The Attorney General of Washington needs to hear about more such cases, then they will have the power to check into the dealings of these companies.
Write to:
Attorney General of Washington
Consumer Protection Division
900 Fourth Avenue #2000
Seattle WA 98164-1012

or call in Washington
1-800-551-4636

According to Precision Tune, they do not make mistakes. Problems after the car leaves the shop are not their concern. That all too common, "mechanics shrug", is displayed with immoral pride within the cowards art of never admitting wrong.

Since this happened to me I have heard of numerous similar incidents directly from people who now swear never make the same mistake again (see below). These faults range from failing to correctly replace the oil drain plug, differential plug, radiator cap and even failing to tighten lug nuts on a replaced wheel! In some cases the problem was not discovered until the next visit, when it was found the drain plug had been cross threaded during the previous visit. Too late to prove any fault, but still a large repair bill. Often the customer was left stranded on the road. Then Precision Tune say their warranty is invalid because someone looked at the car. So refilling a radiator invalidates a warranty! That is no warranty! That is a Scam!

Following is a few letters received from this page. Even after three years I still get mail about this company. There are no doubt some decent franchises out there, just be aware that there are some poor ones also. Make up your own mind.

I brought my car to Precision Tune at 6600 North May Avenue in Oklahoma City
to get an a/c diagnostic and a freon recharge to get me though the long, hot
summer. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

After the diagnostic and the freon recharge, Precision Tune called to let me
know my car was ready. They had closed for the day by the time I got there to
pick up my vehicle, so they left it in the parking lot. When I got in the
car, I cranked up the engine and eagerly turned on the a/c expecting to feel
wonderful cold air blowing in my face. No such luck.

I was greeted with HOT air and only hot air. It was as if they had done
nothing at all to my car--it was in the same condition as when I brought it
to them in the first place. When I called them on the next business day to
complain, Precision Tune told me that it WAS blowing cold air after the freon
recharge, and that it all must have leaked out by the time I tried it. I find
this pretty hard to believe. I mean, how in the world can two pounds of freon
leak out that quickly?

To make a long story short, Precision Tune told me that this wasn't their
responsibility. They had done their work, and if I was having problems after
the fact, then it wasn't their problem. I of course complained, but they made
no apologies for their mistake and NO refund offers. I finally got them to do
another diagnostic at no extra charge, at which time they quoted me a repair
and replacement charge of about 300 dollars for new hoses and seals. I had
already wasted 140 dollars for the initial freon recharge, which was money
right down the drain. I wasn't about to risk an additional 300 bucks for a
job that may or may not turn out right. Which brings us to today.

I don't want Precision Tune to ever work on my car again. I simply want my
140 dollars back for their botched job. To date, they will not refund my
money nor have they returned my calls. My next task will be to write to their
national headquarters, the local franchise owner, and the Oklahoma Better
Business Bureau. 

Please feel free to post this letter on your web page. If you need to crop it
here or there for space purposes, that's fine. I just want my problem to get
some exposure, and hopefully get the word out regarding the shoddy work that
Precision Tune is doing.

Sincerely,
David G

PS: If you have any information on how I can get the mailing address (and/or
e-mail) for the Precision Tune national headquarters in the United States, I
would really appreciate it.

 
The Precision Tune on South Dale Mabry has had my 1994 Explorer in to replace 
the fuel pump two times. The first fuel pump was bad. The total bill for the 
pump ($359.00) and labor ($88.00) and diagnosis ($45.00) came to about 
$550.00. After the pump was in for less than two days we noticed a severe 
growling noise. We took the truck in at 8AM on Dec 24, 1996. They said they 
would replace the pump on Thursday after Christmas. They said it would last 
until then. The pump failed at noon the same day. My wife had the truck Xmas 
shopping. She called the precision tune. They sent a tow truck, but refused 
to replace the pump that day. They were closing early for their Xmas party. 
This is the real reason they wouldn't replace it that morning when we took it 
in. They said since it was Xmas eve they couldn't get the part. I called the 
local Ford dealer. They had plenty of the parts available at a list price of 
$155.00, not $359.00. Bottom line is we ended up having to wait until Dec 26. 
They replaced the fuel pump at no cost. After I picked my truck up I noticed 
my gas tank was bone dry. I filled the tank. The gas gauge was now broken and 
stuck on empty. It took close to 20 gallons to fill the tank. The manual 
tells me the tank holds 19.5 US gallons. We began to smell gas fumes. I took 
the truck back to precision tune. It was now 5:30 PM. I explained the problem 
and my dissatisfaction. After suggesting that I had run the truck dry of gas 
and caused the gauge failure, they said they could not check the situation 
out because I had filled the tank and it was now too heavy to drop and 
investigate. (the fuel pump mounts in the gas tank). It is now Dec 27. I was 
planning on going away for the weekend. I tried calling the 800 number, but 
when passed on the customer service department, I was given a recording. They 
said they would call back, but GUESS WHAT !!!!!!Here I sit with a gas tank 
too full to be checked out, and I'm afraid to drive it enough to use the fuel 
beacause of the gas fumes. Man, am I PISSED!!!!!!!!!!

