BROKEN SHOE PER MECHANIC I HAD CHECK BRAKES SQUULING. BROUGHT BACK TO SHOP PURCHASED CAR FROM HE GLUED SHOE BACK ON. I PAID HIM 100.00 IE LEMON LAW. I HAVE CHECK STATES BOTH SHOES TO BE REPAIRED. ISNT THIS UNETHICAL PRACTICE AND ALL MECHANICS STATE THIS IS DANGEROUS. I AM STILL WITHIN MY LEMON LAW PERIOD NOT EVEV A MONTH. HE IS FROM WORCESTER MA
A bad brake shoe does not mean the car is a lemon, just get new shoes…Coherent sentences are also helpful when trying to explain your problem.
He should have replaced the pads - I have never heard of any mechanic gluing brake pads on! I do my own brakes and was trained in car repair in the military and have never heard of anything this crazy. I would write a letter to Honda - regional manager explaining what happened.
Sounds like a “field expedieant” catagory repair.
2000 NEON, PURCHASED FROM AUTO REPAIR PLACE, HE ALSO SELLS CARS. TIRES FAILED INSPECTION, HE PUT 4 BETTER TREAD ON BUT CHANGED THE GOOD ALLOY FOR CHEAP ONES ALSO. HE MUST THINK BECAUSE I AM A 58 YR OLD FEMALE I AM NOT GOING TO PURSUE THIS.
If you had bought and paid or the car, then changing out the wheel type after the fact is not only unethical, but unlawful taking of your property without permission. Best time to deal with that issue was when the car was picked up after the tire switchout.
Rather than work with him, you might best go to a mechanic, get the safety issues fixed, and sue this guy in small claims or civil court, to resolve the issues. Have the mechanic document all that is done incorrectly or had to be replaced, to meet MA safety inspection.
It is obvious that if what you said happened with the brakes, that he cannot be trusted to do proper repairs.
I don’t know what MA lemon law for used cars covers, but I would work towards making sure I met the criteria and force him to take the car back, or plan on a lawsuit.
I don’t make these recommendatons lightly, but you may not have any other choice.
So far, I see two repair issues with the car- both are/were safety related. MA lemon laws apply to used car sales and are more comprehensive for licensed dealers. Here’s the catch- you just can’t get your money back for these issues. The dealer has to be given a reasonable chance to effect repairs and you must follow the required documentation guidelines before the lemon law can be enforced. The fact he swapped out the tires for ones that will pass inspection means he has resolved that safety issue. The exchange of rims is another matter.
Regarding the brakes, if what you say is accurate, then that is an unsafe practice that I am sure the authorities would be interested in pursuing. If it were me, I would have the brakes fixed elsewhere and expect him to split the bill. You’re not entitled to brand new brakes, only to have safe brakes. Most courts will allow you to be made whole and I’d think that splitting the bill would be equitable and probably acceptable to the dealer.
As for the tires, why not just insist he swap the later tires onto the original rims? He may not even be aware that you were concerned about it. It’s also possible that he didn’t think it was a big deal either. Why not call and demand they make the swap? The first thing to do is make them aware it is a big deal to you and see if they make it right.
I’m not real convinced at this point the entire story as laid out is correct.
Why would a brake shoe be broken and even more so, why in the world would anyone even consider or attempt to glue something back together when brake pads and shoes are cheap to begin with?
Maybe the wheel swap was not an effort to defraud but a matter of simply replacing bad tires with good by the simplest method available; swapping them out.
A quick look at the MA Used Car warranty law states the seller must be given an opportunity to fix the car (fixed correctly is another issue) and it also states no warranty at all on a vehicle with over 125k miles.
So how many miles does this car have on it?
Two things.
Please don’t use all caps…It’s considered shouting…and very hard to read.
Second…How do you know he glued the brake shoe on??? I’ve NEVER heard of that. I don’t know of any glue (even a slow cured epoxy) that a mechanic can apply that would be able to hold up. Maybe the place that made the shoes can do it…but I’m pretty sure that’s a completely different process.
Are the brakes working now or not??? Little confused.