Went to Williams Auto to receive some general diagnostics on my vehicle and get an oil change. Williams took care of the oil change quickly and then recommended to me that I needed to replace my front right inner tie rod as the tie rod was so worn down that it had become a "safety hazard". Upon leaving their location, there was a strange oil-like smell coming through my A/C vents so I took my vehicle back to them to see what was wrong. Williams Auto claimed that I had a fluid leak and they needed to do a leak test as well as a tie rod repair. They made sure to tell me that this issue was not caused by my recent oil change with them. At this point I was concerned, so I took my vehicle to another shop that specializes in Toyota repairs (my vehicle is a Toyota Rav4), Ironwood Automotive. The first thing they discovered was that my front right tie rod was fine and needed no repairs. They then informed me that whoever did my last oil change had left the oil cap off, causing oil to spill all over my engine bay. Additionally, this shop discovered a major issue that Williams Auto had totally ignored. My rear brake pads had reached 3mm thickness and the back rotors were rusted. Williams Auto refused to reimburse me for the poor quality oil change they provided and would do no more than give me store credit (credit that I would not be interested in utilizing since I've lost trust in their service). Hope this review helps someone in the future! Edit: The owner seems to be refusing to take accountability in their response, which is just sad. I have now attached the recommendations from my INITIAL visit to Williams, when there was no oil in my engine bay and no mention of it in the recommendations. Also, the owner is now claiming that upon their inspection they already knew that my engine bay was covered in oil, so then why were they trying to get me to pay for a leak test if they knew where the "leak" was coming from? The picture I have provided of my engine bay was taken by an Ironwood Automotive technician minutes after opening up the hood to investigate my issue. They found oil covering the bay and a cap that was not properly put on during my last oil change (with Williams Auto). I am well aware that "Oil caps that are left off during an oil change make a huge mess all over the engine compartment." That is the exact problem I am now dealing with thanks to Williams Auto. Not feeling very lucky considering I've now sunk in around $150 to get a simple oil change done, not to mention the time I've wasted.
Hello Nick, thanks for taking the time to review us. Upon initial inspection of your vehicle the engine was covered in oil which you were made aware of and if you check was also notated on your original receipt. We do not go off of other shops claims because it is unfortunately very common practice for shops to try to discredit other shops to gain customers. We are not saying that is what happened but that is the reason why we do not. We always recommend having us inspect the vehicle for warranty concerns originally as it allows us to be more flexible. Because of the situation and claim we were however willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and offer you a credit here to help compensate you for your aggravation. We do understand trust is very important and we are saddened to hear that we didn't earn your trust. We do however recommend finding someone you do trust because of the huge learning curve between automotive techs and customers, even if that is not us. Also if you wouldn't mind sharing, is that picture after they cleaned the oil off the engine? Oil caps that are left off during an oil change make a huge mess all over the engine compartment. Thank you for clarifying Nick! The invoice i was referring to was the more recent one, the one with the fluid leak notes. The oil change was performed in June, two months ago, I would expect to see obvious oil all over the place if it had been driven sense June with no filler cap. Maybe we all just got really lucky. Thank you for your business.
- Williams Auto Service