About a month and a half ago, I was involved in a front end collision. My insurance company referred me to Sterling for the repairs (Unfortunately, as I would later find out, Sterling is a 'wholly-owned subsidiary' of ASI). After my accident, my car shook while driving, had problems accelerating, started to smoke, had its Check Engine light on (naturally...) and had cosmetic damage to the front bumper and hood.
Before they would look at my vehicle, I was made to sign a consent form which would allow them to repair my vehicle and I thought nothing of it. After the initial inspection, Sterling gave me a time frame of about a week and a half to finish the repairs.
23 days later I finally get my car back. Cosmetically, it looked alright. However, internally it was a mess. I got barely 3 miles down the road before my car started up with it's old tricks. I brought it back to Sterling, who then took it to a mechanic (apparently, for the first time). The mechanic ""did a tune-up"" and I got the car back. They then proceed to tell me that my engine problems were not caused by the accident, and they would not be covering the repair.
So basically, my car is no better than it was a month ago, and I was out $500 for my deductible, and about $200 in rental car fees. The mechanical issues I am having are my primary concern, and I do not believe that Sterling should have accepted the car and led me to believe that they would evaluate and possibly repair my engine troubles, when they did not even send it to a mechanic until my second time in...
The new GM was quick to apologize on behalf of the staff's actions, although he was sure to let me know that he was not around (and implied not responsible for their actions) when I brought my car in originally. I explained to him that while I appreciated an apology, it was a mistake that ultimately cost me ~$700, that would be better spent at a mechanic to repair the engine issues. He agreed, but said that he felt that he had come to the point where Sterling could not do any more.
I am very disappointed that after all this money and time has been spent, my car is mechanically no better than it was when I began. I really could care less about the cosmetics, but it's worrisome to travel in the car when I have my son in the back and I don't know if/when it's going to break down again...
Pros: ... the car looks good, can barely tell there was work done
Cons: spent $700 and car still broken
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