I need some serious help reporting a bad mechanic
 

So I just moved to AZ and had to take my car to a new mechanic. They did some work on it and with second opinions by 2 mechanics. They did very poor work. Since they worked on it, the car threw a push rod, and has begun overheating. not to mention they left the oil and winshield washer caps completely off of the car and screwed the latch for the hood (I had to completely disassemble the front end to get the hood up last time I got it back to try and figure out WHY it was overheating).

Im going there tomorrow to see if they are willing to fix what they've done and I'll have one of the mechanics I had check it out this time check it again to make sure its good to go.

BUT, if they say they wont fix it, what options do I have?

PLEASE help, ive put almost 1000 into it already and cant afford to put more into it right now. The one mechanic said the best thing to do would be replace the engine because of the damage that may have already been done. This guy is a very good friend of a friend and there is no way for me to afford work like that right now.

The original problem was replacing the Intake Manifold Gasket.

small claims court may be your only recourse if he doesn't want give you satisfaction of fixing it.

Better Business Bureau to start, they will advise what else you can do.

If your state has the equivelant of our Bureau of Automotive Repairs, id give them a call as well.

Hey...what kind of car was this on? I'm just curious.

96 Corsica

Those things are notorious for the head gasket fizzling, just like their Cavalier brothers -_-

The Better Business Bureau is a good bet for this, but the thing is, companies have to register/pay to be listed with them, to add to customers' confidence. But judging by how sketchy these guys sound, I doubt they are.

even if they are notorious for blowing gaskets, that is what was supposed to be replaced in the first place.

and I've never heard of a company having to be listed with the better business bureau before you can report a business to them.

Was it a head gasket or an intake manifold gasket? If it's manifold, I honestly can't see what the shop could have done that would cause it to throw a rod. They shouldn't have been dicking around in that part of the motor. If it's a head gasket, then yeah, they probably busted it.

As for BBB, you can report them all you want, but it won't do much good. Companies pay the BBB to be members, the advantage to which is that the company gets to put the BBB logo in their window. People see it and assume it's a good company. The BBB has no actual enforcement power, and in fact has no incentive to nail a shop for one or two violations because if they kick the shop out, the shop stops sending the BBB a check.

Is the shop a AAA certified shop? That actually may carry more weight as many AAA customers will ONLY go to a AAA certified shop. If so, call up AAA and complain to them.

Failing all that, you can take him to court, but you'll want to have a certified mechanic to testify for you that the shop could have caused the damage - otherwise it's your word against the shop's. Judges rarely know anything about cars.

On an intake manifold gasket on a GM 3.1 V6 the intake manifold gasket snakes through the pushrods, so the pushrods have to be taken out to replace the gasket. More than likely the technician didn't tighten the rocker arms, or mixed up the intake and exhaust pushrods, which are different lengths on that engine. Usually most technicians will replace the thermostat while they are doing the intake since once in a while the thermostat will refuse to work right after the cooling system has been drained and refilled. On that engine they will usually replace the oil pump drive seal as well since it is prone to leaking. If they didn't replace that that could be a potential source of the overheating. The guy that worked on it is obviously an idiot though if he forgot to put the oil and washer caps back on and screwed up the hood latch.

aha. Interesting design. Stupid, but interesting ;)