Maaco Asheville #12119 Brad Cheek Customer Beware! Left us with a undrivable car Asheville NC North Carolina

We brought my daughter's 2007 Ford Mustang that had some cosmetic front bumper and fender damage from 6 months prior for repairs and a paint job. We got an estimate for $1400.92 for paint and repairs because we brought all the parts required for bodywork. We weren't looking for the top of the line paint job, just better than the current state it was in.

We dropped the car off on 4/9/18 Monday morning after we got back from driving the car to Florida. We left all the parts and the car in the parking lot of Maaco. We went on Tuesday and dropped off the decals to be put on after it was painted. We got a call on Wednesday and there was more bodywork to be done and up-charged us $200. On Friday we got a call to pick up the car and when my husband said I'd be right over to pick it up they said "it isn't running right and can't be driven". This was our first red flag that something had happened to the car at Maaco. When we went to see the car, Thomas was there to meet us and suggest that the mechanic from next door could come right over and do diagnostics to find the problem. They said to us that "things happen to cars all the time while they are here." "cars come here to die".

My husband tried to work with the mechanic to find out the diagnostic codes and get the parts. He told us it was a throttle body and electronic gas pedal (quote $300) that needed to be replaced.  That matched the codes and we went to buy the parts. Brad insisted we pay for the paint job before we left the property. We agreed to pay half giving him a check for $800 since the paint job had been completed satisfactorily. It was Friday at 5pm, the mechanic left and Maaco closed. The next time we saw the car was Monday morning. We brought back the parts we purchased on Monday morning and my husband replaced the throttle body and pedal. The car still didn't run. He went to Ford and bought the throttle body $460 at their suggestion because it was calibrated to the Ford Mustang specifically. The car still did not run. We paid the balance of $800.92  so we could have the car towed from Maaco to Ford for diagnostics $125. The Technician at Ford found the problem to be a damaged wire harness and PCM. He wrote in his estimate of $3500 for repairs that there was evidence of work in the area of the PCM and wire harness. The car is still sitting at Ford. We have a newly painted car that does not run. We drove a mechanically sound car to Maaco.

Brad Cheek (owner) says none of this is his problem. We are not a mechanic's shop. We painted the car pay us for our work.

We have reported this to Maaco Corporate and are still waiting to hear back. We plan to retain a lawyer and go to court if this is not resolved.