by Sarah Pusateri

Their slogan used to be Cars like us, people love us, but that's not the case for at least one Ocala family. Amber Rodgers says she brought her car to a repair shop on several occasions to fix a strange grinding noise. Mechanics said the problem was fixed, but that's when the wheel fell off...literally. Amber's biggest complaint was the potential damage that no warranty could cover.
Amber and her father, Chris Sterner, had been taking her 98 Chrysler Sebring to Pep Boys on State Road 200 for years. When Amber's car started making strange noises, they say they had the mechanics check it out. After replacing the tires and brakes, the problem just got worse.
"About three days ago I had them fix the CV joints," she said "And that's what happens to be broken today. They didn't admit any kind of liability. They didn't say they had done anything wrong."
But Mathew Connelly, who owns Patrick's Auto and Truck Repair, says someone is in the wrong. "According to their sheet and what they inspected," Connelly said, "they should have seen the ball joint had excessive play."
WCJB went to the Pep Boys for an explanation and got none.When we called the district manager, all we could do was leave a message.
Amber and her father are just grateful she was driving on a back road at the time, instead of on Interstate 75, which is where she was headed.
Chris Sterner did inform us that Pep Boys has agreed to pay for the current repairs and damage that the faulty wheel created. But they say it's because they value him as a customer, not because they were at fault.