QuestionQUESTION: Hello,
I'm hoping you can help me. I took my 99 Ford zx2 to shop #1 to repair a timing belt. After a week, my car was still not fixed. I drove the car home one day, it idled pretty bad....felt like it was going to cut off. The next day, we could barely get it to start. I take it back to shop #1 and they now say that my valves may be bent on my engine, though they never looked at my valves. I decide at that point to take it some place else. Shop#2 says that my belt is not timed right and they replace it in 2 hours. My car is driving like new. Shop #2 also replaced a pulley that was "bad", but as shop#2 stated "it wasn't the cause of my problems, the timing being off was the cause of the problems". Now shop #1 feels that they did the job correctly and that I shouldn't be refunded my money and that they shouldn't have to pay for the rental I had to get while they had my car for a week. It seems that if they didn't do the job I paid for, I should be refunded. Someone else had to go in and fix what I paid them to do. What do I do?
ANSWER: this is based on assumption your car quit running because it jumped time if that is not the case this but instead you brought car in for maintenance timing belt replacement it would change scenario all in your favor.
i can't tell you how yours should be here's what would happen here.
first it wouldn't have left without checking to see if it had bent valves which is easy on that car especially after it was back running if it did make it out and you brought it back i would have verified if the valves were bent or not because if they were bent that would have been caused by broken/jumped timing belt which would have been more repairs which most shops would love to have right now-i would also had rechecked timing belt-if it was lined up like it should be then any repairs would be out of your pocket-if it wasn't lined up i would have fixed it and apologized for missing it the first time-if it was taken to shop #2 and they were a reputable shop then i would talk to them and if repairs were verified and i trusted them i would have refunded your repair money-if all is as you say honestly then you are due some money back-i doubt i would pay for your rental except for one day because if they are that busy then i would only reimburse you for the day i actually worked on the car because the other four days if your turn hadn't come up then i have no control over that i won't push your car ahead of other customers-hopefully this will work out for you and shop one can do the right thing-you didn't mention this but was this your regular garage-have you used them before and built a relationship with them so they know you and you them-or do you bounce from shop to shop hunting best prices because the best price isn't always the best deal if all is as you say never go back to shop one but stick with shop two. i don't believe in suing no matter what so i hope ya'll can work this out. good luck to you.
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QUESTION: Hi.
To answer your questions: My car stopped because it jumped timing. Shop #1 is owned by my aunt and uncle, so I thought I could trust them. They told me that they would give me a good deal and make sure that my car was worked on that day.
Now, from what I have been told, there is no way that my valves can be bent because of the type of engine it is, so I didn't have shop #1 check it. The fact that they were telling me that it was in fact my valves without even looking at them, made me suspicious. My only issue was the timing belt. Shop #1 didn't fix it, after having my car for the better part of a week. Shop #2 fixed it in 2.5 hours. They also replaced a pulley that they said should've been replaced when the belt was replaced. Shop #1 now feels that if it were a bad pulley, then they are not liable because they were only changing the timing belt. Seems to me that a real mechanic would check the pulleys and tensioners as well and replace them if they need to be replaced, not just replace the belt and leave the other stuff as they are.
Answerwhen i do a timing belt job-i check all pulleys and if any question recommend replacement-if the water pump runs on timing belt that also is replaced and is not left up to customer to decide if they want it or not it is to critical it is figured in with my estimate-they should have checked the valves or at least checked to see if it was an interference engine or not being as is yours is not i know which engine you have now-your aunt and uncle should probably reimburse you for what shop 2 did for sure if not don't make a big deal out of it just don't go back to their shop whats right is right but some people just don't get it. at my shop you would have been reimbursed that's all i can say-i was wondering has their shop been in business long-are they ase certified-is their reputation good-have you used them before i would stick with shop 2.
as far as a real mechanic replacing what needed you are correct-the customer would have had to give the ok but i don't think from what your saying they even asked you and they should have. good luck.
