1Gab Laser
15+ Year Contributor
- 334
- 0
- Mar 24, 2008
-
aaaaaaaaaa,
Africa
Lets start off way at the beginning with my experiences with this shop.
This is gonna be a novel, hopefully you can get through it all.
My parents know the owner, so whenever there's something that we can't do in our own garage, we've always sent our cars to him (this doesnt happen very often). I figure we should get especially good service, where we know him, you know, maybe cut us a deal? That's the least of my worries.
2½ years ago, when I bought my first car, 1996 Grand Prix GTP. My dad is old-fashioned and doesn't know anything about the electrical system, emissions, all that new stuff on cars, and at this point I didn't even know how to change my oil. We bought the car and did a tune up, but the upper intake manifold is over the back 3 spark plugs in the head, and we didnt know what was involved with changing them. We did everything except the back 3 plugs/wires, and sent it to Accelerated to have that done, told him to inspect it while it was down there. He charged us half a day's work to replace 3 plugs and plug wires. Next time it needed them, we did it here. It took AN HOUR!. Plus, we found out HE DIDN'T EVEN GAP THEM. The gap was set over 1/8"!
This year, we sent it there to have it inspected. They checked it all over, and told me my rear bumper support was rotted out and ready to fall off. I told them I'd do it myself and drove back home. They said they already recorded everything else from the inspection and when I fixed it I could just pull in and have them look at the support, and if it was good they'd put a sticker on it, I wouldnt' have to go through everything else again. So I pulled the plastic bumper off, and the support was just barely starting to rust. Tried junkyards, all theirs were completely rotted. Went to a dealer, the part was discontinued and it would be over $500 to have one of the last few remaining shipped up from Tennessee (including the cost of the part). Well my dad also knows a welder/fabricator. So we sent it to him and he custom made one. I went back to Accelerated to show them that I replaced the bumper support, and they start checking everything out again. In the end, they tell me I need a new O2 sensor, catalytic converter, air pump, and my transmission is going. I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS CAR It shifts fine, has plenty of power, runs and drives great.
Enough with that, on to the DSM. This is where it gets REALLY interesting.
I dropped the DSM off on a Thursday back in June to have custom 2½ INCH cat-back exhaust put on and to have them put an inspection sticker on. I already did brakes, ball joints, tie rod ends, it ran fine, no leaks. I know this for a fact, the night before I brought it down I had a show, and it was idling with the stereo bumping for 5 hours straight. This was on a THURSDAY. I asked how long it would be, because I was anxious to show the car off to everyone, and he told me it could possibly be done by the end of the day Friday, but I should expect Monday to be safe. I figured oh wow, 2 days, that's awesome. I also asked them to leave it inside the shop at night, because I had my system in there and the door locks didn't work (I've fixed them since then). They said sure, no problem.
My dad starts work at 5 AM, so he was out WAY before the shop opened, and drove by (he drives tractor trailer) Friday morning. He told me he drove by that morning (probably around 6, but definitely before they opened) and the car was sitting outside, right where I parked it Thursday night. I was pissed, but let it go. Friday I drove by before they closed, still in the same spot. I figured oh well, maybe ethey didnt get to it today, but hopefully Monday it'll be first on the list. WRONG AGAIN! They did put it inside over the weekend though, they did at least 1 thing right.
Monday morning I stopped in to see how it was going, it was parked outside with no muffler. I went in and asked if they had any problems or anything, they said no, they just hadn't gotten to it yet. Tuesday morning, it was sitting in the same spot. Another night outside. A day late.
This went on and on... finally TWO WEEKS LATER, after my 10 day grace period on the registration was up, they called and said they got it in the shop and there was a problem, a bad gas leak. A gas leak that THEY CREATED, because there were no leaks the night before I dropped it off there. I told them that it was impossible, and they said to come down and check it out. Sure enough, it was spraying gas. They said I'd have to replace the fuel pump/sending unit. Dealer cost - around $400. I checked every junkyard in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, NONE of them had one, or wouldn't sell it to me (some policy I guess). I told them I'd think about it.
The next day they called and said they thought they could fix it without replacing the unit, I told them to go ahead and do it. I also told them I only had $700 to spend, and that was if I used all my gas and food money, which I couldn't really afford to do. They told me, don't worry, it won't be ANYWHERE NEAR $700.
