ComplaintsforAir Capital Automotive

• Initial Complaint

  08/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went to Air Capital Automotive to have my car repaired, due to a check engine light on. On 3/5/24 to 3/7/24, I took my car to have issues with my Steering rack to be repaired. They repaired it, but they installed the belt backwards. They also replaced my Air filter, leaving bolts off and clamps, not having it secured, also, stated they cleaned my maf air flow sensor, it was not. On 3/9/24 I returned my car to have those issues addressed; the belt was corrected. A diagnostic was run, coil pack was replaced on a cylinder. They charged me for a New MAF, which had been cleaned previously. It was not installed. On 3/19 to 4/25/24 they replaced my Intake Manifold. There were bolts left off, and major parts not attached and left exposed, unknown to me. On 5/17/24, my A/C went out, suction hose was replaced. But I was continuing to have problems with my car. On 7/13/24 the intake coupler boot was replaced. I was leaving town, and had my car checked out, told it was fine. I had bolts missing from the Intake Manifold, it was not safe! I returned my car to have issues fixed every time, as is stated on their billing receipt, every time. Each time something else was an issue. I took my car to a different ASE certified mechanic, where he showed me what was wrong with my Air Filter, and my Intake Manifold, where 1 part was hanging on by 1 bolt not by 2 leaving it exposed. I now have to replace it, as well as pay a reliable, mechanic to correct the problems they created. The estimated is around $1400. plus parts. I have a video showing what was left hanging and pictures. As well as the estimate to fix what they messed up on my car.

  Business response

  08/29/2024

  Hello,

  In reference to the steering rack installation and the belt being installed backwards, unfortunately it is not possible to install a belt backwards but i do realize you are referencing the pulley needing to be adjusted after we did the intake manifold. On the steering rack, we had to fight the metal line that was cross threaded incorrectly by another mechanic previously so it turned a quick steering rack replacement job into a job that took many more hours to get figured out and it had the car stuck on the lift for an extra week while we waited on the special order line to come from subaru. We only charged .5 extra hours for the extra work so we figured you would have been happy with the outcome of that. On the air filter that was replaced, your filter only had one clamp on the boot so we left it as it was because it was an aftermarket filter setup. On the mass air flow sensor, you checked if it was dirty again nearly half a year after we had cleaned it, so yes, it was cleaned in March, and yes, it could be dirty again after half a year of driving. During the diagnostic process of trying to figure out the misfire you had been fighting for quite some time, the old MAF must have been put back in and the office didnt remove the part from the ticket and I told you the day before this complaint was made that we could refund that MAF sensor since the original is still in the car.

  On the issue of the "bolts being left out of the intake manifold", you sent me a picture of the TGV valve hanging off and said we did not put the bolts back into the tgv valve that is on the side of the manifold. However, the car would not have driven for six months with that part hanging off the side. It also would have shown a code for the TGV valve if it was hanging off, and we would have noticed that during the 10 or so times you came back to have us look at the car over the course of those six months, which might i add, we did not charge you anything to look at the codes each time you came in. You only had codes for misfires on all four cylinders, and the TGV you're referencing only affects two cylinders, and would have its own code to show it was broken. So the most likely scenario is that the bolt backed out somehow (possibly from engine vibration due to the misfires) after/during your trip to Oklahoma. I also asked you when we did the TGV if you wanted to delete this part, because people commonly remove that entire assembly due to the issues they have with those TGV valves and replace it with a non restrictive lower intake manifold setup, however you declined doing this. I also told you that Subaru only sells the entire lower manifold assembly with the TGV valve attached to it but they did have aftermarket valves we could put on to save on cost, and you wanted to go with the lower cost aftermarket option. I told you we could order another valve under warranty and replace that TGV valve but you did not want us to replace it because you didnt trust us based on the assumption that we didnt put bolt in it six months ago, which again, couldnt possibly be the case because it wasnt an issue for six months. The job also was in the shop for about six weeks because we had to wait on parts, most of which had to be ordered and took a week for each item to come in, and for that, you wanted a discount so we gave you a $50 discount for the time it took.

