Quantcast
Home manage Las Vegas Review-Journal
  Jobs Cars Homes Shopping Travel Weddings Golf Best of Las Vegas Photo   Search:

RECENT EDITIONS
Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon

sponsored by
Business


The Brake Team, once targeted by investigation, closes down 11 repair shops in valley

The Brake Team, the target of a sting operation earlier this year, has closed 11 auto brake repair shops in the Las Vegas area and four others in Northern Nevada because of the economic slump, a company spokesman said Thursday.

The company employed about 50 Nevada workers at its peak plus another 30 in Oregon, but it had been reducing jobs since August, according to the spokesman who asked that his name not be used.


Most Popular Stories
  • Expect to pay at Nugget's new tower
  • Fraud with Portent
  • Debt-ridden casino operators told to expect pressure
  • REAL ESTATE: Las Vegas home prices stabilize as threat of foreclosure flood wanes
  • REAL ESTATE: Short sales on the rise
  • GAMING COMPANY EARNINGS: Station drops $455.4 million
  • THE STRIP: License approved for Aria
  • Foreclosure wave continues
  • GLOBAL GAMING EXPO: Recession over? Don't bet on it
  • Union wants insiders to help pull Station from bankruptcy




  • Altogether, the company had 26 locations, including some in Oregon and Washington.

    The company closed its final shops Nov. 1.

    The attorney general's Bureau of Consumer Protection in June filed a civil complaint against the Brake Place, which did business as the Brake Team. The state agency alleged violations of the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act based on findings of sting operations in the Las Vegas Valley.

    On the same day, the Brake Place, which has David Getz as its president, consented to an injunction against deceptive trade practices. The company denied the allegations.

    Curtis Johnson, area developer for franchisor Precise Tune Auto Care, said he wants to lease three of the closed locations in Southern Nevada and to provide a complete range of auto repair services, bringing his Precise Tune area locations to six.

    Johnson said he is looking over warranties held by former Brake Team customers and will provide warranty work and parts when feasible.

    "We see that as a marketing opportunity," Johnson said.

    Johnson obtained leases for locations at Fort Apache Road and Flamingo Road and at Eastern Avenue and Las Vegas Beltway. He seeks to lease a third location at Tropicana Avenue and Eastern Avenue.

    Brakeway is taking over four locations in Northern Nevada, the Brake Team spokesman said.

    The Brake Place has not filed for bankruptcy protection, the spokesman said.

    Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.

    Newsvine Digg Fark Technorati reddit StumbleUpon del.icio.us Slashdot Propeller Mixx Furl Twitter MySpace Facebook Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Bookmarks Windows Live Favorites Ask MyStuff myAOL Favorites

    Leave Your Comment 3 Reader Comments
    Terms & Conditions
    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.

    Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
    Current Word Count:

    Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

    stevem wrote on November 14, 2008 08:06 PM: i believe it's PRECISION tune and not precise tune. once again, some great reporting from the r-j.

    just so everyone knows, i actually had PRECISION tune as an account when i was with the r-j and curtis is a really good guy. he won't rip you off.

    brake team didn't close because of economics, they closed because a sting operation showed them ripping people off and people stopped going there.


    Herb wrote on November 14, 2008 05:13 PM: The Break Team wanted to charge me $600 to fix my breaks. Then I got a second opinion and it only cost $125. The Break Team deserves to go out of business for ripping people off.


    Alan wrote on November 14, 2008 05:03 PM: The Brake Team was ripping people off? What else is new? What automotive repair place or hospital doesn't rip people off?