Silvia Club of NSW

I'm starting to wonder. What's the buy in with some of the shops/workshops in Sydney for getting decent service?

has it gone over $10k already?

part one:
rewind back to 1999. I take my S14 to a workshop that's been well known for a long time to work on imports and import parts to get a blown turbo to manifold gasket replaced. I'm quoted $300 and half a day for completion. I organise to get the day off of work,and sit in the shop's waiting room with a book to wait for the work to be carried out. after
lunch comes and goes,I start walking through the shop checking to see how the job's going every half an hour or so. at 5pm I'm asked by the boss 'how are you getting home?' and am then told that the car needs the EGR pipe replaced,as they 'had to cut it off to remove it' and that they won't get a replacement until the next day. being as I only had enough
money on me to pay for the job,and not transport home from 30km away,I start walking,not very impressed and manage to arrange a lift from about the halfway point back home.
the next day I call and am told I can pick the car up at lunchtime. I turn up to collect it,and am given a bill for ~$640. when I question this,it's reduced down to $600 even 'seeing as it took a bit longer' and off I go.

part two:
a couple of years later,you go to another high profile shop that imports parts,and put in an order. 'do you want a deposit?' I ask. 'no,that's ok,I'll call you when it arrives'. a set of extractors from trust was the item. 3yrs and several further orders for the same part from the same place,and a few grand worth or other items bought over the counter later
and I'm still waiting.
I decided a long time ago to get custom ones made instead.

part three:
last year,I call a VERY well known workshop to book one my cars in for a baseline dyno run.
I'm told that I can't make a booking for that on a weekday,and will just have to turn up and wait. that's a bit odd I think,but say when I'll turn up,and do so a few days later.
I turn up,am told to wait and that noone knew I was coming,but it should still be ok,they'll squeeze me in sometime during the morning,so I go and help a friend a couple of suburbs away with an urgent suspension problem,and come back an hour and a half later. I then wait a further hour,which was fine,as I left and lost my slot in the order of
business.

the car goes on,and it makes about half the power it should have.
I'm told the turbo is 'a bit whistly',and after a 5second glance under the bonnet,another worker at the shop is summoned and told to 'wind that up a bit' ('that' being my CAS which looked to be set a bit retarded.) whilst the boss wanders away to tend to more pressing matters.
20min later,the car is run again,and makes 6kw more power atw,still at least 30-40kw low for what this model should put out std. I'm told 'that's all it'll do,go into the office and pay,while I print this out'. $100 later ('discounted from $110 as a special favour as it's mid-week'),I'm heading over to another workshop to reset my base timing using the correct procedure and tools and not terribly impressed with what two power runs just cost me,nor with the level of interest a paying customer was just shown. especially when I'd mentioned several times that I'd just bought the car and was going to do 'all the usual work' to it.' as the owner of a workshop,would you not take SOME interest in potential further business from a new client,and try and work with a little more professionalism
whilst they were standing right there watching you?

part four:I take the above vehicle to get it's blocked mufflers replaced (found where most of the power went!) with a dual stainless custom system by an exhaust shop I've been dealing with for 17yrs now.
the dual setup is fabricated,and I test drive the car. it drones like mad at 1800-2400rpm with light load. being that it's a daily driver,and automatic,so it'll spend a LOT of time within this rev range as I commute in traffic each day,I ask if there's anything we can do to reduce it.
to cut a long story short,after three modifications to the system,we finally agree to make up some silencers and weld them into the cannons to cut the drone. this works,and I go away happier and look for some bolt-in silencers to give me a noisy-but-free-flowing alternative for when I want the car's full potential on hand,which I obtain elsewhere a few weeks later.

a couple of months after this,I go back to the same shop,who now has an alloy fabricator renting space from the exhaust shop on-site,and book my car in with him to get an FMIC I've just bought fitted,with custom plumbing,and to get my A/T oil cooler secured with an extra bracket as the setup I'd made the day before wasn't secure enough.
I supplied the intercooler,two silicon hoses,clamps for the whole system,a length of piping to use for the crossover pipe, and some strapping for mounting tabs. I also got to the shop early on the day the car was booked in,and removed the front bar for the guy,to save time. I explain
exactly what I want done,and it's all fine,bar the crossover pipe's connection to the intercooler. I ask for a silicon joiner to be used,and a tight bend to go on from there,to run the pipe over the core,and back to the std piping location. the FMIC has 2" in/out connections,and my piping is 2 1/2". I ask if he can cut the inlet and outlet connections off of the core,and to weld on new 2 1/2" ones,so that it'll be the same and there will be no restriction. I'm told that this is too hard to do without contaminating the core with swarf,and that 'it won't make any difference anyway,once it's got pressure into it'. I disagree,and ask that if he won't do that,to just use the reducing joiners I've supplied,and think to myself that I'll get that part done elswwhere later,and will just get it on and going today. he says he'll do his best,and I take him at his word,as I have
given the guy three jobs before today,and they've all been fine.
I'm quoted 'about lunchtime' for a completion time,and am quote $400.

