APEX AUTOMOTIVE

APEX AUTOMOTIVE Refuses to make good on repairs/damage caused by mechanic Wellington, Florida

5th of Nov, 2010 by User523293

I WAS a returning customer of APEX AUTOMOTIVE because of some previous work they performed on another vehicle of mine and did a good job. That all changed with a recent visit. I called and spoke to shop manager "Anthony" who is a very pleasant individual to work with and told him another vehicle I had recently purchased was in need of a clutch install (which I already had) and would he do the work? He stated normally they do not install customer parts but since I was a returning customer they would make an exception. He told me it would cost $375.00 to install and I agreed. The day I DROVE the car to APEX AUTOMOTIVE I noticed right off a change in price with an additional charge of $30.00 for (shop materials?) I signed the bill anyway and left the car. Several hours later Anthony called me to tell me the clutch was finished but he had a "laundry list" of other repairs that the car needed.I told him I would stop in and see and not to do anything until I arrived. I went down and looked at all he pointed out and felt some repairs were justified and some were not. Two issues I had them address were seals and the shifter was making a noise. The seals were installed and a plastic shifter bushing ($15.40?) was replaced which still did not fix the shift noise. This extra work totaled almost $400.00 more. When I stopped in to take the vehicle for a test drive with Anthony, the clutch worked great but I heard a strange noise coming from underneath the vehicle that I did not hear on my way in. I asked him if his "mechanic" who worked on my car could put it up on the lift and check it out. When we got back the car was immediately put on a lift while I waited in the lobby. Several minutes later Anthony summoned me into the garage where I noticed water pouring out from the front engine area. Anthony informed me that the water pump blew when I took it for a test drive. I asked him the cost to replace it and he quoted me almost $380.00. (I did later find a new water pump for $58.00 compared to the $128.00 APEX AUTOMOTIVE wanted to charge me.) I told him I had no choice if I wanted to drive the car so go ahead and fix it. Several hours after I left, Anthony calls me to tell me he has more "bad news." He proceeds to explain to me that when his "mechanic" used an "AIR WRENCH" to remove the water pump bolts, three of them broke off in the block. (I have since had numerous other reputable mechanics and parts houses tell me an air wrench should NEVER have been used if there were signs the bolts were rusted.) To this date no one can seem to answer why their "mechanic" would continue breaking off the bolts if one broke and he noticed a problem. Why would he continue to use an air wrench knowing full well more bolts could break? The answer of "padding the bill" seems to keep surfacing.Anthony quoted me charges of $85.00 for an unknown amount of hours to fix the bolts HIS "mechanic" broke. I told him I could not afford that and also why should I have to pay for his "mechanic" doing a poor job of removing the bolts. His roundabout responses of it's not their fault my car had rusted bolts did not sit well with me but I told him I would have a tow truck to his shop the next day to remove my car and not to do any more work and his response was "GREAT." So the next day I have to spend an additional $75.00 to have the car I DROVE into their shop to have fixed, towed back to my house with a trunk full of parts and a bill for $757.46. Here it is a month later and my car sits under a tarp in my yard, unable to be driven while I try to find someone who is willing to fix the damages caused by an "inept mechanic" at APEX AUTOMOTIVE, without so much as an offer by them to fix what damages they caused through no fault of mine. After all, all I did was DRIVE a running vehicle into their shop for a clutch. Now I have a boat anchor sitting in my yard that is unable to be driven for over a month. The right thing for them to do is to at least offer to fix (at their expense) the damages caused by a "mechanic" who should NEVER be working on cars. But then again the chances of finding ANY reputable auto shops in South Florida is next to impossible. But then again on the bright side, Anthony said while my (no longer running) car was being loaded on a tow truck, that he was not going to charge me for taking apart the water pump. What a guy huh?

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