Tech1 Engine Installers Inc 6301 Causeway Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33619

"My experience with this company is that the folks who run and operate the shop are incompetent in all the ways that matter. Sadly Curt is a nice guy and probably wants to do well but just was unable to deliver. I had an engine rebuild that was meant to be a two week job which ended up being a three month job. After THREE MONTHS I got a car back that ran a little rough and when I inquired I was assured that it wasn’t a problem with the engine repair and it was a rattle from the AC motor. Well, after a week the performance of the vehicle seemed to get exponentially worse so rather than dealing with this shop again I opted to trade in for a new vehicle and take a loss. I regret not taking my car back from curt but I had paid a $1500 deposit and wanted to give curt a chance to do the work. Win some and lose some I guess."

"Avoid at all cost. Dropped my car off on a Thursday night for an inspection, didn’t get it back till Monday with no inspection. Curt and his son are professional on the phone but don’t let that fool you. Curt said he’d call me Friday morning to let me know how the inspection went, never called. I called over and over and no answer. After 10 calls his son finally answers and said they’d get to it soon and call me back. Later that day I called 10 times again and Curt’s son answered and said “Curt is under the car right now” but that if they “don’t finish on Friday they’d finish it Saturday.” Being respectful, patient and honestly not knowing better, I waited for Saturday and I called 10 times and left messages and even drove there to find out they’re completely closed on the weekend. I didn’t have my car all weekend because they kept it and never even notified me of anything. Monday came and they finally answered after 30 calls, come to find out the inspection still hadn’t been done. All that time, all those calls I made to them and not once got a call back. They lie like they are used to it. The slap in the face was on Monday when Curt said he “hasn’t been open on Saturdays for 27 years” and that I “must of spoken to someone else’s son.” Their location literally looks like junk yard. My mistake was trusting them. Didn’t know service could be this bad."

"I have to give Curt and Tech1 5 stars for their work on my 2002 Toyota Celica GT. First I had a rebuild with them 4 months short of 3 years ago. For some reason I spun rod 1. Come to find out it is a design flaw in the 1zzfe Engine. No Tech 1 did not tell me this. I did research on my own and found out that if you corner too hard oil stops going to the oil pickup pipe in the oil pan. (Side note: I plan on getting a oil pan that addresses this and having Tech 1 install it for me) So I called Curt. Explained my plight. He simply asked me to follow my warranty. Show him last 6 oil changes done on time and I have a parts warranty. He kindly reminded me that labor ended at 90 days. But I expected this. So As Curt gets into the motor, Sure enough rod 1 came loose from the crank and destroyed the crank. So he explained this would take a full rebuild and let me know the labor costs. 1400. Which if you read his website is 500 to pull the motor, 500 to replace. So 400 in actual labor is a STEAL people. Then he noticed that I had 2 motor mounts that were dry rotted. SO I had him replace them. He noticed that my power steering pump was leaking as well. I had him replace it. I also asked that he replace the VVTI gear as well as a sensor on the motor. Once I gave him the go ahead he completed the work in 7 days. I inquired about the possibility of a warranty extension for a fee. He agree'd. Ladies and Gentlemen not too many shops would ever do that. So of course for peace of mind I purchased. So now about 4 days later I notice some fluid leaking at about 500 Miles. (Folks it happens as things swell and tighten up. work on anything and you will experience this from time to time.) Curt's response, Bring it in I'll take care of it. No questions beyond diagnostic. No fuss. Just he will take care of you. Now I have worked with many shops and rarely get treated as nicely as I have by Curt. Now I read the non favorable post and here we are only hearing 1 side of the conversation. And as we all know people tend to skew the facts in their favor. I am sorry that he had a bad experience at Tech 1. But I have had 2 Great experiences. So if you are considering an engine rebuild I wholeheartedly recommend them. I hope this post helps and reassures people. And with any post that I do you can always contact me and I will go into great details. Cheers All."

"I would not recommend taking your car here for anything. I took my car here for a head gasket and been having problems since! After paying $1300 my car was smoking like crazy so i took my car to another mechanic and come to find out they did a lowsy job and still wanted more money. I felt ripped off so i asked if they could atleast accommodate me and refund me atleast half and they didntwant to do that. so unless u have money to waste i reccomend going somwhere else because after paying THIRTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS i should not still be having the same or more problems. -KR"

"UPDATE: Won my case against Tech 1. I had the mechanic that finished the work as well as two other witnesses that had similar experiences with Tech-1. If you need help taking them to court just contact me and I will assist you even to the point of going to court as a witness against them. UPDATE: Taking legal action against Tech 1. I have a court date on Sept 28th. Went to mediation and the falsehoods were still flowing. These guys are so shady they had people put 5-Star comments to bring up their ratings. They need to be out of business. I highly recommend anyone with issues to take legal actions. Don't let them get away with scamming you. Karma is a mutha. If anyone needs recommendations contact me and I can tell you exactly what you need to do. I will follow up on the court case after Sep. 28th I'm hoping it come out in my favor because I have several witnesses to testify against them. **Do not go to this place** you will thank me for it. This is the worst place you could ever take your vehicle to be repaired. They are totally unprofessional and do not stand behind their work. I took my vehicle there to have the engine remanufactured and it ran good for a while. I took it back due to problems and that's when the problem started. I have to admit no one is perfect and we all make mistakes. Mine was taking my vehicle there in the first place. There's is not standing behind their work. They did not do a complete remanufacture and skimped on parts using my original parts when they are supposed to use all *new* parts. Then when I took it in, I would call to check on the status and would never get a call back. Several times I called and left messages they were unreturned. When I did get to speak to someone I was lied to constantly. I was told that there were issues with the spark plug wires. When that did not fix the problem, I was told it was due to the spark plug "breaking/chipping". Regardless, they installed the spark plugs which should have been part of the warranty. I eventually had to take my care to another mechanic who discovered Tech 1 was a scam and cheat. There were no new parts on my engine which was supposed to be remanufactured. I contacted them to let them know and demanded a refund as this constitutes fraud/deceit. They did not respond to my request and I am left to take them to court to get a refund. To anyone having issued with Tech 1, I highly suggest you take legal action against them. All I've gotten from Stephen are lies verbally and in writing when he responded to my BBB complaint and complaint to the State of Florida. There is a possibility that criminal charges could be filed in the future. Again, if you don't want to be bothered with cheats and scammers I highly suggest you take your vehicle to another facility. I could give you the name of the facility I took my vehicle to with excellent service but it may appear I'm supporting them. I just don't want to see you get fleeced the way I was. When someone takes their vehicle in for service there are three things they want to know (1) What's the problem (2) how much is it (3) when will my vehicle be ready. In addition you expect the facility to stand behind their warranty not lie and make false claims that are untrue. I can't wait to get these guys before a judge so they can be exposed for what they are unprofessional scammers. I don't care if they stay in business or not, its just that I want my money back and don't want to do business with them ever again. At all cost **DO NOT** take your vehicle to them. If you have an enemy you want to get back at send them to Tech 1. I had to give them 1 star just to be able to post this but they are not even worthy of that. If there was a negative star, that would be first choice. K. Mallory"