Sgt. Clutch Discount Transissions Sgt. Clutch Discount Transission's Burn Job San Antonio, Texas

I first contacted Sgt. Clutch on April 6 , 2012 . Over the phone with Joe , the owner , he quoted me an estimate of $895 for an overhaul for my slipping transmission . He said I would get my car back as soon as 4/11 -4/12 . They sent their tow service to pick up my car on 4/7 .

I get a phone call first thing Monday : 4/9 , asking me for my birthdate , as to authorize the start of the repair . At this point , I was confused as to why anyone would need any permission , since they already have my car . Once again I was reassured that my car would be back as they quoted me previously .

I called Wednesday: 4/11 as to see if my car was done , but at this point , I was told that they had just started the work .
By Thursday morning , I get another call from them , saying that the trans was shot to hell , and that their original quote was now going to be a total of $1,495 . At this point , I asked them to hold off till I got back in touch . I was told that I needed a new torque converter , that would cost $225 , along with a mutlitude of other parts . I went researching prices for a torquue converter locally here in town . I got quotes ranging from $130-$150 and core charges from 4 local businesses .

I called back to Sgt.'s , asking them"  if I had bought and brought them a new one for the repairs , would they install the one I brought them ? ", their response was a firm NO . They would only use their parts . Then I asked them why their price of $225 was so high , and their response was that " We have to make money " .

On the following Monday : 4/16 , I went to the shop and signed a contract to commence repairs . All they told me then was " We'll call you as soon as the repairs were complete , which was supposed to take 3-4 days . I hear nothing on 4/18 and 4/19 . I called them on Friday :4/20 and all they could tell me was that it was still not ready . Call back tomorrow . And I did just that , just for the same exact reply .I called them again on 4/23 , 4/24 , 4/25 , with the same results . Finally , I get a call on the morning of 4/26 , approximately 11:30 am . I was at their shop by 1:15 pm . I paid them in full . I then proceeded to test drive the car for the next hour .

The first thing I noticed , was my signals did not work , and that was in the first 5 minutes . I did not think it was a big deal . But by 15 minutes , I was noticing a strong putrid odor coming from somewhere . I thought it was someone else's car . Then I started seeing little puffs of smoke eminating from my steering column . I pulled over to get my fire extinguishers from my trunk . I then started back in the direction of the repair shop . At this point I was coughing severely from the smoke . I then decided that I would just head back home , being that I was 5 minutes away , than to drive the 20 that it would take to get to the shop .
I parked the car , then disconnected the battery , and went inside to try catch my breath . At this point , I was coughing up so badly , I could hardly breath . My head was spinning , along with a massive headache . By 7:30 pm , I calmed  down enough from coughing and went to bed .

6:30 the next morning of the 27th , I reconnected the battery and headed back to the shop . but before I even got 4 miles , I had now plumes of smoke pouring over the dash . I pulled over to air out the car for 5 minutes , and got back in and drove directly to the shop . I was at the shop no later  than 7:15 am . Rob was the first to show up , and we discussed the problem .
He sent Felix to look under the hood and under the dash , What he found was 2 wires under the dash , that were burnt to a crisp and now the 2 wires were bare . These 2 wires are connected to the brake light/ cruise contriol dissengage switch . After Felix had a hush hush talk with Rob , he then came back to say that they would find the problemm , then fix it , or if the couldn't , they would have the car taken to a specialist . They said to call them later in the day . I did , and they had not found the problem .

I did not call them back till 5/3 , and the conversation went like this : We can't fix it , we have to send it to someone else . I asked " when is this going to happen ?" . Rob's reply was " whenever you take the car to another shop " . I then asked if the work at the other shop was covered by their warranty ? . to which he plainly said no . We do transmissions , not electrical .
Today , 5/4 , I am going to retrieve my car . In the entire time that my car was in their shop , I had visited and revisted them a 1/2  dozen times , with 2 friends , as witnesses . The first visit , I found my car in their back yard , pushed to the side , with my trans on a table . As was my 2nd , 3rd and 4rth visit . The 5th visit was to get my car , the 6th , when I returned the car from the smoke situation . The friend that was with me on visit 5 & 6 , who had went to the shop 2 other times without me , told me " It looks like they just pushed your car to the side and left it there ".

In the 8 years that I have had this car , I have never ever had any electrical issues .