Well I took my motor in to scotts for cams last week. I pulled the motor out of the car and was doing a APS TT install. While the motor was out I thought hey this is the time to do cams and all the other small things while the motor was out. So I started to call around and get prices for install and cams. Im in nor cal and only know of two shops that are I felt were up to the task, so it was between the two. I first called Rob at Z car garage that Ive delt with in the past. He tunned my Vortech a few months back. His price was 1300.00 installed for JWT cams with the motor out of the car. My next call went to Scotts. This was my first time talking with Ted(owner) He told me about some custom grind cams that they had been using. He said if I wanted them he could do 1500.00 installed with the motor out of the car. I told him that was a little out of my range. He then said he could do 1200.00 OTD installed. I was like cool! This is 100.00 less then Z car and they are some new cams, what the hell. I said cool lets do it! He said bring it down. The next day I took the drive to the bay and dropped off my motor. Ted(owner) said he would have it done in a day or so. I was like cool! He took all my info, addy and stuff but never gave me a invoice. ( I guess I should have asked for one) I was thinking about how I was going to be stuck in traffic and was trippin on the three hour drive. Anyway I went today to pick up my motor and to drop off my buddies car for a APS TT and cams. We loaded the motor up and I went in to pay. GUESS WHAT! He said my bill was 1500.00!!!! I thought maybe he just forgot about what he told me on the phone and that I just had to remind him. So I said ahhh Ted it was 1200.00. He said no it was 1500.00 So we went round and round and he told me it was 300.00 in labor and that he couldnt give it to me at cost. I said labor??? LABOR was included! You said OTD installed. He said that couldnt be because of his labor rate. I said look I would have just taken it to Z car if I knew it was going to be 1500.00 it would have only been 1300.00. These cams havent even been proven. The lady working the phones said yeah but not for THESE cams. I was sooo pissed at this point! He, they didnt want to hear any of what I was saying and we were going no where! I said fine heres my car but in the end I will get it back one way or another! I guess they were fine with that because they charged my card and handed me my paperwork. I was with my Dad so I was trying to tone it down a little BUT man I was pissed! As some of you may know my car. You know I want things done right! I dont ***** if I know what Im getting, no shortcuts! This is really not about the money this is about the fact that I was told one thing and done another. Ted called me on my way home and said he would tune my car for free. He said that was 500.00 worth of tunning The thing I dont understand is. If you going to lose 500.00 in tunning wouldnt it be better to make good on what you said and save yourself 200.00??
Heres the funny part. My buddies car that I dropped off called and got a price before I left. Ted said he could do a installed price of 4500.00 with cams on his car. He already had the kit. He said he had 3k Ted said ok I can do 3250.00 installed and cams. I called my buddy and told him he better get a invoice! He said it was faxed to him. So why I didnt get a invoice I dont know, or do I?

 

Yeah, I definately hear you on that one. I hate it when shops and mechanics tell you one thing, then when your car is ready, they are all giddy on the phone and when you get there, the price jumps. At least he said hes gonna tune your car for free, but make sure its FREE and not 500 on the invoice!!

Good luck and can't wait to see the numbers you put out!

 

Yeah it just doesnt add up. Hes going to lose 500.00 rather then 300.00? Why not just fix whats at hand. Im done with that shop, they can have then tune money.

 

because tuning doesnt cost him anything, just his time. he isnt really losing 500, hes just making it sound good.

i feel your pain.

 

Could be an innocent miscommunication. Unfortunately that's why it's always best to get it in writing. In the end though count yourself lucky that it was only a $300 difference.

 

I have the 'custom grind' from Scott Performance. They put the custom grind on the JWT cams, so they are definately MORE expensive cams then just the plain JWT.

I don't know what was said, and I'm not trying to stand up for anyone, but it sounds like Ted was trying to tell you the cams alone are $1200 out the door. I think thats how much I paid for them when I bought my stuff from him!

 

I feel your pain but I agree with the tuning part as I took my car down there to get tuned and he charged me only 90 bucks so I don't know where he pulls his number from but I got an invoice when the major work needed to be done.

 

Heres the thing the cams were never cash and carry. I never said I was just coming in to just buy the cams and leave. I told him I didnt want to mess with the install of the cams. I told him I was bringing him the motor. He said he could do 1200.00 OTD. If the cams were 1200.00 alone then why wouldn he atleast gone over the added labor with me? My thought is he knew I could get the cams from Z car for 1300.00 installed. If he would have told me 1500.00 I would have just gone with Z car, and I would have. I guess this way he could go back to the labor thing later and I was already hooked for the cams being that they were already installed in my motor. In the end I posted this on the boards to let people know and to watch for this stuff and to get a INVOICE before work is done. These two shops are three miles a part and I have a feeling one is doing better then the other!

 

Sorry to hear that this happened to you. Kinda the same thing happened to me when I bought my tt kit and had it installed. I was told one price for the kit and paid for it with my credit card. The shop owner told me he would give me a reciept later and never did. When I got the final bill the price did not match. I was pretty much fuked.

 

What about disputing the charges with your CC company? Any progress to be had by holding the payment hostage until a price is agreed upon?

 

ok, this sucks... i was thinking of going to Scotts Performance, just to even meet the guys...

i've been dealing with Rob and guys at Z Car Garage for months - they've installed many many mods on my car. they are always fair with their prices - i don't even need to ask for invoices, i pay exactly (or lower) what i expect to pay.

 

It really doesnt suck for you guys. You've been warned! Atleast you will know to get a invoice if you deal with him! Ive delt with Rob in the past also. But after talking with a member on here I thought hey Ill give Scotts a try. In the end it was a lesson learned. a 300.00 one. I should have know when Ted started jumping around on the price.

 

you're right - it doesn't suck for us, it sucks for you. and thank you for this warning - if anything, we all should be careful, as these little things can totally spoil your modding experience.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. I took my car to Ted and had his specially designed cams put in for $1500. And then I paid extra for tuning. I had the JWT cams and pulled them out to put in the ones that Ted designed. He guarenteed me 470 RWHP and after he put it on his load based dyno, he showed me that I had 469 and it was a 100 degree day. I suspect there was some type of miscommunication. I have had nothing but positive experience with Ted and his cams way outperform the JWT cams. (1000rpm earlier boost) Cams and dyno tuning for $1500 and 469RWHP sounds like a smokin deal to me. You may want to give Ted a chance to tune your car. You won't be sorry. I don't think Z Car Garage even has a dyno or the software to tune APS kits. May be worth giving Ted another chance.

 

hmm... 1 post ey? Sounds like you are Ted and want to get some of the business back that g352nv just screwed you out of.... hahah

I guess next time you will realize not to mess with a forum member...