On 06/10/2017, I brought my Dodge Grand Caravan to Bayside CJ, LLC (212-19 Northern Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361 / 718-229-8700) for maintenance. The other names this company goes by are: Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge INC; D/B/A Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Bayside Chrysler Jeep INC; Bayside Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram; Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge; D/B/A Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Bayside Auto Service; Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge d/b/a.
This is by far the worst experience that I've ever had at a car shop.
I asked for an engine oil change, a New York State inspection, and a fix for a minor engine oil leak. About 3 hours later, a shop representative (Scott Levine, ID 64898 was on the invoice) called me and said that he needed to discuss my car's issues with me, so I went back to the shop. It was then that Scott told me that I needed to change the rear brake pads and rotors, the transmission oil pan, the engine oil pan. In addition, he said my car also needed throttle body and EFI services. The total cost would exceed $3000.
Many of Scott's recommended repairs seemed excessive and unnecessary to me. For example, I pointed out that rotors last much longer than brake pads. If indeed my car did need a change of brake pads (this would be my car's first brake pad change), there would be no reason to change the rotors at the same time. My car has a low mileage of 26,789 miles. I told Scott that I'd need a second opinion before deciding to do any repairs. At that point, he seemed to take a step back and agreed to return my car.
Scott had me wait for 30 minutes before returning my car. He said he gave me an oil change for free. I asked him if he did the State Inspection. "The inspection failed since the oil leak is not fixed," he replied. However, upon examining the State inspection document that Scott filled out, I saw that he listed the failed safety items to be the steeling, the suspension front end, and the chassis/frame. These were all issues that Scott hadn't discussed with me before.
In our discussion before he returned my car, Scott had claimed that my car's oil leak and its need for new brake pads were the reasons that my car failed the inspection. Yet, neither of these issues was listed on the State Inspection document that he filled out. I believe that after I told Scott I would need a second opinion from a third party before committing to spending $3000 on any repairs, he decided to retaliate by generating a false list of safety issues to fail my car inspection.
I drove my car home. The next day, I noticed a terrible oil leak from the engine. When I looked under my car, I realized that engine oil plug was totally loose. I was unable to fasten the oil plug any more. I believe the car shop damaged the oil plug by using excessive force during the oil change, and that the shop purposely exacerbated my car's leaking issue in retaliation for refusing to spend over $3000 for unnecessary repairs.
My car has a lifetime powertrain warranty that includes coverage for engine and transmission issues. I verbally informed the shop of this. Yet, the shop told me to pay over $3000 for repairs that included the engine oil pan and the transmission oil pan, even though my transmission didn't leak at all. Under the warranty, such repairs are free of charge. The shop would have made double the profit if I had paid out of pocket because it would receive compensation from the manufacturer due to the warranty as well.
The Bayside CJ, LLC is a scam. They tried to trick me into paying thousands of dollars for something totally covered by the manufacturer's lifetime warranty, and into making unnecessary repairs. Furthermore, they exacerbated my engine leaking instead of fixing it with the manufacturer' warranty services.
I filed a complaint with the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles after this awful experience. After an investigation, the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles sent an official warning letter to Bayside CJ, LLC.
I also filed a complaint with the Dodge manufacturer, FCA US LLC Customer Care. I included a copy of the official warning letter from the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles. The manufacturer will do an internal investigation of this event. read more