Granville Tuner Matter Resolved. Thanks For All Your Support

[DRD-00F]

You wouldn't like Marsss when he's angry...

[Moanie]

maybe he is trying to get more ammo for his case? if so, then the people who recognise said vase will know what hes talking about and will contact him!!!

a pm of workshop name would be nice i hate not knowing these things

[Dominic]

OK, spoke to legals and Im allowed to stae the facts that are being presented in court.

I bought a $12k Skyline GTR in good condition, to prepare as a race car, no rego, wheels, suspension or turbos and fitted brand new turbos, wheels suspension and dump pipe. The car was pulled apart, checked and put back together by a team of mechanics at ALTO ford (One of whom works for Hills Motorsport now) as a sponsorship deal. When finished I used it for a few track days and it ran beautifully, but as ALTO do not have a Dyno, I thought it needs a professional tune. So I booked it in with someone local, who is reccomended on this forum who quoted $700.00 and said I should see 260kwatts.

The NEW Power FC which I supplied was fitted and the before figures showed 237 kw at 11 psi, but the car wasnt running well so he recommended a boost controller $550 and fuel injector cleaning $200 which I accepted. This still did not solve the problem so he suggested new plugs $180 and a couple of days later he thought it needed new coilpacks $650, Later still he complained about the lack of power and said that one turbo was not working and he would quote to replace the turbos.

Needless to say it was obvious I was being taken for a ride and I said, can I look at the blown turbo. I was shown a wheel that came from a vase but when I asked to see the back of the turbo where it came from. He said he couldnt show me. The next day after visiting him again he said the turbos were OK but it was the cat that was gone. I said dont replace it, just use a decat pipe, Ill fix the exhaust later.

I said I was concerned about the bill being too high and he said, yes its near $5000.00. WOW, The total of the quotes was under $3k and after being caught out on the blown turbo scam, I assumed it would be around $2500.

I complained about this and he said its only a rough guide. He'll work out the full amount the next day when I drop in.

Imagine my shock when I go to pick up the car, the dyno sheet says 264 kwatts at 14 psi and the bill was $6433, which would cost me an extra $124 if I used a credit card, so I had to pay cash.

Has anyone ever paid that amount to have a tune or is this a record to acheive 27 kilowatts.The best part is there total lack of knowledge on anything they have done:

My Q. Is the 264 kwatts at 4 wheels or at rear wheels?

A. We dont know, we started the car without the 4WD fuse but it engaged AWD when it hit 200kwatts... (????)

My Q. Why did the bill go up from $4800 yesterday to $6433 today?

A. The ignition coils that we were quoted $650 on yesterday ended up costing $715. (Well that makes sense)

Then before commencing court action I asked him these questions in writing:

I have today visited a chamber magistrate in an effort to have the matter settled over the blatant overcharging on the Nissan Skyline. He has instructed me to ask the following questions and seek redress before taking this matter any further through the legal system.

The questions that need to be answered are:

1. Please itemise what hours were spent on the tasks to make up $2860 in labour and $770 for the tune

2. Why are some of the items in the labour column IE install FC and two dyno runs? These were the items quoted $700 and charged at a rate of $700, yet they also appear in the labour column.

3. What is an air filter service, as the car has pod filters?

4. Why was the brand new coolant discarded and new coolant added?

5. Why did you quote for each item and then not adhere to your quote?

IE Tune and fitting $700.00

Install Spark plugs $180.00

Remove and clean injectors $450.00

Fit Boost controller $650.00

Fit ignition coils $650.00

Replace actuators $250.00

Total of quote $2,880.00

Why do you not know whether the car was tested in 2wd or AWD mode?

Why did you say the AWD was not working when your own staff corrected you and said he had removed the fuse?

Why did you believe that the turbos had an exhaust wheel blown when you personally told me that it had read 11psi on the dyno?

Would a turbo with an exhaust wheel blown read nil on the dyno or 11PSI?

Why did you remove the turbos, my instruction was to see if the exhaust wheel had come off this turbo? This was your recommendation after I refused to allow the purchase of new turbos?

The price you quoted was $2,880.00, I totally accept the extra parts being filters, hose clamps, bolts, hoses and gaskets, I even accept that you made a mistake and when you quoted $250 for the actuators that this may have been for each.

But unacceptable is

To quote fitted and then add a labour component.

To add GST on a quoted price, GST legislation provides that prices must be GST inclusive.

Adding labour onto the labour charge of the tune.

Charging to remove turbos that were not requested to be removed.

To quote $4800, (which surprised me) as the full payment with the Ignition coils and then discover 3 working hours later that you had erred and the bill was $6433.19.

The writer has had cars dyno tuned by

V and E Rigoli

MRT

Bob Whyms

and has been happy on all counts with all different vehicles. I did find them to be too far from my office and thus inconvenient to drop off the vehicle.

I do agree that an offer of $2833 is to low as you should not be penalised for simple errors on your behalf.

I would suggest that an additional $1,000 in labour and $250 in parts should suffice for the work done.

According to my solicitor a good offer is one that allows both parties to sleep comfortably. Neither will be happy with a good settlement, but both will be able to live with that decision.