at 12.30 I get a lift to the shop and walk in to see how the job's going. I'm greeted with 'I hope you're not expecting it to be ready' and after recovering from the amazement,ask when it will be done. I'm told late in the afternoon. I get back in the car and go back home to wait. a couple of hours later I get a call asking me to pick up 2 extra hose clamps and to drop them off to the shop,as two of the ones I supplied won't work where
they're needed. I get a lift up to the local parts place,and drop them off,having a look at the progress whilst I'm there and asking when it might be ready. I'm told he'll call me when it's done.

2hrs later at 4.30pm I still haven't heard back,so I get another lift over,and seeing that the car is almost finished,I tell my lift to leave me there and I'll get myself home. the car has just been assembled bar the front bar,and I'm asked to start it up to test it for leaks. all good there.
I then start to look over the job. the intercooler is mounted with two pieces of steel bar that have been badly arc welded to the bottom of the radiator support,and not using bolted on aluminium strap,as I'd asked for. that's strike one.
next,the crossover pipe is on a bad angle,and the hose on one end of it is hard up against the a/c condensor fan's mounting screw,and is not supported in any way,other than the hoses on each end. I point this out and ask to borrow a hacksaw so I can saw off the end of the screw,and then measure up for a tab on the centre of the pipe to support it
better,and help to fabricate it,and to R&R the pipe.
next,I look at the bend that goes into the intercooler on the crossover pipe - it has been welded straight onto the intercooler,and not fitted with a silicon joiner,he's welded the tight bend straight over the top of the inlet connection to the intercooler,on the charge side. when I ask why it was done this way,and not as I asked,he gets upset,and goes back to 'it won't make any difference anyway'. I diasagree again,but don't push the matter too much,as I just want to get out of there at this point,and resign myself to having to get more work done elsewhere at a later date.
I then look at the oil cooler setup. this also hasn't been carried out in the way I asked for. instead of welding on the pre-cut tab I supplied,and fabricating one more and securing it to the chassis rail as I'd asked for,he's welded a smaller piece of angle straight onto my oil cooler core,and secured that to the rail with a self tapping screw. more damage I can't fix after the fact...
after the crossover pipe is refitted,I attempt to refit the front bumper so I can drive home. it won't go on,as the outlet pipe from the intercooler hasn't been run close enough to the chassis rail. I take the bar back off and ask when the pipe can be re-done so the bar will fit on,and am told the next morning. I'm not happy with this,but don't have a
lot of choice,so I agree,and call my girlfriend to come and pick me up. after about 10min of waiting,the fabricator decides that we 'may as well do it now',and I borrow tools again to remove the pipe and start measuring and marking out where we need to cut and how long
parts need to be.
10min after this,my girlfriend turns up,and I ask her to wait in case the car isn't going to go tonight. she's most impressed with that...

we get the new pipe made up about 40min later and I throw the bar on with 2 bolts and a couple of cable ties and get ready to head home. I ask if I can pay the final $50 of the bill the next day,as having to buy the extra clamps took half of it. this is fine by him.

the next day I get a call from the fabricator asking me how the car goes,and telling me that he wants an extra $100 for the extra piping we used fixing things up,and the extra labour time. I reply that the car feels slower and more laggy,and that my peak boost reading had been reduced, possibly due to restriction from where the 2 1/2" charge pipe
meets a 2" inlet on the core,at a 45degree engle. he gets upset at this and replies ' ah,look,that's fucking bullshit Justin,it won't make any difference,I've never seen anyone else complain like that'. I then reply that I disagree,and will be in at some point that afternoon to give him his money,swearing to myself that I'll never go back again.

