Save yourself the time, money, and trouble. This man cannot keep his stories straight and blatantly misrepresents work done.
In August, we bought a Passat with no license plates. One day after purchase, the check engine light came on. We took it to our mechanic who ran diagnostics and found that the secondary air pump and valve were non-functioning. I called Paul and asked if the car had been through DEQ yet. He answered, "Uh, gosh, um...the Passat. I don't really know. I'm sure the old owners did it....I'll check with my bookkeeper. She isn't here right now." Mind you, this was ONE day after we bought the car and he couldn't remember if he took it through DEQ or not. When he got back to me, he acknowledged that no, it had not yet passed DEQ and to "bring it back in so I can fix it".
At that point, I'm sure he reset the check engine light rather than repairing it and it came on again the next day. Took it back again. He returned it with the light off again and followed up with a phone call to "Take it through DEQ by noon tomorrow". Gee, I wonder why. After noon the next day, the light came on again. Took it back to Paul AGAIN. All the while, he refused to acknowledge what my mechanic said: that both the air pump AND valve needed to be replaced or the pump would take on water and burn out again. He said, "That's what YOUR mechanic says."
This time, the light stayed off for 5 days and several hundred miles of driving. Took it through DEQ and it passed. Right after that, the underside engine cover fell off while I was driving. There were no bolts holding in place. When I called Paul and asked if the mechanics had accessed the engine via the underside he said, "Gosh, I don't know" despite having told my husband a few days earlier that that is exactly where they accessed the part. I managed to temporarily fix the cover until I could get to Diamond. When I asked him to fix it, he said, "Gosh, it's going to be an hour." I said, "I'll wait." Then, miraculously, he checked with the guys on the other side of his shop and, what do you know, they were able to replace the bolts within 5 minutes.
Check engine light came on the next day. Just found out that Paul merely had the pump replaced and not the valve which means the pump burned out again. Because he refused to properly repair the car for an additional small amount of money, he is now receiving this negative rating (if i could give zero stars, I would). He fulfilled his legal obligation to get the car through DEQ, how he did it was a smack in the face to us. I wouldn't risk buying a paperclip from this guy. Next stop: complaint to the Attorney General who, oh by the way, already has one on file from 2012 for the SAME issue: selling cars that can't pass DEQ. read more