Long story short, they tried fixing the gas leak that they made on my car, WITH JB WELD! Now keep in mind the fuel pump on these cars pushes around 42 PSI. What's JB weld made for? Around 10-15? I was pissed when I found this out, I told them don't worry about it, I couldn't afford for them to waste time screwing with a half-assed fix, I'll bring it home on a trailer and fix it myself, but it'd be a few days before I could get a trailer down there to haul it home.
KEEP IN MIND, THE EXHAUST STILL HASN'T BEEN TOUCHED, IT'S GOING ON 3 WEEKS NOW!
The next day they call me and say they have it almost stopped. WHAT? I said to stop screwing around on my car! I tell them again to stop, and to do my exhaust, and that I wanted it done by Wednesday (this was on Tuesday morning) or I was going to bring it to Midas or Munro and have them do it. Wednesday comes, they say they're working on it.
Finally it's Friday morning and go down there and tell them I've had it, it needs to be done TODAY, because Saturday morning I'm coming and loading it on a trailer, finished or not, and they won't be around to stop me. They get it in the shop finally, and call me back a few hours later and say there's a problem. I go down there. The muffler I bought wouldn't fit (it was for a 1ga, I put 1gb Talon rear fascia on my car, and the muffler comes out a few inches to the right, it was hitting on the wheel hub). He brought me out back to his trailer where he keeps mufflers in stock, and gave me a choice between a few, I picked the "cheapest" one.
Friday night I get a call saying it's done, that I could bring it home Saturday, but to come by Monday to pay the bill. He also said he worked on the gas line some more (WHAT DID I TELL HIM?) after the exhaust was done because he had some free time, and he thought it was fixed. I was so pumped to have my car. Saturday morning I picked it up and brought it down to someone else that does inspections, and had them put a sticker on it.
I drove about 20 miles, and just as I pulled in to a parking lot, the JB Weld blew out. Gas was spraying everywhere, literally pouring out of it. I used half a tank of gas to get back home.
So finally I got home and me and my dad started pulling it apart, we pulled the unit out of my 93 Eclipse (which isn't the same), and adapted it to make it work in my tank. And guess what, it didn't leak. The whole thing took less than 2 hours, and the shop spent how many hours trying to screw around with JB Weld?
Monday afternoon I went to pay the bill, with $700 cash in my wallet. I got the bill, $776.83. I told him no way, you said it wouldn't be close to $700, I was expecting maybe 400? He told me it was the best he could do, and he was giving me a deal.
Well, he was stupid enough to put the part number for the muffler I bought off him on the bill. So I came home and googled it, the muffler retails for $44, and he charged me $204 for it. I expected A LITTLE markup, but $160? Next chance I got I went down there and questioned it, his response was "I paid over $300 for that muffler, I told you I was giving you a hell of a deal." I told him he must be mistaking it for another muffler, and showed him I could buy it from multiple sources for under $50. He told me he'd look into it and call me back. I never got a call.
Also on the bill, it listed "2¼ inch piping", when I specifically asked for 2½ inch.
Two weeks later I look out the window and see my dad under the car. I go out there and he says "look at this." and grabs my muffler and starts moving it back and forth, up and down, a few inches. The clamp to the muffler broke off so it was just flopping around. I hadn't even bottomed out, it just fell off going down the road. Plus, the vibration from it bouncing around going down the road ripped a hole in my head pipe, which must've been brittle.
I went to the shop the next day, he was like "what the hell? That shouldn't happen." I asked what they were gonna do about it and he says "well we're too busy to do it right now." Finally I just asked for the clamp and told them I'd do it myself. Magically they found lift space, but instead of using a real exhaust clamp, they used one of those cheap ones like on coolant lines and stuff.
I went on eBay and bought the cheapest header, head pipe, and cat I could, and me and my dad installed them in our garage. Another bad experience but it doesn't involve the shop.
Well I was just on my way home from work tonight, and I started hearing this nasty noise that sounded like my motor was rapping, so I pulled over to the side of the road and got out to listen to where it was coming from, traced it to the back of the car. It wasn't the motor. I put my foot against the muffler and moved it all around. I'm guessing BOTH clamps broke this time, because it didn't make that noise before. and I'm scared to see if it got bouncing and got against my bumper and melted/scorched it.
I'm planning on going down there tomorrow, and demanding that they fix it properly, with the proper equipment, right in front of me, or I'll have them put out of business. I've already told all my friends to never bring their cars there, and told them I'd never give them another penny of my money. So my question is where do I report them to and how? Better Business Bureau? I have pictures of the JB Weld mess all over my sending unit and gas spraying everywhere.
