efranklin

Heres my situation. About a year back my car was having TONS of problems and a few local shops could not get my car running up to par, even after a rebuild.. So I decided to drive a little farther and go to a very reputable shop. When I get the car back it runs PERFECT, the mechanic checked everything out told me the turbo wasnt in the best shape and everything else was fine.

So i get my car dyno tuned with him 600$, I boosted the car once the turbo blew w/e it was an old turbo. Get the car towed in...and Im now getting a single turbo put in at his shop... My question is as a Shop Owner would you dyno tune the car for free since I only got to drive it once or w/e.. I have 0 complaints with the shop I just want to know your opinion, I have spent well over 6k at this shop. Let me know guys -Eric

SLOASFK

iTrader: (5)

I'm not a shop owner, however I'd think if he told you the turbo was in rough shape before he tuned it, you're out of luck.

str8ryd

iTrader: (473)

I've heard of VERY few instances when a shop will waive their tuning fee. Even when a shops tuning wasn't the best, they at most waived their tuning fee, but still charged dyno time. I would say you're out of luck.

Jason

iTrader: (5)

I wouldn't charge you full price for a dyno tune if that was the case. Probably a couple hundred. $600 for a tune is a rip off anyway.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Why would he tune a car with a bad turbo? I would never do that.

At the least, the shop can cut you a break on the subsequent tuning session.

Customer service seems to be lacking when it comes to some rotary shops out there......

efranklin

He told me the turbo would last me for a while but it wasn't in the greatest shape.. We haven't yet talked about the tuning I just wanted to know what your guys opinions would be so when the topic came up I wouldn't feel dumb explaining that I only got to drive my car once after the tune and I feel he should cut me some slack... etc etc and especially because ive spent a substantial amount of money at his shop... Also yes 600$ is alot for a tune, the shop charged 200 and he charged 400.

Banzai-Racing

iTrader: (11)

We give free initial tuning on engines that we build and do the install, as well as 2 hours of free tuning once the engine is broken in. This way the first time the customer goes into full boost there is no question that things are set up correctly.

JMaxx08

I've got to admit, I've got some problems with your account, and I'm not sure if it's the way you are telling the story, or it's the shop's business practices.

What do you mean, you "boosted the car once"? You mean you drove away from the shop and the first time you went over 4,500 rpm the turbo blew? You mean you got a mile away from the shop and suddently your newly tuned car was crap? ....and so given that, you go back to the same guy to drop more $$$ ?!!

Or was your turbo pretty much crap to begin with and you were throwing good money after bad?

If this tuner knew your turbo was crap or about to blow, shouldn't he have refused to do an expensive tune and told you to get a decent turbo first? (And wouldn't that have been the wise approach on your part?)

See my point? The way I read this account I have problems with both sides in this story and I'm not sure where the truth lies.

If he warned you sufficiently about the bad turbo and you insisted on the expensive tune anyway, then I say you have to eat the price he is going to charge you the next time around.

But if he made it seem like the worn turbo wasn't going to be a problem anytime soon, and he led you to believe the engine was going to hold together for, say,
5,000 miles of hard driving (you sound like you're into street racing to me).....then I'd say he at least owes you a cut rate price on the re-tune after the single turbo install.

It all depends on what kind of guarantee he offered on his tune. If it was, "I'll tune it, but anything can happen after that" then I don't know if you have much recourse.

"I only boosted once" sounds to me like, "Honest Mom, it was the first time I did pot."

theorie

iTrader: (31)

dude you're in tampa? you should check out ART in Sarasota...

http://www.myspace.com/advancedracetechnology

they know what they're doing.

the owner has two FD's at his house and i live across the street with mine. rebuilds, turbo upgrades, etc....check em out

efranklin

It wasn't like I drove away boosted it and bam it was dead. I drove it home about an hour away didn't boost it at all, I was in stopped traffic the entire way home, got home and parked it. I go to school with my gf so we always take her car(meaning I didnt drive it for a few days), so a few days later I take my car out with a friend, do 2 good pulls and on the last pull the car is running like crap. Go home park the car, call my mechanic and theres a 2 month waiting list to take the car there, which is ok with me because I can drive my girlfriend's car anywhere I need to go.


