This is my dealings with a mechanic Elnaiem Salih, maybe of Nile Motors in Arlington, TX…..I am only displaying the facts, I do have several thoughts about the moral integrity of this man, but let the reader draw their own conclusion. I will pull pictures from publicly available information, and have records of all conversations with him. Currently I have a $13k claim with the smalls claim court which Elnaiem Salih just laughed at, he knows even if I win how not to pay out.
I have a 2013 BMW 328i xDrive, which I owned for the last 8 years, when looking at routine maintenance I saw there were a couple of common issues with that car, firstly the oil cooler gasket fail and leak oil, secondly the timing chain has premature failure. As I didn’t know the last time either were replaces I had to look at getting them fixed to prevent further damage that may be caused due to failure. I got quotes and it would be around $5500 to get the repair done.
I also liked at doing the repairs myself, which I did not have the time to do. I then came across an advert on Facebook, $2500 for an engine that had both of the repairs completed and only had 70,000 miles on it. Another $1000 to do the engine swap. It was a resonable price, so I contacted the person. I asked if he had insurance and he told me he did.
So I drove the car to Arlington, TX 70 miles away and got an uber home.
A few days later I asked about the progress and he said there were issues he was working out, then a couple more days and he said it would be an additional $900, I asked about what it was and only got a vague response about it being a waste gate, and I knew they were only $100, he had done work that I had not authorized, and was trying to charge me for, I am not unreasonable, but said I would discuss it when I got there.
I got an uber to his shop, Elnaiem Salih said the car was running great, but still wanted the extra $900, I offered $400, and he accepted, he wrote me a receipt and I started to drive home, about 30 miles into the journey home the car went into limp mode with a coolant temperature warning, so I pulled over to the side of the road.
When I opened the hood there was coolant everywhere and there was a coolant hose that goes to the expansion tank missing the retaining clip, this had allowed the coolant to leak out and the engine to overheat. I called and he gave me vague instructions to top up the coolant and secure the hose. However I was not near an auto-parts store, or anywhere to get coolant. Luckily NTTA came and gave me a free tow to a gas station, to get me off the toll road.
I bought coolant at the gas station and a couple of basic tools, to try to do a repair, eventually after a couple of hours I had added coolant, and got the hose secured with some wire I just needed to get air out of the system once I had done that, I drove about 1 mile and the expansion tank blew out the plastic screw for the bleed valve. I tested him again, thinking the head gasket was potentially blown and pressurizing the coolant, he said to get a tow truck, and he would pay for it, $430. I got a tow truck, and 2 hours later I made it home.
I bought new coolant reservoir and clips and fixed the coolant leak, another $150.
The car was driven a little while for testing, maybe 50 miles, and was a little rough, but sort of ok, so I try to measure the oil level, there is no dipstick on these cars, so its an electronic measurement, I tried like 40 times, it would never complete, I asked Elnaiem Salih about this and basically was told to change the oil – which I was planning to do anyway. So I changed out the oil and oil filter. My son was to use the car to do his driving test about 50 miles away, in a few weeks, so we drove there and back for some experience, the car was still rough.
My wife and son took the car to the supermarket, and the car just stopped in the middle of the road, it now sounds horrible.
I looked at the oil in the filter, and its full of metal, the oil cooler housing is leaking, and it sounds like a tractor, basically its spun a bearing and the car is trash.
I contact Elnaiem Salih, and after a bit of back and forth he says he will come pick up the car in a few weeks and make everything right.
A few weeks go by, longer than he said, I contact him again, he sends me a picture of an email of him moving into a new shop….I am dubious, but I give him a couple more weeks. Enough is enough, now I have to file my small claims, in Arlington. I check with the guy he was supposed to be renting workspace off, and he never heard back from Elnaiem Salih for a few weeks, and was not renting him space.