Say Oh No to Soho
#1
12-05-2016, 12:28 PM
Say Oh No to Soho
I don't intentionally harm businesses or blast anyone with malice. I am simply letting others know what happened to me they can be informed and hopefully it doesn't happen to anyone else. This is MY personal experience with Nik Sohoritis at Soho Motorsports in Charlotte, NC. Everything can be verified via email/invoices/recorded phone calls.
Sept 2015
I needed a new motor. After deliberating a while and getting very positive feedback from Hill's Garage in Elkridge, Md I decided to go with Soho Motorsports built Stage 1 VQ35DE long block minus the upgraded cams and valve components, since this is a non-tracked daily driver. I paid the 75% down and the core charge since my old motor was still in my car
Dec 2015
Motor completed, balance paid. During the build, Nik was very professional and pleasant, provided pics, always answered emails or returned calls within a day or two max. Original estimate was 9-12 weeks so it took a little longer, but hey that's life. Motor shipped to Hill's Garage. Packed extremely nice in their own custom crate with logo. Nik provided FedEx Freight shipping numbers same day
Jan 2016
Hill's fits me into their schedule for the swap. Everything is done, motor starts up, throws no codes, but they tell me it's LOUD. Sounds like a diesel truck. Hill's suspects valve lash clearances are off and talks to Nik. Nik advises using a heavier weight oil he overnights to the shop to quiet it down. It doesn't work. I talk to Nik and he seems genuinely surprised and isn't 100% sure what's going on. Instead of having Hill's attempt to fully diagnose it, he has my car shipped to Soho Motorsports in Charlotte. I paid nothing additional.
Feb
Valve clearances found to be out of spec; the buckets and lifters changed to bring back into spec. Motor started and still noisy. Nik isn't sure why and decides to do full tear down.
Early April-Mid May
Tear down shows significant bearing metal in motor and under the lifter buckets causing the clearances to be off. Nik suspects it came from the oil cooler Hill's reused from my old motor, but can't be 100% positive. At this time he states it could take 6 months to send out every component to see exactly what went wrong. Instead he decided to completely rebuild the motor. Everything was to be new with only the Pistons, rods, Crank, water pump and the renewed head components reused. Nik lets me know that his motors are specifically "no warranty" but he's still taking the steps to resolve the issue. Again I am charged nothing. I let Nik know I'm a little worried that since we never found the "smoking gun" it could happen again. Nik assures me when I get the car back "there will be no noise or metal"
Late July
Nik contacts me and says the motor is in the car and running. However, I have the wrong flywheel. Apparently, when I ordered a new flywheel for the build back in Sept, the company sent me a VQ35HR one not a DE. Hills put this on and didn't realize it. Nik told me that the HR flywheel could have been the initial problem all along because the magnet for the crankshaft position sensor is in a different location. The ECU thinks the crank is in a certain position when it is not, and tries to compensate and over advances the timing. This could have caused damage to the valve components and the subsequent noise once the clearances were thrown off. Since I got the flywheel so long ago and was having trouble getting another, Nik simply kept the HR flywheel I had and swapped it with a DE he had in the shop. Nik also tells me that there is still a little noise when cold at idle, but not to "freak out".
Nik ships car back (I pay nothing) and... It sounds like crap at idle and bad up to 4K when my Borla exhaust drowns it out. I email Nik and he tells me it's just a "little valve noise", it will get better with miles and...."it's much quieter than before" (this was a new build so how it sounded BEFORE should have no bearing whatsoever on how it sounds NOW) He also tells me that there will always be some noise because I have a built bottom end and stock valvetrain. Of course when we discussed stock cams and valve components, never once did he mention any possible problems or noises.
