the pieces inside, just so we could tow it. The tow truck we hired was furious, as he made us wait over ½ an hour to do this, when he had 4 hours prior notice that we were coming. After this situation, I looked into his background and found multiple arrests for possession, etc. At this point I’m not even sure if he’s operating an actual business, or just a storefront. His Facebook page has a 4.7 star rating, out of 5 stars. 2 of the ratings are from him and his wife Carolina.