Workshop experiences

by **needfordspeed** » August 11th, 2009, 12:48 am

Hey guys, thought i'd start this so some of us who want to get some work done can be pointed in the right direction, we've all heard horror stories but then again there's the good ones too. I haven't really dealth with many workshops at all to be honest, apart from Dynomotive who were great to deal with and had the car ready on time and running fine. All I got done from them was a tune/install of a unichip.

I want to get another tune, but they don't wanna touch these J3's which is what i'm running. But this thread isn't just about me, post up experiences (good and bad) about any type of work done on a car!

Some rules in this thread (coz we all know how these can turn out):

-No "oh my mates cousins fkn uncles mate went to "insert workshop here" and they blew it up" posts.

That is all.

by **wicksy** » August 11th, 2009, 5:26 am

Bad. my XR8 was missing something chronic, stalling etc, so i thought i would take it to RDP motorsports, spent a month there, i told them to check the computer, and they were replacing shit that wasnt even helping, they kept telling me that it wasnt the computer, $1000 later and the car was worse,they said the cats were blocked, drove it home, sent computer away and it was fucked.
Got the computer back put it in and the car was alot better,but still missing put a full tank of fuel in and the cap on top of fuel tank was secured properly, lost about 10L fuel.
They noted that they checked everything on the car and done the timing etc, me and my father in law checked teh dizzy cap out and a point was missing, and the timing wasnt done, because the dizzy literally had to be moved with a hammer.
So each time i see their ad that they are EFI specialist i just laugh.

by **Steady** » August 11th, 2009, 6:02 am

I'll wait till I get mine back before I comment

Even then, no doubt if there is an issue they'll fix it up.
My thinking, always give someone a chance to fix their fuckups.
If they don't want that chance, then take it public.

by **galapogos01** » August 11th, 2009, 9:01 am

needfordspeed wrote:I want to get another tune, but they don't wanna touch these J3's which is what i'm running.

That's interesting. Will PM you, but as of yesterday I have another tuner onboard in Lilydale, so 3 in Vic now.

Steady wrote:My thinking, always give someone a chance to fix their fuckups.
If they don't want that chance, then take it public.

+1. A lot of people don't do this, especially the forum crowd. Can make for a lot of noise about simple problems which could be resolved without issue.

Back in the day, I had JMM fit one of their hi stalls to my car, in about 2004-2005 (from memory), when they were doing them fitted for $850 or something. Went fine for thousands of KMs, interstate trips, yadda yadda. Some time in 2008 after some timing chain dramas, the car developed a ticking noise at around 3k. I couldn't work out what it was, so I took it to 3 mechanics who all had nfi (one said to leave him with the car and he will try a few things ???). Finally I drove it all the way out to Brendan at JMM for a look, and he knew the noise straight away. 15 minutes later he retensioned/relocktited the convertor bolts, no charge, no hassle.

Recently, I had a guy at Beaurepaires Clayton put a 270deg scratch in one of my rims. Long story short I got them to pay for the repair, but I had to ring head office and make a complaint about the franchise, as the tyre fitter denied doing it!

by **BLC** » August 11th, 2009, 9:02 am

I've had a few shockers, but I'd rather concentrate on the good. I really only use workshops for tuning, or stuff I can't be arsed doing/don't have equipment for.

CVE - tuned the ED, great service. would reccomend to anyone. 10/10
Dalton Automotive/BPR - As above. Very pleased with their service. 10/10
AM Automotive - LPG conversion on my AU, top marks - 10/10.
And my trusty local spanner twirler - Allfix Motors - top quality work for rock bottom prices. 10/10

Bad - Nameless Holden dealership in Werribee. Took my first car there, for the first service I'd ever done. Didn't know any better, so I thought, it's a Holden car, take it to Holden. Never, ever again will I trust dealership mechanics. -5/10

by **Dansedgli** » August 11th, 2009, 9:10 am

Rank Rotary - Good but slow. That was ages ago.
XTC performance - fail.
CVE - Convenient hours.
Brakes Plus in Bayswater = win for regular car stuff.
Unique Exhausts in bayswater = win for exhaust work.

