I had my car diagnosed as needing an evaporator core replaced to fix the a/c by my regular mechanic. My regular mechanic told me the whole dash would need to be taken out to replace the evap core, but since they didn't have a great deal of experience doing this repair, I called a couple other repair shops.
Tony at Claflin motors claimed to have all of this experience doing this type of repair, so I took it to them. After having my car for 2 days for a six hour repair, I was called to pick it up. Immediately I noticed issues with the car. They hadn't tested anything out to make sure it was put together right before I picked it up.
Also, when they started the repair they sent me a link that they said I would be able to watch the repair process and see pictures....that never happened. If they had taken pictures of the process they would have been able to put things back together correctly the first time.
I agreed to bring the car back the following Monday as it was late on a Friday when I picked it up. I immediately noticed that the climate control panel was not working correctly, my Bluetooth mic wasn't working, the steering controls for my radio wasn't working and wires were hanging out here and there, not properly reinstalled.
Over the weekend I noticed that the air vents were not working correctly either, like changing to defrost or to floor, etc. They kept my car for an additional 2 days to fix these things they did not do correctly.
When I picked up the car again, after 4 days of work my DVD bypass and DVD player was still not working on the car. I had my radio professionally installed at Audio Masters and everything worked perfectly. The point of installing a DVD bypass is so that your DVD player will play while the car is in motion, so that my grandkids or passengers could watch a movie while on trips.
Obviously I wouldn't have paid to have a DVD bypass installed if there was anything wrong with my DVD player. I took the car back to Audio Masters and they said the bypass wiring had been cut, which they fixed, however the DVD still isn't working for some reason. I have no idea what Claflin did or didn't do to it, I just know it worked when I took it in to them and now it doesn't.
All I asked is for the car be in the same working condition that it was when I dropped it off at Claflin, but I was given the most ridiculous analogies and commentary about why they were not going to make things right. Here are some of the things I was told:
When I first told Tony the issues he told me, "Well the car is 15 years old, what do you expect, of course it's not going to be totally right when it's put back together as old as it is." Age has nothing to do with the fact that they never reconnected my steering controls or radio controls properly or didn't put the wires back right.
I was told, "well, it's because you have aftermarket parts and that's not our problem". Well, if it's a factory radio or aftermarket is beside the point because you still have to plug things back up correctly, that has nothing to do with anything being aftermarket.
Then when it comes to the wiring he said, we're mechanics, not radio people. We're not experts on hiding wires like an audio shop, so that's not our fault. Hmm, maybe they shouldn't take on repairs that they are not qualified to do!
When it comes to the climate control that is jacked up now, I was told, "Even the Toyota forums don't know how to fix that, so that's not our problem either." Tony point blank lied, at first he told me he looked through the Toyota forums and couldn't find a solution, then he forgot what he told me and later told me that he spoke to Toyota technicians that didn't even know how to fix it. Reading a forum for an answer to not an exact situation as removing the dashboard then having issues, is not an excuse to say, too bad, too sad.
Also, as a precautionary step I had them replace my expansion valve, which is also under the dash. There was nothing wrong with mine, but I did it as preventative, so I'd never have to have the dash removed again.
They have refused to provide proof that they even replaced that part and refuse to provide a receipt where they claimed they bought that part from the Toyota dealership. That is very shady. I do not believe they even replaced it since they refused to provide receipts and never showed me the old part and never provided repair photos as they claimed they would.
I tried to reason with Tony to do the right thing and I heard more ridiculous analogies like:
"If a plumber installed a water heater and the next day the pipes were leaking at the repair, would the plumber be responsible for it?" NO says Tony, it wouldn't be the plumbers fault. Uh, yes it would be!
Also, he said, "When you perform open heart surgery, you have to expect complications after the fact and that's not our fault".
This has been an extremely horrible experience. read more
