This is a saga. And it's still ongoing.
My car died in September 2018 while on I-80 and I had it towed here after seeing supposedly good reviews on Yelp. After finding out I needed an entirely new motor, I left the car there until I figured out what I wanted to do. Less than a week later, I decided having a new motor put in was my best option. The owner, Beto, left it up to me to locate and purchase said motor to have sent to the shop. That should have been my first red flag. Who gives the customer that kind of responsibility? Well, as the story goes, I pay $1200 out of my own pocket an engine eventually ends up at the shop. Beto thinks it may not be a perfect fit and and has many issues trying to get it installed. Let it be known that at this point I had been promised it would be ready by a certain date and the day I show up, the mechanic is still tinkering with it, to no avail. I truly am understanding and say I will have to schedule another time (keep in mind, I live 600 miles away) to come pick it up. He also makes me pay $1200 in labor for his mechanic who spent "countless hours working on it." Fast forward a month and a half later and still no luck. He claims to have had every mechanic in Elko give it a try and NO ONE could figure out what was wrong. The next step is now for HIM to locate and purchase (with my money, $1300, up front) a NEW engine for him to give another go with. At this point, I've paid $3700 of my hard-earned money with still NO CAR. He also still has the first engine, that he'd like to keep on hand, "just in case" he may need parts from it. (It's already beyond the warranty timeline for me getting my money back for the first engine at this point, and I'm already feeling hardcore screwed over).
So the second engine arrives sometime in January 2019 and after weeks of not hearing from him, I take it upon myself to call to get a status update and only then do I find out that this second engine "has a bad head" and has to be sent back and a new engine procured. So, MORE WAITING while new engine gets ordered. Fast forward a month and a half later with still NO COMMUNICATION on their end until I call to find out what's going on. Guess what? No engine ever arrived. A week after this, after ME calling back again, he tells me that engine got lost in the shuffle; just disappeared. I'm starting to think I'm getting taken for a fool. Meanwhile, he still has FIRST engine, which I make him send back ASAP (he tries to wrangle shipping money out of me, which I adamantly resist) and engine is sent back. After communication with the company I purchased this first engine from and trying to explain the situation, they agree to give me a full refund, only if the engine is in the same condition as when sent out. Guess what?! Engine arrives back to seller and the engine is DEAD - they can't get a read out of it; it has no head pressure. So right there, I'm denied the $1200 I was desperately expecting to get back.
Fast forward to July 2019 (10 months from originally having car towed there). I get a call that the car should be ready. I call several times to make sure it will be ready, because it involved me booking a flight and securing a ride from SLC to get to Elko to pick it up. After much effort, I arrive at the shop and guess what? Beto is conveniently out of town. I did not get a chance to ask necessary questions and ensure that he can give me any warranty of his work. (I didn't even get 500 miles away until the "new" water pump failed + $600 repair upon getting home). From that point on, he's ignored any effort to get in touch, including after me sending the bad parts and repair bill to him after a half-assed offer of potentially giving me a refund on at least the parts and labor of second new water pump.
This is really only half the story, but my post is too long. Currently (as of July 2020) I'm out $5000+ and left with a car with a bad head gasket that is out of commission.
THIS ENTIRE SITUATION HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE and has drained me of money, time and hope. Please avoid this shop like the plague.
I sadly still have hope Beto will do the right thing and pay me back the $$$ I am owed. read more