Complaint Review: Sport Utility Performance Center - Clearwater Florida

Unfortunately I've learned after being in the service industry for 19 plus years you cannot please everyone and there truly are unrealistic individuals out there with their own unique perspective of the true facts. Below please read the truth on this matter. The Florida Department of Agriculture closed this matter out and agreed with me. The Better Business Bureau did the same. The Pinellas County Court ruled in my favor as well! Please read further if you'd like. Rod initially called my business and described his frustrating problem with his vehicle intermittently stalling. He mentioned he'd had it to several independently owned shops as well as franchised licensed Chrysler repair dealerships. In addition he said no one could fix the problem or could anyone properly diagnose the vehicle's problem. He said the last people to work on it thought it might be the computer and gave him a $1200 estimate to replace it. He mentioned he didn't trust that evaluation and was reluctant to spend more money chasing this problem. I told him a remanufactured computer was roughly $400 if available for his vehicle and that would be for the part only, no labor fees included. He brought me the vehicle and asked me to put a computer in and see if it would fix the vehicle. I explained to him that it would be $400 for the computer, $99 to program the computer, and $150 to install, clear codes, and button up the job. BUT, once we program the computer we could not return it and HE elected to try it without programming the computer and the vehicle stalled again once it got hot. He asked me to return the computer to my parts manager and I called in a special favor and my friend at Dayton Andrews parts did me that favor and I credited Rod fully! The unique problem with Rod's vehicle is once the truck dies it loses communication with ALL diagnostic ports and everything is electronically controlled. Unfortunately for Rod this a very unique set of circumstances to evaluate and diagnose correctly. You then must take it one step at a time. In the past we've found that the crank sensor will create this problem, I phoned Rod and told him that it was just a shot since I cannot communicate with the diagnostic port on his truck. H e authorized me to renew the crank sensor over the phone. It appeared to have fixed the problem for a several days and Rod was pleased. Unfortunately the problem occurred again in roughly 12 days. Rod phoned and I said to bring it back and let's keep trying. All along working on his vehicle for free and only billing him for what repairs I was effectively making. There is a reason he's had it to several repair facilities with no luck, everything is controlled electrically for all systems and diagnostics. Anyway I continued on. The vehicle dies when it warms up, you feel the computer and it gets red hot. I phoned Rod and told him. He sent me e-mails from forums on the matter, we discussed heat shields and he tried different case screws, all with no luck. We inspected his cooling fans and found his clutch fan weak; it failed the proper diagnostic test. I again phoned Rod and he told me the electric fans had been replaced by the dealer and to go ahead and renew the clutch fan. We made the repair and the truck does indeed run cooler. Unfortunately the problem remained. I felt as though it was the pcm but didn't feel comfortable with spending the money without duplicating the problem first on demand. I told Rod that I had a friend at the dealer who would help us. He elected to drop the truck off and let my friend drive it and try to figure out the problem when he could. The man spent several days pinpointing the problem and could make the vehicle die whenever he wanted to by jiggling one of the thousands of wires under the hood of Rod's vehicle. He traced the problem to the pcm connector and I phoned Rod who authorized all billed pricing again. I ordered the pcm for Rod. We got the pcm programmed and the truck is now fixed. I've enclosed copies of all the bills for you to see. We spent days on his truck and charged him 3 hours and he's unhappy. I don't own his truck and all I ever did was try to save the man huge amounts of money by using all of my resources I've collected since 1989. You have no complaints on my business and there is a reason for that as well, I'm more than fair with everyone including Rod as you can easily see. He indeed made all the decisions directly related to all spending on his vehicle! He would call my business three times in one hour and pressure us constantly and daily. As you can clearly see by the enclosed copies of the repair orders Rod was undercharged for the extensive labor that was required to actually make the problem occur on demand so one could be 100% sure that was indeed the actual problem. I am available anytime Monday through Friday for further assistance and would love to help you better understand the finer details of this unique set of circumstances. Yours Truly, Steve Eiseman

9/13/2007 My 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee was diagnosed by Advantage Chrysler Jeep in Mount Dora, FL as requiring a new PCM (Engine Computer Module). The PCM was currently back ordered at that time and not available. A new crank sensor was installed to get the vehicle running. They warned me against after-market PCMs that were available. Reference receipt from Advantage Jeep dated 9/13/2008. 9/14/2007 to 1/20/2008 Shopped for best price for a new PCM replacement. I shopped only Jeep dealers or Jeep Specialists for qualified workmanship with OEM parts. Brought my Jeep to Jeepsters at 6875 Ulmerton Rd, Largo,FL. They also said it was the PCM computer but said they do not install PCMs. They said only Jeep dealerships have the required equipment to program the PCMs. There was no charge for the diagnosis. They suggested to have a Jeep dealership re-flash (reprogram) the PCM as it may solve the problem. No receipts applicable. 1/15/2008 Suncoast Chrysler Jeep re-programmed the original PCM but it did not solve the problem. Reference receipt from Suncoast dated 1/15/2008 for $96.25. 