This is gonna be a novel, hopefully you can get through it all.
My parents know the owner, so whenever there's something that we can't do in our own garage, we've always sent our cars to him (this doesnt happen very often). I figure we should get especially good service, where we know him, you know, maybe cut us a deal? That's the least of my worries.
2½ years ago, when I bought my first car, 1996 Grand Prix GTP. My dad is old-fashioned and doesn't know anything about the electrical system, emissions, all that new stuff on cars, and at this point I didn't even know how to change my oil. We bought the car and did a tune up, but the upper intake manifold is over the back 3 spark plugs in the head, and we didnt know what was involved with changing them. We did everything except the back 3 plugs/wires, and sent it to Accelerated to have that done, told him to inspect it while it was down there. He charged us half a day's work to replace 3 plugs and plug wires. Next time it needed them, we did it here. It took AN HOUR!. Plus, we found out HE DIDN'T EVEN GAP THEM. The gap was set over 1/8"!
This year, we sent it there to have it inspected. They checked it all over, and told me my rear bumper support was rotted out and ready to fall off. I told them I'd do it myself and drove back home. They said they already recorded everything else from the inspection and when I fixed it I could just pull in and have them look at the support, and if it was good they'd put a sticker on it, I wouldnt' have to go through everything else again. So I pulled the plastic bumper off, and the support was just barely starting to rust. Tried junkyards, all theirs were completely rotted. Went to a dealer, the part was discontinued and it would be over $500 to have one of the last few remaining shipped up from Tennessee (including the cost of the part). Well my dad also knows a welder/fabricator. So we sent it to him and he custom made one. I went back to Accelerated to show them that I replaced the bumper support, and they start checking everything out again. In the end, they tell me I need a new O2 sensor, catalytic converter, air pump, and my transmission is going. I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS CAR It shifts fine, has plenty of power, runs and drives great.
Enough with that, on to the DSM. This is where it gets REALLY interesting.
I dropped the DSM off on a Thursday back in June to have custom 2½ INCH cat-back exhaust put on and to have them put an inspection sticker on. I already did brakes, ball joints, tie rod ends, it ran fine, no leaks. I know this for a fact, the night before I brought it down I had a show, and it was idling with the stereo bumping for 5 hours straight. This was on a THURSDAY. I asked how long it would be, because I was anxious to show the car off to everyone, and he told me it could possibly be done by the end of the day Friday, but I should expect Monday to be safe. I figured oh wow, 2 days, that's awesome. I also asked them to leave it inside the shop at night, because I had my system in there and the door locks didn't work (I've fixed them since then). They said sure, no problem.
My dad starts work at 5 AM, so he was out WAY before the shop opened, and drove by (he drives tractor trailer) Friday morning. He told me he drove by that morning (probably around 6, but definitely before they opened) and the car was sitting outside, right where I parked it Thursday night. I was pissed, but let it go. Friday I drove by before they closed, still in the same spot. I figured oh well, maybe ethey didnt get to it today, but hopefully Monday it'll be first on the list. WRONG AGAIN! They did put it inside over the weekend though, they did at least 1 thing right.
Monday morning I stopped in to see how it was going, it was parked outside with no muffler. I went in and asked if they had any problems or anything, they said no, they just hadn't gotten to it yet. Tuesday morning, it was sitting in the same spot. Another night outside. A day late.
This went on and on... finally TWO WEEKS LATER, after my 10 day grace period on the registration was up, they called and said they got it in the shop and there was a problem, a bad gas leak. A gas leak that THEY CREATED, because there were no leaks the night before I dropped it off there. I told them that it was impossible, and they said to come down and check it out. Sure enough, it was spraying gas. They said I'd have to replace the fuel pump/sending unit. Dealer cost - around $400. I checked every junkyard in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, NONE of them had one, or wouldn't sell it to me (some policy I guess). I told them I'd think about it.
The next day they called and said they thought they could fix it without replacing the unit, I told them to go ahead and do it. I also told them I only had $700 to spend, and that was if I used all my gas and food money, which I couldn't really afford to do. They told me, don't worry, it won't be ANYWHERE NEAR $700.
Long story short, they tried fixing the gas leak that they made on my car, WITH JB WELD! Now keep in mind the fuel pump on these cars pushes around 42 PSI. What's JB weld made for? Around 10-15? I was pissed when I found this out, I told them don't worry about it, I couldn't afford for them to waste time screwing with a half-assed fix, I'll bring it home on a trailer and fix it myself, but it'd be a few days before I could get a trailer down there to haul it home.
