Complaint Review: Northwest TexAuto - Dallas Texas

I had repair work done on my 1995 Jeep Wrangler (2.5L), at Northwest Texauto on January 24, 2004. The radiator was replaced as well as the thermostat. A few weeks later, on Monday March 1, 2004, my jeep started to over-heat and blew radiator fluid all over the motor.

I immediately got the Jeep to a VERY reputable shop, called Safety Brake, on Beckley Avenue, in Dallas. When their mechanic started to look at the water pump (it was blown out), he discovered that the thermostat was installed backwards. This caused massive damage of up to $1000; head-gasket, seals, water pump, on and on. This faulty installation could have damaged my new radiator.

Barry at Safety Brake called me IMMEDIATELY, and took photos of the thermostat mis-installation, at my request. Barry told me what he found, and suggested that I call this other guy up and tell him what one of his mechanics did. They decided to leave the Jeep on the rack until they heard back from me or Northwest Texauto.

I called Mr Shabani at Northwest Texauto, where I only had that one repair done, and Mr. Shabani told me that there is no physical possibility that the thermostat could be put in backwards.

At my request, Barry who runs Safety Brake, called Northwest Texauto and spoke to Mr. Shabani. Barry went into detail in describing to Mr. Shabani the issue and went as far as noting the markings that showed where the thermostat was hitting incorrectly. After they hung up, Mr. Shabani called me and said, "Tell you what, if you tow it to my shop I will fix all of this for you, for $400." I declined to pay anymore money to Mr. Shabani, due to the original damage that was caused to my vehicle, due to his shop's negligence.

I explained that his faulty installation of a $15 part just cost me $1000, and that I would never go to his shop again. I believe that the incorrect installation of the thermostat was done on purpose, to force me to go back to his place, and thus pay him more money. Mr. Shabani noted on my receipt "Possible head gasket problem", however Mr. Shabani never showed me any tests that were run to back this up. I do believe that Mr. Shabani was committing a fraudulent business practice, by setting my vehicle up for failure.

After retrieving my vehicle from Northwest Texauto, I had tests run on the integrity of the head gasket and there were never any signs of a damaged head gasket. I watched and checked for signs synonymous with head gasket damage. There was never any white smoke coming out of the tailpipe, nor was there at any time bubbles in the coolant. There was never any liquid dripping from the tailpipe. The oil was checked regularly, and there was no sign of discoloration or signs of coolant in the oil.

I rarely drove the jeep after that, due to getting layed off. The first time I did any kind of hard highway driving was the other day. Most of my driving has been a short trip to the store. Our weather up until this week was for the most part, cold.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Shabani drove over to Safety Brake and to look at what their mechanic found. Mr. Shabani even made a remark to Barry at Safety Brake about the thermostat being in backwards and how coolant would never flow correctly with it installed like that. Mr. Shabani then left the shop.

Two days later, after not hearing back from Mr. Shabani, I called Northwest Texauto. I again inquired what responsibility Mr. Shabani was going to take for the damage to my vehicle. Mr. Shabani became clearly agitated and stated that he wasn't at fault and that Safety Brake sabotaged the thermostat to try to take advantage of me. He again stated that there is no physical possibility that the thermostat was installed incorrectly. He went as far as to say that he had a document from a Jeep dealership backing him up.

Raven

Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.