How long to wait?

[My Cobra]

More info on this that i should have given before, I ordered my turbo kit from the same shop. I paid for it in December of 2012. The shop told me they were going to ship me the turbo kit. I started taking my blower and other items off the car so that i could do the swap. Feb rolls around and i call Hellion. Hellion says they have not seen an order from that dealer. I call the dealer and ask them what is going on. They told me they were waiting on funds to clear from my account to their account (Said it takes longer since it was a higher amount) and with the holidays and everything else it had slowed the ordering. They order the kit and tell me that it is on back order. I call Hellion they have them on the shelf. A few days later the dealer has it on order. The dealer gets the kit a week or so later. I paid the dealer to pick the car up from my house to their shop (about a 2.5 hour drive, paid 200 in cash to cover the tow.) I give them all the parts that i had ordered for the trans, fuel system, all of that. Dealer says that it will be 3 weeks and they will have it done. We agree on 2500 to do the install.

Dealer gets the car to the shop, Unloads it all and then it sits for about a month. I call a few times a week and the dealer says he is working on it and its coming along. I drive to the shop and find that the dealer has just done a few things to it but has bounced a lot of other cars in front of mine. Dealer has a lot of health / family issues and misses work a lot.

Two weeks before mustang week the dealer says he will have it done before mustang week. I call a few days before and he says it will not be done he is working on getting another car up and running. Says mine just needs a tune and some small tweeks. I say ok and we take our other mustang to the beach.

Two weeks after that i get a call from the dealer saying it is ready to go. I take my truck and trailer down to the dealer, Dealer pulls my car out of the shop and helps me load it on the trailer. I pay him the 2500 plus about 500 in parts that he needed (New fuel lines). I get the car home pull it off the trailer and it will not stay running. I call the dealer on monday and tell him the issues and he says to bring it back. So i take a day off work trailer it to them. Dealer says that it is the air blowing back on the maf so he will get it fixed.

a month more goes by and the dealer is telling me that hellion is sending them a baffle to go in front of the maf. I tell him i do not want it to be rigged. I want it right. I go on line and do a lot of reading. Everybody says to go to a slot style maf. so i order one and send it to the shop. Shop installs this and says it is good to go. (I asked the dealer about this issue when i ordered my 2800 maf, dealer said they have never had an issue with that and the non slot style will be fine, should have never listened to them.) I pay the dealer another 1000 to install my two gauges, raptor shift light, Eboost2 and pay for the blow off valve and install of these items. I pick up the car and trailer it home.

I get the car home pull it in to the garage and go to bed, the next morning i go to the garage to take it to put fuel in it and wash it from being in the shop so long. When i pull it out of the garage there are oil spots and coolant spots on my garage floor. I figure it was just from the lines so i go to the car wash to see how it drives. On the way to the car wash it stalls every mile or so dropping fuel pressure. I get out and pop the hood and find that it is spraying fuel all over my motor from the injector or fuel rail on the driver side. I trailer it back to my house. I look at the fuel pump relays and they are melted and hot) i call the dealer on Monday and tell them the issues. The dealer tells me to bring it back they will fix it for the third time. I tell them no i am not wasting my time or fuel driving it back and forth. So the dealer sends a guy to come and pick it up. Dealer looks at it and says bad fuel pump. That was in December. I stop by before Christmas to go over all the issues (I made a check list of what all was wrong) Dealer says it will be done in a week, i knew this was a joke) I have called with no answer (Dealer has a lot of family issues right now i understand that) I stop by a week ago to the shop and it is in the same spot it was in December. So now i am out about 4k not including my time and money in fuel. these are just some of the issues that i have had. I have to take my car to another shop to be fixed, finished, tuned.

He has not been at the shop in about a week or two. All his stuff is still there along with other cars.

I know some of this is my fault for not being on top of it and pestering them but i am a business owner and have had a ton going on.

I have pictures of all of the issues.

 

[Torch10th]

How do shops that pull this crap stay in business?

OP this is what I'd personally do. As a business person I can tell you it's usually much easier on both the customer and the business if you allow them to fix it properly and avoid other troubles.

From your last post it sounds like most everything is on the car, but that it wasn't buttoned up properly or tuned at all. I would physically go to the shop and talk with the owner/manager and get in writing signed by both you and him that the car will be completed to satisfaction within a reasonable amount of time. I'm thinking a week, two max.

Let that person know that if it's not completed at that time, you'll be removing the car and taking it to a new shop to be completed, for which you will then bill the old shop for the services rendered. If the old shop fails to comply, take them to small claims court to cover your additional costs.

 

[Equalbracket]

Just put them on blast. Family problems or not...business is business, and your time and money. What a headache. Sounds like that shop is in trouble, and they're floating all their cash flow. They really had to wait for your funds to clear before they could even order the turbo kit? I mean..it's shipped to their shop. They are flat ass broke.

