This was the most disappointing and frustrating experience I've had with a mechanic shop in 20 years. They had my car at their shop for almost a year, went $7000 over budget, lost several of the original parts off of the car and told me that they would not return my vehicle unless I agreed to sign an NDA saying I wouldn't talk about my experience with their shop. I brought them a running vehicle and got back a non working car with bad welds, poor parts installation, overheating and unsafe brakes.
I tried working this out with them directly, then took it to the Better Business Bureau and now, as of this review, am having to enter into a lawsuit against Texoma Classics.
I sent them a running vehicle to get an engine/tranny swap, upgrade the brakes, power steering, and wiring. All of this was stated upfront before entering into anything. It was supposed to be a 3 month project with a 20K budget but they had my car for almost a year. What I got back was a non-running vehicle that could not pass inspection and was missing several of its original parts. Texoma misplaced/lost:
The original 216 engine
The original instrument cluster
The emergency brake
The hood springs that hold it up
One original hub cap
At one point, they told me they would not return my car unless I signed an NDA. I declined and reached out to a lawyer. Afterwards the owner Chris told me that it was not a demand, only a request not to talk about my experience with Texoma and that my car was being returned.
One of the biggest disappointments was being convinced by Ed and his team that I should go with a used engine and tranny they had found, assuring me it was a good deal, good quality and would save a ton of money over buying the new one we had already agreed on. In the end, the used engine cost me several thousands more in labor than a new engine would have and still they only did a minor rebuild, even though their invoice has over 100 hours of labor.
Texoma claims the customer is responsible for everything but why would you hire an expert and then not take their advice? I was led towards these items and misled about their costs and issues after buying.
After getting another shop's opinion on the work and talking with a lawyer, we tried to reason with Texoma and find a solution. They often use the excuse that "you were not charged for the work" but they did still accept full payment for ALL of the original scope of work, while only completing a third of the agreed work. I only found out about this AFTER I had paid for everything and the car was returned, non functional.
They also used the excuse that "it is an old car and these things happen." But we had weekly check-ins for the first couple of months and their shop managers always told me how smooth everything was going and what great shape the car was in.
Having yet another mechanic look at it, they also found metal in the oil and believe it is from the camshaft not being broken in properly. Texoma installed and damaged two brand new camshafts.
Our family lost over $25,000 on this project and still do not have a safe or running vehicle.
Texoma told my lawyer that they would be willing to take the car back and fix any labor installation issues under their warranty as long as it wasnt part related (even though they purchased all of the parts) but they have also said they didn't touch most of the engine during the swap and rebuild and lost many of our car parts. I'm not sure how I could trust sending them the car again.
They keep saying, I chose used parts so I got used quality. The issue is not the used parts. The improper installation of the parts is the problem. The negligence and the poor customer service is the problem.
I really thought that Texoma Classics would have handled this more professionally. I would not recommend their shop to anyone. read more