  To add to the intake manifold job. We spent countless hours trying to figure out the misfire issue, replaced the ignition coil 3 different times for you, put in a new spark plug, did a compression test on cylinder 1 (which was at that point in time, the only cylinder misfiring), swapped out the injectors, changed the injector plug, changed the injector orings, checked wiring etc, and did not charge you for the hours we spent on the diagnostics. We have suggested that due to the persistent misfire, that the ecu is the culprit, because that is the only item left in the diagnostic process that it can be. We also discovered that you had been using 87 octane on the car, when the car calls for 91 minimum octane which unfortunately didnt fix the misfire but it was an issue nonetheless. Also to note, you insisted that we charge you only the "cost" of the parts we put on the car, because your "friend" could get the parts cheaper through their ******** discount which we did that on what we needed to buy from ********, something that isnt something other shops would do to help a customer out.

  In summary, we have spent quite a bit of time on this car and tried to bend over backwards to get it figured out for you so I found it very disappointing that we received a complaint from the BBB about this vehicle, especially after I had just talked to you about it less than 24 hours before this complaint was made and told you we could take care of the problem.

   

  Business response

  09/20/2024

  
  "So as to the belt being on backwards, that isn't as important as to it being properly installed on the pulley's as the Owner omits on the response. That it wasn't properly Installed on the vehicle the first time. Which, shows negligence on the Owners part as well as the Shop.  To verify the repair after doing a repair that shouldn't of required that part being removed. To replace the Intake, it doesn't require the belts and accessories to be removed to replace it.  "

  Response: The alternator and ac compressopr do have to be removed to replace the intake manifold due to the orientation of the clamps on the vacuum lines under the manifold.

  
  "Addressing the Steering Rack Replacement, the prior mechanic never touched the Return Line nor the Supply Line. Only replacing the steering belt. Of which I have documented, per my notes for each repair I have done to said vehicle. Regarding the Cross threaded line, who isn't to say that it wasn't properly installed, initially and therefore the shop in question was the one who improperly installed it. Meaning, ACA caused their own delay.Which, they've shown to make rush decisions that caused return work. "

  Response: The old rack threads were stripped from previous work, (the steering rack in the car had salvage yard markings on it so it was replaced before) and the old line was stripped along side of it.

  
  "The Air Filter Clamp was missing, and the silicone hose had wear marks showing the the missing clamp, to say it wasn't there, or never had one installed shows negligence on ACA. And again to verify the repair as well as eturning it the was it was found."

  Response: Id be happy to replace the front air filter clamp despite it being missing when the vehicle came to the shop.

   

  
  "About the Mass Air Flow sensor; omitting it was left in the office, only supports my claim of negligence and not properly verifying the repair."

   

  Response: I've already addressed this, i told you we can refund the mass air flow sensor. It was left on the ticket after we replaced it and found it not to be an issue so it was removed.

   

  
  "With the Bolts missing, ACA left them out of the Coolant Reservoir for the Turbo, which is located by the Turbo; allowing that to be loosely held on by two spokes,coolant reservoir, though two holes with rubber grommets where you hang said Reservoir. That attached it to the Intake without a bolt at the base of the Intake."

  Response: I appreciate you bringing this to our attention. I will use this to better coach my techs on future repairs.

