Silvia Club of NSW

After having really simple jobs messed up by workshops in the past (like installing brake pads, coilovers, exhausts, etc) I do everything I possibly can myself.

I've had mixed results with fabrication, but I ended up buying my own gear and do that myself now too.

I use workshops if I have to, for specific jobs like tuning, and have had good results doing that. The trick is to keep it to one simple job, and be prepared to lose a few dollars if there's a problem with the car that you're better off fixing at home and you still have to pay for the time spent at the shop.

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The Engine Whisperer - fixer of things

nothing like driving a car to a workshop, then getting it towed home is there.....
Another thing I find, quotes and estimates don't count for much. Once they have your car, they've got you by the balls.

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Cheers mate. unfortunately,it wasn't enough. I tried calling every 20min after about 2.50pm today,as I'd had no contact. left three more messages on their machine,and had no callback by the time I finished work at 4.30,so I took the risk and drove across town. got to the shop at 5.05pm and was told they hadn't heard from the freight company,and that they didn't know if the stuff was coming this afternoon or not,as they'd been out half the day sorting out personal stuff at their warehouse.
they then called the freight company,who weren't able to get in touch with the guy who's organising shipping of the order across from their holding yard in alexandria,so they're going to call the shop back tomorrow morning at 9am and will hopefully have some more info for the shop then,who said they'll call me once they know what's happening.

I hung around in the shop until 6.15pm ,just in case the stuff was on the way and the driver wasn't contactable. that was a good waste of my time.

we'll see what happens tomorrow. if the gear isn't in my hands by friday night at the latest,I'll be hitting them up for a full refund and they can try and shift over $9k of AE86 specific parts.


Justin...

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STI - Made in Texas,not Japan.

Whilst I obviously have never had to pay for any serious modifications, or fabrication or whatever (about the only advantage of having a non-turbo car ), I can feel for your guys.

Thankfully though, most of my experiences have been positive. Justin, you seem to do all the right things - I reckon a lot of people drop their cars off without asking for a concrete time when it is gonna be ready, and without asking for a worst case scenario time frame (like delayed parts).

This happened to me when I got my Exedy HD clutch installed by my trusty mechanic. Exedy sent a CA one instead of SR (not my mechs fault, theirs). At the end of the affair it ended up taking a week, which isn't fair when it is your daily driver.

The reason I still get greeted warmly and treated fairly by my mechanic is because he knows that I will come back, for services, and when the next problem arises. It's a pity even though you gave some of those places repeated patronage that they didn't extend the same faithful courtesy to you...

I too feel your pain Fergo.

I grew up in Newcastle; it's a relatively small place and everyone knows everyone, so its easy to identify shitheads and find decent mechanics - in fact, for many years after moving to Sydney I would go to Newcastle to get pretty much everything done as I'm generally far too lazy and/or unskilled to do anything mechanical to a car myself (electrical I have the skills, but I'm waaaay too lazy!).

Sydney, by comparison, is an absolute fucking nightmare for finding decent mechanics. For example: first time visit to the closest local mechanic to me, I get good service and prices. In response, I'm a good customer; I pay up immediately and without argument, and even include a smile and compliment. Then I come back a week later and get shit service and am charged twice what I know perfectly well the job is worth - both times by the owner of the business. Have I been back? Hell no!

I am at present reasonably happy with a fairly well-known workshop not too far away. I can't honestly say they're 100%, but they're about 90% which is damn good by Sydney standards.

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The S12: the pinnacle of the Silvia series - all downhill after that

a month on and still no parts. I keep getting told otherwise,but the reality is most likely that the parts were ordered,but the shop never paid for them,so they weren't shipped.

atm,they're talking air freight,with the bits arriving individually over the course of the next month.

not happy. let's just say that the shop should be called 'foreplay imports' rather than what their actual name is...seeing as it's been all tease and no follow through so far.

fuck knows what I should do at this point. I've written up my case for fair trading,but haven't sent it through to them yet.


Justin...

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STI - Made in Texas,not Japan.

So this started in September? They reckoned it would be 6-8 weeks. Its now nearly may, 8 months...?

Lodge your fair trading dissatisfaction notification NOW. It will take some time to process, and if they do come through in the next week or so, you can cancel it.

Then, in writing and in person, present the shop with a written notification that you have submitted a fair trading dissatisfaction notification with consumer affairs. In the letter state the deadline that YOU are setting (I recommend 10th May). If you are not satisfied with the products and services by that date, a full refund will be expected for products not already received. If the transactions are successfully completed, the fair trading submission will be withdrawn.

These guys are F*(king you around and will continue to do so. You have been way to patient already and they are taking advantage of you.

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-Dan

what tools do u guys use? Snap on? I wouldnt mind doing some work myself but now I moved to the CBD so I cant exaclyt do any work in the apartments.

It doesn't matter what brand the tools are, it's how you use them

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Boost, the substitute for corner speed.

I have a pretty good idea which tunning shop your refering to Justin. Ive heard a few similar complaints about the same sort of thing recently.

Tunning can be a real tricky thing to please everyone. Obviously what I would expect from the car and what the owner expects can be very different things. However a simple power run and timing adjustment should not be any hassle at all!

Hats off to you for the patience though!

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To live your dreams you must first face your fears...........

In my opinion its alittle bit like soul searching, so many ins and outs u have to do. I remember the first service I had the guy said $200 at first than when I came the bill was $1100!!!! I gave him a mouthful as the car wasnt ready and 2 weeks later I went to another guy who said the first guy didnt do jackshit all!!! I be honest I wouldnt know shit all about some of the extras they may charge.

I'll hold you to that if you like. we can line two cars up for something like a clutch change. I'll use my snap on gear,and you can have top tul or supa tool or some other no-name crap from super cheap auto.... see who finishes first,and does the least damage to themselves and the car.

there are good tools, 'normal' tools,and then there's the cheap shit.
I prefer to use snap on,but in the majority of circumstances,'2nd level' normal brands like sidchrome and kincrome do the job just as well.

I realise what you're saying,where it's all too easy to over-spend on name brands,but there are plenty of situations where having good gear certainly helps.


Justin...

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STI - Made in Texas,not Japan.

Well, i wouldn't go as far as supatool, one of those ratchets exploded on me once , but you can definatly get some quality tools without spending nearly as much as on snapon, starwilly, etc. My dad used to run a smash shop, there were guys working there who had 10k worth of snapon tools, but absolutly hopeless when it came to doing their job. Then there are the others who have a toolbox full of old, shitty, mostly stolen tools, and they're some of the best in their trade.

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Boost, the substitute for corner speed.

for tools it really depends on which particular ones they are.

I have a good quality socket set, torque wrench, and various other stuff that needs to be good to work well, but I also use stuff like a $20 kmart offset spanner set which has never let me down, and often just happens to be the perfect size and shape to fit in heaps of places that other tools won't.
One of the most useful things is to grab a bunch of the $1 bargain bin spanners from Bunnings. Any time you need a custom length spanner, or one with a super low profile end on it, you can hack it up with a grinder and not feel bad about it That often saves a hell of a lot of time on a tricky job! Incidentally, I haven't broken one of those spanners either!

I'd rather spend money on stuff that makes the car faster than on tools that I can get by without

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The Engine Whisperer - fixer of things