ComplaintsforBighorn Auto Sales and Service Ltd.

• Initial Complaint

  12/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had some mecanic repairs done on my van **** ******* 350 (2016) at the garage (I don’t know if it is important but the van is my house). The problem was the exhaust manifold that has to be changed and so they quoted me an amount of 3700$ for the pieces and an estimation of 13h of work. They told me it could take longer depending of the time required and the difficulty of the work but nothing too crazy (it was the garagist words). Everyday I called to get some updates because they were not giving me news after two days. Everyday they told me « it’s not ready yet, it is a difficult job ». Five days later they finally told me the van was ready and when I arrived they annonced me a final price over 7000$ which is WAY over the quote they told me at first. I never got a call from them telling me the price would be that high at any moment during that week. They never called me when we arrived at the first quote number to ask me if I wanted them to continue the job. Now I got the van back but like I told them, I don’t have that much money to pay and they don’t want to negociate the final price. I have a written proof of the first quoted amount of 3700$ and I have never approved to go over that amount neither on paper, on phone or by email.

  Business response

  02/02/2024

  On December 18 2023 we brought in the 2016 **** ******* 350 to replace the leaking exhaust manifolds on the van which is a well documented failure on a **** 3.5L ******** engine. We had provided an Estimate to the customer who had been handling all of the correspondence up to the day the vehicle was dropped off for the scheduled repair. In the estimate we had provided using the industry standard labor guide, it indicated the labor which is determined when the vehicle is new was listed at 10.5 hours. Factoring in the age and mileage of the vehicle we estimated 13 hours to complete the repair. When the estimate was delivered to the customer we verbally advised that this was an ESTIMATE not a QUOTE as well made aware that any broken exhaust manifold studs that may break off during removal will require extraction at straight shop time as there is no way to estimate on that as that is an environmental factor of mechanical repair. Please be advised the vehicle is registered in Quebec where the use of salt on the roads is common which leads to excessive rust and corrosion build up on vehicles and components leading to a more difficult repair task which is the case with this vehicle. In order to remove the exhaust manifolds on this vehicle, it is required to remove the entire front suspension, steering and exhaust crossover pipe to allow enough room to access the exhaust manifolds and turbocharger. Upon removal of the exhaust manifolds 12 out of the 16 studs broke requiring extraction using various methods to do so. Once some of the studs were extracted it was discovered that previous repair work had been performed and some of the holes had Heli coil thread repair inserts installed in the aluminum cylinder heads and when the technician removed the broken studs came out with the damaged thread inserts which required additional time to save the holes in the cylinder head to avoid further damage to the cylinder head, otherwise it would have required engine replacement. Once all of the studs had been extracted all of the holes had to be rethreaded and 6 new Heli coil inserted into the cylinder head so the new studs could be reinstalled to allow the new manifolds to be reinstalled and the rest of the vehicle to be re assembled. Due to the mileage and the overall condition of the engine the estimated repair time vs the actual repair time varied the customer was made aware of this several times prior to drop off as well as during the repair process. The customer was calling several times a day and was offered the opportunity on more than one occasion to come down to the shop and see for themselves the severity of the repair work at hand and what was required to complete it. The invoice exceeded the estimate due to factors beyond our control. The customer picked it up on December 22 at 5 pm While Myself the owner was not in the building. I instructed my staff to collect the original amount that we discussed on the estimate and to release the vehicle to the owner and we could resolve this matter of the remaining balance on the vehicle when I returned to work on January 2/2024. When the owner came to discuss this he did not believe he is responsible for the anything beyond the ESTIMATE which is not the case. I was working on a solution to work together to reduce the invoice to assist him with it but was not given the opportunity to resolve it with the customer prior  to him filing a complaint with the BBB. The fact of the matter is there still is a remaining balance on this vehicle and failure to pay will result in legal action. This situation does not differ much than if a contractor goes to do a renovation on a house and discovers termites in that instance the liability lies with the home owner not the contractor, the same applies in this situation. 

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