ELITE Auto & Truck Ripoff didn't fix car CAR WAS WORST THAN WHEN I BROUGHT IT TO THEM Lied about warranty Clearwater Florida

I agree that the man with the Galant is expecting way too much considering that he hasn't kept the maintenance up on the car. You can't expect a miracle on a run down old heap. Elite didn't even know that this complaint was appearing somewhere on the internet. I actually printed it out and handed it to Kevin Peterson (owner of Elite Auto and Truck) early in 2005. At first, I think the people at Elite thought that I was the one that made the original complaint here and for a while there I was sorry that I had showed it to them. They now know it wasn't me. I been using their services since 1997 and I have been really happy with them. I wish Kevin would be the one that always works on my vehicle but time constraints make that impossible.

They actually have more business than they can handle most of the time so, that should tell you that they are excellent, competent and fair. Their shop is plastered with testimonials from satisfied customers. They send out a newsletter to all their customers every month that just gets bigger and bigger and has nice coupons for sales on some of their services. Even with all the business they have, they still are able to get me in right away most of the time when I need them. The one complaint I had with them was handled as soon as I spoke with them about it at no cost to me. Thanks Kevin and Hope!

I agree that the man with the Galant is expecting way too much considering that he hasn't kept the maintenance up on the car. You can't expect a miracle on a run down old heap. Elite didn't even know that this complaint was appearing somewhere on the internet. I actually printed it out and handed it to Kevin Peterson (owner of Elite Auto and Truck) early in 2005. At first, I think the people at Elite thought that I was the one that made the original complaint here and for a while there I was sorry that I had showed it to them. They now know it wasn't me. I been using their services since 1997 and I have been really happy with them. I wish Kevin would be the one that always works on my vehicle but time constraints make that impossible.

They actually have more business than they can handle most of the time so, that should tell you that they are excellent, competent and fair. Their shop is plastered with testimonials from satisfied customers. They send out a newsletter to all their customers every month that just gets bigger and bigger and has nice coupons for sales on some of their services. Even with all the business they have, they still are able to get me in right away most of the time when I need them. The one complaint I had with them was handled as soon as I spoke with them about it at no cost to me. Thanks Kevin and Hope!

I agree that the man with the Galant is expecting way too much considering that he hasn't kept the maintenance up on the car. You can't expect a miracle on a run down old heap. Elite didn't even know that this complaint was appearing somewhere on the internet. I actually printed it out and handed it to Kevin Peterson (owner of Elite Auto and Truck) early in 2005. At first, I think the people at Elite thought that I was the one that made the original complaint here and for a while there I was sorry that I had showed it to them. They now know it wasn't me. I been using their services since 1997 and I have been really happy with them. I wish Kevin would be the one that always works on my vehicle but time constraints make that impossible.

They actually have more business than they can handle most of the time so, that should tell you that they are excellent, competent and fair. Their shop is plastered with testimonials from satisfied customers. They send out a newsletter to all their customers every month that just gets bigger and bigger and has nice coupons for sales on some of their services. Even with all the business they have, they still are able to get me in right away most of the time when I need them. The one complaint I had with them was handled as soon as I spoke with them about it at no cost to me. Thanks Kevin and Hope!

A Kia....buwahahahahah, wait until you figure what's covered and whats not, and wait until you find out it takes months for some of the needed parts to become available for it. I'm sure you'll be submitting another ripoff report about Kia before to along.

Did you stop to consider the tax rate in Fl is 7% ? guess what the tax on $1000 is? that's right einstein, it's $70, not $48.

Your girlfriend had a 150,000 mile Galant, and you expect it to be made like new for a grand?...are you high? Are we to belive that all of the vehicles' problems appeared overnight? or that the car was grossly neglected to the point that there were multiple problems, and that even when repairs were attempted, used parts (radiator) were installed. You or your girlfriend were trying to be cheap about maintaining your vehicle, and it bit you in the ass.

Had you followed the owners manual instructions on maintenance and repair, the vehicle would never have reached the condition it did. I'll bet you even bought it without having it inspected didn't you? Then when it has a problem you try and pin it on the next person that works on it, instead of blaming yourself for buying a piece of crap.

Be sure and let us know how that Kia works out for you, I'd like to know how happy you are with it after about 50,000 miles.

