When too walk away from a performance shop

[budman5023]

So my car has been to several performance shops over the years and it seems to be getting worse. I have been going to this one shop since 2013 and was a good experience at the beginning. I dont know what happened. Supposed to be very reputable. It seems like my car get pushed aside when a nicer, faster car shows up.
Back in feburary, I brought me car in for a dyno tune and front end alignment, and was told the dyno was full that friday and I said no problem. A month goes by and I decided that if I have to keep waiting for tuning i will just get a stand alone. I got a quote $5000 and agreed. He said they should start in a month. 4 months later (it has been 6 by this point) and it is still not done. 2 weeks ago I was told I needed a return style fuel system and was told it should be done today but I knew they wouldn't. I have been patiently waiting and now I am pissed. I really want to give them till friday but at this point idk. I have missed countless test n tunes and 5 events. Some advice would be very helpful. I am also afraid they added a crap load of extra $ for "r&d" work.

 

[Blk04L]

Unfortunately it happens. Some places get too big, and focus on the bigger fish than the guys that had smaller work but kept them afloat early on.

Or, in some of my cases, the level of quality work goes down. New guys come in and do sloppy work.
After the 2nd-3rd time you look elsewhere.

I would go in and see if they touched it, if not just pull it out and go elsewhere.

 

[ZYBORG]

As said above, it’s the nature of the hustle. Happens all the time. Time to move to another shop that will appreciate your business.

 

[Sinister04L]

Almost every "reputable" shop out there at some point does this shit.

 

[CV355]

Best advice I can give- trust your gut. If something feels off, get your car out of there. Even if it's a reputable shop, most places don't like the liability of hanging onto someone's car for too long.

The cars that "grow roots" are usually the victims of work scope creep, or are continually pushed out of the way for a quick buck. Some get into a problem where the shop bit off more than they wish to chew.

I'd try to have a talk with the owner. Simply explain the situation, sometimes that's all it takes to resolve an issue. If you don't get the response you'd like, get the car out, but be prepared for smoke and mirrors when it comes to itemizing costs on a non-complete car.

 

[Zemedici]

You're waiting a month for tuning on a new edge GT?

They sold you a $5000 stand alone on a new edge GT?

What?

 

[bigmoose]

The way I read this is you didn't want to wait for a tune, so you agreed to do a standalone ecu for $5k and thought that was the easier resolution from the same shop that couldn't find time for a tune? Am I missing something?

 

[IronSnake]

So my car has been to several performance shops over the years and it seems to be getting worse. I have been going to this one shop since 2013 and was a good experience at the beginning. I dont know what happened. Supposed to be very reputable. It seems like my car get pushed aside when a nicer, faster car shows up.
Back in feburary, I brought me car in for a dyno tune and front end alignment, and was told the dyno was full that friday and I said no problem. A month goes by and I decided that if I have to keep waiting for tuning i will just get a stand alone. I got a quote $5000 and agreed. He said they should start in a month. 4 months later (it has been 6 by this point) and it is still not done. 2 weeks ago I was told I needed a return style fuel system and was told it should be done today but I knew they wouldn't. I have been patiently waiting and now I am pissed. I really want to give them till friday but at this point idk. I have missed countless test n tunes and 5 events. Some advice would be very helpful. I am also afraid they added a crap load of extra $ for "r&d" work.

You're waiting a month for tuning on a new edge GT?

They sold you a $5000 stand alone on a new edge GT?

What?

I second my boy zemedici

If you brought me this car, said tune it and straighten the car out, I'd take maybe a week tinkering to be sure it was 100% before it was back to you.

If you said put a standalone in it then I'd have it back to you in 2-4 weeks max.

Always need to allot for tinkering/trouble shooting. But my timelines are for me doing it after work. Not full time all day everyday business hours. These dudes are riding you hard.

 

[budman5023]

Thanks for the advice fellas. I will heed your advice. They did start on the car but kept stopping for some reason. If anything the fuel system is hanging out of it. Tried talking to the owner and it seems I am getting the Alan Mason treatment.(the run around)
Me and the old man are going to get the car this week. I found a shop that is a Holley dealer and more than happy to work on the car. He has a lot of drift cars he works on.

