Fury. Pure, unbridled fury is what I am feeling right now.

At the beginning of May, we took our perfectly functioning 2004 Kia Amanti to East Side Motor, in Richlands, North Carolina, where we live, for routine maintenance. The car is now ruined, and may never run again, due entirely to incompetent work.

We took the Amanti in to have the transmission fluid changed, the transmission filter changed and the plugs and wires changed. The car was in the shop for ten days, during which time the owner of the shop told us numerous lies as to why the work was taking so long, up to and including inventing a drinking problem for his grandson, one of the mechanics who works there.

During the replacement of three of the spark plugs, the engine cover must be pulled in order to access the plugs. It was during this time that someone working in the shop dropped something in the engine and did not promptly retrieve it.

Instead, they finished their work, sealed up the engine and partially filled it with oil. Then, they started the engine. The ensuing noise caused alarm so, with the engine running, they inspected it before shutting it off. The shop had to get a specialist to come in and inspect the engine in order to locate and remove the object before they could put it back together.

When we picked up the car, we noticed that it was running roughly and chugging out at stops. We went back to the shop to no avail. For several days we were unable to even locate the owner. When we finally found his grandson, we arranged to have the car looked at on a Tuesday at a specific time. Neither the grandson nor the owner showed up for the appointment. Still needing to get the car problems remedied, we took the Amanti to the local Kia dealership for assistance.

The Kia service department discovered that the wrong plugs and wires had been installed in the car. They also determined that the incorrect oil had been put in the crankcase, and they found evidence of engine damage as well.

Because we had purchased an extended warranty, we contacted them, and are still waiting for word as to how much of the cost of repairs they will cover. As it is damage caused by a third party, in this case the incompetent workmanship by East Side Motor, the extended warranty company would be completely within their rights to refuse to pay for the engine repair or replacement, leaving us without a car.

As we were having the routine maintenance done so that we could leave on vacation, without a car there is no vacation. Since one of the places that we were going on our vacation was to Colorado to pay for our wedding venue, there may not be a wedding, either.

We are looking into what steps we have to take to land the incompetent people in court and force them to reimburse us for the car and our expenses. Stay tuned. I am sure that this is not over yet.