 

[Torch10th]

Just put them on blast. Family problems or not...business is business, and your time and money. What a headache. Sounds like that shop is in trouble, and they're floating all their cash flow. They really had to wait for your funds to clear before they could even order the turbo kit? I mean..it's shipped to their shop. They are flat ass broke.

Not to mention it doesn't take 2 months for a check to clear. If it's a large sum, yes there's usually some additional time required, but you're talking 10 days max. He took the money, cashed it and used it on other projects or to pay himself.

 

[raustin0017]

OP...get your car back and stop the madness. 1. He is not going to refund any money. 2. Write this off as a loss. 3. Do the work yourself or find someone with a strong repetition and get it fixed correct the first time. 4. You should have stopped doing business when they lied to you the first time, " told me kit was on backorder."

 

[My Cobra]

Very true i should have picked a better shop. They had done a pulley swap on the car about a year before. No issues. Everybody says to get a judgement even if he does not have the cash it will be a pain for him to deal with. I tried to call the shop last week with no answer, i sent an email last week telling them i wanted my money back by today, no response. I called today and left a message with no call back yet. I am going to give them a chance to give my money back before i post all the pictures, emails, info. I think it is only fair. I figured it would just get deleted anyway.

 

[Torch10th]

Very true i should have picked a better shop. They had done a pulley swap on the car about a year before. No issues. Everybody says to get a judgement even if he does not have the cash it will be a pain for him to deal with. I tried to call the shop last week with no answer, i sent an email last week telling them i wanted my money back by today, no response. I called today and left a message with no call back yet. I am going to give them a chance to give my money back before i post all the pictures, emails, info. I think it is only fair. I figured it would just get deleted anyway.

It's going to be very hard to get any money back. You do after all have a car that has a turbo kit on it. Unless you plan on removing that kit along with anything else that the shop ordered and installed, don't expect to receive a refund for it. A court won't let you have the turbocharger and related expenses for free just because the shop was incompetent.

What you need is a car that is put together and runs correctly.

Give the business a small chance to do that. If they can't or won't, take the car to a new shop (or do it yourself) and take the company to small claims court for the costs incurred because of their incompetence. Otherwise anybody looking at this seriously will see that you're trying to profit from the situation.

If you end up going that route it would be reasonable to claim the following

-Cost to have second shop fix the car
-court costs
-compensation for lost wages due to taking time off
-compensation for non-use of the vehicle beyond the promised completion dates

 

[My Cobra]

I paid cash for the turbo kit and all the parts and paid cash for the labor. I am just asking for my labor money back not the total for all the parts and everything. My logic is that the next shop will want more money to fix it than just installing it since they have to trouble shoot. So all i am asking for is what i paid in labor not parts. Not asking for my gas money or time off work.

 

[Torch10th]

I paid cash for the turbo kit and all the parts and paid cash for the labor. I am just asking for my labor money back not the total for all the parts and everything. My logic is that the next shop will want more money to fix it than just installing it since they have to trouble shoot. So all i am asking for is what i paid in labor not parts. Not asking for my gas money or time off work.

That's reasonable. From your previous post it sounded like you wanted all the money back.

 

[oldmodman]

I just have one thing to say.

I didn't know that Hennessey worked on Cobras:dw:

 

[My Cobra]

Lol

 

[Kevins89notch]

My friend is going through the same. He bought a built 2V with a YSI, and a C4. He paid to have a proper fuel system put in, but it was still not making the power it should. The shop with his permission took it down the 1320 and it still wasn't feeling right. So the shop yanked the drivetrain. The body went off to paint. The shop sent the engine to their engine guy. He sent the lower end elsewhere to be reassembled while he ported and fully worked the heads. The C4 went elsewhere. This was all like 6-8 months ago if not longer. The car is painted and ready. I'm hearing everything second hand, but my friend says the engine guy never answers the phone. The speed shop technically has zero parts of his car, so they don't care. The transmission guy doesn't answer his phone either, and at least word, had yet to touch it after it's been sitting there 4+ months.

I'm at a loss on how this is possible, and how he hasn't killed someone. I don't care if the parts are 2-3 hours away. I would be calling 5 times a day until I got an answer and making the drive if need be.

 

[thomas91169]

More info on this that i should have given before, I ordered my turbo kit from the same shop. I paid for it in December of 2012. The shop told me they were going to ship me the turbo kit. I started taking my blower and other items off the car so that i could do the swap. Feb rolls around and i call Hellion. Hellion says they have not seen an order from that dealer. I call the dealer and ask them what is going on. They told me they were waiting on funds to clear from my account to their account (Said it takes longer since it was a higher amount) and with the holidays and everything else it had slowed the ordering. They order the kit and tell me that it is on back order. I call Hellion they have them on the shelf. A few days later the dealer has it on order. The dealer gets the kit a week or so later. I paid the dealer to pick the car up from my house to their shop (about a 2.5 hour drive, paid 200 in cash to cover the tow.) I give them all the parts that i had ordered for the trans, fuel system, all of that. Dealer says that it will be 3 weeks and they will have it done. We agree on 2500 to do the install.

