Professional Auto Stereo Water damage caused by tech cutting corners Waipahu Hawaii

My name is Krystal S****. I am a 22 year old from Ewa Beach. I would like to get my story out there so no one else has to go through what I had for the past 20 or so days... I have been through so many vehicles that have broken down on me and left me stranded. My grandfather was so helpful he loaned me $2,500 so that I could get a reliable vehicle to get me to and from my job in Kaka'ako. I found the perfect vehicle which was owned by a Military family who took great care of it. I purchased the car for $4,500 and did not have any problems with it.

On August 31st, 2013 my fiancé took me and my 2004 Volkswagen Passat to “Professional Auto Stereo” in Waipahu to install a new radio as a present. I took it to a professional shop believing that my car would be in safe hands and that I would not need to worry about having horrible work done. On December 1st, 2013 the first of the big rains we had in winter I noticed a large amount of water in the back driver side of my vehicle. I brought this to my father's (who is a mechanic) attention and he believed that somewhere in the sunroof may have had a leak. I searched my entire vehicle for any spots that the water could have entered, but I could not find any. I wet vacuumed the vehicle until it seemed dry and aired it out for two days, but my car had a very bad sewage odor.

A few weeks later it rained again I placed the vehicle within my garage enough so that the sunroof was under to test if that is where the water was coming in from. The next day I found my car flooded again I cleaned the back seat of my car again. My friend and I were driving in my car when my lights stated flashing, my horn started beeping on it's own, my windows would not go up and down, and my warning lights would come on. I explained this to my father so he and my Fiancé took a look at the car and took the carpet out. What they found was a real shock; my car had about two inches of water under the material. I had taken my mother's van to work when my mother called me stating that my father found the source of the leak and that we had to take it back to the audio shop.

When I got home my Fiancé showed me a hole a little smaller than a quarter with a wire going through it, on the bottom of it there was a rubber guard that had been pushed out of place. My Fiancé pointed out that he and my father ran water from the roof of my car down to that hole (as if it was raining) and found that was the source of the leak. My father contacted the audio shop guys who of course told him to bring the vehicle in. My father took my car to the shop and was told to leave it with them so they could repair the damages. The shop had my vehicle for two days and called me to pick up my car stating that they fixed the hole and repaired the damaged comfort control module (which was causing my lights to flash and my horn to honk). I picked up my car and started to drive home to Ewa beach about halfway home the lights started to blink, the emergency brake light came on, and the windows would not go up or down again.

I got home and I called the shop back and spoke with the owner “Sam” and told him that I wanted to take my car to the dealership to have professionals take care of all the problems that was caused by the water damage. “Sam” told me that I could take it to the dealership, but they would not pay for anything done, so I asked him what my options were and he told me the only thing he could do for me is bring it back to them and they will take another look at it. So my parents took the car back  to the shop and they took another look at it. A few days later we got another call that the car was ready for pick up. My father went and got the car and when he was trying to roll down the window it started to smoke which could possibly be from them trying to rig the window for them to go up and down. So my father immediately told them and they told him that they would call him when the car was ready….again.

My mother got a call from “Sam” again a couple days later and he stated to her that the car was being brought to the dealership for them to fix it because they could not fix the computer on their own. My mother told them that it was fine as long as the car would be fixed, she also asked him about a rental car because I was using her van leaving her with out a vehicle and the gas was slowly draining my bank account. “Sam” told her that they would be able to get me a rental car, but they would only be able to pay for a car for a total of two days…

my mother asked him about how long it would take them to fix my car and he stated that it would probably take them a week. My mother asked him why they couldn’t provide a rental car for me the entire time my car would be in the shop and he stated that it was an insurance issue and they could only provide a vehicle for that long. He also stated to my mother that if she had a problem with that or if she was going to sue them for the car that the shop would not fix it and that she could pick it up that day. My mother told him to just have the vehicle fixed because I would need a vehicle in the long run.

We kept keeping updates on my car and was told that they were waiting for a new computer to come in. I was very understanding with that because I know it takes a while for parts to come in, but I had a feeling that my car was not at the dealership like how I was previously told. I called both dealerships and were told by both that they did not have my vehicle in their shop. So my mother called “Sam” and he told her that the dealership did not have any open appointments to fix my car so he took it to a shop in Waipahu called “8o8 bodywerks”.

About a week later we got a call from “Sam’s” assistant manager who stated that the part had come in and that the computer had fried again when they installed it. He stated that there was a trip in the cars electrical system and that it would be a lot of work to fix it, but they gave the option to fix it or they could buy it from me. My mother then looked up my car on Kelly Blue Book and found that in fair condition my car could be sold for about $3,500. When she brought this up to the assistant manager he told her that their insurance would not cover that and they would only be able to give us $2,000 for it. My car was in great condition when I bought it up to taking it to the audio shop .

My car had a lot of miles on it because I drive from Ewa Beach to Kaka’ako 5 days a week, but it never gave me any problems. They were basically told me that my car was not worth much because of the mileage and due to the computer being fried. I had just found out that I am pregnant on the 29th of December and needed a reliable car. My mother told him to just have the car fixed because I would be unable to find another reliable vehicle for $2,000, but the assistant manager told her that she needed to be fair with them because they are trying to be fair with us. After arguing with him for about 45 minutes my mother and him came to an agreement that they would purchase the car for $2,700. Basically we had no other choice in the situation…it was either settle for $2,700 or go to court.

I do not have money for a lawyer and do not have time for a trial, I work two jobs to make ends meet and I will be needing a car when my baby is born. When I picked up my vehicle the body shop owner told me that the water did not come in through the hole that the audio shop made. They told me that the water come in through the passenger side under the hood near the air filter. When I told them that there was no water on that side they looked at me dumbfounded and said they didn't know what else to tell me. I have photos of the damages and of the hole with the wire running through it. I will be willing to submit those photos if you would like.

I want people to be aware of this place so they don’t have to deal with everything my family and I have been dealing with for close to a month. I want people to be aware of “Professional Auto” in Waipahu and how they took my perfectly running car and turned it into a malfunctioning un-drivable car and did not think twice about me in this situation. They were only thinking about keeping this situation out of court and they knew that I did not have the time or money to do so anyway. They did not care about what would happen to me, a paying customer. All they cared about was sweeping this under the rug as fast as they could. I am writing to you in hopes that that my story can get out there and that I could potentially prevent this from happening to another struggling person out there.