The impression I had gotten from the mechanic about the turbo was that, It was an old turbo it had 80k miles on it and that it would last me a good amount of time but eventually would need to be replaced.

efranklin

Yeah If I need anything else done Ill def check them out.

But hey theres a tampa meet coming up soon you should come to, and let them know.

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ma...soto-park.html

JMaxx08

Oh well, TWO good pulls. That's different! LOL.

Seriously though, it sounds like you violated a basic rule with these cars that we all know ---- and I'm sure you do too ----- and that is that you don't mod FD's without making sure all your basics are solid. And that's because as highly stressed as these engines are, you shouldn't be surprised when the weakest link in the chain breaks.

Were you aware of the situation going in? I suspect you were.

Given that, does the tuner have any obligation to give you a free or a cheap 2nd tune? Personally, I think he should have done a better job warning you off, or maybe even refusing the work. But I bet you made your wishes perfectly clear.
You wanted to make your car go as fast and as smooth as possible WITHOUT having to shell out for a new turbo.
Well, that new turbo was waiting in the wings anyway, no matter what you had done.

The man deserves to be paid for his time and skill. You could have boosted "once" and burst a coolant hose or run into a brick wall. Would he owe you a cheap or free second tune then? I don't think so.

You may be able to whine, and because you've proven to be a good customer, talk him into giving you a better rate the second time around. But I don't think you're in a position to demand anything.

Judge Judy

efranklin

I wasn't aware that boosting an FD was breaking a "basic" rule.. If anything I did everything I could to make the car as healthy as possible... For the 6 months I didn't have it tuned I didn't boost it ONCE, did all the reliability mods etc..

About a week or so before the dyno tune, he did a street tune so it would be a little more drivable (was having an idle issue), after he street tuned he told me after the dyno tune I would be good to do some bridge runs (down here everyone races on a certain bridge and thats what he was reffering to), implying I would be able push the car.

KaiFD3S

iTrader: (37)

I'm not a shop owner but if I was I would at least give you a free tune since I will be building your motor, I will have to charge you dyno time though....I think this would be the right thing to do.

JMaxx08

You didn't understand what I wrote. Having a good working turbo is an FD "basic." In your case, your turbo was on the way out. That's why you're in the position of paying for a second tune right after you paid for the first one. You just ended up throwing good money after bad. "Pay me now, or pay me later" is an old mechanic's saying. All along you were going to have to pay for a new turbo. You didn't have to pay for two engine tunes in a row.

efranklin

The turbo worked fine.. It put down 336whp and around 330ish a few times before that.. There was no way of knowing exactly when the turbo would go, do you honestly think he would have tuned it if he knew it was going to die a few days later?

Besides all b.s. about the turbo there's still the fact that ive spent a TON of money at his shop and JUST got my car tuned by him.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

efranklin, do you think you could start turning off your sig after the first time you post in a thread? thanks.

edit: I just unclick 'show sig' when I'm posting.

efranklin

Yeah sounds good I didn't even know I could stop it from coming up every time. Thx

theorie

iTrader: (31)

well, i currently live in NYC. i just keep my FD in FL. i have the guys over at ART keep an eye on my car when i'm up here. they drive it every once in awhile and keep everything happy.

they own 2 FD's + car-sitting mine right now, so i'll send them the info to them and maybe they'll hit up the meet. i probably won't be back down in sarasota until mid march.

str8ryd

iTrader: (473)

That's an excellent business practice and I really applaud you guys!


Do you have any experience tuning a Tec3R running a 20B? Is it okay to PM you or is your inbox full? I have a few more questions. Thanks!

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

You might try their email addresses:
http://www.banzai-racing.com/contact_main.htm