WYOMING, Mich. — Andrea Gilbert said she's glad she reached out to the FOX 17 Problem Solvers. Her tears of sorrow are now tears of joy, and the nearly $4,000 she thought she lost is about to be redeemed.
"He hasn't talked to me, hasn't said a word to me," Gilbert said while standing outside of Meyers Engine Service.
It was the moment Gilbert had been waiting months for. She stood by anxiously. Wednesday afternoon, she finally took possession of the vehicle she's paid nearly $4,000 for after begging the seller, mechanic John Meyers, to release it.
Meyers wanted nothing to do with the Problem Solvers, as also evidenced last week at his home. Gilbert said she paid the owner of Meyers Engine Service in Wyoming, not only for the 2011 Chevy Cruze, but also for a new engine and all she received was an illegal title.
It's a situation that brought her to tears when the Problem Solvers first talked to her. She said Meyers wouldn't refund the money nor release the vehicle as-is. That is until she contacted the FOX 17 Problem Solvers. She had received empty promises up until then.
"This is the exact same that it's looked weeks ago when I came in and checked it out," Gilbert observed.
There wasn't a new engine, just parts plus a cracked windshield on the 240,000-mile vehicle. Not to fear, a couple of gentleman towed the vehicle from Wyoming to Rosewood Auto Service in Jenison.
After seeing her original story, Mike Klooster of Rosewood Auto reached out to the Problem Solvers and asked to help the single mom out.
"Can I hug you? Thank you so much," Gilbert said to Klooster.
Klooster replied to Gilbert, "Don't thank me. This is a group effort."
He told FOX 17, "We work on cars all the time. We know the situation. (I) personally have been taken advantage of on a sale. So it was just kind of something that hit home to me."
As the mechanics prepare to look over her vehicle to get Gilbert and her 17-month-old on the road, she expressed gratitude for the FOX 17 Problem Solvers.
"I would encourage anybody with a similar problem or situation to definitely reach out to you guys, get stuff done," she said.
Gilbert said, "I felt like this was something that I was never going to get figured out. So this is like a very heavy weight lifted off my shoulders, and I feel a lot better knowing that my car is now in good hands with someone who's actually going to work on it."
The Secretary of State told FOX 17 it plans to look into the illegal title issue. According to the state, John Meyers of Meyers Engine Service is not a licensed mechanic.