In view of this I suggest that a fair payment for the service was $4400.00, being a refund of $2,000.00.

The magistrate states that I ask for you to consider and reply to these points before advancing further.

AND THEN CAME HIS PROFESSIONAL REPLY;

" I have handed the paper work to my solicitor yesterday. He will contact you soon."

Funny, no reply in 7 weeks from him or his solicitor, and how is his solicitor going to understand whether a blown turbo missing a wheel would read 11psi on the dyno but not 14psi..

[v_s_p_e_c]

what a douche, sounds like he needs to be slapped with a cricket bat

[D3bb4]

Can i get a PM also?

i need a tune soon, and i don't wanna miss any vase for a warning sign.

[FATAZZ]

+1 for pm of tuner,as id rather not give this person my money nor waste my time asking questions.

[D_I_F]

Yep Please Pm the shop to me.

[MRGTR911]

12K Skyline GTR in good condition are you serious ??? Impossbile ?

[DRD-00F]

I'm pretty sure he said something along the lines of "no rego, wheels, suspension or turbos"

Which means it was un registered, couldn't move, and couldn't start...

I wouldn't pay 12k for that... Pretty big gamble, and a damn near impossible thing to sell as you can't test anything...

[Dominic]

I'm pretty sure he said something along the lines of "no rego, wheels, suspension or turbos"

Which means it was un registered, couldn't move, and couldn't start...

I wouldn't pay 12k for that... Pretty big gamble, and a damn near impossible thing to sell as you can't test anything...

Your spot on mate. Its so easy to critiscise, when you havent bought the car, yet if I put it back up for sale, without front springs and shocks, wheels or turbos, Id say Everyone would say Its not even a rolling shell and offer $10k or less.

But I triple checked it with my mechanic and was happy to pay $12k as I wanted new turbos, brakes and suspension anyway and had some left over wheels from my R33 GTR.

[dead32]

i reakon you got taken for a big ride here dom. hopefully the judge is a car nut and it goes your way lol

[MRGTR911]

You could of bought one finished with rego in decent condition for about 20k .. With all the stuff you were missing ?

any reason why you didnt do that .... ?

[smiddidR32]

Pm Me with the shop name mate looking at getting a tune in a few weeks and wouldnt want to go there, sounds like a Real D**k Head!!

[D3bb4]

Worst i had happen was a place in mt druitt... instead of having everything done for under 2k, ended up costing 3.2k, and they did shitty f*kd up job, not even the stuff i listed... unfortunately, was some time ago and was in school/didnt do anything.... hope it works out for you.

[s13_Skyline_inside]

why would it cost to have a PFC installed anyway, should just cost money for the tune, and pulling the turbo's of a gtr is a big job in itself considering you never asked for it, hope you get what your after in the end

[Dominic]

You could of bought one finished with rego in decent condition for about 20k .. With all the stuff you were missing ?

any reason why you didnt do that .... ?

A bit off the thread but very simple, Im building a tarmac race car, I want my own wheels, suspension, turbos etc. IF I had paid $20k for a good one, I still would want suspension etc to suit tarmac rally regs and my style of driving.

A race car has to be built for you, buying one off someone else, usually results in throwing out many good things and having to rebuy something else.

Its a bit like buying a "Do er upper home" you get the carpet, paint, kitchen, tiling and fittings that you want.

Last time my wife chose a fully finished two year old home that needs no work.

Only problem was that she didnt like the colour scheme, tiles, timber floor colour and carpet.

So far she's OK with the Kitchen and Bathrooms. (TIC)

[d0p3y]

Worst i had happen was a place in mt druitt... instead of having everything done for under 2k, ended up costing 3.2k, and they did shitty f*kd up job, not even the stuff i listed... unfortunately, was some time ago and was in school/didnt do anything.... hope it works out for you.

same.. I won't name the name of the shop but I had to build my 13B Turbo a few years back and my price ended up being over 2k more than the quoted total price. Needless to say I was not happy. However I ended up negotiating the price down so that I only paid $1k more than quoted. I was nowhere near happy with the level of service provided or the quality of the work though.

It's such a big gamble with a lot of these workshops these days.

[silver gts-t]

12k for a gtr how its described it about the price range..

hope you screw this guy over.

should post your info on xr6t & wrx sites like rexnet, alot of them go there

Edited November 29, 2007 by silver gts-t

[s13_Skyline_inside]

i guess just go to workshops that have a good record, its hell dodgy that he refused to show you the turbo after he said the wheel had come off

[GTR-32U]

A bit off the thread but very simple, Im building a tarmac race car, I want my own wheels, suspension, turbos etc. IF I had paid $20k for a good one, I still would want suspension etc to suit tarmac rally regs and my style of driving.

A race car has to be built for you, buying one off someone else, usually results in throwing out many good things and having to rebuy something else.

Its a bit like buying a "Do er upper home" you get the carpet, paint, kitchen, tiling and fittings that you want.

Last time my wife chose a fully finished two year old home that needs no work.

Only problem was that she didnt like the colour scheme, tiles, timber floor colour and carpet.

So far she's OK with the Kitchen and Bathrooms. (TIC)

Hey any chance you can PM me the name as well ??? I live in your area so I am a little concerned..thnx