Late August
After putting 1,800 miles on the car I take it to Hills. They immediately confirm the noise as much louder than normal for any motor built or not. They do an oil change and send it to Blackstone labs for analysis. They find that I'm a quart and a half low on oil already (I checked the oil was to the "F" level the day I got the car back). They also found that the PCV hose was simply a cut vacuum line and kinked. There were a few bolts missing from the K sub-frame. Most alarming, Hills found that the steering knuckle wasn't all the way in the spline shaft. I watched Frank literally unscrew the bolt WITH HIS FINGERS and pull the shaft all the way out. Obviously, this is a safety hazard and could have been really bad. With the oil consumption, Hills suspects the piston-to-wall clearances may be off, but can't confirm unless a full strip down is done. He also tells me the whole flywheel thing is bogus. The DE and HR have different trigger wheel teeth. Even if it is started, the car would immediately throw all kinda codes since the crank position sensors are in different places for the different motors. The car started right up in Jan and never threw a code. It also drove around the parking lot and onto the transport at Hills. Presumably, it was started to get it OFF the transport once it was in Charlotte at Soho.
Early Sept
I email Nik and tell him all the issues and that bare minimum I want the $100 back for the work at Hills with the outcome pending the oil analysis. He calls me back and basically says there's nothing he can do now. He reads verbatim the warranty and tells me that when he took my car back in January to "fix" the initial issues, he was going way above and beyond what he needed or was obligated to do. I told him while I really appreciated his efforts, the bottom line is the problem still exists and I just wanted a refund. NOTHING was fixed and it took 10 months. Of course, he says he definitely can't do that. He doesn't have the piston-to-wall clearances and tells me that the noise is just from the valvetrain, possibly a weak spring or something, and definitely not from the bottom end, because I would have had a
catastrophic failure by now if so. So I request he provide reworked CORRECTLY machined heads and valve components to have Hills put on, and of course he declines.
Oct-Present
I have 2 oil analyses done thru Blackstone. Both show high levels of metal, and the second shows an increase in steel (iron) indicative of premature wear. I forward to Nik and I’m again told that they’re unable to issue a refund and all motors are sold as is with no warranty. I also contacted Ben Pila from Jim Wolf Technologies regarding the HR vs DE flywheel issue. He confirms what Frank told me in that it’s completely bogus as the 2 flywheels are different and not interchangeable. A HR flywheel would MAYBE start on a DE motor IF the sensor is disconnected and IF it did start, it would be in limp mode and throw codes immediately.
Basically he acknowledges that the motor is loud (he heard it), using oil, and has abnormally high levels of metal, so something is off, but he can't do anything about it because he's already spent $7,500 from his own shop "fixing" it when he didn't have to in the first place. My simple point is that I was NEVER provided with an acceptable motor at all. The first motor was a total disaster and this one sounds like a cross between a 1916 Ford Model T and a 1984 diesel Volkswagen Golf. I've spent $8,600 (PLUS what Hills charged for the original swap), waited over 10 months, and the damn motor sounds like it will break at any moment. I am not an unreasonable customer, nor am I trying to get more than I paid for. I did not have Nik build a motor, then I went off and slapped on a dual twin turbo/supercharger unit with water meth and NOS injection and tune it with race fuel and have it blow up on the dyno trying to get to 1200rwp, and now I'm crying and want my money back..... NO! I did nothing stupid like that. I purchased what I THOUGHT was a relatively simple built long lock. I NEVER had a decent motor from the start. That is all I want. I paid decent money and I expect a decent product in return. This unfortunately is something Nik either does not fully grasp or simply refuses to accept. It seems as though his business philosophy is based on effort and capital investment, as opposed to actually turning out a quality product and customer satisfaction. Again I have documented all of this, should anyone care to verify. I realize that Soho Motorsports has a very high reputation, however if you're currently considering a long block from them, "Just say 'Oh No' to Soho"
Sept 2015
I needed a new motor. After deliberating a while and getting very positive feedback from Hill's Garage in Elkridge, Md I decided to go with Soho Motorsports built Stage 1 VQ35DE long block minus the upgraded cams and valve components, since this is a non-tracked daily driver. I paid the 75% down and the core charge since my old motor was still in my car
Dec 2015
Motor completed, balance paid. During the build, Nik was very professional and pleasant, provided pics, always answered emails or returned calls within a day or two max. Original estimate was 9-12 weeks so it took a little longer, but hey that's life. Motor shipped to Hill's Garage. Packed extremely nice in their own custom crate with logo. Nik provided FedEx Freight shipping numbers same day
Jan 2016
Hill's fits me into their schedule for the swap. Everything is done, motor starts up, throws no codes, but they tell me it's LOUD. Sounds like a diesel truck. Hill's suspects valve lash clearances are off and talks to Nik. Nik advises using a heavier weight oil he overnights to the shop to quiet it down. It doesn't work. I talk to Nik and he seems genuinely surprised and isn't 100% sure what's going on. Instead of having Hill's attempt to fully diagnose it, he has my car shipped to Soho Motorsports in Charlotte. I paid nothing additional.
