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Mechanic Glued Audi Engine, Flabbergasted Owner Says

FORT WORTH, Texas (CN) - A soldier and single mother says in court that she needed a loan to repair her Audi after a mechanic used glue to rebuild its engine.

April Williams calls her 2009 Audi A4 her "only indulgence." She says the car was in perfect working condition, had no acceleration problems and had no signs of engine failure, but the low-oil light was on the fritz.

"Tilden's employee informed Williams that its mechanics regularly worked on Audis and assured her of its ability to remedy the problem," according to the complaint in the 96th Judicial District Court of Tarrant County, Texas.

Williams says "what happened next was an absolute nightmare for a single mother."

"On May 18, 2012, Williams returned to Tilden in order to retrieve her son's car seat from her vehicle," the complaint states. "While she was there, she noticed that several pieces of her engine were lying on the floor and in the back seat. Finding this odd, Williams asked if Tilden would be able to put the engine back together, and Tilden, once again, assured her that it knew how to repair her vehicle and could reassemble the engine."

When Williams returned four days later to pick up her vehicle, however, the Audi allegedly struggled to start. After the third attempt, Williams says she "noticed that the vehicle demonstrated a severe knocking noise from the engine and acted very sluggish."

"Williams immediately park the vehicle in front of Tilden and entered the building to discuss the new problems that Tilden obviously caused by its lack of knowledge," the complaint states.

She said Tilden's owner was dismissive and refused to refund her money.

After taking the vehicle to the Audi dealership, a mechanic there allegedly "pointed out a litany of mistakes that Tilden made in its attempt to repair Williams' vehicle."

"Tilden's mistakes included, but was not limited to, using an adhesive to simply glue the engine parts together instead of properly fastening the engine," the complaint states.

Restoring the car to its pre-Tilden condition was expensive, and the low-oil light is still broken "to this day," according to the complaint.

"Williams was forced to take out a loan in order to have her vehicle properly repaired," the complaint states.

Williams seeks damages for deceptive trade practices, fraudulent inducement and breach of contract. She is represented by Christopher Taylor with Kelly Hart & Hallman of Fort Worth.

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