[Jan McCoy]

I have used Tri-County Auto Service on 441 across from The Villages Hospital and have been very satisfied with them. They fixed my battery while I waited and were very friendly and accommodating. Good luck!

Originally Posted by dfjcschaich

Twice within 9 months we've gotten taken by auto service centers. Last summer we took our Trail Blazer to Tire Choice to have two new tires mounted and a wheel alignment taken care of. That was expensive enough. After we picked up the car, we noticed the clock was an-hour-an-half ahead of time. Didn't think much of it at the time since who knows what needs to be done mounting tires and aligning wheels? The next day I noticed the gas gauge read almost on "E" when we just filled up two days earlier. We hadn't driven anywhere to use up nearly a full tank of gas. I thought someone had siphoned gas. I mentioned it to my husband and again couldn't find an explanation for the lack of gas. Within a couple more days, my husband noticed the gauge pointer was straight down, as if broken, and from then on it went all over the gauge. We never knew how much gas we had in the tank. Our lesson learned was that we should've taken the car right back to Tire Choice and asked why the gas gauge broke and the clock was set ahead of time after it was in their shop. It will now cost $450 to get it fixed. Expensive lesson but I doubt they would've claimed responsibility for it.

Problem two: Within the last two weeks, the brake light burned out and the ol' "Service Engine Soon" light came on. We took it to Auto Masters of Leesburg and they found the air injection valve and a serpentine chain needed to be replaced. They also replaced the brake light. We got an estimate for the gas gauge repair bill, too. When we went to pick up the car, my husband got in while still in the parking lot and pressed the button for the driver's side window to roll down. It didn't. He went back into the shop and told them now his window doesn't work. A guy came out, pressed the button a couple of times and said the regulator motor broke. I asked how could that conveniently happen just as we were about to leave? He said "it just so happened while the car was under their watch, it could've just as easily broken while the car was under our watch." It's another $100 repair bill on top of $331 we just paid to them.

Why do I have the feeling that excuse is the same one Tire Choice would've used?

The odds of two working, unrelated-to-the-problem parts breaking while the car is in the repair shop within nine months of each other is so infinitesimal that the universe could not calculate it. I'd have better chances of winning the lottery!

What do you think the odds will be that something else will break while we're getting the fuel gauge repaired?

Anybody know of an honest, trustworthy, reputable auto repair shop?

What recourse does a customer have in these cases?