Feb
Valve clearances found to be out of spec; the buckets and lifters changed to bring back into spec. Motor started and still noisy. Nik isn't sure why and decides to do full tear down.
Early April-Mid May
Tear down shows significant bearing metal in motor and under the lifter buckets causing the clearances to be off. Nik suspects it came from the oil cooler Hill's reused from my old motor, but can't be 100% positive. At this time he states it could take 6 months to send out every component to see exactly what went wrong. Instead he decided to completely rebuild the motor. Everything was to be new with only the Pistons, rods, Crank, water pump and the renewed head components reused. Nik lets me know that his motors are specifically "no warranty" but he's still taking the steps to resolve the issue. Again I am charged nothing. I let Nik know I'm a little worried that since we never found the "smoking gun" it could happen again. Nik assures me when I get the car back "there will be no noise or metal"
Late July
Nik contacts me and says the motor is in the car and running. However, I have the wrong flywheel. Apparently, when I ordered a new flywheel for the build back in Sept, the company sent me a VQ35HR one not a DE. Hills put this on and didn't realize it. Nik told me that the HR flywheel could have been the initial problem all along because the magnet for the crankshaft position sensor is in a different location. The ECU thinks the crank is in a certain position when it is not, and tries to compensate and over advances the timing. This could have caused damage to the valve components and the subsequent noise once the clearances were thrown off. Since I got the flywheel so long ago and was having trouble getting another, Nik simply kept the HR flywheel I had and swapped it with a DE he had in the shop. Nik also tells me that there is still a little noise when cold at idle, but not to "freak out".
Nik ships car back (I pay nothing) and... It sounds like crap at idle and bad up to 4K when my Borla exhaust drowns it out. I email Nik and he tells me it's just a "little valve noise", it will get better with miles and...."it's much quieter than before" (this was a new build so how it sounded BEFORE should have no bearing whatsoever on how it sounds NOW) He also tells me that there will always be some noise because I have a built bottom end and stock valvetrain. Of course when we discussed stock cams and valve components, never once did he mention any possible problems or noises.
Late August
After putting 1,800 miles on the car I take it to Hills. They immediately confirm the noise as much louder than normal for any motor built or not. They do an oil change and send it to Blackstone labs for analysis. They find that I'm a quart and a half low on oil already (I checked the oil was to the "F" level the day I got the car back). They also found that the PCV hose was simply a cut vacuum line and kinked. There were a few bolts missing from the K sub-frame. Most alarming, Hills found that the steering knuckle wasn't all the way in the spline shaft. I watched Frank literally unscrew the bolt WITH HIS FINGERS and pull the shaft all the way out. Obviously, this is a safety hazard and could have been really bad. With the oil consumption, Hills suspects the piston-to-wall clearances may be off, but can't confirm unless a full strip down is done. He also tells me the whole flywheel thing is bogus. The DE and HR have different trigger wheel teeth. Even if it is started, the car would immediately throw all kinda codes since the crank position sensors are in different places for the different motors. The car started right up in Jan and never threw a code. It also drove around the parking lot and onto the transport at Hills. Presumably, it was started to get it OFF the transport once it was in Charlotte at Soho.
