Repairs gone wrong (idle, credit, Audi, engine)

[unf0rgiven6262]

So I'm looking for some other perspectives and/or advice here. I told my wife that her car was due for a timing belt change and she went down to the shop near us that has done a few repairs without issue in the past. According to her she decided to change all the fluids as well. Wasn't exactly necessary but hey it's okay. When she came to pick up the car she said she forgot to mention that there was a squeak with the AC belt (only audible with AC on). They say "That's ok, we changed all of your belts anyway" and proceed to bring out some worn belts claiming to be from her car. They ask her to pay more than she was quoted and she flat out says no. They lower the bill to what was agreed upon first. Fine, except there have now a few sounds not present before. The AC belt was still squeaking, there is a slapping belt noise at idle and there was a rattle on acceleration. The car has been back twice now. They have tightened belts and supposedly changed the AC belt again. No AC squeal or rattle on acceleration now but the slapping belt noise at idle is still there. She is telling me they are basically trying to play it off as nothing and get her to go away. She is clearly upset and I'm left wondering if the timing belt job was done improperly with a shop unwilling take it apart and recheck their work. They say they have a 2 year warranty on all work done and she has unfortunately already paid her credit card bill with the mechanic charge on it. How would you proceed here?


Car is a 2007 Hyundai Accent with ~60,000 miles and despite the oddities is driving normally.

[Ed_RDNC]

The first shop: If its a national chain, they they should have a customer help line. Call them. make sure you're familiar with your wife's copy of the work order they should have generated from your wife's description of the work she wanted to happen, and their quoted pricing, that they should have then got signed by your wife.

If they don't make it right, then you need to confirm that there's actually something wrong with the car. Take it to a competitor and tell them the story, show them the Work Order, and have them examine and diagnose the car. If there are any problems that have a safety concern, get it fixed then, otherwise just get a written estimate to fix.

Note: Be happy it was paid for by credit card, because that gives you an option of doing a ChargeBack. That is something a credit card bank does when you order something and it doesn't arrive, or something wrong arrives, or you pay for services that don't happen. So that's a fallback that gives you leverage even before you need it.

If the first show doesn't fix it all, tell them that you'll take it back to the second shop, have it fixed, and make the first one pay for it. Also say you'll write bad reviews on Facebook, yelp, Google and all the other social media sites, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and the local government's business licensing committee.

The whole point of all this is to display to the store's manager that you're not going to be shy in spending time and effort getting things fixed. IE: you're not just going to go away.

Also, make sure you document everything that's said, take notes, photos, keep the parts they've given you, etc. You may even need to take them to small-claims court.

[duke944]

That Accent has an interference engine, meaning if the timing belt breaks or skips a tooth your motor is most likely going to end up destroyed. I'd have another shop go over the timing belt job asap if you suspect these noises are coming from it.

[mclasser]

They clearly messed up something. I'm wondering if that slapping noise is the timing belt hitting the timing cover. That'll damage the belt in short order, which like another poster said, can be disastrous on an interference engine.