VR4-Friendly Workshop Discussion

[leebutts]

Having previously been a fan of Neal Lowe, I refuse to go back there anymore. They obviously did not do the safety check on my brakes that they claimed, as the left front had completely seized up when I replaced them just recently. More, the pads were worn terribly and the rotors shot.

Funnily enough, I had an accident not long after that last service and my car slid to the right - coincidence? I think not.

Leigh

That sucks Leigh, have you raised this with them?

 

[cyber_scriber]

Sounds like you have a case mate, worth looking into with legal consult

It might be difficult to prove the nexus between the accident and the worn brakes and getting such proof is likely to be cost prohibitive (accident forensics guys don't come cheap and usually only make sense where you're uninsured, facing a big compo payout, or have hit a Ferrari).

Having said that, it doesn't hurt to write a letter of demand for the insurance excess / repair cost with a note that no resolutiuon = formal complaint lodged with the Department of Fair Trading for various breaches e.g. providing services of not merchantible quality or failing to supply services as described.

 

[Guest]

My brother's a solicitor and thus far has said it may cost more than it's worth for the repair job. I'm going to discuss it in more detail, but it would be quite expensive to get accident forensics involved in a case that will probably only cost me around $1k. At the end of the day, it was wet and the car slid - it would be near impossible to prove that had the brakes been working perfectly that there would have been no accident.

In saying that, I'm not going back there and I'm lucky that the accident was only relatively minor.

 

[Rasi]

Man that sucks.. I thought I had it bad.

 

[Tom]

I just booked in to Meek for Saturday 7th Feb.. So right after getting my car back from the smash repairs, I'm heading out to them to get everything checked and flushed hehe..

Figured, fix the body, make sure everything else is still going okay!

 

[dimi_108]

Sounds like a plan bro.
Just in time for dyno day

 

[BigH]

Found one for Queensland

APC
Advanced Performance Centre
2928 Logan Road
Underwood 4119
www.apc-racing.com
sales@apc-racing.com

These guys apparently are Mitzi specialists and also have a Dyno for full tuning etc
heaps of Evo's and WRX sitting out front of the place.

Had a bad experience with these guys, I won't recommend these guys to anyone.

 

[w1k3d]

Hey Guys;

+1 positive for Carmen Import Centre (Brendale) QLD

Link about my experience - http://ozvr4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4724

 

[cowabunga438]

BigH, what problem did you have with APC? They were Ok with me, I was thinking of using them to do some mods (e.g. halteck ecu plus tune and exhaust)

 

[2000VR-4]

My brother's a solicitor and thus far has said it may cost more than it's worth for the repair job. I'm going to discuss it in more detail, but it would be quite expensive to get accident forensics involved in a case that will probably only cost me around $1k. At the end of the day, it was wet and the car slid - it would be near impossible to prove that had the brakes been working perfectly that there would have been no accident.

In saying that, I'm not going back there and I'm lucky that the accident was only relatively minor.

On the brakes side, and not knowing the specifics of the accident, I wouldn't think it would be that hard. Work out what went wrong, braking distance from application to impact, impact speed and relative damage, refer factory braking distance and factor ABS controlability and there you have it. If it works out in your favor you have a case.
Even if you still would have hit, your brakes working as they should may have lessened the impact and therefore damage level.
I think worth chasing in your own time to start with and if viable getting the courts involved, IMHO

 

[BigH]

BigH, what problem did you have with APC? They were Ok with me, I was thinking of using them to do some mods (e.g. halteck ecu plus tune and exhaust)

They are really expensive. They charged me for work that did not have to be done. They also managed to stuff up my road worthy. (didn't give me all the paper work and didn' t fill out the paper work correctly either).

I had a fair bit of work done by chiptorque. There service and price was excellent. Highly recommend them to anyone. Not sure how experienced they are with VR4's, they done all the performance work on my evo.

 

[cowabunga438]

Thanks for that.

I have used Carmen, Lowe and APC. All were OK though none had much of an idea about the problem I am having with my ASC. I now have a workshop manual so may try Carmen again with this added info.

 

[dimi_108]

Not recommended
Just Engine Management at Ingleburn, New South Wales.

