Be careful with car shop guys
 

Be careful !!! Be careful !!!

The AC on my BRAND NEW Z it is NOT working anymore, due to some bad installation at a "big name shop" (as some people has the audacity to call it.)
Be careful with these shops you often see on facebook and in the car culture. They DO NOT stand behind their work, they charge an arm and a leg for some lousy work.
After going BACK to where I got my stillen G3 installed their excuse (because it was an excuse I don't see anything else other than that) he said and I quote "I see where the problem is, but it wasn't because of our installation. If it was your AC would stop working after 3-6months, but it took a year and some change..." After I asked him "but if you guys are on the 370zforum I'm sure you guys seen the DIYs there, you guys call yourselves professionals. So why whoever installed it never secured the AC tube as shown on the DIYs on the forum so the AC would not be damaged as it is now?" His answer was "not sure why, but my guy didn't skip no step and I can fix that for you and not charge you too much on labor work" not charge me too much labor work ? THE FUK THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN ? You shouldn't charge me sh!t period. WHAT THE FUK YOU MEAN MY GUY DIDNT SKIP A STEP? YOU DUMB STUPID OR BLIND ? HE DIDNT SECURED THE AC TUBE. THAT WAS A STEP MY FRIEND ...
Because of some stupid as$es who call themselves professionals because they worked on 2 or 3 10 second cars, and a few good looking show off cars my AC does NOT work. And now I have to spend more money to get something fixed that THEY broke it.

I'm not mad, I'm not mad at all. I am frustrated! More So I wanna warn people so they don't have to go through, what I went through because it isn't a good feeling. We already have so much trouble to save enough money and spend money to buy these parts we want that aren't cheap, for our loved cars, for a shop with "good rep" that charge you a arm and a leg to install the part you purchased and RUIN your vehicle.
Keep in mind I had to drive 40min to hear that bullsh!t, get a bullsh!t tour of a bullsh!t shop and drive another 40min back.

2 observations:
1- this be for the people located in the tri-state area NYC. Specially for those visit Long Island pretty often for car work
2- they also chipped the corner of my bumper by the headlight. It was just so small that I didn't care much at the time. Specially after being so excited for finally having my intakes on. Which little did I know, it would be a headache later.

Be careful guys !!! Be careful !!!

that sucks man, hope they nut up and get it resolved

Be careful with car shop guys
 

Thanks man. I'm taking it to someone I personally know to get it fixed now. Not falling in the trap of these "good rep" shops anymore.

:shakes head::shakes head:

:wtf2:

Your story stinks. I hope you have good luck from here on.

I feel your pain... When I was in Texas, Austin area to be exact... I had some work done at a "big name" shop as well... And like you, I had a bad experience. I'm sure you guys can figure out what shop I'm talking about that specializes in Z's/G's in Austin Texas.

That right there was a mistake. Always bring any damage or problems to the managers/owners attention straight away.

Anyway I'm sorry for your situation, but to be honest they may have followed Stillens directions which may or may not have had notes about the a/c problems that can occur after installation (They didn't use to mention anything). You really can't fault a shop for not knowing the ins & outs of every detail in our community found by DIY's (this problem was found by DIY's & not ardressed by Stillen for sometime, if at all) after having installed & kept on top every possible problem that arises. Not trying to take sides, but just shed a little light on what may have happened. ;)

I couldn't agree with you more. But I personally think if you call yourself a professional you should be and act like one. Any problems that has appeared after a manufactured has released anything you should be on top of it. I'm sure you cannot keep up with all, but you should at least back up your work admit you made a mistake (after all how good is your work without honesty and principles?) the second note is when I handed the keys and they pulled my car in the shop I nicely made a joke "you know you have to secure the AC line so I will have no problems right?" The mechanic responded "yeah yeah I got it. This isn't the first G3 we do on the 370z"
I said cool, felt comfortable since mine wasn't the first and carried on.

Dealership
 

Dealerships tend to get it right the 1st time.

I just burst out laughing from reading your post!

:roflpuke2:

Word of mouth from respectable customers is always important. That's how you weed out the bad shops. Sorry you went through that

Anytime you modify your car, youre taking a risk. Even if you do it yourself and you do it perfectly, things can still go wrong. Hell, stock cars fall apart, so modified ones are bound to have more issues. Comes with the territory.

Dealerships
 

I had terrible luck with allot of shops in the past here in Austin. I don't trust them.

Always best to do the work urself w/helpers (if needed). That way u know its dun right and not rushed and/or half assed!