1/20/2008 Phoned Steve Eiseman at Sport Utility Performance Center. I was quoted a best price of $400 + 1 hour labor for a new PCM by Steve Eiseman d/b/a Sport Utility Performance Center. I asked How will you program the new PCM as I understand only Jeep dealers had the equipment to program PCMs?. He said I know a mechanic at a dealership who will take care of that for me. 1/21/2008 I drove to Sport Utility Performance Center and saw he specializes in Jeeps as his lot had Jeep vehicles for sale. His garage bays contained only Jeep vehicles being repaired. 1/28/2008 Drove the car to Sport Utility Performance Center for PCM repair. Asked Steve Eiseman if he remembered my phone call about a PCM quote from last week and if he had time to replace the PCM in my Jeep. He said yes and asked how I knew it was the PCM that was the problem. I said it had already been diagnosed by Jeep dealership and other shops as needing replacement. I asked how long it would take to replace the PCM and he said he could have it back to me the next day if everything goes good. 1/29/2008 - Steve Eiseman called me to say he installed the new PCM and the car ran no differently. He asked what was the original problem. Surprised at such a statement, I told him the car stalled when the engine was hot. He said he disagreed with the Jeep dealership diagnosis and knows how to correctly fix the problem. He said he could not return the PCM as it had been installed. I asked him what he would do, as prior work has been done to correct this probelm. He said he will install a new crank sensor to solve the problem. I told him a new crank sensor had already been installed. He said it was not a quality Crank sensor. Believing he had correctly installed a new PCM and it did not solve the problem, I agreed to install another crank sensor. A Crank sensor was installed with a cost of $736.37. He said he tested it and the problem was repaired. He again said I have to pay for the new PCM as he could not return a part that had been installed but will try to return it anyway after I paid for the PCM and the crank sensor + labor for $736.37. Car seemed to run fine as it was not a hot day. Reference Sport Utility Performance Center receipt dated 1/25/08 for $736.37. 2/01/2008 - Phoned Steve Eiseman to inquire about the PCM credit and he said he called in a big favor with the Dayton Andrews Jeep dealer parts manager that he knew named Tom. He credited $400 back onto my credit card. I had never actually seen the PCM but took his word for it since he said the car was fixed. 2/05/2008 Phoned Steve E. and I complained the car was not fixed and still stalls when hot. He said he did not know what the problem was but I will have to leave it with him for diagnosis. 2/05/2008 to 2/10/2008 I was working 24/7 oncall support and did not find time to return the Jeep for repair that week. I emailed Steve Eiseman other peoples similar problems and their associated repairs. I had read about these peoples problems on the internet and hoped it may help him diagnosis the problem. 2/11/2008 Car returned to Steve Eiseman who now diagnosed the problem as a bad Engine Clutch Fan causing overheating. 2/12/2008 Paid 315.65 for new Engine Clutch Fan. He said he tested it and the problem was repaired The engine temperature gauge reached the same operating temperature as it always had. The car seemed to run fine as again, it was not a hot day. Reference Sport Utility Performance Center receipt dated 2/12/08 for $315.65. 2/12/2008 Before I could get the car home, it stalled and would not start till cooled. I phoned Steve Eiseman complaining my car is still not fixed and continues to stall. He said I will need to leave it with him for three days to be properly fixed by a Jeep dealer mechanic that he knows. 2/13/2008 - Returned car to Steve Eisman. Thereafter, I phoned Steve Eiseman every two to three days inquiring of the status which he would never know and he became quite rude at this point. 2/18/2008 Phoned Steve Eiseman for status. He said the Jeep dealer mechanic said it was the PCM. I complained that that was what I had brought the car to him in the first place. He admitted he did not program the new PCM for my car and that is why it did not work the first time. He asked if I wanted to replace the PCM. Shocked, I said yes, of course, and he abruptly hung up. I continued to call every couple days to inquire of the status which again he would never know. 2/29/2008 Phoned Steve Eiseman and he bluntly said the car is fixed and come get it. I asked the charge and he said $789.66. I protested the overcharge and the inappropriate parts installed to this point. I said I should not be responsible for his misdiagnosis and lack of mechanical knowledge installing a PCM. He said that was what I owe him for his trouble. He said if I want the car, I should pick it up and hung up the phone again. I called back and his mechanic answered saying he had left. I explained the problem to him and he said he would call Steve on his cell phone. He did not call me back. I called back two hours later and his mechanic said that was the charge and he could not do anything about it. I sent my wife and a neighbor to pick up the car as I just had an operation and could not walk. My wife complained to the mechanic about the bill but he again said there was nothing he could do. She paid the bill under protest and retrieved the car. Reference Sport Utility Performance Center receipt not dated for $789.66. 3/04/2008 I phoned Steve E. to ask for an adjustment on this bill. He offered $176. I said it was not much refund and asked why it took so long to install the second PCM and he said it takes time to rebuild it. I asked what happened to the new PCM he was able to install the first time? He said he returned it and had to rebuild second one. He said take the $176 or leave it and abruptly hung up the phone again. 3/05/2008 - Filed small claims case against Steve Eiseman. 3/09/2008 My wife told me the car continued to stall and was not fixed. I drove the car and it did stall and did not restart until cooled. 3/15/2008 Drove car to Suncoast Crysler Jeep for diagnosis and repair. It was a weekend and they could not complete the repair before Monday 3/18/2008 but ordered the PCM for installation on Monday. 3/18/2008 PCM replaced by Suncoast Crysler Jeep for $1020. Jeep now is fixed and does not stall when hot. The mechanic stated that the PCM found in the Jeep was not a newly replaced PCM but either the original or a rebuilt but is not new. See mechanics comments on the Suncoast Jeep receipt dated 3/18/2008 for $1020.