Dealer gets the car to the shop, Unloads it all and then it sits for about a month. I call a few times a week and the dealer says he is working on it and its coming along. I drive to the shop and find that the dealer has just done a few things to it but has bounced a lot of other cars in front of mine. Dealer has a lot of health / family issues and misses work a lot.

Two weeks before mustang week the dealer says he will have it done before mustang week. I call a few days before and he says it will not be done he is working on getting another car up and running. Says mine just needs a tune and some small tweeks. I say ok and we take our other mustang to the beach.

Two weeks after that i get a call from the dealer saying it is ready to go. I take my truck and trailer down to the dealer, Dealer pulls my car out of the shop and helps me load it on the trailer. I pay him the 2500 plus about 500 in parts that he needed (New fuel lines). I get the car home pull it off the trailer and it will not stay running. I call the dealer on monday and tell him the issues and he says to bring it back. So i take a day off work trailer it to them. Dealer says that it is the air blowing back on the maf so he will get it fixed.

a month more goes by and the dealer is telling me that hellion is sending them a baffle to go in front of the maf. I tell him i do not want it to be rigged. I want it right. I go on line and do a lot of reading. Everybody says to go to a slot style maf. so i order one and send it to the shop. Shop installs this and says it is good to go. (I asked the dealer about this issue when i ordered my 2800 maf, dealer said they have never had an issue with that and the non slot style will be fine, should have never listened to them.) I pay the dealer another 1000 to install my two gauges, raptor shift light, Eboost2 and pay for the blow off valve and install of these items. I pick up the car and trailer it home.

I get the car home pull it in to the garage and go to bed, the next morning i go to the garage to take it to put fuel in it and wash it from being in the shop so long. When i pull it out of the garage there are oil spots and coolant spots on my garage floor. I figure it was just from the lines so i go to the car wash to see how it drives. On the way to the car wash it stalls every mile or so dropping fuel pressure. I get out and pop the hood and find that it is spraying fuel all over my motor from the injector or fuel rail on the driver side. I trailer it back to my house. I look at the fuel pump relays and they are melted and hot) i call the dealer on Monday and tell them the issues. The dealer tells me to bring it back they will fix it for the third time. I tell them no i am not wasting my time or fuel driving it back and forth. So the dealer sends a guy to come and pick it up. Dealer looks at it and says bad fuel pump. That was in December. I stop by before Christmas to go over all the issues (I made a check list of what all was wrong) Dealer says it will be done in a week, i knew this was a joke) I have called with no answer (Dealer has a lot of family issues right now i understand that) I stop by a week ago to the shop and it is in the same spot it was in December. So now i am out about 4k not including my time and money in fuel. these are just some of the issues that i have had. I have to take my car to another shop to be fixed, finished, tuned.

He has not been at the shop in about a week or two. All his stuff is still there along with other cars.

I know some of this is my fault for not being on top of it and pestering them but i am a business owner and have had a ton going on.

I have pictures of all of the issues.

lol wow, what a comedic shit show.

You need to post up their name so others do not succumb to the same fate.

 

[MysticRob]

Holy hell, 1.5yrs and you still don't have a running vehicle. I would've raised holy hell after a month! You need to get hot on the phone and/or show up in person and ensure these clowns get done with whatever works needs done. I agree with others, post up the shop name so other don't get screwed over with horrible service. And ensure they absolutely prove to you that the mechanicals AND tune operate properly before you take the car back home. You realize a lot of this is your own fault right? Learn not to be so patient, and stay on these clowns till it's done right. If they can't get it done right this one last time then threaten legal action.

 

[ArmedSuspect]

damn dude!

with everything that went on with my car it was gone for just at 3 1/2 months. that included sending Eaton for port, install injectors, BAP, MAF, etc., new HE, shifter, drop cats, re-assemble, dyno... pull motor, ARP studs, machine heads (sent out), powder coat valve covers (sent out), last minute order ARH LT headers, re-install motor... order MM steering shaft, dyno tune. THEN off to the body shop to paint the entire front end and rear bumper... drop fuel tank, replace lines, dyno again!

having to wait for other shops and constantly adding / needing other parts i wasn't put out that my car took that long.

other than a hose clamp on the HCM that worked itself loose after about two weeks everything was perfect! the mechanic constantly sent me pictures and updates throughout the entire thing. when he was on hold waiting for parts or to get the car on the dyno (another shop) he would let me know exactly what was going on. work is work and i know the NEED to take on other jobs while he was waiting on my stuff to get sorted. as soon as he buttoned up the other job he was back on my car.



as long as you've been waiting and the issues you've had, i would be PISSED.







.

 

[My Cobra]

I have another shop working on the car now. Here are some of the pictures and notes i gave to the new shop.

 

[Weather Man]

Jesus!

 

[My Cobra]

 

[Zemedici]

Dear god what a nightmare

Why on earth would you take it back more than once? It's obvious the guys a few cards short of a full deck

 

[My Cobra]