KEEP IN MIND, THE EXHAUST STILL HASN'T BEEN TOUCHED, IT'S GOING ON 3 WEEKS NOW!
The next day they call me and say they have it almost stopped. WHAT? I said to stop screwing around on my car! I tell them again to stop, and to do my exhaust, and that I wanted it done by Wednesday (this was on Tuesday morning) or I was going to bring it to Midas or Munro and have them do it. Wednesday comes, they say they're working on it.
Finally it's Friday morning and go down there and tell them I've had it, it needs to be done TODAY, because Saturday morning I'm coming and loading it on a trailer, finished or not, and they won't be around to stop me. They get it in the shop finally, and call me back a few hours later and say there's a problem. I go down there. The muffler I bought wouldn't fit (it was for a 1ga, I put 1gb Talon rear fascia on my car, and the muffler comes out a few inches to the right, it was hitting on the wheel hub). He brought me out back to his trailer where he keeps mufflers in stock, and gave me a choice between a few, I picked the "cheapest" one.
Friday night I get a call saying it's done, that I could bring it home Saturday, but to come by Monday to pay the bill. He also said he worked on the gas line some more (WHAT DID I TELL HIM?) after the exhaust was done because he had some free time, and he thought it was fixed. I was so pumped to have my car. Saturday morning I picked it up and brought it down to someone else that does inspections, and had them put a sticker on it.
I drove about 20 miles, and just as I pulled in to a parking lot, the JB Weld blew out. Gas was spraying everywhere, literally pouring out of it. I used half a tank of gas to get back home.
So finally I got home and me and my dad started pulling it apart, we pulled the unit out of my 93 Eclipse (which isn't the same), and adapted it to make it work in my tank. And guess what, it didn't leak. The whole thing took less than 2 hours, and the shop spent how many hours trying to screw around with JB Weld?
Monday afternoon I went to pay the bill, with $700 cash in my wallet. I got the bill, $776.83. I told him no way, you said it wouldn't be close to $700, I was expecting maybe 400? He told me it was the best he could do, and he was giving me a deal.
Well, he was stupid enough to put the part number for the muffler I bought off him on the bill. So I came home and googled it, the muffler retails for $44, and he charged me $204 for it. I expected A LITTLE markup, but $160? Next chance I got I went down there and questioned it, his response was "I paid over $300 for that muffler, I told you I was giving you a hell of a deal." I told him he must be mistaking it for another muffler, and showed him I could buy it from multiple sources for under $50. He told me he'd look into it and call me back. I never got a call.
Also on the bill, it listed "2¼ inch piping", when I specifically asked for 2½ inch.
Two weeks later I look out the window and see my dad under the car. I go out there and he says "look at this." and grabs my muffler and starts moving it back and forth, up and down, a few inches. The clamp to the muffler broke off so it was just flopping around. I hadn't even bottomed out, it just fell off going down the road. Plus, the vibration from it bouncing around going down the road ripped a hole in my head pipe, which must've been brittle.
I went to the shop the next day, he was like "what the hell? That shouldn't happen." I asked what they were gonna do about it and he says "well we're too busy to do it right now." Finally I just asked for the clamp and told them I'd do it myself. Magically they found lift space, but instead of using a real exhaust clamp, they used one of those cheap ones like on coolant lines and stuff.
I went on eBay and bought the cheapest header, head pipe, and cat I could, and me and my dad installed them in our garage. Another bad experience but it doesn't involve the shop.
Well I was just on my way home from work tonight, and I started hearing this nasty noise that sounded like my motor was rapping, so I pulled over to the side of the road and got out to listen to where it was coming from, traced it to the back of the car. It wasn't the motor. I put my foot against the muffler and moved it all around. I'm guessing BOTH clamps broke this time, because it didn't make that noise before. and I'm scared to see if it got bouncing and got against my bumper and melted/scorched it.
I'm planning on going down there tomorrow, and demanding that they fix it properly, with the proper equipment, right in front of me, or I'll have them put out of business. I've already told all my friends to never bring their cars there, and told them I'd never give them another penny of my money. So my question is where do I report them to and how? Better Business Bureau? I have pictures of the JB Weld mess all over my sending unit and gas spraying everywhere.
Did you get this work done cause of what happened? You know the girl saying it sounded like crap? Ha ha just giving you shit.
