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:01/16/2023

  Type:Product 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.

  On January 2, 2023, my 2003 Lexus IS 300 was towed to AAA Tire and Auto Service because of loss of power while driving. AAA diagnosed the problem as a failed alternator, and they replaced the alternator and battery, but did not check the engine harmonic balancer, that delivers power to the alternator, as a source of why my vehicle lost power. AAA stated that they fixed the problem, charged me 721.00, including a labor charge of 207.99, and released my vehicle back to me on January 5, 2023.
  
  On January 13, 2023, my car was once again towed to AAA for the same problem...a failed alternator. They replaced the second alternator with a new one, but this time they also checked the engine harmonic balancer and determined that the failure of engine harmonic balancer was the source of the alternator/battery failing. AAA charged me $591.99 for the harmonic balancer and $287.98 for labor, for a total of $916.69, for the second repair. Between the two repairs-I paid a total of $1637.75.
  Since, AAA charged me for their mistake in not properly diagnosing the problem-I am seeking a monetary remedy for labor charges of 287.98 for replacing the engine harmonic balancer, and partial refund of 100.00 for the cost of the part, because AAA did not initially perform their due diligence, on January 2, 2023, to determine that the engine harmonic balancer, that caused me to have my car towed a second time, was faulty and was the initial root cause of the alternator and battery failing. Also, I want the old engine harmonic balancer returned to me and the receipt for what AAA paid for the engine harmonic balancer.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/28/2023

  Customer had originally came in for repairs on 2003 Lexus IS300 because the vehicle's radio became dim and the vehicle lost power. The alternator is normally one of the first things checked if the vehicle's accessories lose power as well as the vehicle as the alternator powers the vehicle after the battery gives the starter its initial voltage to get vehicle started. The alternator under load tested at 11.27v which is under the 14-14.7 needed to keep the vehicle running and properly recharging the battery while the vehicle runs. The battery tested at 12.53v and 278 Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) which the battery for this vehicle is rated for 800 CCA meaning that the alternator was not putting out enough voltage to keep properly charge the battery while driving and the vehicle at some point was running on just the battery which drained it and caused it to go bad. When the vehicle arrived it was not drivable and had to have a jump starter connected at all times to keep the vehicle running thus we could not determine any underlying concerns.

  Once the alternator was replaced the technician test drove the vehicle on the normal technician test routes that include but not limited to: Sharp turns, speed bumps, roundabouts, stop and go, and driving at highway speeds. During the test drive the technician did not have any issues with the vehicle losing power and the technician did not detect any major drivability concerns besides common older vehicle driving (The vehicle is 22-23 years old and will have worn suspension parts, worn mounts, corroded parts, etc.) but when inspecting the vehicle in the shop there were multiple recommended repairs/issues that required diagnostic/follow up which was in a report sent to Mr. Turner and no other services were requested after the inspection listing the other concerns was sent to the email and phone number given to us by Mr. Turner. 

  Mr. Turner came to pick up the vehicle the first time 1/5/23 and states there was a battery light when it was picked up but said he continued to drive the vehicle instead of bringing it back into the shop so we could assess the concern. The vehicle would eventually cut off on Mr. Turner again about 2 days later and when diagnosed again technician found that the harmonic balancer had play causing the belt the overwork the alternator pulley and caused the alternator to go bad again. Normally a repair that goes bad due to another component in the vehicle not directly related to the repairs is not covered under warranty but given the circumstances we replaced the alternator under warranty. Harmonic balancers absorb and remove unwanted vibration due to torsional twisting of the crankshaft. They are in effect vibration dampeners and are frequently called dampeners. When a harmonic balancer fully fails the engine will shake very noticeably but since it was starting to fail it was only enough to shift the belt and overwork the alternator pulley as well as the other pulleys the belt are routed on (A/C compressor, Power steering pump, Alternator, and Water Pump). The only correlation these two components (Alternator and Harmonic Balancer) have is that they both have pulleys and have the same belt that is also routed the the previously mentioned parts (A/C compressor, Power steering pump, and Water Pump). The Harmonic Balancer was a separate repair needed after the alternator was replaced and would have two separate labor and parts charges as they are separate components in separate areas of the engine. At the time the harmonic balancer was not causing any issues thus we had no reason to recommend another repair with no symptoms or obvious concern. It would not be ethical to make repair recommendations with not reasoning or symptoms of a failure thus we did not recommend repairs until the harmonic balancer had failing point.

  The vehicle was not misdiagnosed we did the repairs that were needed and did not sell the customer repairs with no information, symptoms, probable cause, and/or identifying a failing point at the time of service.