[NSW] Bathurst Meet/Greet/Cruise 19-09-09

[happymatch]

Meeks are great. Really friendly and professional people there. Young ones are young ones and they DO get told off if they are not up to standards. Had a brake issues there beofre and they picked iy up straight away. Great chat and all. Really, will not go enywhere else. They can do one thing to make it a better service though.. lower the cost of the soft drink from vending machine to one dollar~

 

[king_panther]

Hudson! His name is Hudson. I specifically requested to Damo that he NOT touch my car.

They even told him to take his hands off it when he was leaning looking into the engine bay lol.

 

[Emu]

WTF is the ladder for?!

For resting the bottle of replacement AYC fluid being poured in at the back of the car, whilst the supper was up on the hoist getting all the other fluids done below...

 

[king_panther]

For resting the bottle of replacement AYC fluid being poured in at the back of the car, whilst the supper was up on the hoist getting all the other fluids done below...

Yea they were servicing the AYC while the Super was up on the hoist. He had the ladder directly under the opened boot door. Chris tells him to get the car down.
So off he hops & starts bringing the car down .... with the ladder still there whilst Wayne & I look at each other saying "umm... is he going to move the ladder?" before Wayne got it out of the way just in time.

 

[VR-04-TT]

I certainly did not get treated nicely at Meek. Chris was rude and insulting. Both him and one of the other guys pointed and laughed in front of me at the trasko oil filter saying something about why would you have a filter with a heatsink. Then Chris bagged out the poly engine mounts by just saying "they're crap" with no justification what-so-ever, but he didn't hesitate in pushing the ralliart bushes that he just happens to have in stock.

Then when the diff died, I copped major speil about how AYC is just shit and I should just "delete" the whole system and replace it with an RS diff, which he 'just happened' to have in stock at a 'cheap' $2200. He also said that he knew it was needle bearing that got loose and broke the gears inside...which also wasn't true as I have pics of the needle bearings and nothing is loose. It was because the wrong oil was used in it from compliance and probably before that.

When I asked about SAYC diffs and them being stronger, he said they're weaker (which is incorrect) and his reasoning was "more moving parts, more to go wrong". So by that logic, he should be driving a rotary!

I'm sorry to all that have had good experiences, but mine just scream 'opportunist' and not a place to be trusted.

I must also add, I was never rude to them in any way. I ask questions in a polite manner, I never argued as I know I don't know that much, hence my asking questions. I did not go there to be ridiculed and treated like a fool.

 

[happymatch]

I had bit of impression that i was treated like a fool as well. My first impression was - hmm why is this guys telling me off?. I spoke to tall skinner young guy and he was friendly. I heard "HUDSON" yelled at all the time in the corner. I guess that would be one of the best way to train a good mechanic. No sugar coated stuffs.
Paul, do not apologise, i know what you mean. They can be bit agro. When i chnaged my engine mount, and brakes inspected, they told me off "who did this? they got it wrong. why do you take your car to these places~" "i know this thing back to front, you should know too. oh, by the way, you nearly got your head gasket blown. look at the coolant level, it is so low. Its your money, so look ater it.. blah blah blah" I got embarrased.
I am not defending anything, however, at the moment, the only place i can take my car that i can trust is Meeks at the moment - simply i trust no others at this point, even my "ex"mate ripped me off - since he got the most experience of our cars i guess. I think most of mechanics are opportunistic unfortunatly.
One of the bosses i work for, he has reputation all over the world (Specialist Radiation Oncologist), president of the some society, people from all over the world comes and sees him. He is effing hot headed~ yells every 5 min's, calls me stupid and all that, but he knows what he's doing - he trained me well - and i HOPE it is the same case for Meeks too.

 

[happymatch]

Oh, by the way, Don't forget to get your cars checked up before we all go to the BATHURST~ Not sure NRMA road side assistance covers cars at Bathurts.

 

[Emu]

I've only been down to Meek once and that was when Brad was there initially with the Super. At first they seemed a bit off putting but after an hour of listening to them, I got the feeling that they "might" know something. I'm hesitant when I drop my cars off at a mechanics (I don't know) and I don't let them do anything to the car unless I'm comfortable that it "needs" to be done. There are two in my area I'm starting to trust (and that's after 3 years of them doing work)

I have built a bit of a relationship with Rallequip at Pendle Hill (great western Highway) who also do Mitsubishis. Gav and the team seem genuine and I've spent a bit of money down there on my "other" Galant. They are the first to admit when the don't know something (like having never done the lifters on a 6A?? before) or ever seeing an EC5A but they have been very honest and saved me a heap of money. I asked about an AYC diff for Paul when his blew and was told they weren't easy for them to get a hold of but nothing around where whether they were good or bad. But Gav explains things (to my satisfaction) before anything goes ahead.

Nothing against Meek as I've only been down there once.

 

[VR-04-TT]

I understand the honesty side of it. But there's a difference between being up-front and honest and being blunt and rude. I don't ask for things to be sugar-coated, I just ask for a bit of respect.

