ok so a lot of you know the story about my car and the trials and tribulations i have been having,
as im sure most of you have experienced this with a car as fickle as the rx7 you understand that its extremely annoying and sometimes you just have to vent, some break / sell there cars im going to rant.
i will not mention names / companies / prices as thats not my way i just want to vent and maybe even inspire others.
so i lost my workshop halfway through my build the engine was completed and in it was just EVERYTHING else that needed doing and i was due to be going out on tour with queen in 7 days time so i needed an option.
i obviously called all the RX7 specialists and most where either fully booked, couldnt give any kind of time scale or ball park price or were just plain not interested as it wasnt a quick in and out job so i ended up with the place i went too.
they supplied the ecu for me and are the UK dealer so it made sense for them to wire it in and complete the car around the ecu fitting, the talk was great, the workshop looked genuine and they certainly had quite a portfolio, the alarm bells should have rang when most of the portfolio was subaru but still ,,,,short time scale etc
anyway after a year of unprofessional behaviour and responses and 3 trips down to collect a car that wasnt even running the day came to collect it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/cruisemidlands/mazda%20rx7/929C09AE-8F88-4B54-A648-C8F8F33B7DDB_zpsr4am30d4.jpg)
the car broke down 8 times on the way home, a 120 mile trip with constant overheating, fuelling issues, power issues and most definitely a general air of "im going to die in this car"
the option of driving back and saying fix it had passed as this was a rescue mission, they had the car a year to complete what i would have done in 4 weekends hard work and managed to (censored) it up on every single job so i cut my losses and just got it back to inspect and do to my standards.
now this has annoyed me because the car came from a rotary specialists, had one owner, came to me and i fixed numerous problems, went to a japanese specialists to be completed and came back with more issues than when the engine was in bits. these people charge and make a living building cars yet cant perform the most simple of tasks,
i can understand not understanding some rotary issues compared to a boinger but as the following list will prove these are not the actions of a company that can charge for there work, these are the actions of someone who doesnt understand the basic principles of wiring, engineering, mechanics or simply does not care.
i do feel as though because i wasnt a quick money maker one day job i was constantly pushed to the back of the line for work time in favour of fitting a turbo or other easy jobs. this i would not mind if the work came out to any kind of standard but it did not, it came out to a standard that i would call borderline lethal and at the very minimum detrimental to the entire cars systems.
i did my research i spoke to other customers i looked at there work and i received shit, and since i have had my grievances i have found countless others that have had similar issues and not just at the place i went too. most "specialists" is it a case of they are in it for the quick buck not the cars any more and any issues they have they are big enough to fight and hide or is it a case of people just accept it?
now i am admittedly a snob when it comes to car building and electrics having a background in autograss / rally and motorbike engine specials builds, all done to a high quality but i am a amateur and would expect there work to at least match mine in fact i would demand that it exceed the quality i could pout out. the sad fact is there are very few big specialists that do any more and all i can say is dont use them,
do the research and do it yourself its not hard and if you cannot be sensible, cut your losses spend the money on each individual specialist that does not brag about what they can do, you know they are the best because people rave and rant and genuinely get excited about them.
here is a VERY cut down list of the problems i faced within 7 days of bringing the car back and a few photos for a treat
centre console pocket and door map pocket both broken
buttons from dash missing
oil pipe and power steering loose / leaked
coolant system leaking . bodged pipework massive air lock
3 sensors left off because they were "the wrong type thread"
brake lines full of air
every single wire connection made is loose, badly crimped, winged and woefully inadequate 1/0 gauge positive battery cable running unsheathed , unfused with the wrong terminal on , exposed copper and no grommet so just rubbing on the unprotected steel bulkhead, with a 4 gauge negative cable with same issues. so different sizes and poor connections
the grounds they have used where not clean, prepped and protected like you would expect, no they took a ANGLE GRINDER to the boot bodywork to remove the paint (and half the steel) missed most of it and then wrenched on a badly fitted termination with no strain relief and usually at a sharp angle so it just pulls
the battery was loose, no method of securing what so ever,
all the junction boxes, fuses etc are soaked in coolant and left open to the elements,
alternator was faulty and had been for some time destroying a expensive battery
was told i have unplugged your wiper motor because it got so hot i thought it would catch fire.
after a row on the phone i was told the "base map" and initial road test was a ten minute drive up to the main road and back because they didnt want to run a risk with the water pump pulleys working intermittently
dash gauges do not work, told "you should really sort that"
coils put on top of the engine even though i demanded he use the dm relocation kit i supplied with instructions on where to put them,
idle control valve removed and thrown away because "it dont work"
now remember this was a basic engine wire, plumb and general odd job that had taken over 11 months
can you understand why i am upset now? i know that some of you know the guys in question and i know some of you are close and will probably tell them / show them this. GOOD i have been the bigger man by not naming and shaming but i still question my decision of paying you a SINGLE PENNY and not taking you to court.
i know you wont change but hopefully anyone who reads this will think twice before they go to a workshop / garage / specialist and be prepared / have the balls to change what is happening so often
perfectly safe to leave exposed right? with no wheel arch liner??
