Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

I let a person drive the GTR a little over 6 months ago, Crashed it, Not insured for him to drive and his broke. I paid cash for repairs. Its been at a smash repair place and

VERY F#%*en little has been done. As much as i've hassled him, Nothing, Tried nice, Tried Angry.

Now problem is i did the right thing to get this fixed asap and paid him straight up with a guarantee that it would be done quick. So trying to get money out of him is Impossible... :D

Not even wheels are fixed. Engine was taken out, New bonnet put on. Chassis straighten ( I think)

I need help because im starting to get really angry and dont wanna loose my cash nor the car!!!! As i work nights at the moment it really hard to get out there too.. Shit job!!!!

Please, Any advice would be great....

Edited by ib6ub9
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/141213-need-advice-on-smash-repairer/
Share on other sites

  • Replies 86
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Tell him that you'll pay him for the work already complete, and the rest of the money to give you back, you wanna take your car elsewhere. He'll most prob refuse so then threaten him with reporting him to consumer affairs and the MTA...

Have you paid the FULL amount of the repair already? If so that was a very bad idea...

See how you go...

Tell him that you'll pay him for the work already complete, and the rest of the money to give you back, you wanna take your car elsewhere. He'll most prob refuse so then threaten him with reporting him to consumer affairs and the MTA...

Have you paid the FULL amount of the repair already? If so that was a very bad idea...

See how you go...

Yeah i paid him Ful amount!!!!! MY BAD!!

Iv ealready tried all that and nothing... Ive requested a for off MTA and will put in the dispute that will take 4 to 6 weeks!

wright him a letter of demand,

state the date the car was delivered, the date the car was sceduled to be repaired and the ammount paid for the repairs.

state the times you contacted him and what was said.

Once you have sent the letter follow it up with a phonecall. if nothing is done and no attempt to finish the job is made call consumer affairs.

6 months is rediculous. send the letter right away.

just a quick question don't name the shop but is it queanbeyan? low200 is in the exact same boat

i now some ppl have whinged about j racing but i seriously reckon you can't really g wrong with jerry and there panel beater steve is said to be one the best in canberra

just a quick question don't name the shop but is it queanbeyan? low200 is in the exact same boat

Yeah dude, Thats the one!!! All parts are there and sighted. But Nothing, Parts were all there within 4 weeks of arrival date... Low200 needs to get car out before it gets stuck on the hoist. He's not paid much yet! I Hope.....

If i could she'd be out of there but with monies in his pocket the pressure will be on!!!

Yeah dude, Thats the one!!! All parts are there and sighted. But Nothing, Parts were all there within 4 weeks of arrival date... Low200 needs to get car out before it gets stuck on the hoist. He's not paid much yet! I Hope.....

If i could she'd be out of there but with monies in his pocket the pressure will be on!!!

his car is sitting on the hoist as we speak same thing six months and nothing he hasn't paid yet so yeah i reckon definitly pull the car out, i don't see there been a problem by the sounds of things this certain place has just well and truely over booked themselves j racing took less than two weeks to fix my front end

ah shit....

I havent paid anything and only went to this shop and not J Racing as they do business with some mates and i got a VERY cheap price. Its been there since april and last part was delivered by me personally prolly 2 months ago, it was only discovered i needed it 2 months and 1 week ago...

I was told end of Nov but ill believe it when im driving it away... im going to send Jerry some pics of my car where its at now and see what he wants to finish it.

He makes good excuses but as far as i can see, cars come and go and mine stays where it is and it shits me to tears.

I think if you and I go together to get something sorted we'd have a better chance, i go EVERY thursday arvo to check on it.

Edited by low200
ah shit....

I havent paid anything and only went to this shop and not J Racing as they do business with some mates and i got a VERY cheap price. Its been there since april and last part was delivered by me personally prolly 2 months ago, it was only discovered i needed it 2 months and 1 week ago...

I was told end of Nov but ill believe it when im driving it away... im going to send Jerry some pics of my car where its at now and see what he wants to finish it.

He makes good excuses but as far as i can see, cars come and go and mine stays where it is and it shits me to tears.

I think if you and I go together to get something sorted we'd have a better chance, i go EVERY thursday arvo to check on it.

i agree, Ive seen atleast 5 maybe more cars come and go. What time thursday, I'll pm you my mobile number, well have a chat when you get a chance.

This workshop is ridiculous and i refuse to let this dampen my thoughts of keeping the GTR...

unfortunately in a similar situation, car went into the shop in february with a 3 month expected finish date, now im pushing to get it done by christmas. have paid a substantial amount in labour and supplied all parts myself. ANGER RISING MUST DESTROY EVIL WORKSHOPS......moving on, atleast the work completed so far is great quality.

cheers semo :)

I have never heard horror stories like this. I would be calling the bastards every single day saying WHERE IS MY CAR>>>>>>

I had to wait 3 weeks to get my old car fixed and I thought that was bad enough,

be more demanding.

