I took my 2010 Chevy Malibu into this shop, to see if the noise that it was making on and off was something to be concerned of.... Other than the noise my car was driving beautifully.
I Was told by Tim that it was the pulley. I told him to go ahead and replace it, when I got the car back it was still making the same noise. Took it back in and Tim agreed to take a look at it. Said it's more than likely the alternator. listened to it and he was positive it was the alternator.
I said I just paid you $250 to replace the pulley, I'm not forking over another $ 500 for you to place the alternator. He says " I'll tell you what I can deduct the cost of the pulley and will only charge you $400 for the alternator"
Against my better judgment I agreed to let him change the alternator.
Got my car back and the next day it started making the noise again. A week later my check engine light comes on..
I take it back in and have him run a diagnosis. It shows that the there is an issue with the Catalytic converter. He says well there's an issue with your Catalytic converter, but the good news is it's not gonna leave you stranded on the side of the road. I'll reset it for you and if it comes back on it will need to be addressed . I can fix it for you for about $900. So my dumb but being a female and not knowing much about cars drove around like this for a week until my check engine light came back on flashing, while my car pretty much just chugged down the road. After talking to other mechanics and doing research on my own basically this whole time my car just needed a new freaking coil pack!!! However the length of time that I drove my car with a faulty coil pack probably did more damage to my car than I am willing to replace. This could've been a very easy fix however When you're dealing with incompetent, dishonest mechanics this is what you get! I will be filing a complaint on them and I'm going to look into taking this to small claims court. The more that people let these mechanics get away with this kind of stuff the more it's going to happen. At some point they have to be held accountable and because of them my car is pretty much junk now. read more