Why did I buy a Zed?

Zeds EXPENSIVE? Relative to what ....

... a Fiat Bambino :wacko:

Seriously, anyone buying a Zed (or any 15 y/o sports/hi-performance car), should do the hard work before purchase - get a good one, or YES, you may suffer in the hip pocket.

A basic understanding of mechanical/electrical components & preventative maintenance is a desired pre-requisite, although no guarantee you will enjoy trouble-free Zedding.

Tech Days are a superb means of learning about yr Zed & a large majority of us perform 90% of work ourselves (or with assistance) to reduce costs. It's not only very satisfying, but saves heap$.

When we need to utilise the skills & equipment of reputable Mechanical W/shops like Gavin Wood, UAS and others, we invariably know exactly what to expect and come away very happy. Let's hear some 'happy customer' posts, ppl. ???

The moral of this story is "get to know your Zed", use the resources on this FORUM and don't allow slanging matches to develop.

My parting advice, go talk to JP tomorrow.

 

This whole thread has lost its way IMHO

When a Zed owner spends a lot of money on the car and comes away unhappy, this forum is probably one of the few places where he/she can vent the frustration, share the experience and get some advice. Muz has clearly spent a lot of money and he is not happy. For mine, given the amount of money he has spent he deserves a better outcome than the one he seems to have achieved. It is a position all of us would hate to be in.

On the other hand, any workshop that becomes the focus of this discontent must in all fairness to be allowed a right of reply. But when that devolves to a forensic analysis of invoices we are not getting anywhere. Muz has clearly taken a bit of license in the description of his experiences, but that is not the main point here. Had he described his experience with more precision, we would still be in the same place.

Whether the work done was value for money is one thing; whether the diagnosis of the work required to be done was correct is a whole different question. Both are in dispute here, and at this point the views are probably irreconcilable.

On balance I would prefer these incidents to be aired rather than not discussed. If that causes some angst among service providers such as John from UAS I guess that comes with the territory. UAS gets plenty of exposure through the Forum and John's work is clearly held in high regard by a large number of Forum members. That is a positive both for him and his business, and personally for that reason I would be more than happy to contact him about work that I might need done.

However, given the tangible value of visibility through the Forum, from time to time I expect every service provider may need to go the extra yard (without the clock on) for those odd special cases that go wrong for reasons attributable to nothing and no-one in particular. A million dollars of goodwill for a few bucks of lost turnover should be an attractive equation.

That's my view anyway - flame proof underwear at the ready.

Cheers:zlove:


Barry

 

NO APOLOGY REQUIRED, MUZ .... !!!! as a "rankless" outsider and

one of the few who appear to identify the frustration in your initial post, i am with you ... i read the post with interest .. it offered plenty for existing and intending zed owners ...

the claim has been made that UAS were the obvious target .. perhaps so for nsw centrific minded zedders but certainly not for others based in the rest of australia .. the regionalists !!!(???) ....

i bought my zed in relative ignorance and i am sure that many of us did the same .. unfortunately, we are not all the top dollar in mechanical/electrical matters and the like ...

i have had my zed for only 6 months and had it not been for the incredible zed community in QLD, combined with the wealth of experience, expertise, advice and assistance so freely proffered, i really do wonder if i would have my black beauty today ...

stay with it MUZ .. raise your zed concerns and keep the forum vital as you have in this instance !!!!!!

black baz ..all zeds are beautiful and only by discussion and raising issues will we advance .......THE CAUSE !!!!!!

 

I am asked for my opinion 10

times a day by clients,it may be to change something
big or small, the client would already know the cost
off his /hers project.To alter in anyway, the original
plan would cost more, but to get an informed opinion
costs nothing, consultative fees apply for doctors
lawers ect, Muz has every right to stand up for his rights, as the subject implies, a personal attack
is out off order!$196 for two opinions!

 

astute, perceptive and to the point .... somewhat close to what i was

trying to say in an almost concurrent post ....!!!!

must have something to do with being a BARRY ...!!

BLACK BAZ ....!!!!

 

For the record, I didn't know he was talking about UAS. Probably the case for quite a few others too eh?

 

spot, BLOODY, on ...!!!!!

 

Re: spot, BLOODY, on ...!!!!!

neither did i.

anyway muz hang in there, sorry to hear your Z troubles and i hope it all goes well for your Z soon.

i'm also a new Z owner, 4-5 weeks now. i'm super paranoid and i want to replace 1,000,000 different things but even though i can't do them at once i take it step by step and prioritise which needs attention.

take it easy for now until you can find the right people that can resolve your Z issues.

:thumbsup:

 

And that's just it! It was never supposed to be about those guys... hence not mentioning their names.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Nice to know Im not the only one with Zed concerns.... nice bloody cars though!

 

confusing

Muz I hear you on some points here but I will put it politley as I can. You had us chasing our tail a bit as the items you wrote on the job card and got us looking at steering issues and worn items that were fine. The viscous fan is not too lose it is bighting fine but not locked so doing its job. I understand you don't know much about cars and were frustrated and tried to help in getting your car sorted. Yes we changed lots of items that were worn and common items re vibration and these were not a waste of money. Yes your car had significant improvement according to my two head mechs and confirmed by you when we changed the wheels correct?
NO we did not charge you12 hours for test drives we probably spent an hour in mechs time collectively but charged you for .5 of an hour. PLEASE CHECK YOUR RECEIPT, I checked ours.
Sorry if I came accross strong but what would you do if you had a customer making exaggerated and false statements? Itried the subtle way first and you brought up our name firstI did not when you said check your receipts. I don't keep receipts for other workshops onl yours.

 

That is the most sensible analysis of this whole thread, so far.