OK, IT'S BEEN ABOUT A YEAR NOW AND I OWN A BRAND NEW KIA OPTIMA WITH 100,000 MILE WARRANTY. THE ABOVE REBUTTAL IS LIES, IT'S JUST SAD BECAUSE I KNOW SOMEONE ELSE WILL FALL VICTIM TO THEM. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE FOUND NOT GUILTY. I GUESS THEY HAVE BEEN RIPPING PEOPLE OFF FOR SO LONG THAT THEY HAVE A PROVEN SYSTEM. I WILL NEVER OWN A USED CAR AGAIN. I WILL ALWAYS HAVE A WARRANTY WITH WHATEVER CAR I OWN. SO WHOEVER READS THIS DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND STAY AWAY FROM ELITE AUTO. AND FOR THE RECORD, THEY NEVER MADE ANY ATTEMPT TO GIVE ME MY 200 SAVINGS BOND. WHICH YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF ONE QUESTION. HOW MANY OTHER CAR MECHANICS OFFER A 200 SAVINGS BOND IF YOUR NOT SATISFIED. I THINK THEY DO THIS BECAUSE THEY KNOW THERE GONNA AT LEAST OVER CHARGE YOU 200 DOLLARS SO THERE IN THE CLEAR NO MATTER WHAT. BOTTOM LINE IS THIS. MY CAR WAS IN WORST SHAPE THEN WHAT I BROUGHT IT IN. i CANT BELIEVE THEY WERE FOUND NOT GUILTY. NO ONE EVEN CALLED ME CONCERNING THIS SO HOW COULD THE BBB MAKE ANY KIND OF VALID DECISION BASED ON EVIDENCE. OH WELL, YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.(THAT'S NOT TO BE ANY THREAT, I'M JUST SAYING THAT THESE PEOPLE HAVE BAD KARMA.)

OK, IT'S BEEN ABOUT A YEAR NOW AND I OWN A BRAND NEW KIA OPTIMA WITH 100,000 MILE WARRANTY. THE ABOVE REBUTTAL IS LIES, IT'S JUST SAD BECAUSE I KNOW SOMEONE ELSE WILL FALL VICTIM TO THEM. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE FOUND NOT GUILTY. I GUESS THEY HAVE BEEN RIPPING PEOPLE OFF FOR SO LONG THAT THEY HAVE A PROVEN SYSTEM. I WILL NEVER OWN A USED CAR AGAIN. I WILL ALWAYS HAVE A WARRANTY WITH WHATEVER CAR I OWN. SO WHOEVER READS THIS DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND STAY AWAY FROM ELITE AUTO. AND FOR THE RECORD, THEY NEVER MADE ANY ATTEMPT TO GIVE ME MY 200 SAVINGS BOND. WHICH YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF ONE QUESTION. HOW MANY OTHER CAR MECHANICS OFFER A 200 SAVINGS BOND IF YOUR NOT SATISFIED. I THINK THEY DO THIS BECAUSE THEY KNOW THERE GONNA AT LEAST OVER CHARGE YOU 200 DOLLARS SO THERE IN THE CLEAR NO MATTER WHAT. BOTTOM LINE IS THIS. MY CAR WAS IN WORST SHAPE THEN WHAT I BROUGHT IT IN. i CANT BELIEVE THEY WERE FOUND NOT GUILTY. NO ONE EVEN CALLED ME CONCERNING THIS SO HOW COULD THE BBB MAKE ANY KIND OF VALID DECISION BASED ON EVIDENCE. OH WELL, YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.(THAT'S NOT TO BE ANY THREAT, I'M JUST SAYING THAT THESE PEOPLE HAVE BAD KARMA.)

To begin: This vehicle (91 Galant, with 146,000 miles) was towed into Elite for a customer named Ginger on Friday November 21st 2003 @ 7:30pm. Gingers' concerns were the vehicle would not start, and she was adding water every day. Saturday November 22nd 2003 I called Ginger with our findings. She then asked me to repeat the information to her fiance Travis.

