This is going to take a while to read but hopefully someone can help me figure out WTF? My girlfriend and I both have audis. She has a 2002 a4 3.0 and I have a 2000 a62.7t. We were both in need of some maintenance. She had neglected her car for about 50,000 miles. it needed a timing belt, at 98,000 miles this was something i felt was urgent. she also had some weird electrical things going on. we had put 3 new batteries in it in as many months. something was killing the battery. The guys had the car for two weeks before they even started on it. They origionally quoted a price of around 3,200.00 to do the repairs. Her dad was going to pay for it andhe opted not to do the tune up which lowered the quote to 2,000. this price was to include the timing belt, new tires, brakes , rotors and to investigat the battery problem. when they finally finished 3 weeks later the total was 2,700.00. she wrote out the amount using her dad's check and got her car back. oh and by the way, they never fixed the battery thing, they just put a "cap" on it. which is a remote controlled thing that kills the battery. Her dad stopped payment on the check and they had an argument until they agreed to accept the origionally quoted ammount. She had been using my car while her's was in the shop. when she picked her's up, she dropped mine off. they called me that day and asked me what i wanted done. Let me back up and say I had this shop do my timing belt about six months ago and it was a good experience. They finished one day later than they said but I was happy. I take very good care of my car I had the timing belt done at 74,000. The car currently has 78,000 miles on it. The problem was the secondary water pump. it was leaking a bit. and i also had puchased a control arm online that i was unable to install myself. They said they would check it out and call me with an estimate. They called me the next day and said, we got a blown turbo here. I was in shock. I was very angry and moreso when they asked me if i even wanted to bother trying to fix it. I said you guys blew the turbo not me. they said these things can go at any time. The morning of the accident was very very cold, like 10 degrees. They have a small shop so all cars waiting are parked outside. I asked them why they thought it was a good idea to start a turbo car in single digit temprature when they were aware of the leaking antifreeze. they got defensive and asked me if i was accusing them of deliberately tearing up the car. i said no but i didnt blow the turbo. we talked some more and calmed down a bit. they called me a couple of hors later and told me of a guy who had two almost new turbos on craigslist for 1,000.00. i bought them immediately for 900.00. I took them down to the shop first thing the next morning. They said they would get back with me with a quote. they quoted me a "good buddy special" of 1700.00 to install the turbos i bought, fix the water pump and install the control arm that i bought and replace 2 o2 sensors. I said go ahead. Yesterday was the day my girlfriends dad got into it with them over the stopped check. this morning i get a call saying "yeah we are gonna need you to go ahead and pay us 1,000.00 up front so we can get started on this" I said fine. never heard of such a thing but fine. I go down there to pay them and they are very short with me. i asked when they thought they would start. i got a quick "no idea man" keep in mind they have already had the car for two weeks now. I asked them if the prepay thing was a new policy and he said well you know we just need some money up front so we can go ahead and get the parts and get started. hmmmmmmmm. seeing as how i have already bought most of the parts this makes no sense. i just have a very sick feeling, a bad taste in my mouth, a sore ***, and still no freaking car. oh and while i was there i started the thing just to make sure because at this point i dont know what to think. i got an evil eye in return.
this is my nightmare. any suggestions?

 

Three suggestions...

1 - use paragraphs next time so this is readable

2 - get a second opinion/quote unless you agree that your turbo was gone

3 - trust your gut (by your description these guys may not know what they are doing, do not complete all the work, take too long, and charge a lot more than quoted)

I wouldn't trust my kid's 95 Buick to a shop like that.

 

Word on the paragraphs.

You have to go with your gut on these things. Also, I would never want my car to be in a shop where my g/f (or her dad) are witholding payment over some issues. To be honest with you, $2k for all this:

"They origionally quoted a price of around 3,200.00 to do the repairs. Her dad was going to pay for it andhe opted not to do the tune up which lowered the quote to 2,000. this price was to include the timing belt, new tires, brakes , rotors and to investigat the battery problem."

...seems pretty low and$2,700 would be more reasonable and still a decent deal. It sounds like on the g/f's car her dad may have not understood what the quote was over the phone and it doesn't really sound like they are trying to screw her over.

In your case, if the shop is pissed over the witheld check and your g/f owes them cash, darn straight I would insist on money for your carup front. I would also not be too happy about working on your car.

I guess all I would say is, find a different shop and call it a day. The turbo thing is suspicious but you never know with these things.

 

Ok guys, sorry about the paragraphs. I was in a hurry. The fact that her dad stopped a check shouldn't affect me. I have done business with this place before. I am paying for my own repairs. This should have nothing to do with her dad. It just seems like bad business to me to ask me to pay in advance when I have done nothing shady.

 

In their mind your connected to the girl friend and her dad. Given their experience with the shop, I am astonished that you went back to them.

If I had to wait weeks for someone to start work, and had a response like they gave you I'd remove the car immediatly.

Just my opinion!

 

It's really not all that uncommon for a small shop or performance shop to ask for money down before starting work, epsecially on major jobs. It helps mitigate their risk and keeps them from floating money for the parts they are going to use. At the end of the day, that alone wouldn't raise a warning flag to me.

As for the g/f and her dad, like it or not they associate you with them now. They haven't paid, the shop wants its money and its going to affect you until a resolution is reached.

I guess I just don't see anything real shady except for the delay in getting the cars done. If you're not comfortable, get your car towed out of there and take it to someone else.

 

Thanks for the input. I guess the one thing that really bothers me is the attitude they had today when I took the down payment. It was as ifI were a big pain in their ***. I have done everything they have asked of me. If I treated my customers like that, I would be looking for a new job.

 

WHY WOULD YOU GO TO SHOP THAT TREATS YOU LIKE THAT????

Like NJGOAT I can understand a prepayment on big jobs, but your the customer. They are not a government agency, they are a SERVICE shop. Emphasis on SERVICE. If they are this disagreeable before the work is done I can just imagine how they will be if there is a problem with what they do later. The only warm gushy feeling you get from them is probably adirty diaper!

Just my opinion!

 

I wouldn't set my foot back in that shop again. Fact that they lowered the quoted repair cost of your g/f's car $1000, there is something suspicious about that. Yes, I guess you can argue that you can negotiate with the shop for a couple of hundred bucks, but the fact that they are cutting away about 30% of the originally quoted price is suspicious. Any reputable shop will quote you price and stay with the price, since it is what it really takes them to finish the job.

I am not saying that what they are charging is unreasonable, but they should quote a price up front, and stick with it.

Also, the schedule... They should tell you an expected schedule and stay with it. IF they are really busy, they can tell youto come back in certain time. And it is your call to find someone else if you can't wait that long. But the fact that they are not even telling you when they can start the work, it is pretty obvious that the shop is unorganized,if not irresponsible.

 

I woud bet BIG money that your turbos are not bad, sounds way to fishy. If it was me I would get my money back and have someone else evaluate the turbos. These peopleare obviously not trustworthy, hell they aren't even friendly. Good luck.
BENG