L & B Auto, Inc.

For 5 years L&B has been the best mechanic available in the Lynchburg area. Their prices are reasonable and their customer service is par excellence. We have purchased two cars from them and have had no regrets with taking them in for maintenance.

We have now bought two Volvos from L&B and hope to go back for a third next summer. The [redacted] family do a wonderful job repairing these cars and their customer service and honest business manner is like nothing I have seen in this area. We recommend them to everyone we know who is in the market for a vehicle. Safe and good quality cars at reasonable prices.

Review: I purchased for my freshman in college daughter a 2004 Volvo S40 for $7500 from the above dealer. After many visits there and waiting while there, then waiting to get it repaired, in about 3 months, I purchased it. I payed $2500 down and then I am borrowing the rest from my bank( monthly payments of $173 to the bank, however L& B received their payment at the time).

They offered some type of 6 months 50/50 warranty for repairs. Of course, this month and last month everything started to go wrong with this car. The shop, [redacted] performed repairs in value of over $600( parts and labor- the oil was creating too much pressure, some hoses,and other small replacements). Now, last week, my daughter broke down at the gas station and we took it back, to find out that the gas pump needs replacing and after that, the car still not working because it would not activate,the computer, main system would not activate). The price this time would be $688, without working out the main. I have the receipts and the shop could testify and provide copies. The mechanic from the shop called L& B to try to figure out the problem because even they did not know how to fix it. L& B offered to look at it if I pay the towing and other expenses afterward the diagnosis. How much am I going to invest in this vehicle? It is old but I only used old cars in my life and never spent this kind of money. The dealer is not willing to work this situation out. I think they knew this car is a"lemon" but still went on and sold it to me. The vehicle has been weeks at the time in the shop, the mechanic working on it past 9 PM and even calling the dealer to try to figure it out. L& B is asking for more money in order for them to look at the car. I feel they need to take responsibility and offer a solution for this car's problems at their expense or purchase it back from me at the price I bought it( my loss the repairs). I do not feel safe for my daughter to drive it, because she broke down, I have to drive her around-to school and from school, the money I spent fixing this vehicle is outrageous, my stress is at the maximum level, and all they do is talk about it without taking the responsibility to solve the problem.Desired Settlement: There are three options:

1) Replacement of the car with another one compatible with mileage and year plus a whole year warranty of parts, repairs, etc

2) Total Refund

3) Repairs free of charge for this problem( in case the shop now cannot fix it) and for the next 6 months with refund on the repairs I already payed ( based on the receipts I have from the shop)

Business

Response:

For simplicity will use C for customer We did sell this vehicle to C 10/09/14 Although most dealers sell their vehicles on an "as is" basis, we sell most of our vehicles with a 2 month/2000 mile 50/50 warranty. As long as a customer doesn't do something to cause a problem by damage or abuse, we in most cases don't charge for warranty repairs. We are a service and repair shop as well as used sales. C selected this vehicle before servicing was completed. So we worked it through as best we could with the work load we had at the time. We don't have record of it coming back for any work on it since purchase. We received a call from C 8/19/15 describing a noise C was hearing, we were able to determine through conversation that the most likely cause was a failed crankcase vent box, that was the problem. We made an estimate for replacement for $456.55. C did not make an appointment to perform repair. (there is a diaphragm in the box than can fail and it puts too much vacuum in the crankcase, which in turn creates a squealing sound that will stop if the dipstick is pulled up, relieving the vacuum )This item is something that can fail, not anything that makes a car a lemon. We received a call from [redacted] sometime after this, asking about a no start condition on a S40. We didn't know whose car they were working on. Without the vehicle being here to hook up our diagnostic equipment, was hard to know how to advise them to resolve the problem. The next day C called us, asking what was wrong with the car? Assuming we knew all about it. When we were finally able to get C to describe symptoms, realized that it must be the car [redacted] had called us about. C demanded we take responsibility for picking up and repairing this car because, C didn't want to spend any more to repair it, and stated that we sold them a car we knew had problems? C had been driving it a year already. We are not going to accept responsibility for something we were not involved in checking out to start with, or without doing any diagnostics ourselves. We had no way of knowing what was wrong or whether it was even correctly diagnosed. C did not even want to pay to have it transported here for us to look at it. So C stated car would stay sitting where it was, and was going to file a complaint with Revdex.com. We have had contact with [redacted] since then, they ended up replacing fuel pump and fuel pressure sensor to resolve the problem. These items are normal service items that can fail. Again nothing that would make the car a lemon or problem car. Extended warranties are something that can be purchased from aftermarket Warranty Companies. I don't know of any dealer that would consider putting a free parts and labor 1 year warranty on a used car at no cost. We know the items we have been told have been replaced on this car are normal wear and tear items that can fail on any car, at any time and are not anything that makes it a lemon or problem car. All of us would like to have trouble free cars, but unfortunately in the real world, they do break down and require service. No one can predict when things like this will happen or when. Had the customer brought the vehicle to us first, we would have been in a position to help out if necessary. But to make these demands without us ever having any opportunity to even see the car is unreasonable.. Even new cars break down. Does that automatically make them unsafe??? [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

They did not offer any resolution.After the repairs mentioned above happened, we spent another $1000 on this car to replace the gas pump and an electric wire( maybe the wire shorted the gas pump or the other way, [redacted] did not know for sure). The car was not drive-able so we could not take it to L& B without extra cost. They did not offer to look at the car and analyze/diagnose or solve/help the problem as they state in their response. The car stayed in shop for another 2 weeks. So, my daughter drove for 2 weeks now and since Tuesday( today is Thursday) the engine light is on again. I would like to take the vehicle to L& B this week end and leave it there for a couple days for them to look at it and repair it at no cost. I always drove used cars and never spend two thousand dollars on repairs, not being fixed after all, and feel unsafe driving it.

Regards,

My 05 Volvo was rear-end destroyed & that car saved my life. I researched on dealers for days then drove 6 hours into the lovely VA mountains with old farms all around (a Mennonite community I believe) to get to the most amazing Volvo rehab facility you will find anywhere. There are thousands of used Volvos on hand for them to pull parts from (it is like the Forest Lawn of Volvos), a body shop just for Volvos & mechanics just for Volvos with decades of experience in obtaining insurance-written off Volvos with surprising little damage (they give you "before" pictures for the cars you consider). Lynn and his family/workers know everything about Volvos & they do all the body work/mechanical work themselves to bring you a tip-top shape car with seriously low miles (my 07 xc70 has 57k miles & is beautiful) for thousands of dollars less than you can find anywhere else. What is more, Lynn and his community up there have old-world values of hard work, integrity, honesty, modesty, and lack of greed. They have pride in what they do & they want you to have a good reliable & safe car. I have purchased 12 cars in my lifetime and have never had a car-buying experience like this. It is like an old world craftsman built you a custom piece of furniture & can tell you everything about it & you can enjoy it with confidence for many years. I drove my 07 xc70 that I bought from them 310 miles back to coastal NC after that through rain & some sleet with zero problems. They even have a 2-month / 2k miles warranty should anything go wrong. Even more, I know I can call Lynn & get his decades of specialty knowledge in Volvos to help with whatever might come up. If you want safety #1 get a Volvo. If you want that unparalleled level of experience/expertise and integrity to get a really fine car with low miles and a seriously good price, hit the road for L & B Auto up in Rustburg, VA.

Been going to L&B for years. Never set foot in a dealership again after finding L&B. they wont rip you off like the dealership. They are always find time to fit me into their schedule, and are always friendly.