Never met so many idiots in 1 day...

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

Here's 3 tips for everybody out there: 1. Don't have brake concerns on a Friday, skip Saturday and Sunday and service your car on Monday, July 3rd (before the 4th). 2. Never go to Puente Hills Automotive in Rowland Heights, CA for service 3. Never trust ANY stealership, not even ones your friends work at (Puente Hills Toyota/Finance Manager)!

Reason: THE FUX0RZ DIDN'T TIGHTEN A BLEEDER VALVE!!!!! On Friday, I was driving down Azusa, and then some bitch in the left turn lane, on her cell phone mind you, swerves out from a left turn lane while I was ONLY about 40-50 feet right behind her! So when bad-woman-driver-stereotype-causing-überbitch swerved out, I friggin' had to MASH the brake pedal and come to within 2 feet of her bumper, and I am DAMN glad I didn't hit her jalopy.

However, that the brakes/ABS kicked in kinda funny with what seemed like a tad bit of pulling. When I had my 90k maintenance done, I was told that my car needed a brake flush, and while trying to figure out how to DIY, I read that dirty brake fluid will affect braking power. Therefore on Monday, I went into Puente Hills Automotive around 3:30 for a brake flush, considering that the stealership was asking for $140 vs. $50, so I dropped off my car at 3:15 and waited until about 4:30, 1/2 hour before they were going to close early.

When I finished, I went out and did a quick 40-0 test – the pulling stopped, but I noticed a bit of sponginess at the end and U-turned back. He claimed that the test drive came out fine and advised me to come back on Wednesday if I am still having issues, in which case I carried on with business and went to Downtown LA for some business I had to take care of, a 22 mile drive through bad traffic.

After walking out of a store, I noticed that my right front rim was dirtier than the others (considering I washed the car Sunday), which had a bleed pattern going straight out on the tires near the spokes. Then after having someone step on the brake pedal, I did notice a few drops of brake fluid seep out.

Concerned, I called Jackass-Jeff and Longo, explained my situation and they said that the service department closed at 9:00, which it was about 7:10 when I called. After I got there, I waited around for a good 4-5 minutes for Michelle, the service manager to FINALLY get off her arse from chitchatting about vacation plans, then said that they only have “oil change mechanics” and can't do it, although I said I know what I was talking about and it was really simple yet important step, but they said some bullshit about liability, even though I said I’m going to let the other place sweat it and you can pretend I never stopped by, but she still said no.

What the flying screw is wrong with this picture? YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT PEOPLE GO TO SCHOOL TO LEARN CARS AND CAN'T TURN A flippin BOLT ON A BRAKE CALIPER? What if the high school dropout broke something that only took 2 minutes to fix or stripped the threads of an oil pan? IDIOTS!! Sorry Jackass-Jeff, nothing I said is directed towards you, but I’m mega pissed about this screwed situation.

Then, after CONFIRMING with Mike of Puente Hills Toyota that they can do it, I charged out of Longo screeching tires to get there by 8:00, Same flippin crap, different flippin toilet!!! I asked for "Mike", 2 people were ironically named Mike and neither of them can remember me from 15 FRIGGIN' MINUTES AGO!!!!!

Eventually, considering that would’ve been a bad situation, I eventually had to drive home, hitting every red light in town and considering myself damned lucky that my BMC hasn’t completely emptied yet (but very damned close), I had to flippin do it myself, which only took about 16 minutes with an adjustable wrench and OEM jack and emergency lug wrench. 16 MINUTES WITH BASIC TOOLS! Would’ve only probably been 4-6 with an impact wrench and a lift!

Ugh. Sorry if I’m pissed, but I guess the old saying is true: If you want the job done right, do it yourself. I sure can’t trust any dildo to fix a simple problem or have it done right the first time, even if I don’t have the stuff needed to flush an ABS-equipped brake system; not even cinder blocks for holding up the car. I furthermore extend my gratitude to the incompetent goofballs of the trade; I’d tell my grandkids over ginger snaps that back in the year 2006 people were too pussy to tighten a bolt and would rather protect their precious liability than have grandpa die in a car crash from brake failure, I guess.

