Answers to your car questions

QUESTION

I hope that you can help me with a situation that I have gotten myself into. About two months ago, while I was dating this person, my car, which is a 2003 Acura, had engine problems. My boyfriend agreed to replace the engine with one that he had in an old car that was in the back of his shop. He was going to charge me fifteen hundred dollars to change engines and at that time, I thought that that was a good deal because I could not afford to buy another car. I need the car for three days a week to take my older friend to the hospital. I agreed on the price and gave him seven hundred dollars to start the job. It was going on three weeks and the car still was not ready. I told him that I needed the car because I could not afford to take the taxi everywhere that I went. Our relationship soured from that point on. I actually went down to the shop one day with a friend and my car was sitting in the back of the shop yard without an engine in it. My friend confronted the garage and he was told as well as me, to get the car and us off his property. I asked him about the seven hundred dollars that I gave him and he told me that that was the cost of having to put up with me for the past two to three months. I have since taken the car out of his shop and scraped it but I am furious that he has kept the seven hundred dollars. When I called the Spectator, they would not give me your number and told me that I would have to either write to you or email you. I would have preferred to talk to you so that I could have answered any questions that you may have. His phone number is -------. Can you help me get my seven hundred dollars back?

Darleen from Waterdown

ANSWER

You would not believe the amount of emails that I get relating to squabbles between boyfriend and girlfriend that have ended their friendship over money and particularly vehicle repairs. You have done what I have told thousand of readers not to do over the past thirty years and that is to not give money towards any type of car repairs without a receipt. You don’t have any evidence other than your word that you gave your ex-boyfriend the seven hundred dollars. This type of transaction makes it hard for me to use any type of consumer law against him so I had to use the threat of big brother looking into his back yard cash dealing enterprise. The rest of the conversation with your ex-boyfriend was unprintable but the bottom line is that four days after this comes to print, he has assured me that you can pick up your seven hundred dollars. If that does not happen, let me know.

QUESTION

I stayed at the Windsor casino the other day and when I came out and started my car the next day the exhaust seemed to be very noisy. I went to the dealer and found that someone had tried to cut out the catalytic convertor and was most likely scared off but they did put a small hole in the pipe leading up to the convertor. The dealer told me that I would need to replace the convertor, which is part of the pipe that was cut. I told them that the hole was small and that I think that they could weld it. They told me that it could not be welded and a new convertor was over fifteen hundred dollars plus installation charges. I have since had my garage fix the pipe and it is now as quiet as ever and that did not cost me fifteen hundred dollars. This is just one more example of a new car dealer attempting to rip off one of their customers. I know from your columns that you are in the pockets of the new car dealers but they will never see me again and I hope that you print this to let others know about the practice of new car dealers.

Bob from Brantford

ANSWER

The dealer did not tell you that it could not be welded. They only told you that they do not do that type of repair so there wasn’t any attempt to mislead you or to rip you off. I also called the garage that did do the repair to your exhaust system and they told me that they also recommended that the catalytic converter be changed with a less expensive aftermarket one but you refused that. Your garage then told you that they would attempt to weld the hole but would not guarantee that it would hold. According to your garage, the pipe, which is part of the catalytic convertor, was very thin and would not take a weld so they double clamped a piece of tin along with muffler cement over the pipe to stop the leak. Basically, they will see you again in about two months.

I have a gentleman that has a 73 Corvette and is looking for someone that may be willing to take on a mentoring role to help him work on this car. This gentleman is a retired person who only wants to make sure that the car is safe for him and his wife to drive. If anyone is willing to assist this gentleman, please email me and I will pass your information on to him. PS: A WORD OF CAUTION TO

THIS GENTLEMAN - If you find someone to help you, never let the car leave your care and control.

To my readers: Please indicate the town, city or village that you live in. Be advised that not all emails can be answered. Send your questions (including address) by email to: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca