Scamming shop??

E

EXQZME

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Hey LVC I need some input on this situation I'm in Thanks in advance.

So about four weeks ago I posted on here about my trans not engaging into reverse or D5.

Anyhow I took it in to a shop last Monday morning (sep 29th) and they promised me it will be ready the next evening, no later than Wednesday morning. Well Wednesday afternoon came around I didn't get a single call from this shop. I called right before they closed and no one answered. The next day (Thursday) I called in the morning and they said "we are almost done, we just need to refill with fluid, we'll give you a call", I waited all day, nothing. I had to go to class so I couldn't call back the rest of the day. Friday came around, I called and they said "hey they brought us the wrong type of fluid, so we are waiting on the right one to get here, as soon as it gets here we will fill her up so you can take it" and again they said "we'll call you". This time they did call me back but only to tell me that "the fluid never got delivered, so it will be ready tomorrow (Saturday) morning, come at 9am and the car would be ready". I called Saturday morning and they said "hey the fluid just got here so they are gonna fill her up right now, we'll call you like in 15 mins" I agreed and hung up. 1 hour passed by and they still had not called me back. I decided not to call back and just show up. I showed up around 12:30 and when I walked in they looked kind of surprised. Right away one of the guys that works the front said "hey they just brought it back from a test drive, and the transmission is kicking a lot when it shifts, so I'm gonna have one of my mechanics change the solenoids, it will only take 20 mins" I said "ok".

Well a whole hour passed by since I had arrived and it still wasn't ready. I asked if it was almost done and they told me "the mechanic is having a hard time removing the exhaust to drop the pan to get to the solenoid, plus the car is really hot so he is letting cool down". At this point I was already thinking all kinds of crazy sh**.

2:30 came around, I was still waiting and the mechanic comes out and says "I'm still having trouble trying to reach in there because the car is really hot" at this point the other guy steps in and asks the mechanic "do you think it will cool down in time before we close?" (they close at 3pm on Saturdays) then the mechanic says " I don't know, I hope so"
I this point I told the guy "look man you promised me 2 days and now were in the 5th day, wtf?" I told him I needed the car today, they guy said "don't worry you will take it today".

At 4:30pm the LS finally drove out, they took it for a test drive and the mechanic came back and said "it is still kicking hard when it shifts, so bring it back next week so we can try another solenoid and what not". I took the car home and on the way home it just drives like crap. Not to mention rough idle, like misfire (no check engine yet).

when going from 1st to 2nd, it bogs once it is in 2nd and then engages into 2nd and does the same bogging going from 2nd to 3rd. 3rd to 4th kicks super hard, and once in 5th gear if i give it a lil more gas to pass up someone it wont downshift to 4th like before.

what I am thinking now is that these guys probably didn't even change the transmission and only changed things around inside the trans and charged me $900
The only reason I brought it to this shop, is because they were the only ones that could do it in 2 days with a 90 day warranty, as compared to other shops that needed 4 days with only 30 day warranty.

So is there anything I can do to see if they really changed out the trans? I could already hear them say when I ask for my old one that they threw it away or something.
 
When did they say they would change out the transmission? You only stated they were replacing internal parts.

That doesn't really sound like a scam as much as poor communication and poor understanding of the car. I'd think they thought they could fix it in 2 days, but ran into problems because the LS is difficult like that. The exhaust runs right past the transmission, so it's believable that it's hot and in the way. Even if the coolant doesn't even move the gauge, the exhaust get's real hot real fast. The transmission itself also generates a fair amount of heat. Being at least an 8 year old car, there's a good chance most of the exhaust hardware is rusted.

Unfortunately, accurately estimating the time to fix a car is pretty difficult without having the car. It sounds like they promised you 2 day turn around before seeing the car.

Someone else will have to chime in about the hard shifting, though, if they replaced the solenoid and/or transmission. I can only speak about the 40-50mph bucking resulting from a misfire even though it feels like a transmission problem. Regardless, you should get on that misfire. Motorcraft coils and labor should be about $500-600. Cats are $900 and still require new coils.
 
Sorry I left that out, I went to 3 different shops before this and they all said it would be cheaper to get a good used trans swapped out than to rebuild it, one of them being my uncle's shop, but he couldn't do it because he was tied up with other jobs. so when I got to this particular shop (it is actually a salvage yard) they saw and test drove my car before the job. Thats when they told me it would be $600 for the used trans and $300 for labor.

The misfire is what I'm also worried about since it was running fine before this. I can't think of anything that involves changing/working on the transmission to directly affect the COP's.

One other thing, while I was there waiting, this one guy walked in asking to see if his car was ready that he dropped of 2 weeks ago. I heard how they were giving him the run around too, the guy left and they told him it would be ready monday. Another guy walked in asking if his refund was ready, the guy in the front told him that his "boss" had just left and that he will have to wait till Monday to get his refund (funny because I never saw nobody leave). Both of these guys looked really pissed off. Before the second guy left I asked him what was his refund all about and he said that for the last 2 weeks they had been working on his car and that they swapped out the trans 3 times (according to them) and still had trans problems, so he just asked for his money back ($1000) which he has came back 3 days in a row to get it.

When I witnessed this, I was like "F***, they got me too".
 
Might ask them for a refund since they didn't fix it correctly. If they give you any hassle, contact your local Attorney General. Chances are the AG is familiar with these guys, and a call from them will get you sorted out quickly.

Then, just bite the bullet and get a crate trans installed. Yes, it will cost a mint. No, you shouldn't have any problems after. This is assuming one is available.

So far as the coils go, par for the course. Something under the hood got touched, therefore you need new coils and plugs.
 
Well, I went back today, and no luck. They told me they were backed up with other jobs and to come back Monday.
I guess this is what happens when you don't read yelp ahead of time. Haha
 

I'll take "Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe on a possible good transmission from a salvage yard" for $900 Alex!




~ I can just see them now, doing rails on the bench in the back. (come back Monday)


Ask your Uncle for help NOW, get your LS out of there!!!
 
The exhaust is NOT in the way of the pan - speaking from experience. You got chiseled out of $900. Shops like this is why I DIY everything.
 
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