Here’s another item of public interest from our dear and beloved friends at Park Slope Parents about a local auto service center that alleges that something very unpleasant (allegedly) went (alegedly) awry. We go to the copy & paste, which is the way they taught us to do this kind of thing at the Columbia Journalism School:
I want to warn everybody, and if anybody has suggestion on how to spread the word to anybody and everybody. Also if anybody can tell my how to get this resolved, how to go to small claims court etc. I took my car to get an oil change and yearly inspection to the pep boys on 4th ave and 4th st. (and I got a free “winter evaluation”. Car passed the inspection, no problems. I didn’t drive it much the next week. Then my husband was driving to long island.. engine light came on and than as he was getting off the highway the car stopped! completely dead. After opening the hood to our horror.. there was no radiator cap! The engine was completely dry and dead. I had it towed to my father-in-law’s mechanic (not trusting pep boys) who indeed declared it dead, needs a new engine (almost 4K) I contacted pep boys, the towed it to a pep boys and than declared there was no evidence of antifreeze leak. Now antifreeze would have evaporated off since the engine overheated. The manager at Pep boys was obnoxious and of complete no help,, including getting back to me…I can’t even tell you how victimized I feel and not knowing where to go next, except to try my attempt at small claims court. I want to contact as many people not just in Brooklyn but ot have no faith in any pep boys.
Hey, everybody makes mistakes, right? Ouch!
9 responses so far ↓
1 alyssa // Dec 8, 2008 at 9:40 am
four words: executive email carpet bomb
2 anonymous // Dec 8, 2008 at 10:01 am
Just a few blocks away, you’ll find Alba Auto.
I’ve been using Carlos and Demetrios as mechanics for more than 15 years. Never a problem: prompt, friendly and reasonably-priced, probably the best mechanics in the Slope.
3 Gary // Dec 8, 2008 at 11:29 am
Document your conversations with Pep Boys. Send them a certified letter demanding that the car be fixed.
Then file a suit in small claims. Bring your receipts.
4 Henry // Dec 8, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Funny. A few years back I took my car to the same Pep Boys for an oil change and when I drove away, smoke started to pour out from under the hood. I drove back only to find that some douchebag there had FAILED TO REPLACE THE CAP ON MY OIL TANK. Yeah, on a simple oil change, he didn’t put the cap back on. The place is a poisonous scab and should be avoided at all costs and all locations nationwide.
5 dave // Dec 8, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Seriously, this is what happens when you go to the big chain store instead of the (atleast) million auto mechanics in the area.
6 jerry // Dec 9, 2008 at 1:26 am
this sounds fishy to me. your car doesn’t have a temperature gauge? can all this really happen if you forget the cap? c’mon. really? i suppose it’s possible? what if you forget to cap your gas tank after you fill up? is your gas going to evaporate? nah. do you drive your car until all the gas is gone and get really mad? no, you fill up before you’re empty. same with all the other fluids. you should always check your fluids before a long trip. if you rely on pep boys, then you need some basic car maintenance skills.
7 br // Dec 10, 2008 at 12:55 pm
seriously, this is why cars have temperature gauges. years ago i had a similar thing happen — my shop didn’t fully close the drain cock and the coolant slowly leaked out. when i noticed the temp rising above its normal range, i had it checked out and it cost all of ten dollars to fix it (tighten cock, replace coolant). it sucks for the person that had this happen but you really gotta pay attention to the temp gauge and stop as soon as you see it rising.
8 Danny // Jan 11, 2009 at 6:54 pm
No Kidding!!!
I went to pepboys yesterday,
with this post in the back of my mind…
(I had read it a couple of weeks ago!)
Yep! pepboys at 4rth ave.
Took it for a year inspection,
the mini snoopdog kid was like yea we can do it.
tell them in the back that chris sent you..
I swear! I was like what tha? why??
Any ways like an ass, I did, and guess what??
I drive home after the passed inspection.
My car smelled super strngly of oil.
I though a mechanic sat in it and he stunk of it, but it would not go away.. I felt my car sluggish and forced with an engine sound I was not used to. As soon as I got home, I open the hood..
and no radiator cap!
I called back Asap, and they were like your mechnic didnt even touch the engine..
Ha! My car was perfect 30 min. ago, and now they are telling me this crap, and trying to justify it. Finally got the actual mechanic who had worked on my car, and he promised me, he opened the hood, checked the engine visually, and closed it.
I trusted his word. he felt honest to me, in comparison to the rest of the hood crew.
He added that he felt they were setting him up to get him fired.
When him and I were dealing with cleaning all the oil that spewed out while I drove for 10 min.
coinsidently all the mechanics disappeared….
It was just me and him.
This afternoon, I got a check engine light.
This place is rigged, and who knows how many people are involved. but I felt sabotaged, and not only that, but by a bunch of hoodies.
Im never going back there not even for a pair of wiperblades.
I hope they catch these kids doing this, and I wouldnt mind being part of that.
Im gonna be confronting them this week.
9 CarBoi // Jan 30, 2009 at 5:49 pm
You guys are so correct. I used to work in this exact one and believe me they are all crooks. I seen it from the inside out, you go in for one tire and all of a sudden all four tires need replacement and then then have a 100 point checklist to sell for you to pass inspection. The Manager doesn’t know anything, and all the guys in the back are always skeeming to rip you off on labor hours STAY AWAY FROM HERE…