Peak Auto Repair

In the spring of 2019, my Subaru Outback had over 200,000 miles on it, and I needed to decide whether to buy a new car or replace the motor in my current one. So in the spring of 2020, I hired D.T., the previous owner of Clunker Auto LLC, to do an engine swap. Clunker had done regular oil changes and maintenance in 2019 before selling the business and becoming Peak Auto Repair at the start of 2020. Therefore, Peak Auto Repair performed the engine swap, as confirmed by the invoices. They were supposed to replace the old motor with a newer Subaru motor (with 40k miles) and also replace all the surrounding components like the timing belt, gaskets, spark plugs, fuel injectors, and more. My partner, who knows more about cars than I do, negotiated the details with D.T. and spoke directly with the mechanics, W.P. and his associate, who were assigned to do the job. I paid $2,901.17 for the work, but I noticed that the car didn't feel or sound right. When I took the car back to Peak, I found out that D.T. had quit, leaving W.P. in charge. For the next few months, we kept taking the car back to Peak to figure out why it wasn't running properly. Eventually, we discovered that despite replacing all the major components around the engine, the air intake system was in a terrible state. There were cracked hoses taped closed, and one hose was completely clamped shut. Without proper air intake, the engine couldn't run correctly, and other systems were damaged as a result. These mistakes not only cost me more for repairs but also put me and my passengers in potential danger. What's even more concerning is that these oversights went unnoticed for over six months, even though we repeatedly took the car back to the same mechanics who were responsible for the work. After all, who better to figure out what's wrong with the engine than the people who installed it? On December 14, I took the car back to Peak and specifically asked them to address the air intake system. They gave me an estimate of $1,600, which made me very angry. When my partner went to pick up the car, W.P. admitted that the job had been rushed and swept under the rug under D.T.'s supervision. At that point, I took the car to another shop for a second opinion, and I was shocked by what they found. Peak had failed to connect any of the intake hoses properly and had even placed the engine on top of critical intake hoses, causing them to crease and block airflow. Several hoses were cracked, taped, or clamped shut. I've already paid over $900 at another shop to have the intake system fixed correctly, but I still don't know the full extent of the damage caused by Peak's negligence. What I do know is that I'll have to replace the entire timing belt assembly again, costing an additional $700. The total cost of repairing the damage caused by Peak Auto is $1,600. Peak Auto rushed the job and cut corners, even though we explicitly told them to do whatever was necessary to make the system run properly, regardless of cost. W.P. claims that D.T. is solely responsible for all the problems with my car and that he never worked on it during the engine swap. This is not true and is an unnecessary evasion. It doesn't matter which technicians were involved. Peak Auto is clearly responsible for this negligence. All of this makes me doubt the overall business practices of Peak Auto. It makes me wonder if I've been lied to about other expensive operations that may not have been necessary. In 2020, I spent nearly $5,000 on maintenance with Peak, only to end up with a car that doesn't run properly because they didn't perform the necessary operations. I've been patient throughout this whole process, giving them the benefit of the doubt at every step. I continued taking the car to Peak despite their mistakes, and they never mentioned these problems until I brought them up in December. I tried to negotiate directly with Peak to resolve the situation, but they refused to cooperate. I've been polite and reasonable despite the recurring issues I faced with Peak in 2020. It saddens me that I have to take this kind of action. I'm not a petty person and dislike legal disputes, but this situation is far from petty. Peak Auto and its employees knowingly committed fraud against me. They promised one thing, did another, and took my money. I asked Peak for a reasonable compensation of $800 to cover the costs of repairing the damage, but they refuse to accept any responsibility for damaging my property and putting me in danger. Therefore, on January 21, I am filing a complaint with the ComplaintsBoard.com as the first step in resolving these damages.