(by the way that was one of the cables i made NOT them)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/cruisemidlands/mazda%20rx7/2FA2F3E1-92CD-4043-B3A1-1E6151550DAC_zpsio0usvdm.jpg)
ahhhh here we go one of there cables, notice the exposed copper no heat shrink, lovely pull angle, nice clean ground, oh and this is the MAIN body to battery ground. wrong size, badly fitted nice and warm
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/cruisemidlands/mazda%20rx7/BDEECD1F-6A51-4204-A841-D892F8D978A9_zpshdgl8vjb.jpg)
so now its up to me to try and salvage some of the wiring at least, if not its a pull it all and start again routine .
i am contemplating rewiring the whole car , relocating / replacing the fuses with a dpo / breaker system etc but at the moment a car that i have paid for - working would be nice
sorry for the long post but welcome to the world of the UK CAR SPECIALISTS
:c023:
That was... umm.. I´m speechless... really sorry for you... :/
Real sorry to hear this saga. ???
So it seems that we have a Rotary specialist and a Japanese specialist, both of whom played with the car.
It looks like the water system is fresh, so was this the Japanese specialist ?
If you wish to there is no reason not to post who this is and then they would be able to post their side if they wish.
Personally I have no idea who the specialists are .
Hopefully we can try and help you get out the other side of this where possible and out there driving and enjoying the car.
simply voicing my issues has helped me no end, hopefully people who read this will think more about there choices at my expense, if that results in someone getting the service they deserve its worth the post.
i wont name and shame purely because i dont believe in internet witch hunts plus its a generalised post i do believe that most "one stop tuner shops" have a weakness somewere in there squad, no company has a god like specialist in every area of car building so there will always be weak points
Pleased for you if its helped getting that mess off your chest,
Asking who was more of a case of trying to work out who did what to the car :-[
I´m a bit curious too, even thought it doesent consern me... (cause i`m not there ;)
However, I can respect your choise to not to tell...
Thanks for the post - though I've got to disagree with a no name and shame policy (sorry!)
The whole point of any club is the chance to band together in some cases, and share a collective knowledge. I read your post with interest, but you seemed to do the stuff I would normally do when working out where to take a car. By not telling us who the company is, then it just allows the next owner to stumble into the same hole. If they are a proper outfit, then they'll be big enough to take the feedback publicly and adjust. If they don't care, then more's the point to tell us.
Just my humble opinion - hope you get the car sorted ASAP.
This is pretty shocking and from what you describe this "specialist" should not even be in business if this is an example of their work. Forget whether they know the RX-7 - it seems, as you say, they don't even know the basics and left you with a car effectively not driveable - and even if it were - potentially dangerous.
For what its worth I agree with your stance on this. If they were a self respecting organisation then they should be offering to rectify the faults and return the car to you in a condition that you would expect in reasonable time, as well as refund whatever you have paid to them. If they are a party to this forum then they have no excuse not to do so, or at the very least explain themselves.
I know we are all cautious about where we take our cars. After many years of shopping around I now use a local garage (not an RX specialist) to do stuff I cant or don't have time to do, who I have "trained" on my car. They are always so enthusiastic to work on it it makes up for their lack of experience!
Anyway I genuinely hope you can get the car sorted out and back on the road where it belongs.
Ken
It is not a rotary-only issue. Consider the immaculate SA MG having had three, fully funded, restorations. The first was expensive, incompetent and unsafe, the second ran late and was terminated due to the specialist's bankruptcy (with all money lost). One court case to get the car away from the receiver and a fat bank loan later, a third specialist started afresh - for less than they would usually have charged - because the car's story was by then well known around the trade and threatened to tar all of them with the same insanitary brush. A lesson there?
The additional problem for rotaries is the clientele and margins. Being a Rolls Royce or Aston specialist brings you a certain type of customer. A rotary shop has to contend with some people who gave very little for the car and baulk at any expense to sort it out when it breaks. Many professionals cut corners as a result and bodges become the norm which gradually slips standards across the board. Add in the fact that lots of people do not keep their rotary car very long and there is almost an incentive not to go to lengths that might result in arguments about the bill or eat into time-sheets and profitability. Going to people who do not shout loudly might be good advice but trawl through these pages and you will find those same organisations being roundly criticised for being far too expensive. Competence always comes at a price but its commercial desirability is influenced by customer behaviour.
Should you, as a customer, expect competence? Yes...but don't assume it is what you will get because in all walks of bottom-line-sensitive-life, it is quite a rare quality these days, often vested in the character of an individual rather than a company name or even their track record - real or as reported by a studiously uncritical specialist press.
Having been ordering parts for a 1920’s Austin recently has proved there are niches where people still want to do a good job, give good advice and exercise experience / judgement in suggesting compromises. There are rotary specialists who do the same but the difficulty of finding and building a good relationship with them is part of the reason I no longer own a rotary.
Not a fan of intemperate naming and shaming online but whilst a small claims court judgement might be financially unrewarding - doing and saying nothing just compounds the problem. It is not the existence of an unhappy customer that is crucial (there’s always one!) - it’s how complaints are treated. Yours seem to have been met with indifference which in and of itself is revealing about their attitude and could probably do with a temperate airing for the general benefit. Either way - good luck with the car.