Pettit racing poor quality merchandise

[big rx8]

I against my better judgement purchased a petit Racing (trimar) High flow cat. I had heard of the numerous issues that Andy (BIGUNS) had experienced with Trimar but foolishly believed that this unacceptable service was a one off.
Unfortunately this is not the case!!
 
Andy (BIGUNS on rx8ownersclub) sold his RX8 4 weeks after purchasing A high flow cat from Trimar. He took the Cat off and put it up for sale, prior to purchasing the Cat I called Martin @ Trimar to ensure that they would be happy to transfer the remainder of the years warranty to me if I purchased the cat from Andy & I was assured that this would be fine.
 
After buying the cat and taking it to Trimar for fitting I was somewhat surprised to find out that the cat was not manufactured with all the required brackets attached but they could lower the strengthening beems under the car and all should be OK. So after paying for 1.5 hrs labour for a cat fitting (Mazda charged me 30 mins!) I drove off relatively satisfied with Trimars service although a little annoyed by the £119 fee for fitting and the fact they sold a cat that was not really fit for purpose.
After a couple of weeks a nasty banging and rattling from the cat vibrating under the car was heard whenever I drove the car. So back to Trimar who then bent the strengthening beems to hopefully stop this rattling.
Another 3 or 4 weeks down the line and the car struggles to get over 60mph and seriously struggles for power. After Mazda assist examining the car its off to Letchworth Mazda who inform me that the cat has disintegrated and is almost completely blocking the exhaust.
So I paid Mazda the 30 mins labour to fit the standard cat back on and car is as good as gold again.
I call Trimar and notify them of the issue with the cat and arrange to take the cat to them for inspection. (Again Martin acknowledges his assurances that the item would be under guarantee and as long as it was seen to be faulty he didn’t foresee any issues)
Don’t get me wrong im not a mechanic but I could see that the cats inners  where literally hanging out of the end of the pipe and it was obvious that it was not fit for purpose.  
So I drop off the cat to Trimar and they said that they would speak to the manufacturer. Nearly 3 weeks later and after me having to phone them on numerous occasions they have now told me that they are refusing to back up the assurances of a guarantee that Martin made over the phone (and in person when i dropped the cat back to them) and that the cat was broken due to a fault with my engine. When i pointed out that Mazda had done a full service only a matter of weeks prior to the fitting of the cat and I had new plugs/coils fitted and the fact that the standard 4 year old cat is fine and dandy he said that it must have been BIGUNS engine that caused the issues then! (but still refusing to acknowledge that the cat appeared fine when i purchased it and when they fitted and test drove it). And any cat purchased from a reputable dealer would be replaced FOC when obviously faulty.
 
I would personally advise everyone to think long and hard prior to buying a product from Petit Racing or having work done by Trimar and decide if they are happy dealing with people who refuse to stick to their word or guarantee their products or service.

[Well-sy]

wow. spoke to these at trax, they seemed very sure of their work.

[MRC Moderator]

As we have seen many customer/ trader issues on MRC over the years we have found that the fairest way is to now lock this type of thread and invite the accused parties to respond with one post.

If Trimar or Pettit would like to respond, please e-mail a statment to team@mazdarotaryclub.com and this will be put up on your behalf.

[MRC Moderator]

Reply from Petitt Racing UK

I am very sorry you have suffered some issues with your cat, but as you say yourself, "And any cat purchased from a reputable dealer would be replaced FOC when obviously faulty." You bought the cat second hand and used on another car. If you wanted to have the peace of mind of buying from a reputable dealer you should have bought a new one from us.

Trimar (or Pettit for that matter) can have no idea what has happened to the cat while it was on another car (or while being taken off). It could have had un-burnt fuel from misfires which caused significant damage or could have been dropped, causing a crack in the hex cat material. A visual inspection of the cat from the outside wouldn\'t reveal any internal damage except such that was visible on the outer edge of the cat.

Martin at Trimar gave no assurances of a warranty, and nor would he have done on such a second hand purchase which was already used.

Again I am sorry you have been unfortunate, but when buying second hand goods it is buyer beware.
"

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Robbie Kazandjian
Pettit Racing UK