I had German Auto Repair, in Alameda, replace my timing belt last summer. They attempted to double-charge me for it, which should have been my first clue to get my car the hell out of there, but it would be nice to have a local auto mechanic instead of taking my car into the city all the time. A couple of weeks before Christmas, it failed on me in the middle of nowhere while I was driving to SLO. I limped the car into town and got it fixed at the local dealership, where they told me that the belt had been mis-installed. The damage was on the order of $1200.
So I wrote letters and called asking for German Auto to make good on that bad installation, and basically German Auto ignored me. Then I filed a complaint through the state Bureau of Auto Repair, who were very nice about it but basically powerless because, get this, German Auto says that they don't have to make good on their shoddy repair because I didn't give them a chance to fuck up my car a second time. That's right: they claim that when my car failed 230 miles from their garage, I should have called them and had them tow it (where?) and get me a rental car. This, without knowing what was wrong with the car. Or, once I had taken it to Kimball, they suggested I should have called them to have them fix it. From 230 miles away. When I had other things I needed to be doing. Right.
I wonder what a Small Claims judge would think of that defense. Not much, I imagine, but I'm going to find out this summer. I'm getting really sick and tired of having to take businesses to court in order to get them to be honest with me. At any rate, I don't recommend you take any car to German Auto for anything.
