To make this current story short as much as I can, this morning I dropped off my car at 8am this auto shop to have my test pipes installed. I've never taken my G to them before, only my my old Accord and was happy with the service despite pricing. Everything seemed fine when I dropped it off, the guy that was helping me(possibly the manager) looked like he knew what he was talking about regarding the install and that I was aware of the CEL light possibility.

I was told it would take only a couple hours since they busy also with a couple of other cars. (Another shop said 2-3 hours the most and that is with one mechanic). Went home and went back to sleep until 1pm which I still didnt get a call that my car is done. Called up and the person on the phone said about another 30 mins to an hour. Still no call at 3pm so I decide to go over and see whats up.

I see my G is in the garage and theres a guy working under the hood. I only asked for my test pipes to be installed and to look my control arms/bushing since I get this rare vibration in the car when driving, which means anyone shouldnt really be working under the hood for the most part. Asked the guy inside how much longer it would take, he went to the garage to check and told me it should be done by the time they close which is 6pm. Also asked what are they currently working on under the hood, he said theyre just getting rid of the rust. Now I've spent plenty of time under the hood and there is no rust, even if there was I didn't ask to have that done.

So now I'm still here waiting and really wondering why my car need to be left for 10 hours to have test pipes installed, even if they are busy the whole day. Not sure what to do if I notice something is changed out... /end rant


CLIFFS

Left car at auto shop at 8am to have test pipes installed
Was told a couple hours to do since they are busy
Keep telling me a couple hours when I ask how long it will take.
Still no call that it is done.
Go back to the shop and see someone is working under the hood.
Ask how much longer and what is bring worked on under the hood.
Told it should be done by 6pm when they close and they're just removing rust..
I didn't ask for rust to be removed nor anything really under the hood to be worked on.
Questioning, what the hell are they doing to my car.




Updated post below

 

Tell them there is no rust, and to just finish the install.

 

wow, I got pissed just by reading your issue, but yeah shouldnt be under the hood................did the shop get the install done?

 

Oh hell no. They quoted you a couple of hours so when they are finished complain and get them to knock the price down, if not free. No way it takes that long just for test pipes....12 hours!? However, they could have been under the hood because it is easier to loosen and tighten the top test pipe/converter bolts through the engine bay. This is because they stick up towards where the engine is. Still suspicious though, since it took so long. Maybe they don't know what they are doing or snapped a bolt or something...I dunno. Maybe even an excuse to charge more because it was "harder/took longer then expected."

Demand a cheaper price and never go back. I wouldn't pay them more than $50 if it took them 6 times the amount of time they promised....ain't got time for that bs!

 

That sucks dude. I feel your pain, I myself dont trust nobody (NOBODY). And with not being good with cars I would never know if they helped or hurt the car. Put something in or took something out. If he had to work on the piped from engine way he would of said that instead of working on rust. We all know no one really gives a **** about other peoples stuff. Hope he did what he was asked to do and that was it. Goodluck man.

 

Update..

They finally called me at 4pm that it was done. The guy that helped me this morning (which I think is the manager) said that Saturday is a busy day for them. They also said that there was a lot of rust from underneath near the cats so that is also why it took so long. Paid and went home. I popped the hood to take a look and saw light smoke come from the engine.. went back to the shop which they now tell me that they had lube up the parts (wd-40 i think) that were rusted so its the excess that is burning and it should stop smoking in no more of 100 miles of driving.

Went back home and took another look to make sure everything was the same. I found that my ztube wasn't even secured on my throttle body at all, it was barely aligned so air could transfer. Also my grounding wires werent even put back correctly. Went back again about the half *** service to put everything back. Manager claimed that they didnt touch anything under the hood till I said I saw someone earlier when I came by then he asked the mechanic that worked on my car. Pulled my car in so the mechanic could look at it again and he said "oh it must of slipped off"... and tried to put it back on again.. which he didnt even do a better job as the other end wasn't even connected to the MAF sensor this time. He said that he only moved the pop charger to have easy access to the bolts and didnt touch anything else in the engine bay besides try to spray wd-40 from the hood down to the pipes.

I left the situation as that since I could tell the manager felt like oh well just fix it and everything is all better. Fixed my ztube, grounding wires myself and wiped the damn wd-40 they got on the plenum, heatsheild, maf housing and grill. My G was definately not treated as if it were their own car. I'm only content with my pipes since I can't tell thats how the noise is supposed to be or a crap job installing it. I'm gonna compare my exhaust with one of my coworkers since we have the same set up on his 350z and im hoping they didn't screw up the install.

CLIFFS

Called me at 4pm that it was done
claimed it took so long since it was their busy day and there was alot of rust they had to clean near the cats
found smoke coming from the hood
brought it back and they said it is the excess wd-40 burning they used for the rust so its normal for now
found that they didnt even connect my ztube to the throttle body and grouding kit when putting it back together
brought it back again and they 'fixed it' but did a worse job
left the situation as is and fixed my ztube/grounding kit myself
im content with my test pipes since it has a weird rattling sound. cant tell if thats how it supposed to be or a crap install.

 

And thats exactly why i never leave my G unattended at a shop, even though i trust those guys, im always present when theyre working on it. Hope you learn for next time, or better yet diy.

 

use yelp , your rant can actually do something haha

 

I have a couple of observations. I would agree with the manager that Saturday is a busy day, it's like that at all shops. However, it seems to me they were short-staffed or poorly organized for your car to be there so long. I had my ARTs installed at Uprev here in Austin and it took an hour and 15 minutes from start to finish. The shop was correct, it's almost impossible to get the top nut off the cats from under the car so it's necessary to go at them from the engine bay. I wouldn't be concerned about the light smoke, that will go away.

Not sure about the grounding wires and the re-install of the pop was just sloppy work, they were probably hurrying to get the job done and there's no excuse for that. What if you were having tires installed and that dude was in a hurry and didn't torque your lug nuts completely? See where I'm going with that? I totally agree with jutn, send as much neg publicity on sites such as Yelp but be brutally honest and to-the-point. Long winded reviews even those that are factual tend to turn people off and you want them to listen to what you have to say.

How much did the shop charge you, I'm curious?

 

$170.00. The other shop I go quoted for said $180.00,

It seems my car is fine and they actually did what I paid for and didn't screw around with it. There should be no reason why my car couldn't be taken priority when I made an appointment and left it when they opened. At least a courtesy call that they would need more time and not giving me a BS answer when I had to call myself to check on it.

For my ztube and ground kit goes, its unacceptable that they neglected to put something back correctly, like the example for replacing tires...

Wish I had a buddy with access to a lift or even somehow a lift myself and I'd do it.

 

I had my exhaust installed and it took 2hrs. The Test Pipes should take an 1hr tops. What They are going to try and do is scam the **** out of u so they can get more money. Tell them ur not paying for the laybor charge that Exceeded the 3 hrs.

 

^^it was a flat rate from the beginning.. just crap service

 

One thing is obvious from your experience, you know where not to take your G for service ever again. It is necessary to work thru the engine bay to remove the left bank manifold bolt. If it was rusty there's a reason they used WD40 which caused the smoke. It is a 2 hour job max, not all flipin day...
Gary

 

yeah that sounds like complete bullcrap. give them a bunch of horrible reviews everywhere you can