it wasn't mettams, I haven't mentioned the place yet in case it can be resolved through them somehow.. I just need to decided if I want to give them a 3rd attempt, I know they suck compared to Mindarie but it may save me like $400 and the only major issue I have with this last attempt is the pipe sizing. Actually I should also mention it was mig welded, not tigged which is unusual for stainless but as long as it's smooth on the inside, I don't really care.
Shame them Can we start shaming the bad work of mechanics in a thread in the forum so people know where not to go if they don't want damage done to their zed. Of course we can praise the good work of the places that do their job properly as well. I read all these horror stories that ruin people financially for months and we never hear the name of the place to help stop others falling victim to the same fate. I honestly think this would be a good idea.
are you mad? naming and shaming got me banned last time!! alright, that was a little different.. so here's a few: --- BP panel and paint Osborne Park.. I wanted my fibreglass front bar repaired and painted and the wing which was a bit lose to be secured after checking for rust and cleaning it up if there was some. They did a poor paint match, said they couldn't get it any better.. I moved on but then after my first minor run in with a speed hump I found they had used a lot of body filler, it just gouged up so easy.. I also just noticed a bit of rust where the wing attaches the hatch. I don't think they used any straight clear coat after the pearl either. --- Goodyear Mirrabooka.. actually I'd still go back there for certain things as their prices are very good, I'll just make sure it's for stuff they can't screw up.. (they have a lot of young guys working there) but anyway, one particular instance, I had a new tie rod ball joint to put in, one of the young guys destroyed it by using the retaining/safety stud to pull the ball joint into place instead of pressing it in. He seemed to get the second one in but just found out today after a Pedders check up that the ball joint is farked.. He must have done the same thing and here I am throwing $ at other stuff to try get rid of a vibration which was probably that all along and the reason I replaced it in the first place. --- Another I forget the name of, but it's a workshop at a service station (Mobil?) just north of Clarkson... I had a CV joint replaced in my old Exa, when I picked it up, I found a cigarette packet sized gouge out of the paint and my steering wheel broken.. just from being careless! --- Hi Tech Cylinder Heads Malaga: they did a fair bit of my rebuild work.. I disassembled the engine down to heads and block and took them there. I said I was placing an order for the parts needed but he was quite insistant about providing certain parts saying he can get them cheaper or provide a better quality part, like rings, bearings and valves.. there's a lot to research for a rebuild and being in a bit of a hurry I left those for him to sort out trusting that he should know what he's doing, I was just gonna go OEM anyway. First signs of dodginess were his enquiries about what kind of work I did and whether I owned my house.. he also gave me a quote for just some of the required gaskets and it was over $1000, I told him I had ordered a gasket kit including everything for around $300 (I forget the exact amount) Then once work started, I ask what rings did he use.. 'oh we weren't happy with the chrome ones we got in so went with OEM'.. I asked about the valves, oh they're EVL (also printed on the invoice).. hrm ok, know nothing about them.. search revealed little, think I found mention of an old holden using them or something. I got the heads back and the valves are also OEM! something tells me they can get this stuff at unusually low prices for him to be going to these lengths to supply parts. They're also meant to be King bearings.. I'd be real surprised if they were. Anyway, to the quality of work.. fortunately before putting the heads back on I noticed a valve was stuck open, I found it was one of the lifters and went back to discuss it, he said it just needs to bleed down and guarantees it will come good on starting the engine. Good thing I didn't trust him any longer cos I found the lifter was broken inside. Sure he can guarantee it since he didn't pull the engine and would have bugger all to do. It seems they attempted to put the new cam seals in and damaged 2 of them.. The guide pins were deformed from when they decked the block so I scratched up my heads trying to get them back on before noticing. They left shavings from the port work in one of the heads. I guesstimate I was overcharged by somewhere around $500.. I think I did ok in the end, it could have been a lot worse and the engine seems to run fine... guess we'll see come dyno day! --- oh.. and a couple of other recent issues, one place left one of my gearbox bolts totally lose, another left a bolt for a bracket off completely, had to dig around for a replacement.. I won't bother to name them as every workshop does crap like that! Always double check anything done by a workshop yourself.
update: Goodyear Mirrabooka are in the clear, I double checked the ball joint, it's fine.. Pedders Osborne Park is now on the shit list, misdiagnosed and I'm 95.7% sure it was deliberate.
I had my exhaust system fixed in a rush when i needed the car to go over the pits after compliance. They wouldnt let me take it until they had fixed all of the leaks, and they even did some extra piping for free as some of it had rusted through and wasnt repairable by welding. It was a place in kenwick. The guys agreed on the price before hand, and when there was a problem they called before they did the extra work. There pricing for exhausts was good too. Brake prices was ok.... clutch was expensive lol... there are three main guys that run a seperate department for each thing. which is good that they dont do everything; they specialise. Perth Brake Clutch Exhaust U2/ 1731 Albany Hwy Kenwick Phone (08) 9493 3811 (havnt used them for about 12 months now though. Has anyone else used them?)
good call on mentioning good ones.. I usually can't wait a day for a reply on whos good for whatever.
another to go on the list: Driveshaft Balancing Service Osborne Park. I had a one piece tailshaft made up, $500.. there was an improvement in the vibration but some remained, I figured it was something else.. spent about another $1500 trying different things to get rid of it including getting another uni joint fitted by the same place about a year on from the one piece being fitted. Still not right, finally took it somewhere else and was informed that they've only heard bad things about the place I got it done.. typical! They found the new uni joint wasn't fitted properly, as in there was like nothing holding it together! the part at the diff end that was retained from my original tailshaft was very worn too and bound to cause some vibration. I've developed a diff whine over this period and I bet it's been caused by the one piece. I've no time for small claims, I think I'll burn them down instead.
holy schisen, mike .. you must hold the record for "excreta occurs" ... and there we have another thread running currently and blandly advising all to use "qualified" workshops only .. a real laugh ...that one ..!!! ..
yea, I haven't even mentioned the minor ones.. like just 2 days ago I had a puncture repair redone cos the initial repair from another shop left a slow leak.. I'm starting to think nothing of paying for everything twice, like it's normal. :/
Well done MikeH , i cant see a problem with naming people who you have had bad experiences with,it lets people know to think twice about going there.Too many people on the forum scream about the bad service they get and then not say who it was,only to let other members go there and cop the same punishement , i say well done and also reckon we should have a separate section for people who have had good and bad service from these companies,its not defamation , its saying publicly if you are happy or not with the work done . It may even make some of these companies accountable for their work knowing if it is shabby ,we will all know about it :zlove:
Theres no style in burning them down, only in the WAY you burn them down, so we are gonna need pics as to how you burn them down mike! ...lol
funnily enough, I was told by someone after I had the work done that Hitech Cylinder Heads was run by bikies. It made me more sus about them really pushing their own parts, I dunno if it should? can you get us cheap parts Draco?