We discovered: 1) the battery in fact excepted a charge and passed the load test, 2) the radiator was leaking at the seams (plastic tanks - unrepairable), 3) valve cover gasket leaking badly - engine and surrounding components saturated in oil, 4) left front drive axle had broken c.v. boots, the grease was dry and contaminated with debris, 5) brake master cylinder leaking, fluid in resevoir low, 6) cam and crank seals leaking oil, timing belt saturated.

Travis inquired whether or not any of these faults were caused by another repair facility installing a new clutch, and a "new" radiator, (Travis contacted the other repair facility, and found out he had actually purchased a used radiator with appearantly no warranty)

November 24th, Monday before Thanksgiving, Travis gave verbal permission (approval) to replace the leaking radiator, replace the leaking valve cover gasket, replace the leaking brake master cylinder, replace the shredded alternator belt, replace the damaged drive axle, replace the wet timing belt, cam and crank seals, followed by an engine degrease.

On Tuesday November 25th, Ginger called Elite and stated she had to return a rental car by 1:30 that afternoon. I personally drove 20 miles (10 miles in each direction) to pick up Ginger, Travis, and two small children, and brought them to Elite. They had to wait a short amount of time for the vehicles' repairs to be completed. The total bill came to $1048.64, which I gave a $48.64 discount.

On Wednesday, November 26th, Ginger returned with a small child at 4:30 in the afternoon, concerned about a fluid leak (no concern of a noise was mentioned, or detected). A visual inspection revealed what appeared to be residue from the engine degrease. The oil on the dipstick was not low. Ginger was informed that Elite would be closed Thanksgiving, through the weekend, and reopen Monday. This was clearly stated on the recorded message if someone was to call during those days.

When Elite reopened Monday, December 1st 2003, Travis' messages were retrieved (the car was vibrating so badly they felt is was not safe to drive), and arrangements were made to have the Galant towed in (at no cost to the customer).

When road testing the vehicle it was discovered the temperature gauge was not working, and the the engine in fact was jumping around. From inside the vehicle it vibrated badly. The engine shake was caused by cylinder miss fire. What the customer described as a vibration was actually spark plugs not firing (miss-fire), because the spark plugs were fuel fouled. (The temperature sender is the part that sends a signal to the temperature gauge in the dash, it also sends a signal to the computer then uses this information to decide how much gas to give the engine. In this case the computer was receiving a "cold" signal, giving excessive gas in attempt to warm the engine up quickly. The result was fuel fouling the spark plugs).

When I called Travis to inform him of our findings, he said I should repair the problem at no cost to him.

We know the temperature gauge was working when the Galant left our facility, because when we replaced the radiator on the 1st visit we monitored the temperature gauge to assure all air pockets had been purged (air pockets will cause the cooling system to run hot).

I will agree with Travis, the Galant did not have a temperature gauge problem when it initially arrived at our facility, nor was the symptom present when it left our facility.

I must clarify that I never refused to honor our satisfaction guarantee. In fact, Travis is the first client to even mention it to us.

During the Galants last visit at Elite, it was discovered oil was leaking from the valve cover gasket we had just replaced. We replaced the leak under warranty, just as we would for any customer. The Galant was repaired by an ASE certified technician. All parts installed are NEW. (All technicians at Elite are ASE certified, and they all attend continuing education training).

If there is a fault with any of the labor performed, or parts replaced - the repair is still under warranty (no charge). As far as any comment made about Uncle Sam, it seems to have been grossly misinterpreted. Again, Elite employs ASE certified technicians, and any faults associated with the repairs on the Galant should be repaired, under warranty, at Elite.

I have given out the Florida Department Of Agriculture and Consumer Services phone number many, many times, because so many cunsumers paid for a repair, but never actually received the service or parts. I support the fact that repair facilities have to maintain a standard of ethics. The horror stories I have heard from our clients is a prime example of a repair person, or repair facility in it for a quick buck. I truely pride the quality of performance Elite offers.

I am willing to offer Travis, or Ginger a $200.00 U.S. Savings Bond. It is obvious they are not delighted with our workmanship, honesty, or effort we have made to assure the reliability of their vehicle. I am also willing to address and remedy any faults pertaining to services already rendered.

Travis filed this complaint to the Better Business Bureau, and the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Both entities contacted our facility, Elite, for a response. After receiving our response, both entities found our facility DID NOT commit unfair, or deceptive trade practices.