After the XTC saga I will never let a workshop do something major on my cars ever again. DIY ftw.

I dont know how some workshops stay open.

The problem with forums is that people are quick to say a workshop is awesome but you hardly ever hear when people have problems. That stuff only gets talked about in person.

This forum is a good example of that.

by **t1MMy** » August 11th, 2009, 9:32 am

Allford - Good.

CVE - Great.

Beaurepairs Keysborough - Shit. They are slow and have the intelligence of a rock. All they are interested in is how fast they can thrash your car when they are done fitting the tyres and scratching the shit out of you rims.

Brakes Plus Frankston - Great. Picked up on some pretty important things that others failed to find and fixed the issue happily.

Noble Brake & Cluth - Shit. Over priced to hell and decided to smoke in the car while taking it for a test drive...and left the ciggi butt in the car for evidence.

by **EFFalcon** » August 11th, 2009, 9:33 am

Swift Automotive - Bad attitude and not overly helpful, damaged my bonnet with no intention of fixing it.

I don't goto many workshops

by **BROCKYB8** » August 11th, 2009, 9:33 am

Well here are my experienced.

SPEEDWELL - Biggest liars and rip of merchants around. Took them 4 months to put a Wolf V500 in car. And then stiff did not tune it
they blew up my manual and i caught them doing donuts in the car . -5/10 :banghead:

Dynomotive - seemed like they had bigger fish to look after> Were nice . So ended up pulling car out after just a service 6/10

G and d - Even more then DYnomotive . Took two weeks to get a air box made as they were so busy 6/10

Longbeach auto and exhaust - Great work good pricings. Fast service and he knows all his cars . 10 / 10

CVE - Have never had a single problem. Always there to help . Gives you a straight answer no bullshit (this is my experience) 12/10 :thumbsup:

R Walker - Gas guy- HE is a nice bloke . Does awesome work. Good pricing. Willing to do custom stuff . Only prob he is a one man business
so some times he can take a while . Would reccomend him to anyone . 9/10

Schmee Customs - Great guy who will help you out . The big parts dealer. You want a part he get it . 10/10 :-P

TYRE JOINTS -

City and rural tyres in moorabin - Good price great help and quick 10/10
Tyres and more - Wells rd Chelsea - Very helpful good pricing. the boss there looks after you - 10/10

Sew fine auto trimming - Great custom work and is very good on price. 10/10

SuPa TRIK diffs - Awesome service , Good work. Always willing to help 9/10

Keys diffs - Stuffed up diff twice, Dane had same problems - 4/10

Kb automatics berwick - Does good work , Knows his shit . 1 man operation so can take time 8.5/10

Absolute Auto - Good work Always busy tho, 8/10

Wrecker - FORDWISE(nick) - good bloke , knows his stuff adn isnt hell expensive - 9/10

by **Allen** » August 11th, 2009, 9:39 am

Haven't really delt with many workshops, as I like to do as much work as possible myself, but...

Centreline Suspension - Simply the best place to go for suspension work. They are pricey, but it is worth it. You know you are in good hands when the other cars they have in the workshop are FPR's V8 supercars!
They also developed the chassis and suspension for all the E-series race cars back in the day.