  
  "Regarding the TGV, (tumbler Generated Valve), being found hanging from the Electrical Connector without the two bolts that should attach it to the Lower Intake Manifold. This was found by the technician because of a requested inspection by me. For the complaint of poor performance with Check EnginreLight on. The tech found that it had been hanging by one bolt, that eventually fell out or had come undone by idle or the "TAV" actuating. He also found the bottom bolt hole was stripped out. Which wouldn't allow it to be properly connected to the Intake Runners.
  With ACA suggesting deleting the TAV, that goes against it being a OEM vehicle and cause poor emissions and rougher idle. Due to deleting component. 
  The only reason I drove my car for so long was because ACA said it was fine, or said it was something else.  Yes it was considerate of ACA to give me a discount for the parts due to the wait. But, it doesn't change the fact that appears to me that ACA created some of their own problems. "

  Response: The TGV was attached when it was inspected before you drove it to Oklahoma. There was no code for it, and it was still attached. I addressed this in my previous repsonse. And sounds like our recommendation to delete the TGV turned out to be a good one, because here we are dealing with issues again.

  
  "With the Spark Plugs and Coils Packs, those had already been replaced and could have been warrantied out due to me having the receipts for them. "

   

  Response: They were not warrantied through air capital automotive.

  
  "ACA not charging me for diagnostics is on them. They should have charged me for that much work and diagnostics. Also, to the point of the compression test, while the Owner recommended it, I was never charged for it nor shown any data or test results. Which would have come with a Service fee and test results. Again show a problem with omission of misconduct."

   

  Response: I'm sorry you're upset about the free diagnostics/services on your car.

  Customer response

  09/30/2024

   

  Good day,

  Actions done by ACA was researched on ********* to verify what was necessary to remove the intake manifold

  Response: Researched with ********** states that the intake duct is removed from the air cleaner case.

  Remove the intercooler. Remove the generator.

  Remove the coolant filler tank.

  Disconnect the emission hose ( A) and the connector (B) from the PCV hose assembly. 

  Response: regarding the Steering Rack Replacement; this vehicle has never had salvage parts installed on it during my ownership. 

  Response: The clamp on the Air Filter has been replaced.

  Response: the TGV was not inspected before I left for Oklahoma City. The only Inspection that was done is the Oil, and Oil level.

  Response: I personally informed **** ****** that I had just had the coil packs replaced, purchased from **********, that I had the receipt from the purchase. It could have been provided for him for warranty with **********.

  I would accept the refund from ACA regarding the MAF.  The way everything has been handled a money order or cashiers check would be accepted, sent to me. I do not feel that ACA has rectified anything else and am personally disappointed in the Owners and the companies handling of this situation. I am not fully satisfied with only being reimburse for a failure, on the Owners part. I will follow up.

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  April 30th 2024 my daughter Kiara McMullen took her vehicle a 2020 Hyundai Kona to Air Capital Automotive to be serviced. While the vehicle was actively being worked a technical left the car unattended while it was running with the door open. A person walking down the street saw the unattended vehicle running with the door open and hopped in the vehicle driving it away. Air Capital Automotive seems like they do not want to take responsibility for this situation. Leaving a vehicle running with the door open unattended is gross negligence. They fail to any reasonable level of safety in ensuring a care that was left in their care would be safe. Air Capital Automotive needs to give us their insurance information and replace the car.

  Business response

  05/07/2024

  Hi *****
  We are very sorry about what happen. We did not leave the car running as you stated and the keys were also not in the ignition, the cam sensor was unplugged with a power probe on it with $2500 worth of our equipment plugged into the obd port as well as we were inside talking about what to test next on the car for all of about 3 minutes while the car was parked right in front of our garage door. This was a totally random event and not "gross negligence". I did ask if the car had full coverage insurance and was told the full coverage insurance was recently canceled on the vehicle and our signs posted do in fact say, "Do you have full coverage insurance? Your insurance is responsible for theft or damage" but again we are very sorry about what happen. We called and gave the police the video footage and alerted the vehicle owner right away so I am not sure why you say we aren't willing to help, but this is about all we can do unfortunately and the vehicles insurance would be the one to cover something like this. If there is anything we can do to help find the vehicle, we will assist in whatever way we can.

  Customer response

  05/07/2024

   
  Complaint: ********  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  They are responsible based on the details of the video. I plan to proceed to next steps.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

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