 

[budman5023]

Maybe a little naive on the fact a stand alone was the answer and continuing with this shop. Also it was the time SCT had the lawsuit fallout and HPtuners wasn't supported for my car. I am perhaps to nice sometimes and didnt read the writing on the wall. I just thought they were really busy. Yeah I didnt want to wait on anymore tuners if I can tune it myself.

The way I read this is you didn't want to wait for a tune, so you agreed to do a standalone ecu for $5k and thought that was the easier resolution from the same shop that couldn't find time for a tune? Am I missing something?

 

[budman5023]

It was a time when SCT had there lawsuit fallout and Hptuners wasn't available it is now but still had bugs. $5000 parts and installed.

You're waiting a month for tuning on a new edge GT?

They sold you a $5000 stand alone on a new edge GT?

What?

 

[budman5023]

I just thought they were really busy. I should have known better.

I second my boy zemedici

If you brought me this car, said tune it and straighten the car out, I'd take maybe a week tinkering to be sure it was 100% before it was back to you.

If you said put a standalone in it then I'd have it back to you in 2-4 weeks max.

Always need to allot for tinkering/trouble shooting. But my timelines are for me doing it after work. Not full time all day everyday business hours. These dudes are riding you hard.

 

[jmsa540]

Name of shop..

Sent from my SM-G892A using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[budman5023]

A little more info. When another very famous shop was doing the MM k member kit, I was going to get it tuned as well with SCT. When the day came to tune, they said they couldn't because my car wasn't supported. They wouldn't even try. After talking with SCT, I couldnt get a straight answer. The shop I am dealing with now only does hptuners. So when I found out hptuners supported my car I decided to try that but wouldn't interface and that is when I wanted to see if the shop would have any luck. I even tried sniper special forces tuning but no luck even interfacing with the laptop.

 

[Coiled03]

Shops don't operate on FIFO, but they should.

Sounds like you're getting the run around.

 

[budman5023]

I will name them when I get my car back. I wasn't going to name them because i may be a little at fault for not realizing them screwing me but that is not acceptable to screw someone over just because they are easy to screw over.

Name of shop..

Sent from my SM-G892A using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[RALPH R]

I'll parrot what the others are saying. When any shop gets too big, adds new guys, moves into a bigger facility, etc. The quality usually goes down. Try to find an up and coming place that's hungry for the work. Ideally one where the owner is present. Even better when he's the one doing the wrenching imo.

 

[Zemedici]

Quite honestly it sounds like they dont want to work on the car.

However they should have just turned you away at the beginning vs stringing you along.

Cannot believe they said you needed a full standalone to tune a blower 2v. Or that they sold it as 'the faster method'.

There's tons of softwares available to tune that platform.

Big yikes. Get your car out of there.

 

[IronSnake]

Quite honestly it sounds like they dont want to work on the car.

However they should have just turned you away at the beginning vs stringing you along.

Cannot believe they said you needed a full standalone to tune a blower 2v. Or that they sold it as 'the faster method'.

There's tons of softwares available to tune that platform.

Big yikes. Get your car out of there.

Speaking of which, I will be bringing the Tork Tech GT to you when I'm ready for a tune.

 

[budman5023]

Quite honestly it sounds like they dont want to work on the car.

However they should have just turned you away at the beginning vs stringing you along.

Cannot believe they said you needed a full standalone to tune a blower 2v. Or that they sold it as 'the faster method'.

There's tons of softwares available to tune that platform.

Big yikes. Get your car out of there.

It's not even blown anymore. Its a full bolt on NA. I was going stand alone eventually so I never have to wait on tuners. I plan on travelling to different road courses around the country and my not have access to a tuner. I agree with they dont want to work on it and should have said that. And to be clear I asked for the stand alone when I felt I couldnt trust anymore tuners. It wasn't sold to me as a faster method. I wanted the ultimate tuning platform. I didnt want to wait and pay for tuning if I am going to do engine swaps, cams, heads,etc. I am a race team of 1. I wanted it to be self sufficient but when it comes to wiring, I'm a little girl. Eek! It seems they not only didnt want to work on it, no one wants to tune it either. Also, it's an 04. The wiring is 15 years old and stiff. I am sure the old wiring loves extreme heat and moisture. A little peice of mind knowing there shouldn't be any wiring gremlins, right? Idk anymore.