Only real bad experiance was with Bayford's Coburg service department... My auto was slipping, so I took it in for a full service and condition report. They said it was fine and couldn't fault it. It blew up a week later, and I discovered that they didn't even change the fluid or filter.

by **Tiga_EL** » August 11th, 2009, 10:33 am

I also havent really had to omany experiences with workshops, but for the ones i have...
Sunny and Gill's "DFAC" performance lol = 10/10 for all your paint/headgasket/suspension.. etc etc work A+ will deal with again :drinks2:

On another note, a panel shop which wont be named sprayed my front bar, did a mint job on it, was veryhappy with the work. About to drive off, and notice gutter rash on two of my wheels. Tried to deny one wheel was their fault, but have since agreed to fix both.
Worstest possible experience = knox ford. 1/10 they just dgaf about what people are trying to say, and give you attitude when you keep taking the car back, for the same fault over and over and over again, which they cant seem to fix!

by **Commando** » August 11th, 2009, 11:58 am

The problem with forums is that people are quick to say a workshop is awesome but you hardly ever hear when people have problems. That stuff only gets talked about in person.

This forum is a good example of that.

For people with negative experiences of workshops, who want to remain anonymous, PM me & I'll post on your behalf.

My experiences:

CVE - In my experience Paul is great with customer service, & will do some follow-up things for free (as in my case). Since 10/10 would be for fullyawesomesuperfantastic, I'll be honest and give Paul 9/10. If I kept my EB/if I had another E-Series would I take it to CVE? Yes.

Bob's Tuning (Morwell) - They're expensive, and in the past I'd take my cars there for basic services & little things would be tacked on to the bill like wiper blades, light bulbs, etc, but their workmanship is 10/10. You get what you pay for there. They are EXCELLENT with gas, if you're in Gippsland & need a gas specialist, go to Bob's. 8.5/10 overall (due to price).

Livesey's (Morwell) - They offer cheap work, but as above you get what you pay for. The gas system they installed in my wagon was the cheapest I could find, and although the system itself is excellent, the workmanship wasn't and the tune was so bad that the engine bay caught fire from a particularly bad backfire. The headgasket went about a month later but I can only suspect this was due to the overly lean tune. Gas tune & workmanship issues (electrics, etc) were all sorted out at Bob's. Other people on here have been to Livesey's & have had good experiences with them, but I personally have not & have found that they're more of a "get it done cheaply/quickly" mentality. They initially were happy to look over the car, fix things up, but when you leave the workshop & the car backfires/stalls within site of the workshop, you know you're not on to a good thing. 4/10

BWG Transmissions (Morwell) - For diffs & autos in Gippsland, go here, Vic knows his stuff & charges reasonably. My 4.11s in the EB were done here years ago, & I recently took my EF there for its 365,000km-old BTR to be serviced. He's a Ford man too

9/10

Cheap Tyres (Morwell) - I scored some shit tyres here for $22 each

But they also stock a range of new tyres. I tend to go here for shitty 2nd-hand or burnout tyres, ranging from $22 to $50+ each. 9/10

Commando's Stables - 2/10, cars sit here where no work is done on them for months.

by **Dezza** » August 11th, 2009, 12:11 pm

BROCKYB8 wrote:Schmee Customs - Great guy who will help you out . The big parts dealer. You want a part he get it . 10/10

Haha. Very true. An absolute champ!

galapogos01 wrote:Recently, I had a guy at Beaurepaires Clayton put a 270deg scratch in one of my rims. Long story short I got them to pay for the repair, but I had to ring head office and make a complaint about the franchise, as the tyre fitter denied doing it!

Spewing. They've been great to me but my next door neighbour Darryl works there so I get mates rates.

Places I've been to:
NX Generation at Clayton have done a lot of work on my car. They did the head gasket on it in 2006 and only charged $500 so I was very happy with that. For engine work I reckon they're top notch and their servicing I was happy with. I wasn't too happy with the work they did with my exhaust though and it had to have a few little mods before I was happy with how it was sitting and their last couple of bills were higher than I liked. On the other hand though numerous times when I've had small issues with the car, I've been able to just drop in, they've fixed it for me on the spot, and a lot of the time they haven't charged me for those minor fixes. Overall I'm pretty happy with them.

