ComplaintsforCityWide Towing

• Initial Complaint

  10/14/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 7/29/2024 the amount of $397.39 was paid for to remove and replace engine knock sensor on my vehicle. My car was running just fine before I took it in, once I left the shop and drove off I got stranded and my car has never worked the same since. I took my car back and they told me I needed to go to the ***** dealership and get my car reprogrammed. The ***** dealership told me that they were wrong. That they messed up my electrical system somehow and pretty much ruined my car. But they refused to fix the problem. Ultimately I took my car in for something minor and got it back broken. Now Im without transportation. Im disabled and ********* paid to have this work done on my car, so I am very upset. And it has been very obvious when to talk with them that Im treated differently because Im a woman with a disability.

  Business response

  10/15/2024

  On or about 7/25/2024 *** ****** **********came into our office with a story as well as a statement. To paraphrase the conversation, she had someone (other than our shop) diagnose and repair her vehicle in which the issue was not resolved. *** ******** stated: The vehicle would have an intermittent starting issue and the engine knock sensor was to blame. Our shop found this to be an odd statement.  When they discussed this oddity with ************ she was adamant that, "She knew what was wrong with her vehicle and will not be charged diagnosis for her telling us what was the problem".

  
  We then advised *** ********** of the national standards of labor time for the service she was requesting was 2.3 hours and that our shop rates were $150 an hour. We also advised the job calls for removing the intake so there would be a gasket and additional coolant necessary to complete the job she requested. *** ********** explained me she had watched a ******* video and saw someone had done the job without removing the intake.  We explained we could try that method and IF successful, we would not need the extra parts to which she agreed. We then provided her a quote of the estimated total job cost.  She stated she would get her own parts to which we highly advised against as we would not be able to warranty the craftmanship or quality of the parts. She understood but still wanted to go with her own parts.  We advised her of the proper gasket kit to purchase for the intake removal.  
  On 7/26/2024 *** **********called back to confirm the full gasket set would be needed to which we confirmed it would. *** ********** then came in on 7/29/2024 with parts and ready for labor to be completed. She brought with her a representative from her church who paid for service up front with a check.

  
    Prior inspection of the engine knock sensor on the vehicle, it was apparent someone had previously attempted a repair as the single wire connector was spliced and held together with tape.  The connection to the sensor itself was a modified splice consisting of a female blade terminal. To correct this issue,our shop had to solder and heat-shrink the new connector for a proper connection and install the new customer provided engine knock sensor.
  The customer called later to check the status of the repair to which we responded it had just been completed.  The customer inquired as to how long the job actually took and we explained the work was completed in just under an hour.  The customer became extremely irritated and frustrated that her church paid for 2.3 hours of labor when we the job had only taken a fraction of that time. We informed the customer that national labor standards are book times set as a guideline of how long a typical job such as this should take by an average technician.  We charge according to those guidelines because it has taken years to develop the skills, knowledge, tools, etc. to complete a job under the standard. The customer said she would discuss further when she came to pick up her vehicle.

  
  *** **********arrived later that afternoon to pick her up her vehicle but made no further conversation, just picked up her vehicle, signed the invoice and left.  A few days later, the *** **********called stating her vehicle left her stranded in ***********, and she was certain it was caused because of the repair performed in our shop.  We informed her that if she brought her vehicle back in, we would gladly inspect the work completed to determine if the breakdown was caused by the repair from our shop. The customer agreed and hung up the phone.   

  
  Several days later we received another phone call from a woman claiming to be a mediator in the matter between *** ********** & our shop.  We discussed the original complaint of the quoted shop labor and actual time taken to complete the repair.  Once she was satisfied with the response, the mediator brought up the vehicle breaking down in Federal Way to which we replied that we had previously advised *** ********** she could bring her vehicle back in, and we would be more than happy to inspect the work we completed. She agreed to have *** ********** bring her vehicle back in.

  
  The vehicle arrived back in the shop and of course we made it priority to inspect the previous repair.  We used a multi-meter test tool to perform a continuity test between the connection to the factory harness and the connection to the customer supplied knock sensor. The test revealed a solid connection with a .1 ohm reading. We concluded the repair she had originally asked for was done satisfactorily and the issue with her vehicle is caused by something else.  We called and informed the *** ********** of our findings and she said she would be in to pick up her vehicle.

  
  *** ********** arrived later that day to pick up her vehicle, but the vehicle would not start. We donated two additional hours of shop labor, in good faith, to help diagnose the problem, in good faith. Upon further diagnosis, we concluded there was an intermittent electronic issue of sorts and she may want to take her vehicle to the dealership to have her engine computer analyzed. *** ********** got in her vehicle and drove away.
  The entire time the *** **********was here while we were trying to determine the cause of her intermittent electrical issue, she was on her phone discussing the situation in a very hushed manner.  She kept looking over at the shop employees in disgust.  It was obvious she did not believe what we were trying to tell her. 

  
  To conclude, the repair we performed was to replace the engine knock sensor, supplied by *** *************** This is a ground sensor controlled by a ********* battery voltage is passed through this sensor to the engine computer. When the sensor is triggered, it will supply a ground signal to that pin of the engine computer. We soldered one ground wire so there would be connection to the engine knock sensor.  It is not possible to short-out the engine computer with the repair completed by our establishment. 

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