Early Sept
I email Nik and tell him all the issues and that bare minimum I want the $100 back for the work at Hills with the outcome pending the oil analysis. He calls me back and basically says there's nothing he can do now. He reads verbatim the warranty and tells me that when he took my car back in January to "fix" the initial issues, he was going way above and beyond what he needed or was obligated to do. I told him while I really appreciated his efforts, the bottom line is the problem still exists and I just wanted a refund. NOTHING was fixed and it took 10 months. Of course, he says he definitely can't do that. He doesn't have the piston-to-wall clearances and tells me that the noise is just from the valvetrain, possibly a weak spring or something, and definitely not from the bottom end, because I would have had a
catastrophic failure by now if so. So I request he provide reworked CORRECTLY machined heads and valve components to have Hills put on, and of course he declines.
Oct-Present
I have 2 oil analyses done thru Blackstone. Both show high levels of metal, and the second shows an increase in steel (iron) indicative of premature wear. I forward to Nik and I’m again told that they’re unable to issue a refund and all motors are sold as is with no warranty. I also contacted Ben Pila from Jim Wolf Technologies regarding the HR vs DE flywheel issue. He confirms what Frank told me in that it’s completely bogus as the 2 flywheels are different and not interchangeable. A HR flywheel would MAYBE start on a DE motor IF the sensor is disconnected and IF it did start, it would be in limp mode and throw codes immediately.
Basically he acknowledges that the motor is loud (he heard it), using oil, and has abnormally high levels of metal, so something is off, but he can't do anything about it because he's already spent $7,500 from his own shop "fixing" it when he didn't have to in the first place. My simple point is that I was NEVER provided with an acceptable motor at all. The first motor was a total disaster and this one sounds like a cross between a 1916 Ford Model T and a 1984 diesel Volkswagen Golf. I've spent $8,600 (PLUS what Hills charged for the original swap), waited over 10 months, and the damn motor sounds like it will break at any moment. I am not an unreasonable customer, nor am I trying to get more than I paid for. I did not have Nik build a motor, then I went off and slapped on a dual twin turbo/supercharger unit with water meth and NOS injection and tune it with race fuel and have it blow up on the dyno trying to get to 1200rwp, and now I'm crying and want my money back..... NO! I did nothing stupid like that. I purchased what I THOUGHT was a relatively simple built long lock. I NEVER had a decent motor from the start. That is all I want. I paid decent money and I expect a decent product in return. This unfortunately is something Nik either does not fully grasp or simply refuses to accept. It seems as though his business philosophy is based on effort and capital investment, as opposed to actually turning out a quality product and customer satisfaction. Again I have documented all of this, should anyone care to verify. I realize that Soho Motorsports has a very high reputation, however if you're currently considering a long block from them, "Just say 'Oh No' to Soho"
#2
12-05-2016, 12:39 PM
Seems to be a catch 22.
I look at this like my old phone business. If someone sends me a phone to fix and I flub it up I have to replace their phone. It doesn't explicitly state that in my terms but it's the right thing to do... in the end if someone took me to court over it I would have to replace theirs.
So say I screwed up their phone and refused to fix it... well I don't get to keep the money at a minimum. It doesn't matter what the costs are on my end, but I either have to fix it or refund you.
He provided you a motor that was not in running condition (check the terms of your purchase). Likely you have a right to return the motor for your original cost, minus the cost of shipping.
Contact a lawyer.
I look at this like my old phone business. If someone sends me a phone to fix and I flub it up I have to replace their phone. It doesn't explicitly state that in my terms but it's the right thing to do... in the end if someone took me to court over it I would have to replace theirs.
So say I screwed up their phone and refused to fix it... well I don't get to keep the money at a minimum. It doesn't matter what the costs are on my end, but I either have to fix it or refund you.
