Missing components, damaged components, poor communication, and possibly a missed diagnosis…read morerequiring a second trip to another shop: The *worst* service industry experience I've ever had:
1. I hate doing this. Julio is a personable guy and a good dude. I didn't want to have to do this.
2. Everything listed is fact. Where it is opinion, I will say so.
3. I will be pursuing a claim with the consumer protection agency which deals with auto repair services.
4. If my concerns had been addressed, #3 would not be needed.
In July, Julio did a scheduled maint and paint correction job for my 2016 991.1 Targa 4s. I was happy with the price and quality of his work and I enjoyed talking with him.
Several days later, I got a warning of a cooling system issue. The car was scheduled to ship two days later to Florida, where I recently moved to. Julio agreed to fix it in time for the car to get on the truck.
This was my first warning sign. I gave him the pickup time, and told him it had to be done by then. If not, that's ok, don't promise you can, I'll get it done in Florida. The morning of pickup, with the truck several hours out, he completely went dark on communication. Zero response. The driver was asking me if it was ready and I couldn't tell him. Eventually Julio got back to me, and I convinced the driver to wait at the shop for the car to get finished.
Julio was upfront with me that he needed to use a used component to do the repair, a coolant valve. I appreciated his honesty. It was probably more expensive than what it would have been if he had the right parts, because, in his own words, if he had the parts on hand, he would have just replaced all the valves instead of having to test each one, which drove up labor cost. I probably overpaid by a few hundred. Not a huge problem. Around $1100.00. I was happy he was able to get it done in time to ship the car.
Key point: The car was loaded onto the carrier truck directly at his shop, I did not see the car from the time to drop off until I arrived in Florida about two weeks later.
Nobody drove the car, it sat at my new residence. My friend had the key. I know nobody drove it because I have a tracking device on the car.
When I drove it for the first time, I noticed a rattling sound from the back engine purge fan. I noticed that one of the fans was it was not seated correctly and impacting the housing which encases the fans, was also not seated correctly. The housing appeared to be misshaped. In addition, one of the side panels which attaches to the side of the purge fan housing assembly was missing. See photos.
I called Julio. He admitted to having that missing piece at his shop, he forgot to put it back. But he denied any possibility of having damaged the purge fan, housing, or put them back on incorrectly. His words, exactly: "I've been in this business a long time, anything can happen." Nobody drove that car from the time it went on the carrier until I drove it in Florida. Sure, the carrier truck driver could have popped the engine access lid and tampered with it, why would he? Given that a piece of the assembly was missing, admittedly in Julio's shop, it is my opinion he installed it incorrectly.
In September, he finally sent me a new purge fan, the one which was not seated correctly was damaged. He did not send me a new housing, which I requested. The existing one is not able to be snapped back into place. It's warped.
It is now nearly November and he still has not sent me the part which he admitted is in his shop.
In late August, I got another coolant system warning. Tucker Motorsports in Ocala, reputable shop, did a diagnostic and repair. A coolant exhaust flap was defective. They said this problem was likely directly related to and present at the time Julio replaced the coolant valve. Gemini AI also concurs. Opinion: He likely missed this problem. That's ok. We talked on the phone and he said send the diagnostic, he was willing to consider a partial reimbursement. I sent him that in September. We still haven't talked about it and he hasn't reimbursed me anything. This new repair, which was, in my opinion, probably avoidable had he noticed it, cost an extra $911.00
I have texted and called him dozens of times. I still don't have the missing part. The fan housing assembly doesn't fit. I will have to buy a new one out of my own pocket, as well as the side piece he refuses to ship. See photos.
There are several other independent shops in Fresno, one of which I have used in the past. I regret not using them. Caveat emptor.