Need Advice About Problem With Mechanic - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

Hi,

I am in need of some guidance.

Story line will be a little long but please bear with me.

I have a 95 Corolla wagon 5spd manual transmission.

It has little over 375K miles.

It had developed somewhat of a knocking sound while engine is running in neutral, clutch engaged (pedal up).

When I disengage the clutch, noise goes away.

After googling around, I found this may be input shaft bearing in the transmission going bad.

I did not have any issues with the shifting gears nor with slipping clutch. They were all ok.

Car also had some oil leaks from I thought front crankshaft seal.

So I took it to mechanic I knew from past, about 150mi south of where live.

He listened to the sound and said it can be clutch or release bearing or something else in the transmission.

I repeatedly told them my symptoms and what I thought the culprit was from my research.

They came up with an estimate.

They wanted to replace clutch, release bearing and clutch master/slave cylinders on transmission side.

In front side of the engine, crankshaft seal, timing belt, waterpump, oil pan gasket and valve cover gasket.

I told them I did not need master/slave cylinders replaced and with that estimate total was about $1200.

They said, after taking it apart, if they see something else needs work they were to call me.

I OK'd it.

Couple of week later, last wednesday, got a call telling me car is ready to pickup.

I got there friday afternoon.

Went straight to the office and proceeded to pay the balance (stupid I know).

As I asked whether input shaft bearing got replaced, she said no.

I figured it didn't need replacement then.

Paid it and went to the car the guy who worked on it.

Propped the hood open, little plastic piece over the valve cover was missing.

Also realized, they did not replace the belts (alternator, a/c, waterpump etc).

I was pissed, but not ready for the final blow.

As I started the car, I noticed the knocking sound was still there.

I pulled the car up to bay they were working at and asked them about it.

Mechanic first tells me this is an old car and he didn't promise me a new one, all the while he's trying to rock the car back end forth to see if noise would be changing.

Told him this was the very same noise I got the car to them in the first place.

It was late Friday and he asked me to leave the car so they can take another look on Monday.

Actual owner calls me yesterday and tells me it will be another $450+parts for them to take the transmission to transmission place and have bearings replaced.

I tried and kept my cool but as he realized their boneheaded act, he got angry, blamed me for trying to get my "damn" car repaired for free.

He was going to pray to Jesus last night (no joke here) but I still did not hear back from him.

Mean time, I went ahead and canceled the card I used to pay for the repair.

I trusted this shop and I had worked with them in the past but knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have taken my car to these people.

Condition of my car is fair. Paint is faded. Have a dent in driver side rear door. Tint is all bubbled up. Still has the cracked exhaust manifold:)

Just a week before dropping it in the shop, I replaced the alternator.

Other than these, it has been rock solid. I wouldn't have hesitated to drive it cross country.

My question is, what would you do?

One option is to pay $1200 and get the car back with the knock (I had driven it with the noise ~20Kmiles past couple of years)

Second one is just leave the car there.

Third is buy a used transmission and have them to install it. For this I am looking at an additional $500.

I would very much like to hear your comments.

Thanks

At the moment - you are pretty much SOL - sorry out of luck. In this case, should have walked away when they didn't listen to you in the very beginning, as that is a red-flag that this would be an uphill battle - but like they say, hind-sight is always 20/20.

What to do know depends on how much money / time you want to invest in this.

If you need to have the car back ASAP - best to cut your losses and pay them to "fix" it and move on - just get your car back.

Leaving the car there seems pretty harsh - that generation of Corolla is known to run for a very long time - being a 5-speed wagon is also a rarity. From a cost standpoint - be worth more getting the car back.

Might think about hiring a lawyer and take them to small-claims court to try and get your money back. This could be expensive - as you'll need to take your car elsewhere, have them fix it right, and document what was or was not changed correctly on your car. You'll have to look up what the limits are in your state - but you might be able to recover a good portion of the money charged by the fraudulent shop. You'll probably end up paying more - but know it was fixed right.

I had a similar issue some years ago with truck - eventually evolved into a two year nightmare, but I was determined to not pay the other shop a single penny, even if it meant I paid twice as much to someone else - ended up being almost 3x as much, but such is life.

You did everything right at this point, as far as pushing it up the line to the owner - but now you need a heavy hitter on your side to point out that the problem has not been fixed. The shop will either relent and work out some deal to make it right, they will turtle up and not talk to you anymore, or push back and make you take them to court. Don't back down now - you asked for service, they screwed you, you called them out on it and they are redirecting it as "your car is old". Don't let them do that to you - if you roll over, they'll just do it to the next person.

I have little respect for shops that don't listen to their customers. Any decent mechanic will understand that chattering noise when the clutch is engaged, gearbox in neutral - noise goes away when you push in the clutch (load the bearing), is no-way related to the clutch release bearing. More likely be Input shaft bearing, pilot bearing, or even a loose flywheel. Changing master and slave cylinders - don't need to unless they are damaged. Don't need to do any of the other work, unless the crankcase seal was gushing oil. Should have cleaned up the area and verified where the leak was first. Then to add insult to injury - not change the belts? Have to take all that stuff off when you do that sort of work - to put on a old belt is a waste of time. If it was me - demand that they fix it right - have no problems paying to fix the car, but have a major issue for paying for unnecessary work. If I didn't OK it - don't change it, period. Otherwise, they should expect to eat that charge. If they still won't come around - sue them.

Thanks for your comment.

Yes, I feel like I am SOLd too.

I think I am going to have to pay $1200 and get my car back with the knocking transmission.

I will file a with complaint BBB.

I will also leave comments about my experience with that business wherever I can.

They are just there for easy picking money.

Don't have brains, time or honesty to troubleshoot the problem.

They had the guts to call me to say it was ready for pickup...

Again thanks for chiming in!

you realise the better business bureau is a scam...

they collect fees from business and will not do anything

to help the consumer ?

So, you still got a new clutch, release bearing, crankshaft seal, timing belt, waterpump, oil pan gasket and valve cover gasket installed.