Are any of you guys in a work union?

Cos the union has solicitors that [through the union] will give free advice on these sort of problems.

Also, consumer affairs = Dept of Fair Trading will go in to bat for you if you have a legitimate claim, it helps that there are a few of you all with the same problem.

You do need documentary evidence of all your dealings and demands on the company.

Are any of you guys in a work union?

Cos the union has solicitors that [through the union] will give free advice on these sort of problems.

Also, consumer affairs = Dept of Fair Trading will go in to bat for you if you have a legitimate claim, it helps that there are a few of you all with the same problem.

You do need documentary evidence of all your dealings and demands on the company.

As much as it seems as ive been nice.

i've actually been really pushy..

I will be going there today but am still stuck at work and will be pushing a few thing with a witness too...

In all honesty, how pushy are you being? You call once a day? I would consider the following, in this order:

1. The next time you go there, take a digital camera and take photos of your car, both where it is and how it looks. This is vital. As many photos as you can.

2. Increase the frequency of your phone calls and 'drop ins'. Make it inconvenient for them to continue holding your car. It's not unreasonable to be a little upset, assuming circumstances are as you've described, but be calm.

3. Document what you can, and then write the workshop a letter. Make sure you date it, then send it registered post. You can feel free to discuss the content of the letter with them once they've received it. You will need to find out exactly why there's a delay.

4. Get in contact with Graham Downie at the Canberra Times. He runs a consumer voice column and works wonders. I wouldn't bother telling the workshop that you've done this, let it be a happy surprise (you want them to wonder who else you are speaking to).

5. Call the ACT Dept of Fair Trading (http://www.fairtrading.act.gov.au) and relate your case. I don't know anyone there any more, but anyone there should be easy to talk to.

6. Hopefully it won't get to step 6.

They must be very happy having a hot car in the workshop all the time, must do wonders for potential customers. And to have been paid in advance! My God! I bet you won't do that again! The more annoying you are, the less time they will have to handle other customers. Be firm but polite: make it in their best interests to get your car off the lot as soon as possible.

And keep us up to date.

In all honesty, how pushy are you being? You call once a day? I would consider the following, in this order:

1. The next time you go there, take a digital camera and take photos of your car, both where it is and how it looks. This is vital. As many photos as you can.

2. Increase the frequency of your phone calls and 'drop ins'. Make it inconvenient for them to continue holding your car. It's not unreasonable to be a little upset, assuming circumstances are as you've described, but be calm.

3. Document what you can, and then write the workshop a letter. Make sure you date it, then send it registered post. You can feel free to discuss the content of the letter with them once they've received it. You will need to find out exactly why there's a delay.

4. Get in contact with Graham Downie at the Canberra Times. He runs a consumer voice column and works wonders. I wouldn't bother telling the workshop that you've done this, let it be a happy surprise (you want them to wonder who else you are speaking to).

5. Call the ACT Dept of Fair Trading (http://www.fairtrading.act.gov.au) and relate your case. I don't know anyone there any more, but anyone there should be easy to talk to.

6. Hopefully it won't get to step 6.

They must be very happy having a hot car in the workshop all the time, must do wonders for potential customers. And to have been paid in advance! My God! I bet you won't do that again! The more annoying you are, the less time they will have to handle other customers. Be firm but polite: make it in their best interests to get your car off the lot as soon as possible.

And keep us up to date.

I Will attempt to follow the procedures below but for one small problem. The last 2 days his workshop has been closed.

I have pre written a letter of demand of quality of service as per the contract of quote and payment that we agreed on in MAY!!!!!!!!!

I've got forms for Fair trading already and have also contacted the Motor trader repairer's association of NSW and they are assisting to hopefully remove car after isolating the work that has been done and forcing a refund with their assistance.

This i will persue in the next few days more with a camera and will update the post...