He provided you a motor that was not in running condition (check the terms of your purchase). Likely you have a right to return the motor for your original cost, minus the cost of shipping.
Contact a lawyer.
#3
12-05-2016, 05:30 PM
Registered User
Wow that sucks, especially for all the time thats gone by. Dealt with something similar with my Chevelle, paid $1100 for a long block (a lot for a small block Chevy in the mid 80s) and within a few months it tossed a rod at maybe 1500 rpm. Called the shop (they were local), first they said there wasn't a warranty on high performance engines, then when I pointed out there was a warranty card attached that said 90 days or 3000 miles, he said "just a minute". Came back to the phone and said "well, it's been 92 days, sorry". They said they "might" do something after they inspected it. Called me back a week later, said I got the engine hot. Which I know was a lie, I had a temperature gauge on it and it never got over about 180-190 degrees. Then they said I must have abused the engine-the same engine they wanted to hear about any time slips if I ran it at the strip. Told them the motor was never past 6800 rpm and they told me it was good for 7500 rpm. Just one excuse after another.
Pretty sure what really happened was they couldn't get the first set of rods to balance and knowing I was picking up the engine that Friday (this was on a Monday)to install that weekend, they just tossed a random set in hoping it would be okay and didn't shotpeen and magnaflux them. Anyway, I considered small claims court (local BBB suggested that because they couldn't get anywhere either) but I was moving out of the area in a couple months, well before a court date would be set. At least on the plus side, they did go out of business.
Sucks when it is local, even worse when in your case it sounds like this shop isn't close to you. That means only being able to deal with someone on the phone and not being able to confront them face to face with your car making all the noise it apparently does. Hope you're able to resolve this and can find someone closer to you to finally get a proper rebuild.
Pretty sure what really happened was they couldn't get the first set of rods to balance and knowing I was picking up the engine that Friday (this was on a Monday)to install that weekend, they just tossed a random set in hoping it would be okay and didn't shotpeen and magnaflux them. Anyway, I considered small claims court (local BBB suggested that because they couldn't get anywhere either) but I was moving out of the area in a couple months, well before a court date would be set. At least on the plus side, they did go out of business.
Sucks when it is local, even worse when in your case it sounds like this shop isn't close to you. That means only being able to deal with someone on the phone and not being able to confront them face to face with your car making all the noise it apparently does. Hope you're able to resolve this and can find someone closer to you to finally get a proper rebuild.
#5
12-05-2016, 11:33 PM
That sucks man. It's sad when a business decides not to do the right thing and take care of the customer. You're not asking for anything in this case besides a good running engine.
What kind of flywheel did you get? Just so you know in case it matters... I have the ACT lightened flywheel which is not a dual mass flywheel. My engine sounds like it has rocks tumbling around in it. Plenty of people say it sounds li,e a cement mixer. It's totally normal but sounds very concerning if you don't know what it is.
Good luck!
What kind of flywheel did you get? Just so you know in case it matters... I have the ACT lightened flywheel which is not a dual mass flywheel. My engine sounds like it has rocks tumbling around in it. Plenty of people say it sounds li,e a cement mixer. It's totally normal but sounds very concerning if you don't know what it is.
Good luck!
#6
12-06-2016, 12:57 AM
I live in Charlotte where the shop is located, and help "run" the VQ scene around here. My buddy (Brandon) with a supercharged 370z got royally screwed by them. He dopped the car off to get tuned, and they did a baseline run which resulted in ~290whp. Nik flashed the car, and then told Brandon it wouldn't start, and charged him to replace the part they fried. (It was something electrical, not the ECU but something similar.) Then after they replaced the part, they did the dyno and everything went well, except Brandon was hit with a $3700 charge... This isn't the only story I have on them either, this is just the most recent one, and it happened to one of my close friends. If you're on the east cost and need someone to dyno tune your car, go with Royalty or Z1 (both in Georgia). I personally will be going with Seymore when it comes time to tune my G. I wouldn't let SOHO within 10 feet of my car.