No real big deal here, but I do not know what to do next...
I own a 93 Mercury Tracer. w/36K miles....

About a month ago, the idle was acting up in a big way, just going all over
the place. It is an automatic so at stop lights the car would pull forward. I
would then need to put it in nutural/hit brakes..etc..

I took the car to Precision Tune... last week, they replaced the Throttle
Positioning Sensor...
The car still does it, however not as often...
I took the car back in, they ran a Diagnostic  and nothing came up.... They
said to drive it for a few days and bring it back while it is doing
it...(yeah, like that's going to happen)

I think I am going to be burned?? What can I do anything?? Suggestions??

Oh, just a side note, my $34,000 1997 Explorer, (2300 mi.), the gas peddle
sticks and the fuel float does not work. Thank God I am leasing it. If I did
not work for Ford my next car would be a Toyota.

Hiya,

You said you wanted similar stories/problems with quick lube places so
here goes.  Bear with me:

My 1990 Dodge Daytona is currently in the transmission shop having the
5-speed manual transmission rebuilt.  

This is right after I took the car to the Q-Lube in Olympia, Washington
for an oil change, during which they *claimed* to have checked all the
fluid levels and said they were full.  The transmission froze in reverse
up in Seattle, and the transmission fluid level was found to be bone dry.
So far this has cost me $175 for a rental car, $79 in towing fees, with
the estimated cost to fix the transmission coming to $910.

Secondly, Precision Tune, also in Olympia, Washington.  In June I took the car
there for a radiator flush.  I since found out that they did not even flush
the radiator, they just put fresh coolant in the overflow tank to make it
*look* like they did.  While inside the radiator was the same old rusty coolant.

I discovered this after a radiator hose sprung a leak while on the road.  I
wound up flushing it again, myself.

Q-Lube are liars and Precision Tune are just plain crooks.  I will *never* 
give a dime to these people again.  Lesson learned.

Thanks for spreading the word.

Thank You for puting this on the internet. It's time to show everyone how
bad some of these places are and how much it can cost to put right the
negligence they continualy  expose the auto owner to.
I had a problem with Precision Tune after the drain plug wasn't tightened up
properly. After 1000 miles on the highway I suddenly lost all my oil which
seized the engine. AAA towed it to one of their reputable shops and after
that precision tune wouldn't touch it saying the warranty was invalid! These
are crooks in the auto business! 
Tell everyone to stay away and go to a reputable dealer where we have
recourse if something goes wrong.

  Just wanted to let you know of another problem with Prec. tune. This is
probably pretty common but they left the oil filler cap off of my wifes car
when we had them do our last oil change. We now have oil all over  the engine
compartment and all over our driveway - not to mention who knows what
potential engine damage from diving that way for a day or so. Oh, yeah - and
no cap!

  Does anyone know who owns these franchises'? Any way to contact them
directly?


  Just wanted to give you an update on my issue with PTAC.  Obviously the
PTAC you are dealing with is different than ours because our problem was
resolved to our satisfaction.

  I went in today and immediately asked to see the manager (I was madder than
he** but decided to be calm at first). He checked the car out and admitted it
looked like they screwed up. He offered to replace the cap and clean the
engine (and the rest of the car) which he did himself.
  He then showed us his work, apologised for the problem and offered a free
tune-up and oil change if we decided to come back. He also offer to check out
any future problem that may develop in the future.
  It was probably easier because we did not have a large damage claim but
this guy knew what customer service was about.

  Good luck with your problem. Maybe things will work out.

Wish  that I had seen this page before my wife took her car to Precision Tune. 
So far it has cost us over $1800, not to mention loss of work in trying to get 
this thing fixed. And no great surprise to the tow truck which picked us up 
either, saying that Precision had the worst reputation of all the lube places 
in town!
Don't worry, the word is going to get spread by me!