I agree with everything you say relative to the frustration of the owner(having been in that position several times myself).
I do despair at the need for UAS to have to publicly defend themselves, but I guess when they are so frequently slandered by a predictable few on this forum (not Muz), then frustration can be felt in that area also.
Your remarks re:"going that extra yard" are quite valid, and I for one, would not be driving a Zed today, if it wasn't for two workshops (Autotech Engineering, and UAS).
Both of these shops went way beyond what ought to be expected from a business (by a customer), and enabled me to get back on the road at a much reduced cost, when the money "dried-up".
I know from personal experience that this was NOT an isolated event from either workshop owner, and in view of the way this discussion is going, I think it needs to be stated here, and now.(Sorry John, I know you asked me not to raise this matter, at the time.)

In case anyone has forgotten this fact, diagnosis of ANY problem (be it Medical, Mechanical, Electrical, Philosophical, etc), is an exercise in "trial & error", aided by some specialised knowledge. Very few get it right "first time around", but the specialists generally find it sooner.

 

Don't need to be an oracle to know who you were referring to, Muz.

Given the very recent thread, in which a "well known" member continualy hammered the "$98ph Labour charge" by UAS, it doesn't need a genius to work-out that 196 divided by 2=98, and, as you are complaining about a Sydney workshop, in all likelihood equals UAS.

It's kind of like complaining about a hamburger, while you're standing in a McDonalds Carpark. No-one is going to think you mean Hungry Jacks.

BTW, .25hrs @ $98ph X 2 = $49 NOT $196

 

I don't like hamburgers from MacDonalds or Hungry Jacks :sick:.......

is it okay if I say that while I am standing in the UAS carpark

 

Not if you claim that they charged $196 for the Burger.:LOL::LOL:

 

Inevitable dicussion...

Muz has every right to vent his frustration on the forum. It was not his attention to name UAS and I don't believe that he did! What is "actually stated" and what can be "deduced or inferred" is another thing.

Ultimately When a customer is unhappy with the service they receive, then it really needs to be discussed with the vendor providing the service and not the "rest of the world".

Slinging matches on the forum do no-one any good. Makes for an interesting read, but only serves to get everyone fired up. In the end it resolves nothing.
Muz and UAS need to sit down in a quite moment of reflection and work together to determine what went wrong and more importantly how to put it right!
Everyone has an opinion but none of them matter and none of them other than those of Muz and UAS will move towards resolution!
Both parties seem to be reasonable people and when left to their own devices will undoubtedly put this right.

Here's hoping that it all works out for both of them!
Cheers!

 

Can I order a burger from there..? Couldn't find it on their webpage..

 

Nice embellishment

Actually all I said was that I wouldnt pay $100/hr for servicing work. John, once again, made his own conclusions and numerous posts about what that meant. There was no "continually hammering" about it. John and his cronys make their own problems, such as this fine example of the level of customer service if you have a problem with his work.

 

Bwahahaha!! :LOL::LOL::LOL:

 

Re: Don't need to be an oracle to know who you were referring to, Muz.

Chili,

This is a public 300ZX forum isnt it? Not a UAS forum? If you think UAS are the only Zed mechanic in Sydney and any post about a Zed must be all about John then there is a delision not identified till now. Why the hell has this all turned into a UAS affair when all I vented was my frustrations with Zed costs?

Not everything is about UAS!







John,
How gracious of you to try and put things "politely" John. Nice to see you start a reply with clear intentions.

Chasing your tails you say? I left my car with you for a week to replace the clutch and fix the vibration that was reportedly a steering problem. A week later you had done the clutch and heat wrap but didn't even look at the vibration problem. So I bring the car back AGAIN and AGAIN you spend time removing the exhaust system to replace a center bearing. Didn't fix it so AGAIN I come back to have the mounts replaced.

John, where the f*ck have you chased your tail? You guys did all the work and YOU suggested what be done. NOT ONCE did I say it was a waste of money! I PAID MY BILL but guess what? The car still shakes and no matter how much you type away the fact is its not fixed!

How many times can I say this?

YOUR mechanic told me the coupling was loose! Now AGAIN your telling me its fine? Maybe you should talk to your specialists in the workshop?

John I'm sick of your condescending attitude towards members and customers. You say I don't know much about cars, but I know enough to see the twaddle you spout at every opportunity. The obvious causes of vibration in a car are:
1. Tyres - which are fine and balanced, though you never checked this, I DID
2. Alignment - you never checked this, I DID... and its fine
3. Drive shaft/ uni's - you replaced the bearing but don't check the uni's?
4. Engine and/ or gearbox mounts - you replaced these though before confirming the obvious.

As to my knowledge? I was a Spare Parts Manager for 4x years and a Dealer General Manager for 2x years. I raced and preped my race bikes for years and I currently work for an international publically listed company that supplies EPC's worldwide. Saying that, we have over 20x mechanics here from various manufacturers and dealerships and ALL have said the work carried out is expensive considering the solution is still eluding. And YES I showed them the actual reciepts before you say Ive "elaborated".

Chili mentions that its normal with Zeds to go through a trial and error routine to find a problem. I'd agree with that to a point, but wouldn't you expect a professional and experienced workshop to have a better clue?

You state that you mechs said it was the tyres. Did you not read where I said I took that advice on board and replaced the tyres as suggested?

Did you not read where people didn't even know it was UAS until you opened you smart mouth?You say I owe you an apology when you pop your mug in here and accuse me of lying. Did you think I would just roll over and take it up the ars....

You can reply with your arrogance all you want John, but to be honest Ive wasted enough of my time on this matter. UAS knows Zeds quite well ladies and gentlemen I wont deny. Its a HUGE shame that you don't understand your customers as much!

Good luck in your future endeavors,
Murray Eaton

 

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