I relate to your car troubles, we had to pay $900.00+ to get John's car fixed. (that's two and a half car issues we've had in my car's lifetime, the first one died, and the second one would have had we not fixed it).

I hope that you can find a way to prove fraud (which sounds like your best angle. Maybe if they did inspect the car, they might even produce you a sheet claiming all the damages your mechanic found afterwards. Then you might actually have some clout in pursuing some redress on this.

Good luck!

Brenda