Went in because it was the nearest place where my car broke down in the morning . They called me at the end of the day and said the timing belt broke so the rest of the engine was damaged. I assume my car was out to pasture...until I talked to my friends about it. They said I should look up the engine type. Mine was a non-interference engine - basically the timing belt would not break anything else when it snapped. Why was I the one to find out this info and bring this back up to them? They are supposed to be the experts right?? The kind of info I learned seems like car engine basics. I ended up paying the diagnostic fee and taking it somewhere else. Simple mistake and assumption, but still frustrating.
Ben, thanks for sharing your feedback! In most cases we deal with interference engines and when the timing belt brakes it usually destroys the nearby valves, can damage the pistons and could destroy the cylinder. It is important to assume there is additional damage with a timing belt issue because we need to check and make sure that every possibility has been addressed so that we don't let you leave with any damage in your engine. Fortunately, in your case, you had a non-interference engine, which we don't see very often. We do apologize for not realizing it right away when we first took a look at your engine! We would like to thank you for taking the time to speak with us about what happened when we realized our mistake. We respect your decision to choose another place for the repair but are grateful we were able to learn from this experience and prevent this from happening again in the future. Now that you are aware you have a non-interference engine, it would be wise to inform anyone who works on your vehicle in the future as they are not very common. We wish you the best with your vehicle.
- Honest-1 Auto Care Spring Hill