MERCEDES – A Rio Grande Valley man said he’s had more car troubles since going to a repair shop in Mercedes.

Army Veteran Mark Castillo took his car to F&B General Mechanics earlier this year for what he thought were brake repairs.

A couple days and more than $900 later, Castillo said his car started leaking.

“It was leaking fuel and the police officer said, ‘This is a dangerous vehicle, you shouldn’t be driving it.’ I said, ‘I’m retired. This is the only car I got, you know, I got to get around. I don’t have the money for another vehicle,’” he said.

F&B General Mechanics office manager Carmen Padilla told CHANNEL 5 NEWS  Castillo’s car had rusting, which caused some parts to break during the mechanical work.

After a second look, Padilla said they spotted another issue.

“We saw that it wasn’t the hose. We saw that the problem was in the fuel tank itself,” she said.

We wanted to know if F&B General Mechanics would be willing to work with Castillo.

Padilla said they are willing to fix his car. But they recommend their customers to return if problem arises within 60 days of the repair. The office is willing to take responsibility in the case if the misdiagnosis was indeed on their end.

Castillo said he doesn’t trust the repair shop to get it right a second time and will go to a dealership. He said he filed a claim with his bank to try and recover some of the money spent at the repair shop.

“Hopefully, I can be back on the road. I don’t have a vehicle right now and it affects you when you lose your transportation,” he said.

Dolores Salinas with the Better Business Bureau said dealerships tend to be a bit pricier, but typically has better warranties.

Salinas added there needs to be a balance when dealing with repair shops. She said going in blindly can be problematic.

“If you have the time to do all that, to do all this homework before you take your car to be repaired, that can save you a lot of headaches and problems down the line,” she said. “A consumer should make sure that he gives the mechanic information on what the symptoms of whatever is wrong with the vehicle is, and not assume that you know more.”