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#7
12-06-2016, 06:25 AM
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#8
12-06-2016, 10:32 AM
Chris,
A bad review was something we knew was going to occur from this incident, as there were quite a few variables going into this build that you have clearly stated.
When you contacted us about having your engine built, we spoke through email a number of times to clearly identify what you were looking to have done to the engine because your previous two engine build experiences did not end well. We both agreed on engine specs and then proceeded with the build as you described. We provided a timeframe and even provided clearances with the engine when we shipped it out.
Once the engine arrived to Hills garage and it was installed, we received a phone call from Suzanne in regards to the engine making noise on January 11, 2016. We contacted Frank and asked him to use a slightly heavier oil and had it overnighted to see what if that would change the tone in the engine and it did not - as you stated. We then transported the vehicle to our facility with no additional charge to determine the issue.
During the next two weeks of communicating with Frank from Hills garage about the old motor, we were given three different stories as to what kind of oil cooler was installed onto the motor. We are told that it was (1) from his old engine (which had heavy bearing failure), (2) that it was cleaned, and (3), that it came off of another running vehicle. Once the vehicle arrived to our facility, we performed testing to determine where the noise was coming and found it to be coming from the top end. We then removed the valve covers and re-measured the valve lash and found them to be out of spec. Upon draining the oil, we found a lot of metal in the oil and once again asked Frank if he had seen any oil in the first oil change that he had done and said that there was minimal amount. When we drained the oil there was not a minimal amount - we found a significant amount metal in the system which lead to the tear down and the rebuild.
We took these extra steps to ensure the the motor was assembled without any metal being in the system and that it was not introduced during the installation. In the picture below you can see that there was a good trace of metal that was introduced into the system and actually got into the bearings.
During the tear down we found more metal debris underneath the valve buckets which had caused the engine to be noisy. We rebuilt the engine once more - following the same procedures that we normally follow, measuring clearances and valve lash to ensure they were within spec. We installed a new oil pump, new oil cooler, new timing chain guides and tensioners, as well as new head gaskets. This work was done at no additional charge to Chris along with the installation of the engine back into his car. Once the engine was started it did begin to make noise again, so we removed the valve covers and measured the valve lash - this time confirming they were within spec and suspected a weak valve spring or a bucket was causing the noise.
We have built a number of engines in the past four years using the same procedures, the same builder and the same machinist without issues, so everything on our end checked out prior to having the engine shipped to Hills Garage.
As it clearly states on our invoice that “there is no warranty stated or implied due to the stress placed on your vehicle by performance parts and our inability to monitor its use, tuning, or modification. We are not under any circumstances responsible for loss of use of your vehicle, los of time, incidental or consequential damages resulting from parts or services purchased from SOHO Motorsports.” It is unfortunate that this situation occurred, but we feel we have gone above and beyond for the customer. At this time we have done all that we can do. If anyone has any additional questions or concerns they can reach me directly at 704-839-0435 or by email at nik@sohomotorsports.com
A bad review was something we knew was going to occur from this incident, as there were quite a few variables going into this build that you have clearly stated.
When you contacted us about having your engine built, we spoke through email a number of times to clearly identify what you were looking to have done to the engine because your previous two engine build experiences did not end well. We both agreed on engine specs and then proceeded with the build as you described. We provided a timeframe and even provided clearances with the engine when we shipped it out.
Once the engine arrived to Hills garage and it was installed, we received a phone call from Suzanne in regards to the engine making noise on January 11, 2016. We contacted Frank and asked him to use a slightly heavier oil and had it overnighted to see what if that would change the tone in the engine and it did not - as you stated. We then transported the vehicle to our facility with no additional charge to determine the issue.