I go in a few hours later,and have the same arguement again about the job,and am also told at that point that the exhaust guys had been laughing about the job and saying to him how fussy I am and something else that I didn't catch as I was seeing red by now. I threw the
cash at him,and got in the car and left.
all my exhaust work is done elsewhere now.

part five:
I borrow some money and place an order with another importer for just over $9000 worth of body panels and other parts,for my project car,and a few bits for a mate's at the same time. I'm asked for a 60% deposit,which I pay,and am told 6-8weeks for delivery. this is
late september 2006. come the end of november,and there's no word,so I call in to the shop and ask how the order is going. I'm told there have been a few delays in production of my front guards,and that we missed a boat,but should get another one in early
december,and that we hope it'll arrive before christmas. ok,that can happen.

christmas comes and goes,and at new year's I ask again what's happening. this time,they lost their spot on the boat as the major manufacturers are bringing a lot of cars over atm,and there wasn't enough space,hopefuly mid january.
january comes and goes,and again,I ask when I can expect my stuff to arrive. I'm told it's left japan now,and should be here mid february.
I ring weekly now,as my mate is getting even more pissed off than I am at this point,and has already cancelled his booking for respraying his car until his parts arrive. the messages I leave on the shop's answering machine are not returned,and I get repsonses to emails a few days after I send them. when I don't get through on the phone,and drop in,I'm told the order has been sent to melbourne instead,and will be up to them the following week.
it's now march. first week of march,I'm told the 15th. the fifteenth comes and goes,and no callback. I call again and am told that they're in Sydney now,it should be any day. I try again at the end of that week,no luck getting through. I leave three messages on the machine over friday and on saturday and get a callback on tuesday at lunchtime telling me
that they missed the courier and he took the parts back to the warehouse,and they'll get them back and call me. more phone calls all this week and several more messages left on the answering machine,and still no joy.

it's now saturday morning,and I'm still waiting...

I ask again,how much do you have to spend to get proper service?


Justin...

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STI - Made in Texas,not Japan.

I spend $160 for a minor service using synthetic oil at my local mechanic who has been good to me so far.

I know the exact same feeling you get from some places Justin.

When you turn up to an import mechanic/parts supplier IN AN IMPORT and they can't seem to give you the time of day, let alone some prices or any kind of service it makes you wonder if they make ANY money.

Seriously, what else would I be there for? Sell flowers?

I've been in retail/customer service for a very long time and I can't believe some of the service that some people offer.

The one I hate most is when you are standing there with that "I need some help" look on your face and the staff are chatting away to a mate of theirs who has dropped in to shoot the shit.

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i know the feeling too. However, I'm going to throw a blanket statement up and state that the whole motor parts/mechanics industry needs a huge wake up call. Their service skills in general are not at all up to par. I'd say, if the service isn't up to scratch, you should have the right to take your money back and you should have the right to take your car elsewhere. Don't be a victim! Make your stance as the consumer because if they don't learn, this industry will get worse.

Some of the largest most "reputable" companies out there are normally the worst culprits! They think that because they've got the name for themselves already, they can throw service out the window. They think customers will come back just because they want the brand. Well as a customer, you should care and you should show them by spending your money elsewhere.

I admit that being a manual labour intensive industry, you do to make room for a few human errors being made. But, in the end if the customer service is there to back it up I'd keep going back to the place.

It's pretty simple:
* Greet and acknowledge customers as quickly as possible
* Keep the customer in the loop to know what's going on with their product/car.
* Let customer know of their options
* Treat customer with respect
* Customers are always right. Give advice, but if customer wants it their way, let them have it.

That's just a simple list that any of these places can do and it won't cost them a cent. Look at that list and look at the first post and you could probably see where these people have gone wrong.

End Rant.

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Dark Blue 1990 S13 - CA18DET, exhaust, K&N, R33 GTST fuel pump, fully sick boost gauge. auto.

Car PC from Nuvo Technology!
7" auto touchscreen, VIA MII12000 board, Bluetooth Phone, WiFi, GPS, 100GB HD, 512MB RAM all in a complete package

That's a big 10-4, dru

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I wouldn't be paying them for the job you are receiving then. If you have asked for something and don't get it, then don't pay them. I have done this a few times, asked for work to be done a specific way, and its done totally different or of a poor quality - in saying that I understand about human error, etc, I don't expect everything to be 110% but I do expect damn close - then they either don't get paid, or get a different amount based on what they did do.

As for your current problem Justin, I'd be hitting them up for a discount. Every excuse they come up with is everyones fault but their own, but they were the ones that told you the time frame, and you kept your end with the 60% dep. I'd be looking for at least $500 or something, for the time wasted, the excuses, etc.

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Cruise & Event Photos

haha or charge them interest for the amount of time that they kept the money. technically your loaning them money to use

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Dark Blue 1990 S13 - CA18DET, exhaust, K&N, R33 GTST fuel pump, fully sick boost gauge. auto.

