My car failed the smog check in late January for too high NO content. Using the BAR Consumer Assistance Program and funds, I took it to the gold shield shop La Mesa Auto Care. They did an evaluation and told me that the car needed a new catalytic converter and that the old one had worn out.
My car had been experiencing intermittent idling/acceleration problems for the first few minutes after start up. I told the shop owner/manager that I was concerned that the issue that was causing the other engine problems, which had been evident at the time of drop-off (I demonstrated the problem) may have ruined the converter and that it would just do the same to the new converter unless the problem was fixed. He assured me that it was just a worn out converter problem and that from his engine analysis the problem could not/would not damage the converter. He stated that the idling problems had nothing to do with failing the smog check and that his responsibility was to get the car through the smog check not to fix other problems. He also stated that the converter came with a 5 year warranty. When specifically asked if that 5 year warranty included labor he stated that it did and that I would just need to bring the car back to him for any warranty work. To be clear, I reiterated that the labor warranty would also be for 5 years, and he said unequivocally "yes, it is".
With that assurance, I agreed to the work (replacing the catalytic convertor) for a total of $736.26 even though I could have had the converter replaced at a muffler shop for under $250 - I quoted two other places including the one they bought the converter from. I did the work with La Mesa Auto Care because the owner assured me that if I let them do the work he would do "whatever was necessary" to get the car through the smog check.
Two and a half weeks later, after numerous calls from me checking on its status only to be told it still failed the smog check and that they were trying to find out why, the owner said they had found the problem and that it would go through the smog check that afternoon, which he assured me it would pass.
When I arrived that afternoon, the owner showed me the results that had the car was producing half the emission levels of before, FAR lower than the car had had for the previous 12 years even after the previous catalytic converter replacement. He gave me the warranty card (all three copies) half completed with his shop info/signature only and told me I needed to fill it out and send it in, on my own.
When I went to drive the car away after paying, I discovered that the idling problem was still there and as bad as ever.
Again, the shop owner said that the problem was not smog related and would not effect the smog output.
Over the next several months I drove the car rarely, instead driving our spare car while I attempted to diagnose the problem. After 4-5 months the converter developed a rattle. I took the car to the same repair shop and had the mechanic look at it and he confirmed that it had a rattle and that there was some internal damage. He said that "as far as he knows" the warranty was only for 90 days and that since the owner was not there I would have to talk to the owner.
The car was running fine at that point, but still had the rattling converter. On the way to work one day (approximately 7 months after the converter replacement) the engine bogged down and I was barely able to limp the car home. I found it ran well when I disconnected the exhaust system and that the converter must be blocked, preventing the airflow the engine needs.
When I called the shop owner, he claimed that he only had to honor the shops 90 day warranty and denied having told me otherwise. He said that something may have caused an engine problem that ruined the converter instead of an internal malfunction anyway, even though he had insisted before I agreed to the work that that would not be the case. When I pointed that out, he said that it could have been some other problem that ruined it, which is obviously how he planned on getting out of his responsibility from the beginning.
After talking with an ASE certified technician from the California Bureau of Automotive Repair, he said that a rattling noise means an internal structural failure and that the state law requires the shop to warranty the labor for 5 years. He also stated that the shop should have fixed the underlying problem to ensure the converter would not get damaged an any case, and that I should report their failure to do so to the administrators of the CAP program.
Again, the shop owner denies that the problem is warrantied and insists that I would have to pay for a diagnosis and for the repairs. read more