During the next two weeks of communicating with Frank from Hills garage about the old motor, we were given three different stories as to what kind of oil cooler was installed onto the motor. We are told that it was (1) from his old engine (which had heavy bearing failure), (2) that it was cleaned, and (3), that it came off of another running vehicle. Once the vehicle arrived to our facility, we performed testing to determine where the noise was coming and found it to be coming from the top end. We then removed the valve covers and re-measured the valve lash and found them to be out of spec. Upon draining the oil, we found a lot of metal in the oil and once again asked Frank if he had seen any oil in the first oil change that he had done and said that there was minimal amount. When we drained the oil there was not a minimal amount - we found a significant amount metal in the system which lead to the tear down and the rebuild.
We took these extra steps to ensure the the motor was assembled without any metal being in the system and that it was not introduced during the installation. In the picture below you can see that there was a good trace of metal that was introduced into the system and actually got into the bearings.
During the tear down we found more metal debris underneath the valve buckets which had caused the engine to be noisy. We rebuilt the engine once more - following the same procedures that we normally follow, measuring clearances and valve lash to ensure they were within spec. We installed a new oil pump, new oil cooler, new timing chain guides and tensioners, as well as new head gaskets. This work was done at no additional charge to Chris along with the installation of the engine back into his car. Once the engine was started it did begin to make noise again, so we removed the valve covers and measured the valve lash - this time confirming they were within spec and suspected a weak valve spring or a bucket was causing the noise.
We have built a number of engines in the past four years using the same procedures, the same builder and the same machinist without issues, so everything on our end checked out prior to having the engine shipped to Hills Garage.
As it clearly states on our invoice that “there is no warranty stated or implied due to the stress placed on your vehicle by performance parts and our inability to monitor its use, tuning, or modification. We are not under any circumstances responsible for loss of use of your vehicle, los of time, incidental or consequential damages resulting from parts or services purchased from SOHO Motorsports.” It is unfortunate that this situation occurred, but we feel we have gone above and beyond for the customer. At this time we have done all that we can do. If anyone has any additional questions or concerns they can reach me directly at 704-839-0435 or by email at nik@sohomotorsports.com
#9
12-06-2016, 10:39 AM
I live in Charlotte where the shop is located, and help "run" the VQ scene around here. My buddy (Brandon) with a supercharged 370z got royally screwed by them. He dopped the car off to get tuned, and they did a baseline run which resulted in ~290whp. Nik flashed the car, and then told Brandon it wouldn't start, and charged him to replace the part they fried. (It was something electrical, not the ECU but something similar.) Then after they replaced the part, they did the dyno and everything went well, except Brandon was hit with a $3700 charge... This isn't the only story I have on them either, this is just the most recent one, and it happened to one of my close friends. If you're on the east cost and need someone to dyno tune your car, go with Royalty or Z1 (both in Georgia). I personally will be going with Seymore when it comes time to tune my G. I wouldn't let SOHO within 10 feet of my car.
#10
12-06-2016, 11:45 AM
Brandon's vehicle came to us from the dealership after dealing with electrical issues and was told that a fuse was replaced, the vehicle was then flashed with an ecutek license. At that time the vehicle would not start, we diagnosed the issue at no charge to brandon and found that the IPDM had failed. Not to sure as to where you are getting a $3700 charge as our records indicate a significantly smaller charge.
Last edited by Conissah; 12-06-2016 at 11:59 AM.
#12
12-06-2016, 04:38 PM
That sucks man. It's sad when a business decides not to do the right thing and take care of the customer. You're not asking for anything in this case besides a good running engine.
What kind of flywheel did you get? Just so you know in case it matters... I have the ACT lightened flywheel which is not a dual mass flywheel. My engine sounds like it has rocks tumbling around in it. Plenty of people say it sounds li,e a cement mixer. It's totally normal but sounds very concerning if you don't know what it is.
Good luck!
What kind of flywheel did you get? Just so you know in case it matters... I have the ACT lightened flywheel which is not a dual mass flywheel. My engine sounds like it has rocks tumbling around in it. Plenty of people say it sounds li,e a cement mixer. It's totally normal but sounds very concerning if you don't know what it is.
