Here's The Story of a bastard mechanic and how he held our car hostage for 8 months.

In February of 2009, My 1995 Saturn SL2 (Actually My Wife's) ran into transmission problems, my neighbors The Kane's of Philadelphia, PA who have since fled to Marianna Florida (B-Ware) recommended I see their neighbor "Fingers" to fix it, after boasting he fixed their 1990 Toyota for 600.00 (Rebuilt Transmission)I said hey, WTF.

My car was towed away and "Fingers" had my car, hours later He calls to say it's 900.00 to Fix, I readily agree as my wife started a new job and was 40 miles away, SHE NEEDED THIS CAR, So I decided to put off paying my Property Taxes (which were behind and it was a mistake, I KNOW) but I was trying to help my wife not to commute 40 miles 2.0 hrs each way on Public Transit.

So with my last unemployment check and the tax money, I gave him what he asked for upfront, Against the advice of another neighbor, I figured If I gave him the $$ upfront, he would be better motivated to get me a good transmission and not to be indebted to him, He is an imposing figure and not a nice man when it comes down to it.

Well $1000.00 (According to Fingers this was 900.00 for P&L and 100.00 for Stickers), which expired while the car was in his hands, and 5 months later, I still did not have my car.

I knew I was in trouble in July 2009 during the 4th of July holiday when we for the umpteenth time contacted him regarding the car, he kept giving us the same BS, I cannot find a good used transmission, First off, It was supposed to be a REBUILT TRANSMISSION, Not a Junkyard One, on July 4th he said to me and my wife IN FRONT OF OUR NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS, "Your Car will be ready Next Week....

That was July, July turned into August and So On, Around Thanksgiving Time I started turning up the heat, Verbal Conforntations, Bilingual Notes left on his Door and Car, Only to be ignored or Told NEXT WEEK...

On Thanksgiving Day, I decided to go to The Police, who told me there was not a goddamn thing they could do because I GAVE HIM THE CAR I HAD TO GET THE CAR BACK ON MY OWN.

I fucking blew my stack, That was IT..... This started a relentless campaign of Notes, Phone Calls, Me yelling in front of his house in the early morning hours and I also watered his front porch for em, I truthfully wanted to kill this man because I have never ripped anyone off and never ever ever did ANYTHING to this guy.

Well It finally came to an end when I told him I was going to take him to The TV Show Street Court if he did not return my car within 7 days, To my shock The Car was returned the first week of December 2009.

But he returned the car BROKEN, Despite replacing the Trannie and Water Pump, The car would not come out of First and did not work right. We put The Red Bullet out to pasture (Junked) on 12-31-2009 as we decided we were not putting anymore money into it.

I will admit I cried when I Junked it, I loved that car because we bought it used in 2002 and it's didn't owe us a cent and was a good reliable car that If I had more money at the time I would have taken it to Ammco.

Now in Closing, How much was lost...
1. $900.00 CASH (His Quote)
2. $90.00 CASH (For Inspection Stickers for a car that never hit the road while they were on there)
3. At least $700.00 on Car Insurance for the time the car was not operable and in his possession.

That's almost $1700.00 lost because I don't want to go to jail for bashing this cretin over his fat head.

TIPS TO MAKE SURE THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN TO YOU!!!!!

1. Try To know your Mechanic other than casually, this is what I think caused our problem, He figured EFF EM, I don't know him that well, RIP HIM OFF (He did inspections in the past for me, but no repairs)

2 GET A RECEIPT FOR ANY CASH LAID OUT, I DON'T CARE IF IT'S ON A DINNER NAPKIN WITH BOOGERS AND COFFEE STAINS, AND ALSO IF THEY TOW YOU, GET A RECEIPT EVEN IF THEY TOW YOU FOR FREE BECAUSE IT WILL BE THEIR WORD AGAINST YOURS..

3. NEVER GIVE ANY MONEY UPFRONT, TRUST NO ONE...

4. Make Sure your Mechanic is reputable and that he is not your neighbor, your better off with a high school buddy and possibly make the repair yourself if you are so inclined.

Thanks for letting me vent, will add photos of car later... And Remember Folks, If it sounds toooo good to be true. It probably is.... GET IT IN WRITING, EVEN IF IT IS AN UNDER THE TABLE DEAL.

Sincerely

CCS
Philadelphia, PA