Business ProfileforSouthern Longview Automotive

**WARNING** I took it there for low oil pressure light coming on, they kept it for 6 days and looked at the previous oil change sticker on the windshield and said I just needed a oil change, I picked it up on day 7 after they only done a oil change and was charged $400, the light came back on 3 days later and I asked why didn't they check the screen in the oil pan to make sure it wasn't clogged and I was told that would be a different charge of $800 because a timing chain cover was in the way and it would take hours to remove, later I took it for another oil change elsewhere and was told by the mechanic that nothing was in the way of removing the oil pan cover, Southern Longview automotive was attempting to fraud me out of $800,

This gentleman has left a lot out of this story. A lot more was done than just an oil change. The vehicle was driven to the shop by the customer to diagnose a low oil pressure light. Upon drop off it was explained that we were very busy, and it would be several days before we got to it. The vehicle has ******* miles on it which is part of our repair plan considerations. When we did get to it, we found it to be 2 qts low on oil for a 4.5 qt system and the vehicle ran very poorly. We topped off the oil and scanned the vehicle. vehicle had numerous codes for Variable cam timing. With the vehicle full of oil, we tried actuating the cam timing system and found it to be stuck. during this process we noticed an oil change sticker on the windshield revealing it appeared the oil had not been changed in over 24k Miles. Pulling the oil cap to look in the valve cover was good confirmation that this was likely. But to be sure we confirmed that this was true with the customer who admitted to us that he had not change the oil in over a year and as a food delivery driver he drives easily 500 to 1000 miles per week. we also noticed the vehicle leaks oil. but non the less full of oil, oil pressure good, the vehicle ran poorly due to stuck timing components. So we recommended we perform a performance oil change. this consists of changing the filter (leave the oil thats in it in for now). Add various BG products that will break down sludge and chemicals to break down carbon deposits then test drive the vehicle. For us test drive means driving HWY 31 from Longview to ******* and back a 30 min drive. we then change the oil and filter again and test drove again. the vehicle now ran good and low oil pressure light was off. the customer was informed the vehicle did have oil leaks and this was likely a temporary repair, but we should perhaps wait to fix any of the leaks and see if this engine will survive as there is a small filter in the cylinder head for the variable cam timing that if clogged would cause the vehicle to run poorly again and requires head removal. so lets see how this goes before we chase down all the leaks. None of the leaks were pouring oil out in a way that was obviously one large problem source rather the whole engine is covered in oil, and it does not just sit there and drip everywhere, suggesting lots of smaller leaks that have been there a long time and not addressed. the customer picked up the vehicle and even called back the next day to thank us as the vehicle had not run this good for a while now. A week goes by and he calls us back to say the low oil pressure light was back on and was asking for a refund as he felt we did not fix the vehicle. We informed him this would not do this as we performed the job as we described to him that any further work would be additional charges. During this call he asked why we did not remove the oil pan to check for sludge. We informed him that removing the oil pan would be an additional charge not part of the initial diagnostic charge and would be unnecessary as we know the engine is full of sludge and carbon. The mistake we made was not looking up the actual labor time but just giving an educated guess and I quote R&R oil pan could be like $800 . we did not at the time look it up as we were trying to explain that removing the oil pan at this point was not helpful or useful. We have looked up the price since then and it is $400 to do an oil pan gasket on that vehicle. We do apologize for this bit of mis information. He has since brought it by ******* and they changed the oil again and the light is off for now. We suspect either the oil filter got clogged again, the leaks are bad enough, or the engine consumes a lot of oil, and he drives enough that he is running low on oil very quickly. It would have been easy for us to sell a bunch of oil leaks repairs on the first visit, but that seemed wasteful at the time as we were not sure if this engine would need to be replaced due to the severe lack of maintenance. Also the leaks did not appear to be bad enough at the time to leak out quickly. We thought we had conveyed the message, that this first visit was to try and save the engine and that if it seems like it will survive then lets proceed forward with some longer term repairs. We explained it several times before and after the initial visit but it is clear there was some miscommunication.