Valencia Nissan dealership, Creekside Rd., Valencia, CA - wanted only one brake fixed, but told all four would be fixed or nothing

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on January 7, 2003:

From: Karen Giauque [Email User] RE: Valencia Nissan dealership, Creekside Rd., Valencia, CA - wanted only one brake fixed, but told all four would be fixed or nothing

To Whom It May Concern: Nissan Corporation On Dec. 26, 2002, my 20-year-old daughter and a friend drove from Utah to Valencia California to attend a wedding. She was driving a 1989 Nissan Maxima, which had received a tune-up and brake check before they left. One evening they were driving a short distance to the bride’s home and a piece of metal (later determined to be the brake pad) literally fell out on the road. Fortunately, she was able to get the car stopped in the driveway before any accident happened, but the brakes were shot. She retrieved the metal piece and next day took it and the car to the Valencia Nissan dealership on Creekside Rd. and explained the problem. She was quoted a price of approximately $220 to fix the brake and we were more than satisfied with that. Later in the day, though, she called and said they’d raised the price to $1,100. The reason for this was that they said all 4 brake pads needed to be repaired and they refused to do just the one that we requested.

We talked to our mechanic here at home and he said the other brakes didn’t need work and that even if they did, they could do it here for $650 and that the car could be safely driven home with just the one repair. We gave that information to the Valencia mechanic and he refused to even discuss it. He would only do all or none. We were stuck and he knew it.

Even if we could have found another mechanic, there would have been the extra cost of towing, more time spent waiting which added hotel bills, etc., so we had no choice but to let them to the work. We resent the fact that he would not do the work we asked for. We had solid information from our mechanic here at home, and the Valencia mechanic totally brushed it all off. He took extremely unfair advantage of us and as far as I’m concerned, Nissan owes us about $400. We have bought several Nissan cars in the past, but will not do so again. We’re also telling our story to everyone we know. It may not hurt your business, but it won’t benefit it either. Karen Giauque