This is my honest review of Whitehead Performance. I really hope i save someone from having to experience what i did.
I purchased brand new Airride 3P system. I called several of known shops that do air ride... all of them were busy and some even booked for 3+ months in advance already.
Whitehead Performance and all the greats reviews i hear comes to mind...though they dont specialize in airride but i thought i'd call and ask if they are capable of doing it... ..they say they have done it before and can do it.
Install day comes... i bring the car to the shop Monday.... Amy is the receptionist and greets me. She says the guys at the back are busy and need to move cars to make room for mine and that it shouldn't be long. I wait... had a good conversation with Amy.. before i know it 1 hour goes by, Amy checks on them and says they are almost done and i'll be able to talk to the installer to let them know how i'd like it all installed. another 2 hours go by and before i know it I've waited 3 hours now.. long story short, i finally talk to Marco who will be installing it
I find out that hes never done an air-ride install before....
i talk to Mike (the manager) and he says that he himself has done it but that Marco has not but pays attention to great detail and assures me he will be there with him to guide. At this point im a little concerned but Air lift's instructions are very clear and easy to read so any decent mechanic should be able to follow them and with the help of mike it should go fine... They tell me it will be a 2 day job and it'll be done Wednesday/Thursday it'll be done.. i agree and leave.
No contact from them at all... i call them Thursday... ask if the car's ready and Amy says no,"they need a couple more days but about 10 hours of work has already been done"..... Amy says they lost a day waiting for a "relay". They said since i wanted a clean install that this "relay" would make it cleaner as opposed to the one provided.. i let it go and ask how much.. she says its just a small relay to place in the back and not to worry about the cost as its nothing really much.. Whatever.. we end the convo..
An hour later i decided to stop by for a surprise visit and from the door i can see my car in the same position i left it Monday... ask to see the "10 hours of work"... Amy says they are extremely busy today and that i'd have to wait.. i tell her that's fine.. she then goes to the back and comes back and said yeah there are some customers in the back already and its very busy.. and that today may not be a good day.. i tell her im not leaving until i see 10 hours of work.. the car was supposed to be done today and you need a couple more days and no one told me anything until i called myself, she gets annoyed and shouts "okayyyyyyyyy" and slams the door behind her.
The manager mike comes out to talk. I tell him i want to see the 10 hours of work... he looks at Amy with a "oh ****" face and says well no, i wouldn't say 10 hours. i tell him that i heard nothing from them till i had to call today and he replied he was sorry and that he will be updating me from now on (which he made good on).... i also ask about the relay again and find out it costs $150..... im visibly annoyed now and confirm im not going to pay for it and let mike know that Amy had said not to worry about it and then Amy ends up saying she never said that... lol ok...
i tell him why didn't anyone call me to ask if this was ok... he said that there was no need and that legally he is able to go 10% up from the original quoted price... at this point i'm like wtf... i tell him its about the curtsy and customer service to at least ask the person... he respond "i guess you could say that"... at this point after an hour of a conversation and me forgetting to actually look at the car.. even tho he knew i knew it was bs and the car had barley been touched... we settle it and he said it will be ready next Wednesday 100% and there will NOT be any more additional charges but that i'd have to pay for the 150 at least.... so at this point im like w.e its 150... not the end of the world.. i tell him i expect no issues with the install and that it should be smooth from here because they are expensive and i expect nothing but good work from them... he agrees and assures me the work takes time but that it will be a job done right.. so fine i leave.
Wednesday comes... they tell me car isn't ready and that everything is done but they cant figure out the Tank/Compressor (There was no wiring diagram for this as it was from another company not Airlift.. so i dont blame them) but i tell them its fine i will finish that last little bit with someone else and tow the car out of cause at this point im done with them and the car had been there for way too long now.... pay them $2150 total for 2 days of work & relay. I pay out of pocket to get someone else to install that last part of the tank/compressor. Everything's perfect now....WRONG.. Refer to Attached pictures for the bad install.
Turns out the install was bad... Airlift confidently deemed it a bad install and so did everyone else i spoke to and said they wont cover that under warranty. I get the car towed back to whitehead and long story short they play stupid and try not to cover it but then mike eventually says he will cover the bags and they will get it re-installed....... so in the end... Mike did pay for the replacement bags and was willing to put them on all covered by their warranty.... but by then i'd had enough and regretted not taking the car out sooner at the first sign of bad news.. so i eventually got the car towed out of there and payed out of pocket to get someone else to finish the work again.
I will say Marco was genuine and honestly did want to do good work and regretted how many issues i was having but the shop gave him something he wasn't equipped to handle and i doubt mike was ever there to give him a hand otherwise this shouldn't of happened. All in all, im out a ton of time... a TON of money for their overpriced rates of $130 an hour and with work that was crap.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the first day I got there.. mike was having an argument with another customer and it got pretty heated with mike calling him he's on crack and **** lol and to never come back etc.. the customer accused mike of lying and charging him way more than he was originally quoted when he first brought the car... I think the bill came up to 600-700 more then mike quoted him.