Puente Hills Automotive
(AKA Firestone of Rowland Heights) <<< I guess with exploding cheap tires comes cheap service, eh?
18213 Colima Road, Unit 10
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Off Colima & Fullerton next to Carl’s Jr. Avoid this place like the plague.

Here's what it looked like getting ready to leave Chinatown (had to Photoshop it, but it was screaming obvious in person):

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

UPDATE: I went over today on my lunch break and complained with the staff (throwing in a sob story of going to San Diego and really emphasized that I had to do the work myself) and I got a fulll refund. At least there's that; should I still file a lawsuit or is it not worth it?

[Hsakuragi]

why waste ur time?

[PXLpainter]

Consider yourself lucky that you didn't have a worse incident in stopping - take solice in the fact that you're mechanically inclined enough to fix it yourself, and that you got a full refund from the stealershit and don't go back unless its absolutely imperative for a TSB or warranty issue.

I NEVER , EVER trust a stupid dealer's mech-monkies to touch my car if it isn't absolutely necessary for a warranty issue. 9 out of 10 times I get my car back worse than when I've taken it in - or they've caused something else to be fugged up!

[Sleeper]

Dude, not to rain on your parade, but if it took 16 min to fix the problem, why didn't you tighten it yourself in the first place instead of driving all around town wasting more of your time and gas??????

[MCOjerry]

Dude, not to rain on your parade, but if it took 16 min to fix the problem, why didn't you tighten it yourself in the first place instead of driving all around town wasting more of your time and gas??????

Same question from me...


...and, what would you sue them for? Nothing really happened, except that you got mad.

Please don't take this as a slam, but it sounds like you were a little rude to one or more of the people. Just an observation based on your story. Maybe if you had been a little calmer/nicer, they would have helped you.

Now, if you had an accident or something, you might have something to sue them over, but I see nothing meriting a law suit. You'd just be another person with a frivilous law suit out there.

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

Dude, not to rain on your parade, but if it took 16 min to fix the problem, why didn't you tighten it yourself in the first place instead of driving all around town wasting more of your time and gas??????

I don’t have the stuff needed

Just like I said, I don't have my own tools; Glad I managed to catch my landlord on his way out to work (usually he leaves at 6PM but he was with his kids and an old buddy), because I don't have ANY tools and he usually locks his shed to prevent theft. Therefore, I would've been SOL if he wasn't there (plus I thought that he already left when I went home almost saddened until I saw his truck out front), because I wanted to go to the Pier on the 4th with old friends of mine (42 miles away; around here my friends are all my age or younger = no booze), he would've been still working (he's a fireman), and I'd be stuck home.

Also, I would've done the whole thing myself but 1. I had errands to run (getting my dad a birthday gift before the 5th) and 2. I don't have a pump to get the old fluid out of the ABS (read somewhere that you'd have to drain/bleed/refill it about 20 times to clean out the ABS portion) and 3. I wasn't 100% on where the bleeder valve was.

what would you sue them for? Nothing really happened, except that you got mad

Gross negligence, maybe? I didn't mean it the way I did and I am totally against frivolous lawsuits (believe me, I've been sued for $38,000 by people committing insurance fraud), but it was an inside joke amongs my friends about how broke I am (e.g. I'd joke to friends about being so broke I'd take a pigeon to court if Subway doesn't exchange my sandwich after crapping on it while sitting outside just to get my $7 back), but I never used it amonst SG people so I guess it came out wrong.

it sounds like you were a little rude to one or more of the people.......... Maybe if you had been a little calmer/nicer, they would have helped you.

At first I was so polite I could talk them into marrying their daughter after meeting her for an hour [/sarcasm], but then I got to begging, then I eventually I was like "this is bullshit".

Besides when I made the long story, I had a couple of Hefeweizens and I was pissed off at them, so some might've been alcohol-induced rage.

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

I got my braks done before this weekend from another forum member...taking it to a person you trust and know works out a lot better. We replaced our front rotors and pads and rebleeded the lines all under 4 hours. Mind you we waited the first hour and half just waiting for the parts to cool. my rule of thumb: take it to a person you know and trust