Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/19/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Yeah you did every test in the world you could think of to charge me for and fluff up those hours of "labor".  But the bottom line is...fixing the car/probllem...which you and your shop are not capable of doing.  I personally figured out and fixed the car myself.  Your $10.000 gizmo didnt have a clue to fix the car and neither did you.  I brought the car in with a severe miss....and $800 dollars later I took the car home with the exact same miss.  No more recommendations from me for an honest mechanic.  I hope you sleep well at nite Barry because you are incompetent and a thief

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/26/2025

  Dear Sirs and Ladies,

      I am Barry *****, and have been the owner and operator of Barry Frank's Motors since 1980. My shop is in good standing with the BBB because we are fair, honest and provide a quality service. when Mr. ****** came to the shop on June 5, he did not have a ride home, and said he would like to wait.  We are always busy, but in this case, we also had a Technician on vacation. Because Mr. ****** did not have a ride, I pulled a technician off the vehicle he was working on, and had him start the diagnosis of Mr. ******** vehicle.  My Technician noticed immediately, upon visual inspection,  that someone had been working on this complaint. Mr. ******** vehicle had new spark plugs, ignition wires, fuel injectors, and ignition coil pack.  Anytime someone has been chasing a problem, can't find it and brings it to us, whether it's DIY or from another garage, we know it's not going to be a simple fix.

    After the visual inspection of the vehicle, my technician scanned Mr. ******** vehicle, to see what trouble codes were present in the vehicle's control modules.  The engine control module had Code (P0102, Mass or Volume Air Flow Circuit Low Input)  stored in memory.  The P0102 code, was a hard fault, and would not clear from the module memory, indicating a circuit failure, or wiring issue with the Mass Air flow Sensor.  After determined the wiring going to the Mass Sensor was Good, My technician installed a new Mass Air Flow Sensor in the vehicle. With the new Mass Air Flow Sensor installed, The P0102 code could now be cleared from the module, and Mr. ******** vehicle ran considerably better, but the vehicle still had a misfire/roughness at idle. At this point I took Mr. ****** on test drive, to show him the improvement.  Mr. ****** agreed that the vehicle ran better, in fact mentioned that it's the best the car had run in quite some time, but.  Mr. ****** wanted the misfire at idle diagnosed further.  At this point I gave ********* a loaner vehicle to drive home, something I don't normally do.  My technician then began the diagnosis of the misfire at idle.  Tests including, cylinder compression, fuel pressure, Smoke testing the intake system, Valve clearance, Valve timing, and cylinder leak down.  Mr. ******** vehicle passed all tests, but had very low Intake Manifold vacuum, indicating late valve timing, a vacuum leak of some sort, or internal engine failure.  My Technician then did a running compression test, which allows us to see individual cylinders ability to breath and build pressure. The affected cylinder on Mr. ******** vehicle, Cylinder 3, was much slower to respond than the other cylinders.  At this point, it was my technicians theory that a valve seat had come loose from the cylinder head in cylinder 3.

    These findings were explained to Mr. ******* and he was told that to prove this theory, would take considerably more time.  He declined that procedure, stating that his son was a mechanic/machinist, and could complete those repairs. All together, my technician put 15 hours of diagnosis into Mr. ******** vehicle, Which would typically cost more than $2000 labor. I only charged Mr. ****** $570 labor. We gave Mr. ****** Hours of honest, hard, competent work.  We communicated openly with him and his son throughout the diagnosis, and charged him fairly upon completion. We understand that customers do not like to pay for a vehicle that is not fixed, but that is a reality in auto repair, when a diagnosis is made and the customer declines to go further.  We sympathize with Mr. ******* but definitely don't feel we deserve insults, or a refund of money for services completed.

  Sincerely,

  Barry *****

  Barry Frank's Motors

   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/03/2025

  When someone goes to the doctor with a medical problem, tests, such as MRIs, bloodwork or X-rays are necessary to diagnose the problem. They answer questions on tricky issues. The customer most likely fixed their car thanks to the testing we did at our business.  We have very competent, hardworking and honest mechanics that have worked here a long time.  We fix 10 to 15 cars a day, foreign and domestic.  As BBB knows, we have not had a complaint in years.

  I do not agree that he had the "exact same miss". It drove better but still missed at idle.  The customer knew when he took the car home that it still had a problem and decided not to have us fix it.  He and his son had tried everything they could think of before coming to us! Because of issues we isolated and ruled out, the repair procedure became clearer.  I believe he knows we put a ton of time and effort into his car.  His bill was fair.  I sleep well at night because we bend over backward to do good work at a fair price.  Most people, when they have a problem, will call me and we find a resolution.  This customer just sent off a letter to ********************, with slanderous insults that make a compromise difficult.

  When the customer went home in his loaner car, he knew the bill was currently around four hundred.  When we talked again, we then adjusted valves and checked the timing belt position etc. Doing a valve adjustment on this car calls for 3.5 hours labor and costs over 400 with gasket.

  Because the BBB likes issues resolved I called the customer two times to offer "good will" adjustment.  He did not answer.  We work really hard and try really hard to get all of the cars right and make the customers happy.  The main point is this.  If the customer was able to fix the car at home like he says in the letter; that means that our work, information and test results must have made a big difference.  They had tried everything they knew before bringing it to us.

  Despite feeling that we are correct and the insults, we are willing to offer the customer two hundred dollars to resolve the issue.  

  Sincerely,

  Barry *****