There's also the family's mechanic down at Maffra. He knows his cars and is a top bloke. He's done a great job with my car over the years with just one blemish on the record... although a major one at that... when he forgot to tighten my right front wheelnuts and the wheel ended up parting company with the car. He handled the mistake well though giving me another wheel alignment and not charging me for either. Other than that incident he's done a great job with the EA.

by **67rce** » August 11th, 2009, 1:25 pm

Elite Automotive - expensive as fukk, do some good work though -6/10

Rollin Motorsport - Fukken champs, cheap and great work - 10/10

by **CHEETR** » August 11th, 2009, 1:34 pm

ADICTED PERFORMANCE in hallam - good but always busy and hard to book stuff in and usually takes a while but good quality

J/JET AUTOMOTIVE in bayswater - 10/10 on price and service

DYNOMOTIVE bayswater - will never use them again

BOORAN HOLDEN - worst quality and service i have ever seen

by **EFFalcon** » August 11th, 2009, 1:37 pm

Actually... yeah i got the EF Tuned at dynomotive once.. was a very expensive LPG tune and they weren't really helpful.
wouldn't go there again, 4/10

by **BROCKYB8** » August 11th, 2009, 1:47 pm

Dansedgli wrote:Rank Rotary - Good but slow. That was ages ago.
XTC performance - fail.
CVE - Convenient hours.
Brakes Plus in Bayswater = win for regular car stuff.
Unique Exhausts in bayswater = win for exhaust work.

After the XTC saga I will never let a workshop do something major on my cars ever again. DIY ftw.

I dont know how some workshops stay open.

The problem with forums is that people are quick to say a workshop is awesome but you hardly ever hear when people have problems. That stuff only gets talked about in person.

This forum is a good example of that.

XTC is that the dyno wog guy

by **Dansedgli** » August 11th, 2009, 1:51 pm

by **TUFED6** » August 11th, 2009, 2:15 pm

Dezza wrote:when he forgot to tighten my right front wheelnuts and the wheel ended up parting company with the car

That would have been huge! :lol:

Maztech
Pro's: Gun tuner, wont find better
Cons: Anthony is very busy so impossible to get on the phone/talk to, consequently chasing him up can be a pain in the arse

JPC
Pro's: Again, Paul is a great tuner, the receptionist is hot. Mark (re)builds turbos and can answer any turbo question you might have
Cons: None that I can think of

This list wouldn't be necessary if people asked the right questions before they use someones services. You should be very clear what you are paying for and what you will come away with before you part with any of your cash.

by **Dansedgli** » August 11th, 2009, 2:19 pm

TUFED6 wrote:This list wouldn't be necessary if people asked the right questions before they use someones services. You should be very clear what you are paying for and what you will come away with before you part with any of your cash.

and by consulting the mechanic > english handbook.

When a mechanic says "yeah Ive done that before, its a piece of cake it will take 2 weeks" it often means "ooh I havent done that before but if you pay me Ill give it a crack and you might get your car back before xmas next year."

by **EFFalcon** » August 11th, 2009, 2:20 pm

TUFED6 wrote:This list wouldn't be necessary if people asked the right questions before they use someones services. You should be very clear what you are paying for and what you will come away with before you part with any of your cash.

how often to workshops give an 'upfront' quote on what you're asking them for?
they always say 'depends how long its on the dyno for'
or what ever, when ya go to pick up your car and its hundreds more then what you expected it to be theres very little you can do other then coughing up the cash.

good workshops yes, they're great to deal with, but some say one thing then mean another come collection time, and you don't know it until you've handed over your wallet.

this threads a good example of it.

by **cranners** » August 11th, 2009, 2:44 pm

Dynomotive, Bayswater 10/10 no complaints from me, used them heaps

by **[Sterling]** » August 11th, 2009, 2:47 pm

galapogos, whats the shop in lilydale called?

by **galapogos01** » August 11th, 2009, 2:54 pm

EFI Dynamics. I will update the chip thread when I get 5 :oops:

by **BROCKYB8** » August 11th, 2009, 3:35 pm

Dansedgli wrote:Yep.