Car PC from Nuvo Technology!
7" auto touchscreen, VIA MII12000 board, Bluetooth Phone, WiFi, GPS, 100GB HD, 512MB RAM all in a complete package

Fergo I got to ask other than ordering the parts why dont you do it all your self?

I hate takeing my car any where I do 90% of the work myself one of the only thing I dont do myself is dynoing and when it comes to tuning i cant say enouth good things about yavas(spelling) at unigroup he talks to you and tells you everything is polite takes his time with you.

When you want something done a specific way, a work shop never dose it the way you want them to. So I do it all myself evan if it takes ten times longer I get help and poin ters friends but at lest its perfect when its done when I do it
But im a fussy kunt, when I put in all my arms and coilovers i couldent do the w/a myself cause I cant fit my car on our w/a machine so did it by eye and with string but wasnt happy and it talk about $500 and 4 wheel alingment tll it was done the way I was happy with.

And if I go to buy parts I where my work uniform as they usually have more time for you when they know your in the trade

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Disclaimer: If you have'nt worked it out by now I CANT SPELL FOR SHIT.

I don't think that's what he's asking.

After all that shit Justin, i'm surprised you're still bothering with modifying cars!

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The Golf is like an 16-year-old girl with big boobs. You know it's wrong but you can't keep away from her.

i think this is why id rather do most of the work myself, or with help from mates.

the only time id see a mechanic is if i couldnt actually do the work

but yeah why dont you do some of that yourself justin? i can understand if you dont want cut and weld aluminium etc

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M35 Stagea.info @ http://www.m35stagea.info/

+1... i feel you're pain...

ahh the joys of fabrication... im sure justin does most his work, as do i, but when it comes to fabrication work not everyones got a welding machine and the experience.

a nice read that was, it made me feel alot better because i now know there are people out there that have had it much worse then me ! 99% of the auto industry sucks the giant one, and ive had my fair share of hopeless farkwits

thats the beauty of bolt on mods, not only is it cheaper, you do it yourself and dont risk having to deal with morons. and i hate it when you tell them to do it one way, only to have them do it another because they think they know better, idiots

to answer Zei & Jay and to confirm what mokompri said,I DO carry out 95% of my own work. I draw the line at ecu tuning,exhaust fabrication, and TIG welding,as I don't have much experience with these,and also don't have access to all the necessary equipment.

Wheel alignment I can do myself,and did do as my actual fulltime job for most of last year,but I no longer have access to machines,so I also farm that out: to pro concept.

Josh is the only other mechanic that I trust to take cars to. he'll do exactly what I ask for,and looks after me very well.
I have farmed jobs out to him that I've not had time to do,or couldn't do at the time due to injury,and have never been anything less than fully satisfied with the results.

I'll be using pro concept to fix my shocking intercooler plumbing some time later this year,it's not a priority atm. when I get around to mounting my type R BOV,it'll go over there to get the crap stuff replaced,and the BOV plumbed back.

as for my current drama,I went into the shop on saturday,and,well... expressed my displeasure with the situation. I've been given an apology,and have been promised that when the parts do arrive (hopefully sometime tomorrow) the prices will be 'sharpened a bit'. we'll see what happens.

BT: I wonder sometimes myself why I bother sticking with cars. there are days when I wish I'd bought a springfield already,so I could put the things down and be done with it all,but when things are going well and you're out having fun,all the dramas are fast forgotten.
those moments have been fewer and further between of late,which is part of why I ended up having this little rant. fingers crossed it'll all smooth over fairly soon,and I can get back on track with the project car.
once that thing is FINALLY finished,things will be looking up in a big way.


Justin...

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STI - Made in Texas,not Japan.

I'm just so over 'mechanical modification' to cars it's not funny because I don't have anywhere to do it myself, hence it gets quite costly and inevitably twice the f*cking around in money, time and trouble you planned for even something simple.
Don't mind double the f*cking around if it's on my time but if your paying for it there's never anything but just feeling disappointed and quite possibly very poor at the end of it all.
Sometimes if someone threw @11-12k at me and said "I buy!" I'd sign over the rego as soon as the money hit the bank in a instant... f*ckin cars...

Sadly with threat of litigation a lot of people tend to be quite careful about what they say in public about a business which has allowed a lot of dodgy c*nts to thrive because the old 'farmers market' style of asking around who's rotten and who's good just doesn't work anymore.

*Crossing fingers that Justin gets his parts today.*

Good luck mate.

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The Golf is like an 16-year-old girl with big boobs. You know it's wrong but you can't keep away from her.