Santa Fe Auto Repair

Hi Joseph, I want to make sure anyone who reads this review understands the full context of your situation. You brought your car in because it wasn't starting, which is all of the information you gave us at the time. We diagnosed the problem as a faulty starter, and you approved the starter replacement. We installed a new starter, and as soon as the engine started there was oil pumping out from a melted oil filter adapter/cooler housing. This made a huge mess for us to clean up, and I'd guess you knew there was another problem related to overheating, which would have been good to know but was not provided. Anyway, at this point you approved the repair to replace that part, we fixed it and let you know that there were signs of other plastic parts melted that we suspect were from an overheat event. That was the end of the work done on your car, at which point you let it sit on our lot for 3 months, only coming to retrieve it and pay the bill for the work you approved after paperwork was filed for a mechanic's lien. We tried to contact you many times during those 3 months with no response, and storage fees added up at $10 per day. I waived a large portion of those fees when your father came in to pay for the work we did and pick up the car (total was $2k with those fees before tax) so if you'd picked it up when we finished the work you would have saved $300. The car started and drove out of here, which it wouldn't do when it came in, and we fixed the massive oil leak from the melted oil filter adapter. You drove the car for ~45 miles after picking it up, and overheated it to the point of catastrophic failure, seizing the engine. This was not a result of any of the work we did, and you told us there were no overheating events prior to bringing it in. In my view, this 1 star review is an unfair rating and when you know the whole story I think our valued customers and prospective new customers will agree. I can certainly understand your frustration in repairing the starter and the oil filter housing, only to have the engine overheat shortly after picking it up, but you have to realize and understand that those repairs were made with your approval to fix the problems at hand. If we had known the engine had cooling issues or overheating history, our service advisor would have certainly given advice to reflect that information. We didn't "take your money", you paid for the work we completed that you agreed to pay for (3 months after it was done), and I'm sorry for your unfortunate engine failure, but it was certainly not at the fault of the new starter or the oil filter housing. I'd be happy to discuss any of this further with you if you'd like, you can reach me most days at the shop.