I think ive seen atleast 15 people on xr6turbo website pissed at him for blowing there motors up.
I remember seeing him at clipsal australia dyno comp. one of his car blew up(typhoon) on the dyno on its second run.
After it made 553 rwkw first one .

by **Dansedgli** » August 11th, 2009, 3:51 pm

Yeah wasnt there a big hoohah about that car?

Something like it being all nizpro gear built by some mob in WA and was rated to about 550rwkw. Then he said he rebuilt it after it blew up and got 11ty kw more?

My EA was in there for 7 months before I cracked it and took it home.

by **stav50** » August 11th, 2009, 4:03 pm

ive had a few good few bad, coupleof relevant ones i can think of.
hillside exhaust, wasnt too bad had them put my extractors on, they were really helpful and everything but i dropped my car off about 8, i was the first car there, not even any workers were there, and i drove past the car at about 230 and it hadnt moved. didnt end up getting it back till about 530. so that kinda pissed me off, consequently i havnt been back. however it was a little bit cheaper when i got it back than what they said.

exhaust place in dande just behind autobahn did my cat, he was great was happy to hold the car overnight, offered a great price and was totally honest with time frame and had it ready for me the next day. also cut out the rear muffler as i asked and welded in some pipe for 40 extra. would happily take the car back there.

repco service centre in glen waverley is a bit of a smartass and they are pretty expensive, but with the name they have to do good work.

south east LPG in rowville did a great job on my old BA. the tune was totally fucked and it took them longer to fix it than expected, but they didnt charge me extra and explained it all to me. a mate had his converted there and he said they were very good

also kev is a champ, did my manual convo and helped me out with some springs to get m defect off. super bloke.

by **[Sterling]** » August 11th, 2009, 4:07 pm

galapogos01 wrote:EFI Dynamics. I will update the chip thread when I get 5

ahhk, ive never been there but ive heard some bad things about them.

by **needfordspeed** » August 11th, 2009, 4:45 pm

[Sterling] wrote:
galapogos01 wrote:EFI Dynamics. I will update the chip thread when I get 5

ahhk, ive never been there but ive heard some bad things about them.

Need examples with proof, you can't just say something like that without proof. I've heard stories about tuners who have "tuned" cars and they've come out with alot less power then they went in with, and have had other problems too, another tuner was able to fix it within hours.... but they're not my personal experiences to share.

So unless you have examples/proof don't post.

by **TUFED6** » August 11th, 2009, 5:37 pm

http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Censor/defamation.html

by **pHaT`eL** » August 11th, 2009, 5:59 pm

Maybe post up phone numbers for these joints if possible?

CVE - Pauls great to deal with, always there to answer the stupidist questions in a way thats easy for someone to understand - 10/10

Pedders Frankston - Simon is always quick to book in and let you know whats wrong with the car, what can wait and what cant wait to be replaced and quote on the spot. Also, mention you know Pete with PHATEL and you get a decent discount

- 10/10

TTF Dandenong - Headfuck of a place they are. Ordered 18" wheels which they said would be a month MAX. Came back a month later, no rims. Came back 2 weeks later when they had my rims in, only to find they got me 17's! They said they would make up the difference by lowering it FREE (Even though I paid extra for the 18's) When I asked where my old springs were they couldnt find them. Went to Pedders to get new springs and saw my nicely chopped springs!! - 2/10

G&J Differentials - Not too bad on price, but there diffs seem to fail just as bad as Keysy or PD&A - 5/10

HiTech Tune/MustBStangs - Was good to start with, but as his business dropped off, bills came in and his remaining customers paid the price BIG time - 7/10

Coffey Ford Dandenong - Ford dealers FAIL at anything that isnt the latest model. They seem to let apprentices play with the "old" cars alot, so many stuff ups on the EL when I first got it. They did let me thrash an XR6T while I waited though. 7/10