Good luck!
#13
12-06-2016, 04:41 PM
Yeah man.. It is a big risk. Obviously, had I known this before....
I can't imagine every single one turns out like this (they wouldn't have a business), but it's a hell of a risk to take. You spend good money, get a jacked up motor, and get hit with "oh no warranty we fixed it already, we're completely absolved from all responsibility" and STILL have a jacked up motor. Kinda makes you wonder what prevents them from taking the $$ and just having a voc-tech high school kid tinker around in there. You should think long and hard about it for sure... I mean no matter what happened with the first (maybe somebody had a bad day at the office), the SECOND should have been perfect. Soho did the build, Soho did the install, nothing wring with the flywheel...should have been perfect.
I can't imagine every single one turns out like this (they wouldn't have a business), but it's a hell of a risk to take. You spend good money, get a jacked up motor, and get hit with "oh no warranty we fixed it already, we're completely absolved from all responsibility" and STILL have a jacked up motor. Kinda makes you wonder what prevents them from taking the $$ and just having a voc-tech high school kid tinker around in there. You should think long and hard about it for sure... I mean no matter what happened with the first (maybe somebody had a bad day at the office), the SECOND should have been perfect. Soho did the build, Soho did the install, nothing wring with the flywheel...should have been perfect.
Last edited by magnetism80; 12-06-2016 at 04:57 PM.
#14
12-06-2016, 06:56 PM
#15
12-07-2016, 12:29 PM
wow, i never post on here but this takes the cake being local...
sorry to the OP for the **** storm you're caught in. hopefully the sound you're hearing isnt anything serious. my friends built g35 with head work makes a lot of racket and ive always wondered the same thing lol but hes been pushing it hard for a long time without issues. as far as the lab analysis goes, its a brand new motor so there should be more than normal wear because its breaking in. youve got 2 shops involved and a tuner that soho doesnt know so I can see why they dont want to warranty it. if your clearances are in check and you use the right oil there shouldn't be any issues. hopefully it all works out with the new motor. how does it run right now?
as far as soho goes, they normally take great care of our Charlotte Z/G community really well and they've built a lot of vq's without any issues like this so its definitely weird. kinda scares me with my stage 1 short block im supposed to order from them but then again i know many people that track their builds or even street them without issue.
as far as hills goes, im not sure i would trust them from what you've said either. Im no genius but i damn sure wouldn't use left over parts from a blown motor... especially the oil cooler that has pieces of metal all in it... this was a huge rookie mistake here as well...
they rebuilt your engine and shipped the car back with clearances in check, so id just keep driving it and continue the break in period and send the oil in to be analyzed.
sub'd to see how this one turns out. best of luck man
sorry to the OP for the **** storm you're caught in. hopefully the sound you're hearing isnt anything serious. my friends built g35 with head work makes a lot of racket and ive always wondered the same thing lol but hes been pushing it hard for a long time without issues. as far as the lab analysis goes, its a brand new motor so there should be more than normal wear because its breaking in. youve got 2 shops involved and a tuner that soho doesnt know so I can see why they dont want to warranty it. if your clearances are in check and you use the right oil there shouldn't be any issues. hopefully it all works out with the new motor. how does it run right now?
as far as soho goes, they normally take great care of our Charlotte Z/G community really well and they've built a lot of vq's without any issues like this so its definitely weird. kinda scares me with my stage 1 short block im supposed to order from them but then again i know many people that track their builds or even street them without issue.
as far as hills goes, im not sure i would trust them from what you've said either. Im no genius but i damn sure wouldn't use left over parts from a blown motor... especially the oil cooler that has pieces of metal all in it... this was a huge rookie mistake here as well...
they rebuilt your engine and shipped the car back with clearances in check, so id just keep driving it and continue the break in period and send the oil in to be analyzed.
sub'd to see how this one turns out. best of luck man