Another Shop Joy-Riding in a Skyline!!

[BrianV8]

Took my car to our local napa autopro for a wheel alignment since they are a block away from where i work. Went in there expection $100 bucks all said and done and 1 hour to do. 1.5 hours in i get a call. "We need to reschedual because we can't figure out your adjustable suspension and have to take the front end apart.

At this point i start getting worried.

So i explain to the moron's how they work when he question me installing them and thinking i'm a complete retard. So i tell them how to do it then another our goes by. By this time i'm sweating bullets. Then i see my car drive by, i was like alright well they got it figured out. 20 minutes later i get a call to go pick it up.

So i go pick up my car, they spent 3 hours instead of the alotted 1-1.5 hours and charged me for 2 hours so my $100 dollar alignment turned into a $200 dollar one. Not happy right there. Then the kid that did the alignment tells me he killed my battery somehow when it was sitting on the hoist. Brings the question to mind what kind of flipping draw did you have on it to kill a optima red top in 3 hours. So instead of making a scene at that time i pay my bill and get in my car thinking i'd feel soo much better just having my car back.

So this is where it gets interesting!!!

Get in my car start driving away, notice the gas gauge is down an 1/8th thank. My car is horrible on gas how it is but i couldn't understand how a quick drive burned 1/8th tank. I then noticed my boost controller that i made triple sure was set to low boost like i always do when giving it a shop was turned on high. Thats when i started getting upset. Then i find my second gear is grinding. Now i know they were baggin the hell out of it and missed a shift somewhere.

So i'm thinking of approaching the shop and tearing a strip out of them come tuesday.

Now one buddy suggested i stop payment on my credit card and go deal with them. I'm thinking of just going and dealing with them and see what they are willing to do about it.

What you guys think?

[QuietChaos]

Honestly, that's what you get for taking your car to cheap place like that..

[RHDskyline]

All these stories and **** make me happy, that my dad can do most of this stuff with me

But now I know forsure, that if i have to take it somewhere for something quick, I will be there watching them, the WHOLE time. I'd rather waste 2 hours then to replace **** on my car



I don't know what to tell you though. You can't really prove anything. But if it is a young kid. Go back and find him, and chew him out. Young kids will spill the beans under pressure. Make him confess to his boss. If his boss does nothing, or was in on it, Go to headquarters or some ****.

Make them pay you MONEY

[markc32]

dood as soon as u noticed these things....u shoulda went back and bitch at all of them.....thats y i never let anyone work on my car but me....except i got my alignment done at pdm racing and they are s13 ae86 skyline tuners and they know their ****...plus my buddy works there...

anyways advice to everyone...get ur car aligned at a tuner shop not a general public alignment shop..they dont even know how to adjust camber plates LOL...most of these places dont even have licensed techs, just bunch of wannabe techs

sorry to hear ur baby got abused and i hope nothing goes wrong in weeks time

[Zacho]

Brings the question to mind what kind of flipping draw did you have on it to kill a optima red top in 3 hours.

This is true...In my truck, all the interior lights on for a whole day and it didn't even hesitate.

Get in my car start driving away, notice the gas gauge is down an 1/8th thank. My car is horrible on gas how it is but i couldn't understand how a quick drive burned 1/8th tank. I then noticed my boost controller that i made triple sure was set to low boost like i always do when giving it a shop

What you guys think?

The only issue I see is, when you approach them they can easily just deny it because lets face it you have no hard proof right? That is the shitty part. When confronting him I'd try to use wording that might make him say "I never drove it THAT hard", even though you don't directly ask how hard he drove it.

Good luck...Shops that really do this piss me off beyond belief.

[Driftacular]

brutal! i say stop credit card payment ASAP than complain..cuz if they dont do anything about it..than at least u didnt pay...

[archaeic_bloke]

.... you wanna hit 'em real hard?

heres what you do:

step 1: documentation
- write down every single detail you can remember about the experience at the shop.. what time it went in, when u saw it drive by, when they called etc.. all the times. get that down on paper.
- write down what the odometer was at before and after they had their way with it
- take 2 photographs of the boost controller, one showing low setting the other showing high setting. print them, make sure the date is on the photos from the printer.. and sign them both.
- take a photograph of the fuel gauge and make a note of where it was before you brought the car to them
- get an average fuel consumption rating for Skylines (GTR or GTS which ever u have) and push the numbers around until the amoun of fuel burned and the odometer readings cooraberate and support your claim that they drove your car at X speeds for X duration of time.
- go to another shop and ask them for the laser read out of where your alignment is at exactly... print out the OEM alignment specs from the service manual.. if they're not spot on.. then thats just one more point on your side.
- ask a friend to witness all these things for you and have your friend SIGN his name too on all the papers you just made.