BROCKYB8, whats the number for SupaTrik Diffs?

by **bentls** » August 11th, 2009, 6:14 pm

lol kester u tit...

efi dynamics is the bomb

tuned mackies car, and tristans eb

by **t1MMy** » August 11th, 2009, 6:57 pm

pHaT`eL wrote:TTF Dandenong - Headfuck of a place they are. Ordered 18" wheels which they said would be a month MAX. Came back a month later, no rims. Came back 2 weeks later when they had my rims in, only to find they got me 17's! They said they would make up the difference by lowering it FREE (Even though I paid extra for the 18's) When I asked where my old springs were they couldnt find them. Went to Pedders to get new springs and saw my nicely chopped springs!! - 2/10

This place did the same thing to someone I know. He asked for 18's, they got him 17's and also offered to lower his car for nothing. When he got the car back and asked for the other springs back, they said they couldn't because they were still in the car as they had just compressed them.

by **Hiboost** » August 11th, 2009, 6:59 pm

Dansedgli wrote:Yeah wasnt there a big hoohah about that car?

Something like it being all nizpro gear built by some mob in WA and was rated to about 550rwkw. Then he said he rebuilt it after it blew up and got 11ty kw more?

My EA was in there for 7 months before I cracked it and took it home.

yeh i remember about the phoon making some power and a shit fight with NIZPRO and XTC, how the turbo was rated at X amount and how the car made more power than the turbo can flow.. and the setup was not to be pushed more than 550rwk but somehow nick managed to get 660rwk..

Nick (xtc) is a good guy but is way to slack, mine was in for 5 months i think and that was just to wire a ECU...he moved from coburg an now is located on sydney rd camberfield with a different name to the workshop i think...

by **bentls** » August 11th, 2009, 7:05 pm : **TICKFORD_EA Likes this post**

oh i might aswell add that bluepower racing developments are the shiznit for all ba's and au's.

never will any other workshop touch my car/s.

but having said that i do all my own work, just bluepower tuned it.

by **Sunboost** » August 11th, 2009, 7:13 pm

I don't really have anything overly awesome to say about anyone so I won't bother.

Body Shop Baysy is a massive fail of a place. Spray booth isn't rainproofed... wait.. what? Paint rarely matches.

by **glenneaux** » August 11th, 2009, 7:38 pm

Sundeep wrote:I don't really have anything overly awesome to say about anyone so I won't bother.

Body Shop Baysy is a massive fail of a place. Spray booth isn't rainproofed... wait.. what? Paint rarely matches.

Kester might have to hawk and go around there and give them a quote..!

by **Parfrey** » August 11th, 2009, 7:41 pm

I do most of the work to my cars but have taken them to a few places..

Blue oval garage in bayswater i think.. tuned my xr6 ute. Tune was ok and i was told if it needed any adjustments to bring it back. when i came back a few weeks later they didn't seem to remember saying that... 4/10

Bluepower: always get awesome service from chris and theo. not to mention good deals! they were really helpful even when i hadn't spent any cash there at all. pretty sure they will do eseries too... 10/10

by **Michael (HYPOEB)** » August 11th, 2009, 7:50 pm

I must agree with commando about BWG Transmissions,they are a great place for high performance and just your basic stuff (have you seen Vic's XR Commando?)

Independent Motor Spots Morwell (some of you mite no his 8 second gemi) went there just to get a quote for a mild cam and he said $5000!!!!!!

by **Hiboost** » August 11th, 2009, 8:05 pm

cini wrote:I must agree with commando about BWG Transmissions,they are a great place for high performance and just your basic stuff (have you seen Vic's XR Commando?)

Independent Motor Spots Morwell (some of you mite no his 8 second gemi) went there just to get a quote for a mild cam and he said $5000!!!!!!

$5gs on just a mild cam?

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