I took my car in and the mechanic said I had to have my oil gasket and oil pan gasket replaced b/c my car was leaking oil. I paid +$600 for the repair and the car still leaks oil. Brought it back in and they said one of the gaskets was bad and would replace (under warranty). That still did not fix the leaking. We took it to another shop and they said they way they “fixed” it the second time was by caulking around the oil pan- they didn’t replace the “bad” gasket. It still leaks.
Further, the new shop said it was not the gaskets leaking oil but the CV Joint. He was able to tell from where the oil was leaking. It has a big hole that is very visible by looking under the hood. Any licensed mechanic should have seen that.
What are my options here? They made repairs that we not needed and jerry-rigged the unfixed repair the second time by caulking and not replacing the part they verbally said was bad and would be replaced. Am I entitled to a refund?
Thank you for your insight
Unfortunately, it sounds like you were stiffed by a Mickey Mouse “mechanic”.
Oil pan gaskets seldom leak anyway, and the chances of getting a defective gasket are as close to zero as you can get.
I’ve been a tech for 35 years and have never seen a bad gasket, although I have seen a number of good ones screwed up by the installer.
I have no idea how they confused CV joint grease with and engine oil leak. That is beyond me. Maybe they never even changed the oil pan gasket?
About all you can do is ask the current shop to give you something in writing stating what was done wrong, approach the old shop about this, and ask that they make a refund.
If they do not, you could take them to small claims court. This is no big deal and once served by a summons from the Court Clerk may offer you your money back rather than go to court, where (in a perfect world) they should lose.
if they don’t give you a refund or fix the problem the right way threaten to call the better business bureau .or call your local news station they always love stories like this.
Rather than the BBB, which has no regulatory or punitive powers (except with businesses that are paid-up members of their “club”), you would be far better-off calling your Department of Consumer Affairs, which is a governmental entity.
For some reason that I cannot fathom, many people seem to think that the BBB is a governmental agency, when in reality, it is itself a business that solicits membership from other businesses. They may be of some help if the offending garage is a member (and even this is not a given), but they cannot and will not do anything regarding a business that has not paid dues to belong to the BBB.
Yep, BBB is useless, fear of lawsuits has made them a useless tool. Guess when the members pay the fees it is difficult to questions that same member’s ethics.