Well if they indeed followed Stillens instructions to the T, then it would not be the shops mistake for installing per the mfg

This bit of information does change the situation though ;)

Hopefully you can get it fixed with minimal monetary damage.

Best of luck to you

that stillen CAI is known for this a/c problem... i think it is the result of bad design and bad installation.

:iagree:

Have you been drinking? If so, then wait a few hours before posting. Thank you.

i also read that a quick remedy is to wrap the ac piping with plastic cable wrap.

in fact, i did that on my stillen cai on my other car since it comes very close to the ac line. :D
no issue.

I purchased and installed my G3s about a year or more ago and it had in the instructions that you should wrap the ac line to protect it and they even included a nice piece of rubber and cable wraps to do it with. I think I'd be blaming the shop for incompetence as well.

I take it you disagree with my statement? Interesting way to disagree with me and present a logical argument :ugh2:

Sorry OP. Better to have a shop known to specialize in our cars to do the work. They're the ones whose gone through the aches and pains. When these things occur, how long usually after installation does the problem manifest itself? 6 months? 1 yr?

Not cool. If it's the shop I think you're talking about, that's definitely bad karma on their part. It's not.... erm, .D.A.R is it? If they haven't already, they need to step up and fix this. That's clearly an installation error. God knows you're not the first one to have the Gen 3 installed there. It's been covered numerous times since they first came out and is clearly noted in the Stillen installation instructions.

PS - It's R.A.D :tup:

And it's not R.A.D at all but another one. I just found out on the ZONY FB page.

lol, I know. I didn't think it was right to say it out loud if I was wrong.

ask the locals to help those who own Zs... way more knowledgable then auto shops...ive said this like 5x already

The biggest issue I have is tools and a place. I know how to get things done and trust myself better than any expert shop. But the lack of tools place ways to lift the car gets me so upset and unfortunately I'm going through this now.

It wasn't R.A.D. They just be charging over the top to make the money they have spent to open the shop back lol I guess. Lol.
It was a spot out in LI called Petroworkz.
My thing is why won't you admit your error weather you didn't know or it was flat out incompetence of your part you know ? Don't say you didn't commit an error when clearly you have.

There are shops in Brooklyn (and the rest of the city for that matter), who will let you use their lift (for a small fee). But not that you need a lift to install intakes. Or maybe you do? I don't know.

You dead serious ? O.0
Put me on man. That would be a much better route for me.

No you don't by the way. But you do need a lift for other reasons. And the G3 on the 370z you need to cut make a bit of a bigger hole for the intake to go through which didn't have that either.

When I first got my Z, I had the Gen3s installed by a shop (now do most/all work myself) and 1.5 years later, my AC line busted. I called him on it and he said the same thing, not his problem. I bought the part from Nissan and was going to do the install myself, but decided against it d/t the refrigerant. Now my AC line is wrapped the way it should've been!

I really feel for guys like yourself who don't have the means to work on your cars but want to. I do over 90% of the work on my vette and Z but I'm fortunate to have accumulated a well stocked tool box over the years and purchased homes with a garage. But I've also been forced to do work in the parking lots of apartment buildings outdoors in between owning homes. Removed/replaced the heads on my vette in a parking lot at one time.

My advice to those willing to do their own work is research how to do the repair, know your limits, buy tools/manuals for the repair vice paying someone labour and get intimate with your Z or what have you. For me, it's a great feeling doing it myself and I know it's been done right.

Not meaning to hijack, but I took my car in finally to have the new steering lock module put in. I told the service adviser that I had removed the steering lock fuse, to which he stated he would notify the certified technician.

I got the car back and I noticed that the steering lock unit was as quiet as when I had the old one with it disabled. I double-checked the fuse box and the 10A fuse wasn't in there. So in all, the "certified tech" overlooked a seemingly obvious issue which I had to find out myself. Who knows if the freakin' new module was ever put in... :icon14:

Christmas is just around the corner, so now you know what to ask Santa For.


:iagree:

Especially if you are younger, before you know it you are 40+ and you have an incredible set of tools at your disposal.

Exactly! And a few scars on the hands, cuts, bruises, splinters, burns. God, it's so fun to work on your car!

Thanks man. Trust me. I'm on it.
I have changed the intake of my first car in the parking lot of a McDonalds before ... But yeah I'm starting purchase tools by tools.

You can read the model number underneath the steering column and find out which version you have. They probably replaced it, but never actually tested it. Chances are, they probably just forgot or figured you would replace the fuse. Pulling the fuse isn't something Nissan recommended.

lay on your back under your steering column and look up with a flash light. it is right there in your face. it's in my diy, check it out.