1 /5 Omair Siddiqui: I found Felipe through a Google search when my trusty ā97 Tacoma started leaking power steering fluid. The reviews looked decent, so I figured Iād give him a shot. Big mistake. What should have been a simple rack and pinion replacement turned into a complete nightmareāshoddy work, stolen tools, and a truck that was literally dangerous to drive afterward.
First, he was supposed to show up at 12 PM on Friday to diagnose the issue. He rolls in at 3 PM with no real apology, which, fine, things happen. He confirms itās a rack and pinion leak and tells me to order a new one. I showed him the exact part I wantedāa quality OEM-style replacementāand he just nodded and said, āYeah, thatāll work.ā No suggestions, no warnings, nothing.
When the part arrived, I called him back to do the install. Again, he was lateāshowed up hours after he said he would. At this point, I just wanted the job done, so I let it slide. He gets to work, and when heās finished, I take my truck for a test drive. Immediate red flags. Every time I hit the brakes, the steering wheel jerked violently to the left, and the whole front end shook like something was about to fall off. Iāve driven this truck for yearsāit never did this before.
I took it to a trusted alignment shop to see what was wrong, and they were horrified. The rack wasnāt centered, the tie rod ends werenāt pinned properly, and the left tire was actually hitting the frame at full lock. They couldnāt even align it because Felipe had installed everything so poorly. Oh, and guess what? There was now a brand-new power steering leak from one of the hoses he messed with. The shop gave me a full list of everything wrongāmissing bolts, loose fittings, and a half-assed job from top to bottom.
When I called Felipe to tell him about the issues, he blew up at me. Started screaming that it wasnāt his fault, that the alignment shop was lying, that I must have taken the truck off-roading (itās a pavement-only daily driver). Then he had the nerve to say, āHow do I know it wasnāt doing this before?ā Dude, Iāve owned this truck for a decadeāI know how it drives.
And hereās the kickerāhe stole my breaker bar. I checked my Ring camera, and sure enough, there he is, walking out of my garage with it tucked under his arm. After all the terrible work, the lying, the yelling, he stole from me on top of it. I shouldāve called the cops right then, but I just wanted him gone.
In the end, I had to pay another mechanic to fix his disaster, and they had it done right in under an hour. Meanwhile, Felipe refused to refund a single cent, even though my truck was worse off than when he touched it. The whole point of hiring him was to stop the power steering leak, and instead, he added a new one.
Do not hire this guy. His Google reviews might look okay, but my experience was a total scam. Heās incompetent, unprofessional, and a thief. If you care about your carāor your sanityāstay far away. Zero stars
Edit: 4/14/2025. Added screenshots. Supposedly I am not a real person as Felipe claims and and he ānever did work for meā. So I took the liberty of uploading the screenshots of our text messages to prove he is a straight up liar. Instead of owning accountability, he dismisses his problems and lies to get out of them. Thanks for the poor sportsmanship after you ended up costing me thousands. !