Cheers.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • So, I started this repair and got as far as "fixing" the holes with some fibreglass. God all those years working on boats came back quickly. I decided I'd reach out to some rust guys just to see what they would say about it. I came across a guy about 40 mins away and went to see him. He said the windscreen needs to come out, that there might be some more bits around the windscreen and he'd quote them at the time. But his quote was $300 to remove and replace windscreen and $3k for the damage he can see. He said he could respray the roof for $1200 and the bonnet for another $800 (somebody has previously rattle canned it, its horrendous). This is $5300 + any small additional bits. It's a lot, I get that and the name of one of my fave youtube channels 'Not Economically Viable' comes to mind.  I'm not being financially rational, but I've taken him up on the quote. He's opening a new shop in November with more room, so we're waiting for that. I'll leave the currently missing headliner out until then. I'm looking forward to it being fixed and having the paint looking nice again (lots of clear coat issues on the roof too). / flame suit on.
    • Oh and some up-and-comings; New rear drivers wheel bearing. I'll do that this weekend while the diff is out. The car is already up and the d/c axles and missing exhaust will help with space. This is the last bearing for me to do and I've been dragging my feet on it. I also have some new EBC blue stuff pads for the car and some new brake fluid. I haven't ever flushed the fluid in this car and looking forward to it. I have 600 degree fluid to put in. Not exactly "race fluid" but better than the typical stuff I have been using.
    • A proper clutch/plate type mechanical diff with quite a lot of pre-load and high locking % is better for drifting. Much more consistent in its behaviour. A helical can be annoyingly vague and inconsistent in how it responds under the sorts of abuse found in drifting.
    • Some updates here. I pulled the entire interior out, minus some trim to respray the seats with Colourlock dye. It turned out really nice though I accidentally let the dog in the car after and she scratched up the front seat.  This is what it looked like before, the colour was just washing out everywhere but thankfully the leather was in good nic. Then after the respray   And after the bloody dog jumped in The headliner is out waiting to be retrimmed, but it will stay out now until Nov - see why below. I replaced the stereo/headunit with a period-styled Android headunit. I have no after pics, but I'll get some. This is because of the missing pixels. I tried to fix this twice with replacement ribbon cables but couldn't. Also the bluetooth interface I'd bought for this was crap. Then there's the rusty roof. Pics and info in this other thread. I have decided to get this repaired professionally, but I'll update that thread. This is why the headliner will stay out for now. I'll be getting the roof and bonnet resprayed at the same time the rust is fixed. I also had an interesting issue with my drivers door lock.  For a small period I was having issues getting any 12v power to the car - I mean *any*. It would have no dash lights, nothing. It happened while I was at the shops and I couldn't get in the car. So, we had 2 problems. The most pressing here is that I was locked out. I have only a single physical key hole on the car, the drivers door and no amount of turning would unlock the car. Surely it doesn't need power for this? The second issue is why am I losing all power periodically, The battery isn't dead, its almost like the battery isn't even there. Two issues that were surprisingly easy to fix. You fellow BMW over-engineering lovers will appreciate this. The lock in the door has 5 states; mechanical lock, electric lock, neutral, electric unlock, mechanical unlock achieved at -90 degrees, -45 degrees, 0 degrees, 45 degrees and 90 degrees. Although, the unlock is towards the front of the car, so opposite for LHD countries. Sticking the key in and turning 45 left or right is what is used 99% of the time. It activates the central locking etc. 90 degrees is for dead battery access and, obvs, only un/locks the one door. But because the mechanical lock is never used and is 27 years old, it seizes up. I was totally unable to turn the key far enough to get to the mechanical unlock (At the time of locking myself out, I didn't even know this was a thing). I eventually did it with some vicegrips and teflon spray.  I made a quick vid for other E39 peeps.   The battery issue is totally new to me also - It wasn't making sufficient contact between the post and the terminal. The terminal was bolted on tight, but the car wouldn't have power. After checking the battery with my multimeter I accidentally contacted the terminal and the battery post and the car got power. The battery was only a few years old and in good condition. I cleaned the post and the terminal with a wire brush, bolted it back on tight and never had the issue again. I'm still surprised that despite having solid contact it didn't work. Also, the car was getting Warragamba sized pools of water in the back when it rained. My initial concern was another rust problem. But when I went out on Weds while it was raining and while I had no headliner in I could see a steady stream of water coming through the roof mounted aerial. As this aerial is for the (now removed) car phone I pulled it out and whacked a blanking grommet in the hole. It seems fine now. I'm thinking I might get the hole permanently filled when the rust is fixed. Moving forward and things in progress; The tailgate needs some attention. I have taken all the trim off to clean it all and address some small rust spots. I have partially done all of this but I'll finish it up hopefully this weekend. As all the trim are now entirely devoid of trim clips I have bought a heap of strong velcro and I'm hoping it does a good enough job as any of this trim in good condition is super expensive and usually in Europe as we dont have many of the wagons here. Suspension and brakes!!! This is exciting. In the front; New control arms New sway bar links New lower Eibach springs (the only modification I'm planning on this car) M Sport shocks (these came with the car and will replace the longer shocks in the car) New top mounts Used 540i calipers (stock brakes suck!) New 540i disks and pads (22x296 mm for 528 and 30x334 mm for 540i) New front wheel bearings (thank all that is holy for bolt on bearings!) Annnnd in the back; New control arms New sway bar links Adjustable air suspension arms (fool the car into what the current height is so the self levelling suspension can match the new front ride height) New ball joints I'll also be doing a brake fluid flush while I'm in there. I'm planning on switching the car over to the 16's that came with it so I can clean up and respray the M Sport 17's. They've lost a lot of colour over the years and have some gutter rash. None of this will start until the E90 is back.
    • You mean you will regret it for drifting duties? I don't quite follow.
×
×
  • Create New...