CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Henry Gonzalez called the Troubleshooters because he says he's taken his car to 2 different mechanics in town, and it still doesn't run.
When we visited him Monday, the car's battery was dead.
So that's the latest problem Gonzalez is having with his 1998 Dodge Intrepid that's been sitting in his driveway for a couple months now.
The one that he said has had three different motors it in since he's had it.
The one he's had since 2009.
The one he says has over 200,000 miles on it.
He says 2 mechanics have told him what they believe the problem is.
"That your catalytic converters are no good," he said they tell him. "See? Your catalytic converter is supposed to pump out to the back, and they're pushing to the front."
In March 2019, Gonzalez had a mechanic named Conner McLaughlin work on it.
Gonzalez said he paid him $500 to put a salvage motor in it. That didn't solve the problem.
And from there, it wound up at Mechanix Pro, where JD Gomez says he worked on the catalytic converter -- much of the time, for free.
"Is that car worth fixing?" we asked Gomez.
"Honestly?" Gomez said. "He shouldn't have dumped the money into it."
Gomez says his boss is willing to help Gonzalez again, but the car will have to be towed to the shop before any work can be done.
Who's going to pay for that? Who's going to pay for parts? Labor?
Gonzalez estimates he's already spent $1800 on the car.
"Are you willing to spend any more money to get this fixed?" Action 10 News asked.
"I've been told I already spent money to have this car fixed," he said. "I'm not supposed to pay."
He's well aware this is an older car with a lot of miles on it, and that it's had three different motors in it.
"I wish I'd have never gotten into (this situation)," he said. "I wish I would have just junked it."
