I was recommended to Vic by the then pastor of my church. He held Vic in very high esteem. So, I thought, what could go wrong. As it turns out, plenty...to the tune of approximately $13,000.00. I had the ultimate trust for Vic through the majority of our relationship. Somewhere along the line, my 2002 Nissan pickup developed an oil leak. The oil would leak onto the floor of my garage. I lived with this for quite some time. I used to go by Vic's and he would give me free oil. Vic advised me that the oil leak undoubtedly meant I would need a new engine. Since I had implicit trust for Vic, I did not doubt his word. At one point, I decided I would have Vic put a new engine in my Nissan truck. Trying to keep the cost down as much as I possibly could, Vic and I decided that, if I fronted him cash, I would not pay tax on the total. The estimate was $8000.00. I went to the credit union and withdrew the $8000.00. Being completely lazy and naive when it comes to cars, I did not get a second estimate or opinion on my truck. I simply trusted Vic. I turned the truck over to Vic and rented a car, adding another $750.00 to my total outlay. Vic was also going to do a lot of other work on the truck to upgrade. For example, put in a new clutch. As I remember, the job took about 10 days to 2 weeks. All excited, I picked up my truck. The excitement vanished quickly as I had to pay $2,000.00 more on top of the estimate. I drove the truck out onto Foothill Blvd. A mile or so into my inaugural trip with my 'new' engine, the smell of leaking coolant permeated the cab. I stopped at, what is now, O'Reilly Auto Parts at Foothill and Rosemont in La Crescenta. I opened the hood and coolant was leaking everywhere. Knowing nothing about cars, I called a fix it friend of mine who came and helped me figure out what was wrong. A pipe that runs between the dashboard and engine had broken. This pipe, or 'coil' as I found out later, is the heating/air coil. In the process of 'installing' my 'new engine,' the mechanic had broken the pipe. The pipe was jimmied back in place using some caulking type jell that was supposed to keep the pipe in place. As soon as I drove the truck, the pipe broke. I took the truck back to Vic who denied that his mechanic had broken the pipe though he would gladly fix it free of charge. Problem...when fixing the pipe/coil, they didn't do the job correctly, they just jimmied the coil back together with the same jell. Fast forward a few years later, the pipe finally broke again. I had pretty much decided never to go back to Vic, so I bit the bullet and went to Glendale Nissan. The service guy fingered the problem right away, explaining how Vic's place had jimmied the pipe. He said the problem with the job, to do the job right, would cost $1500.00. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I thought, why didn't I go to a dealership long ago. Whatever work they did on the heating/air coil was finished beautifully. When I was settling up with the service guy at GN, I asked if there was any evidence that a new engine had been put in my truck. The tech was questioned, and he said no. I was not upset enough. I emailed Vic, confronting him with the broken heating/air coil and the info that no new engine had been put in my car. I should have kept the emails, but I did not. Vic denied everything, and, since it had been a few years, I could see this was going to go nowhere. I felt Vic should give me half of my money back to make things right. Well, the Vic thing doesn't die. Recently, very unfortunately, I had to spend $3500.00 at Glendale Nissan to keep my truck running well. After I had paid for the job, I asked the service guy if he would take me out to the garage so I could ask the tech a question. The service guy walked me out. I asked the tech, "is there any evidence that I have a new, or even rebuilt engine in my truck?" He said, "no." I was talking to a work colleague who said I should take Vic to small claims court even though a lot of time has passed. As I remember, I asked Vic for the invoices for the work done on my truck. I asked specifically for the 'new' engine invoice. He sent some number, but not the actual invoice itself. Even at my last oil change at Nissan of Van Nuys, I asked a service manager if I could find the invoice for the 'new' engine. He said that the Nissan dealership should have a record of a new engine being purchased. Perhaps, the new engine mystery will be solved in my life after this latest query. I see Vic has many positive reviews. I challenge him to make things right with me. It all started with the broken heating/air coil. How could the only person who had the truck deny that they broke the coil? Then, offer to fix it free of charge? Ludicrous. Did they think no one would see the caulking/jell they used to jimmy the part back together?
I'm praying I find a mechanic who can keep my truck running well who is honest. read more