I hate reviews and always prefer to form my own opinion through experience. My reason for writing this review is to showcase a situation (most likely rare) that happened here at Empey's in hopes that someone can explain how & when a business should or should not eat the cost on their work. My car spent a total of 1 month at Empey's. Halfway through the month I traveled home to retrieve the car only to make it 17 miles off Empey's parking lot before the car returned to its original issues. 2 weeks later I received a phone call stating, "we are throwing in the white towel, we cannot fix your car". A respectable phone call. My frustration came once I received the bill with a grand total of $3,459.07. Yes, parts and labor are all costs a business will accumulate but this car is now functioning the same as day 1. What did those parts do? I paid for an actuator, variable valve timing solenoid, and labor for both totaling $2,293.41. The remaining amount was more attempts at solving the issue which was ultimately unsuccessful but totaled $1,165.66. There was $700 cut from the grand total following a few conversations between myself and the GM. At what point does a company stand by their work or lack of and eat the cost of a failed attempt at fixing the vehicle? Not failed in the sense of driving the vehicle hundreds of miles post fix and having a few issues down the road but more along the failed sense line of "We are throwing in the white towel, we cannot fix your car" Parts were purchased, changed out, and are now one with the vehicle. However, these parts produced zero change in the function of the vehicle and my car remains the same as day 1. All other attempts outside of the parts were a valiant yet unnecessary effort, hence the, "We are throwing in the white towel, we cannot fix your car" This might happen 2 times a year because Empey's, more than likely, has great mechanics. My wonder is if or when it does happen again... 1)Should this change anything with the grand total? 2)How drastic of a change should occur? 3)Is there more conversations that need to be had? 4)What is the best solution for both parties to feel good? 5)Do parts get taken back/exchanged? Could be a million "what ifs" along with millions of potential solutions to this situation or it could be as simple as the business does what the business deems fair because it's the businesses business. Conclusion: My car could not be fixed here at Empey's. After a long waiting period I still need to find a new shop to fix my car. Not happy with the outcome of the car or the shops solution to make it right. Ultimately wishing the results were different but, life moves on. With all that said, Empey's customer services was always top notch. Super friendly all the way from the reception, the tech, and management. If it mattered, which these never do, I would award Empey's a firm 3.9 stars based solely off my one experience.
Thank you for the review Lincoln. We are always striving to be better. Once we got to the point that we knew the vehicle needed to go back to Infinity we did advise that would be your best option. Unfortunately by that point we had replaced the VVT solenoids and actuators. I still have the actuators and can show that one does not function. So the parts where definitely needed. We did refund all the labor that was associated with that job. We will also still keep a warranty on the parts we replaced if they fail in the future. We are sorry that we where unable to solve the problem in a more timely manner.
- Empey's Truck and Auto Repair