open microsoft word.. and type the following:

address, name, etc (of the shop) - top left corner
date top right corner

and the letter begins with:

Without Prejudice:

I respectfully request a full re-embursement.. etc etc...

state all the things you noticed

sign and date (in blue pen ink only) at the bottom




now take your stack of evidence, go into the shop and say to the manager:

you've got ONE chance to fix this, or i send this letter to you via registerred mail, and then we can settle this in small claims court, i 100% intend to see this through, and not only will i be claiming my original $200, i would also claim $1000 for damages (a judge would probably award like $100) and on top of that i will bill you for the 3 hours of my time you wasted (i dont know what your time is worth but pick a price.. its all good!)


this is often my approach to issues like these. i've never been denied my request to date, and ive had to take things to this level 4 times in my life. it works, every time.

know your rights, and know how to enforce your rights. its a big deal man, they broke a promise to you and abused your trust.. and on top of that charged you $200 for it too!



good luck

[Skym]

They are nicknamed the cowboys of the car industry and you get that in any country. Nothing much you can do except repair any damage that was done and learn not to go there again. Trust me, they do damage your car, as they can drift, etc your car while your not there and damage drivetrain, steering racks, etc. Car is usually driven by the rookie / apprentice mechanic in the business who is usually not there for long, so doesn't care about what they do. They ruin it for the rest of the rookie / apprentice mechanics who are very good at what they do. Sometimes the boss is as bad as the rookie, but that's rare.

I learnt that it's best to deal with people that have their own performance cars (usually tuning shops or people that deal with racecars), as they tend to know how to drive, treat your car better and have degrees / higher education (know how to tune ECU's, etc) and sometimes alot of hands on experience than a normal mechanic to back it up. If it's for alignment, only let suspension experts that setup racecars work on your car. Especially if it's a performance car. It requires specialist alignment equipment that normal alignment shops don't have.

So

Normal car = normal alignment shop

Performance car = person who aligns / sets up racecars.

Also that's why you have a ECU with a rev limiter and set rev limiter before letting any shop work on the car. Set revlimiter to 4000rpm, as it's high enough to drive car around, but not damage engine or feel the full power of engine.

[ARC240]

Wow, that's sad, I know where you're coming from, having an absolutely horrid experience on the very first (and last at that) shop I took my car to. I don't know if it's worth the $200 you paid to go back and fight with him, I'm thinking it'll just turn into a shouting match and you might end up having to get a lawyer involved, which will cost more than what you paid.

[BrianV8]

Ya thats why i'm leaning towards not pulling a payment due to the fact it could end up costing me more. Thinking of going in and confronting him, but like you guys said i have no hard evidence.

I hate leaving my car with people but unfortunatly an alignment i can't do it myself. So i think i'll chew him out see if i can get some money back but really don't know how far to take things before getting stupid about it. End of the day thank god i built the car to take it.

Think to prevent this i'm going to buy a Bee*R limiter. Hide it in the car and set it to 3 grand when someone else has it.

[GTRADDICT]

I own a 68 GMC show truck with HUGE sentimental value. And my skyline to-be will have to same spot in my heart lol. I would go there and smash some heads. Just saying that you will go and tell everyone your story and they will end up loosing alot more ($$$ and trust) then just 200$. I would get a mohawk and a killer mustash... Means business lol. Go crazy! (Mel Gibson style)

[DarkCaporaL]

If the guy told me it would take an hour I would of just waited at the shop.

[evilgtr]

First of all "Honestly, that's what you get for taking your car to cheap place like that.. " thats the dumbest thing Iv heard this year ! second Archeatric bloke's approach to dealing with this situation is solid ! I had the same thing happen to me in my Duramax that I had all done up and I delt with it in a similar fashion and in the end they did confess and I got a full refund on my tune up and 2 free oil changes. And if that doesnt work you should completly fly off the handle and flip out.

good luck we are all on your side that is major B.S

[BrianV8]

ya i'm pretty sure i'll be going to see them Tuesday and going through the process archaeic_bloke said. I think the threat would be enough to get something out of them. Don't think i'd actually have to take it to court

[archaeic_bloke]

ya i'm pretty sure i'll be going to see them Tuesday and going through the process archaeic_bloke said. I think the threat would be enough to get something out of them. Don't think i'd actually have to take it to court

thats exactly the point!! good job!

you don't want to go to court.. usually the fact that you have amassed evidence "appear" to be willing to take it to court is more then enough to achieve a desired result outside of court.

but in any case if they still refuse, then you are prepared for small claims court and you can proceed with legal action..small claims allows claims up to $5000. and you don't need lawyer representation.

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