When Terry Ryan brought his car to Roche's Automotive Services in the fall to get a fan belt fixed, he thought it would be at the garage for a couple of days.

Five months later, he's still waiting to hear when it'll be ready.

"It's frustrating. It's frustrating, to say the least," he said.

"Especially when it's not only me relying on it — it's my family."

'No peep' from garage

Last November, Ryan was about to go play hockey in Paradise, when he noticed the fan belt had popped off his 2011 Kia Soul.

It was a recurring problem, so he wanted to get it replaced — and also get both sets of keys for the vehicle fixed.

Terry Ryan said he's made many trips to the garage, but it remains closed. (Cal Tobin/CBC)

When he called to check in with Roche's Automotive on Brookfield Road in St. John's, he was told it would take some time, because the garage was busy.

Ryan said it wasn't a big deal at the time, because he had access to a work vehicle. But when his work ended just before Christmas, he was left without a car.

"I go back in [to Roche's], and there's no peep," he said. "So I left it, I said, 'Maybe after holidays.'"

The money I'm spending on transportation, and the places myself, my wife, and my kids can't get to, as a result of him having my car still. - Terry Ryan, customer of Roche's Automotive

Ryan returned to the garage in early January — but the business was still closed.

"I've known [owner Peter Roche] for 20 years. so I figured, 'OK, I'll call him, I'll see what's up.' I left some notes out front, I phoned. Nothing," he said.

Ryan said his transportation costs were adding up: he was still making payments on his Kia, while spending money on cabs and buses to get back and forth from his home in Mount Pearl.

He said he's also worried about the current state of the car, since he has seen it buried under snow outside the garage for months.

'I just want my car'

Ryan said he has visited the garage almost every day for the past few months, but to no avail.

He said he and his whole family have given Roche's Automotive their business for years, so when he'd heard about Peter Roche's legal troubles and reports of being in an accident, he wanted to give the garage owner some leeway.

But he said he hasn't heard anything back.

Ryan said enough is enough.

"I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I have a big concern about my own family, and my own transportation every day, and the money I'm spending on transportation, and the places myself, my wife, and my kids can't get to, as a result of him having my car still," he said.

He said he wants his car and his keys fixed.

"I just want my car, and I want it now," Ryan said.

"If I don't get some answers soon, then we're going to have to take the next step," he added, noting he may have to seek legal advice.

'Back to square one'

Ryan isn't the only person having issues with Roche's Automotive.

Amy Hancock said she was disgusted to discover her car wasn't working again, about an hour after she had finally picked it up from Roche's Automotive. (Cal Tobin/CBC)

Amy Hancock also brought her 2008 Mazda there for repairs last November.

She spoke with CBC Investigates in March, and finally got her car back April 7.

Hancock said Peter Roche tried to make her pay for the repairs, but she argued that he hadn't given her an estimate or cleared the work with her beforehand. He eventually let her take the vehicle, free of charge.

"[Roche] said it was perfect and I'd have no more problems with it," she said.

"About an hour later, everything was starting to go wrong with it again — the same problems I was having before."

Amy Hancock said the local Mazda dealership told her that her vehicle needs at least $3,000 worth of work. (Cal Tobin/CBC)

Hancock said she felt disgusted.

"I've got two kids that I'm driving around with, and I wanted the car back in running condition. It's just so frustrating," she said.

Penney Mazda had a look at Hancock's vehicle, and told her it needs at least $3,000 worth of work.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Hancock said.

"The car's not really worth that much money. I don't have that much money."

Hancock said she contacted Roche about the car not working.

"[Roche] was saying he had an open line of communication with me now, and he was going to get my car fixed, he was going to make this right. And now his phone is not working," she said.

"The shop is down there, still not open for business. I still can't get ahold of anybody, again. So, back to square one."

Roche says he'll fix their vehicles

Roche appeared at provincial court in St. John's Wednesday on an unrelated matter.

Both Roche and his company, Roche's Automotive, face dozens of counts under the Highway Traffic Act, over allegedly fraudulent school bus inspections.

Peter Roche appeared in St. John's provincial court on Wednesday on charges related to school bus inspections. (Eddy Kennedy/CBC)

Roche is also personally facing 44 charges of forgery and one count of obstruction of justice under the Criminal Code.

He and the company have pleaded not guilty.

A two-day trial is scheduled for August.

While at court, Roche gave CBC Investigates similar information to what he'd said a month ago — that he'd been involved in a serious accident, and has been in recovery ever since.

He said a couple of employees will open the garage Thursday, and that if he gets clearance from his doctor, he will be back to work on May 1.

Roche said he will get in touch with Ryan, and have his car returned by Friday.

He also said he will reach out to Hancock to get her car fixed.

Garage facing big tax bills

CBC Investigates has learned that Roche's Automotive is facing allegations related to unpaid taxes.

The City of St. John's filed court documents in February, seeking more than $51,000 in unpaid property taxes from Roche's Automotive.

According to the documents, the city said the garage hasn't paid its commercial realty tax plus interest from July 1, 2012 to the end of December 2016.

No statement of defence has been filed to date.

In 2015, the Canada Revenue Agency filed documents in Federal Court against Roche's Automotive for not paying about $160,000 in taxes.​