Centre 101 Auto Repair

The events that took place at my shop regarding this complaint are very long. I will try to be as detailed as possible with my recollection and not to drag it out too long. The events leading up to now are unfortunate and I feel empathy for the customer. The day her [redacted] broke down she had...

it towed to my shop. She explained that a previous shop she went to for the issue put in a new fuel pump that costed her around $2000, but the truck still broke down. Diagnosing the truck we determined that the crankshaft sensor was not working. We told her the cost to replace the crankshaft sensor would be $315.20 (We have the bill) and she agreed. After we put in the crankshaft sensor, the truck ran for about an hour and turned off again. We then determined that the PCM was faulty, so when the truck got hot the PCM shut off making the truck immobile until it cools down. I called her back about the problem and she told me that she can’t pay for a fix over $500. She then brought 2 used PCMs to reduce the total cost. We spent many hours installing the PCMs but the truck still did not run because the PCMs have to be the exact year of the truck and they were not. We called a [redacted] dealership to find a price for a new PCM. A PCM requires someone to program it; the total for the PCM and programming was well over her $500 limit. After finding the price I called her back and told her that we could not help her because the price would be too expensive for her and asked her to tow it to another shop that could do it cheaper. She told us that she could not do that. We had no chose but to put keep it parked in the parking lot for her to pickup her keys and tow it elsewhere. We urged her not to drive the truck because it was too dangerous to be on the road. She disregarded our warning and drove the truck on the road. About an hour after the called us back and said that the truck has broken down again. At this time I was the only mechanic left at my shop, all the employees leave after 5pm, and I was still dealing with a handful of customers. I then agreed to help her [redacted]. I told her to wait 5 minutes for the truck to cool down for the PCM to reset and drive it back to the shop. She came back [redacted] and told me that she is stuck and does not have any money left. I let her leave her truck at my shop. 1 week later she called back and told us to purchase a new PCM for her truck. I felt bad for her situation so I told her that I will try to find a used PCM out of town (Most parts are dealt with locally). We then found the correct PCM in Calgary and ordered it to my shop in Edmonton. We told her the PCM would cost $350, to program it $175, and the labour cost $90 (We have the bill), she agreed. To get the PCM wiring her remote starter and radio had to be removed. For diagnostics this has to be done to check the integrity of the wiring. When we got to the PCM wires they were burned. The wires must have been burned from previous work done incorrectly.After putting many hours into the truck and working over the labour cost free of extra charge, the truck ran. She came into pay and pick up the truck. I told her that we could not return the truck until the full amount has been paid. She got very upset. She told us that her ABS was not fixed yet. Her ABS light was on, but it was a pre-existing condition before towing her truck to the shop. The ABS has no correlation to the PCM and would cost more if she wanted to fix it.  The truck was left at the shop for another week. During this time I scanned the code for the ABS light. The computer said it was “Code #2 Calibration of the wheel was the issue”. I determined that the code is the result of her current tires being the wrong size for her truck, thus, the ABS making noise and lighting up. The actual tire size for the truck can be found on the driver side door sticker. It states 235 70 16 whereas the current tires are 265 70 16. 1 month later she came into the shop with money to pay for the truck. We were told that the lug nut key was missing. We have no whereabouts as to where it is because the wheels were not needed to be touched. The problem was the PCM, we have fixed it and the truck is running. Answering the changes to your car: In regards to your change in mileage, when replacing a PCM the mileage will be affected. It will add on distance and never decrease the mileage. For the lug nut key, we welcome you to come back, so we can find you another one. Lug nut keys aren’t expensive and we may have your size laying around. We urge you to return to the shop for any pre-existing or post conditions for diagnostics and repair, such as your engine light. The work put into your truck was our best under the tight financial restrictions given. We did not profit from working on this truck, but our shop doesn’t pride on making large financial gains. We work for the local community around us keeping our prices low so we can help a broad spectrum of people.