It's ok though, I can do it all myself now. I've learned bucket-loads So I'm actually kinda glad it happened! lol

 

[Tom]

Hmm I might PM this too:

Hey guys tomorrow is going to be a warm 26*C, so remember to bring sunscreen if you can, a hat, and plenty of water.. It gets hotter down there as there won't be any shade on the mountain (except a little up the top I think and at the Peter Brock Memorial)..

Check your fluids and brakes in your car, we don't want anyones cars running in to problems!

Try to keep a respectable distance between you and the car in front if you can, we don't want a convoy of VR4s suddenly off the road if somebody unfortunately makes a bit of a mistake or misjudgement!

I don't like leading lol but if I do lead and you want to go faster than I am, just let me know by indicating an overtake and flashing your lights, I'll move over and slow down to let you pass!

Going to be a great day! PM me if you need to grab my number or something =]

 

[king_panther]

It's ok though, I can do it all myself now. I've learned bucket-loads So I'm actually kinda glad it happened! lol

You probably should be glad Paul, otherwise I can imagine the sort of money you'd be throwing at MEEK's way..... kinda like I had to :sad: as I don't have the know-how.

I had a LOT of trepidation when I first went there, as they were specialists & I didn't know jackshit. I kept behind the yellow line at all times & wasn't sure what to do etc. They were surprised I managed to obtain OEM parts for my service.

Nowadays I can walk around anywhere & yes Chris is very blunt & to the point & perhaps can rub someone the wrong way, but I've never had a problem taking the car there. I've been taught a hell of a lot just by standing there while they're servicing my car(s), telling me what this bit does & that but etc etc.

Yes Paul he's done the same to both Wayne & myself with not wanting to put S-AYC parts in as he reckons an LSD is far more preferable. He was showing us an AYC box compared to a S-AYC box & explaining how much more intricate all the bits stuff are & he did not like it & yea when I looked at it I thought "yea everything was quite fine & there looks to be more chances of something going wrong in there".

He shows me new gear he's gotten in, but has never tried to do a sell on me.

 

[Emu]

I understand the honesty side of it. But there's a difference between being up-front and honest and being blunt and rude. I don't ask for things to be sugar-coated, I just ask for a bit of respect.

Agreed. If there's no respect for you as a customer, what do they do to the cars..

It's ok though, I can do it all myself now. I've learned bucket-loads So I'm actually kinda glad it happened! lol

Shame we have learn these things the hard way though :angry:

So when are you opening Paul's VR4 Garage...

 

[Guest]

I'll have my sunscreen this time, and I'm wearing a hat! Burnt scalp and truckers tan aren't too sexy when you're constantly scratching them.

 

[Emu]

Car is vacuumed, new seat covers and VR4 trimmed car mats in... Tonight will be washed and final checks in the morning....

Sunscreen, hat, radios, water, nibblies, camera, tripod, wallet.....packed... think I'm missing something.... Oh yes, passenger. Doh....lol.

 

[Tom]

Haha don't leave that one behind!

Hmm I need to somehow wash my car between getting home tonight, going out for drinks and an early leave tomorrow LOL

Hmm.. Do I wake up early on Sat morning to wash the car after a short night out? SIGH

 

[Emu]

Do it when you get home tonight, Tom... That way the soap won't dry on the car in the sun. hahahahahaha

can you PM your Mobile please??? No, not to be given out to ugly girls, I know..

 

[cyber_scriber]

Agreed. If there's no respect for you as a customer, what do they do to the cars..

My experience with Meek is that from a technical perspective, they certainly sound like they know what they're going on about.

I do understand what people are alluding to with Meek's "up front" attitude. Some of the boys at Meek like to impose their views on their customers' cars and what and how things should be done.

For example, when I had my car serviced there, Meek told me that I'd "better not install a big stereo in the car because it will slow the car down and that's not what performance cars are about".

Sure, if the car was a track day special, that would make sense. However, when I pointed out that I bought the car for reasons in addition to its performance (e.g. practicality, comfort, cruising etc) and would be installing a stereo, I was a bit surprised with their response, which was "well, don't be surprised if at the next service, we've ripped out your stereo!". It was probably a tongue in cheek comment but I was still surprised that a customer was being dictated to on what to do to their car.

If we focus only on the work they did to my car, I was happy with it and the explanations that Meek gave for what they did.

 

[cyber_scriber]

VR4 trimmed car mats in

About time Wayne! I believe I handed you those mats many months ago!

 

[cyber_scriber]

if I do lead and you want to go faster than I am, just let me know by indicating an overtake and flashing your lights, I'll move over and slow down to let you pass!

That's a good idea Tom.

As there will be a range of cars, levels of mods, driver pace preferences etc, I think that's a good protocol to adopt.

If you want to overtake the car in front of you, indicate and flash your lights a few times.

If you see the car behind you doing this, move over a little and slow down so they can pass you safely.

I have a feeling that I will be flashed at a lot ... lol!

 

[Emu]

About time Wayne! I believe I handed you those mats many months ago!

Yeah, I know... ****hangs head in shame**** there was a long bout of active procrastination....and I didnt want to damage them whilst still fiddling with stuff under the dash..

But will have more photos to add to the garage soon.. Especially interior...