Took them two weeks to install and tune a Haltech Interceptor.
Was quoted and agreed on $850 for full install but when I came to pick up the car I was told it would be $1250 as extra time was spent. I did not agree to pay this amount and a final amount of $1000 was negotiated.

They had not listened to me when I advised them that the car was a Galant VR-4 using a 6A13TT. It took them four days of stuffing around, experimenting with a 3000GT and Evo VII map until I called them to remind them that the car is a Galant VR-4 and is on the Haltech Interceptor compatibility list.

Their dyno did not give accurate results either.
When I questioned the poor dyno result, the manager explained that "an S15 got dyno'd at another place with 230kw atw then came to our dyno the very same day and got 190kw atw... our dyno shows the TRUE result, not a dodgy, tweaked one".

At first they seemed friendly and quite keen on doing business but ended up to be disappointing.

Please do not waste your time with these people unless you want to be stuffed around. You've been warned!

 

[Guest]

Thats a shame to hear you were dissatisfied with JEM. They are usually very knowledgeable people. I actually spent some time with them on the phone helping them as much as I could with your vehicle when they were trying to get it sorted out.

 

[dimi_108]

I actually spent some time with them on the phone helping them as much as I could with your vehicle...

Dave! So you were brought onto the scene?
I see, so is that's why the extra charges where whacked on.

I guess after fumbling around trying to use a 3000GT and Evo map they decided ahhh i better just give Dave a call over in WA.
Ring ring... "Hello Dave, I have a guy that's thrown us a Haltech Interceptor to install on a Mitsubishi Wagon. Listen, we've had this car for almost two weeks now and we need the thing out of here (he's really starting to annoy us with his calls about when his car is going to be finished). Just get this sorted for us because we've got no idea what's going on."

The fact of the matter is, i still got attempted-rorted.
And like I said, i wasn't going to pay the extra $300-$400 they wanted.

I'm really happy to have my car back and an Interceptor installed, but sadly, I'm not happy with the service and that is that.

It's such a shame, as they appeared very friendly and professional at the start and I thought the guys were pretty cool.

But, like they say, you can't cry over spilt milk

 

[cyber_scriber]

Dimi.

I am surprised that this workshop had the audacity to renege on a written quote.

If the job required more labour time than originally anticipated due to the shop's unfamiliarity with the car, well, that's a problem for the shop and one they should have considered when they originally quoted the job.

Depending on whether there were any specific exclusions on the quote itself, you would be perfectly within your rights to say no to the higher price charged at the end of the job and demand that the original quote be honoured.

 

[Scubasteve]

MOSLEY'S AUTOMOTIVE
3673 Pacific Highway
Slacks Creek
QLD 4127
0732088843
0409088833
If it's Legnum or Galant related ask for Nigel.
They claim to be the first company to import the legnum/Yes they import aswell.

Got my first 5000k's service with them only cost $107 about $90 cheaper than i was quoted everywhere else. Also was quoted $230 for service and plugs replaced at the sametime using correct irridium of course.

I'm pretty sure they rebled my ayc for me cause it was wineing before it went in now if it wasn't for the lights on the dash i wouldn't know it had kicked in. Maybe it just fixed itself lol at the robocars cause they never mentioned they had touched it.

 

[MUNGEL]

Does anybody know of any decent places other than RPW and Phil's Mechanical in Perth?

 

[godzilla]

MOSLEY'S AUTOMOTIVE
3673 Pacific Highway
Slacks Creek
QLD 4127
0732088843
0409088833
If it's Legnum or Galant related ask for Nigel.
They claim to be the first company to import the legnum/Yes they import aswell.

Got my first 5000k's service with them only cost $107 about $90 cheaper than i was quoted everywhere else. Also was quoted $230 for service and plugs replaced at the sametime using correct irridium of course.

I'm pretty sure they rebled my ayc for me cause it was wineing before it went in now if it wasn't for the lights on the dash i wouldn't know it had kicked in. Maybe it just fixed itself lol at the robocars cause they never mentioned they had touched it.

If $107 was including a filter and a decent fully synthetic oil, they would be doing that for basically nothing!! Well done, i might give them a call and ask for a quote to replace my water pump for the second time:cursing:

 

[unclepaulie]

but it makes sense

filter $15
oil $80
labour $40 for half hours work

total $135


so, in conclusion, $107 is good value