My mother recently had her car serviced at Tuffy Auto Care. She brought her car in for an oil change and was up sold a $250 replacement of her timing belt. At the time she was given this horror story of if the belt brakes you are going to be left stranded and engine will suffer severe damage.
About three months after the work was completed she suffered the exact failure she was warned against.
The car was towed to another Tuffy Auto Care center. We have been advised that the repair cost will now be $3200.
The found that the tensioner pulley for the timing belt broke which intern broke the timing belt. We were also told by both the Pep Boys and the other Tuffy that it is normal and recommended that the pulley be replaced when replacing the belt, in fact the items are normally sold as a single line item kit.
She was never recommended or even mentioned to her about replacing the pulley. Subsequent follow up by my mother, she was told by the district manager that the mechanic looked at the pulley originally and though it was ok.
It is my belief that Tuffy was negligent in the service they performed. The mechanics failed to recommend or even offer the typical service and instead relied on a substandard visual inspection of a plastic pulley. This negligence directly caused $3200 of damage to the car.
I had a conversation with the Tuffy that currently has the car and they are basically saying they are not going to do anything for her. A person for their corporate office looked at the car today and said it was between her and the local store. I attempted to contact the local store today but they were closed already. I will have try again in the morning.
How would you recommend I proceed?
About three months after the work was completed she suffered the exact failure she was warned against.
The car was towed to another Tuffy Auto Care center. We have been advised that the repair cost will now be $3200.
The found that the tensioner pulley for the timing belt broke which intern broke the timing belt. We were also told by both the Pep Boys and the other Tuffy that it is normal and recommended that the pulley be replaced when replacing the belt, in fact the items are normally sold as a single line item kit.
She was never recommended or even mentioned to her about replacing the pulley. Subsequent follow up by my mother, she was told by the district manager that the mechanic looked at the pulley originally and though it was ok.
It is my belief that Tuffy was negligent in the service they performed. The mechanics failed to recommend or even offer the typical service and instead relied on a substandard visual inspection of a plastic pulley. This negligence directly caused $3200 of damage to the car.
I had a conversation with the Tuffy that currently has the car and they are basically saying they are not going to do anything for her. A person for their corporate office looked at the car today and said it was between her and the local store. I attempted to contact the local store today but they were closed already. I will have try again in the morning.
How would you recommend I proceed?