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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Word of mouth
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Sun, 07 March 2004 04:58
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I'm expecting this post will get deleted, but for the few of you who do get to read it, take note.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER : The views and opinions expressed in this post are SOLELY that of the author (Stephen Wade) and in no way reflect the views of the Toymods Car Club and it's members/patrons. Full responsibility for this post will be accepted by the author Stephen Wade (aka FWDboy).
(end of disclaimer)
I swore I would never do this, but I'm so very unimpressed with some work on my car that I feel I have to get this out.
First of all - I've been happy with some of the work that SA Hills **************** have done...I have been given a good price by them to do work on various cylinder head reconditioning jobs and engine block work. I wouldn't seek to discredit them in this area.
However, I cannot recommend that anyone take an actual car there.
When I find butchered cam timing covers with missing bolts, dust seals hanging about the place, and bolts missing from the casing of the flywheel on my car after getting them to replace the rear main seal and replace the cam idler and tensioner pulleys, there is no way I can recommend that you let them touch a car in it's entirety.
The fact of the matter is, I went to them because I didn't have time to do the job myself so I thought I'd pay someone else to do it - I paid a fuckload in labour that is not worth $5 an hour. If they had told me that they were going to do a shitty job I would've simply done it myself. BUT they said they'd do a good job and that it wouldn't be a problem (even though they had said they don't like doing cam time-belt covers on ST162).
If you do take a car there, just make sure the apprentice doesn't touch it. (I'm assuming he's still an apprentice by the fucked up work ethic/quality)
[Updated on: Wed, 10 March 2004 05:18] by Moderator
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
January 2004
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Re: Word of mouth
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Sun, 07 March 2004 05:37
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spewin... i feel for u dude
i only ever go to workshops which come recommended by my friends, if i dont know them i just wont go there...
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2002
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Ademelaide, SA
Registered:
July 2003
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Forum Moderator
Location:
Toymods
Registered:
February 2004
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names deleted
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Wed, 10 March 2004 05:20
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please dont name names
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Location:
Randwick Sydney
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Word of mouth
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Wed, 10 March 2004 09:34
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Damn,
are you going to take legal action or go back there demanding your money ?
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Location:
cambo
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Wed, 10 March 2004 10:20
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ok im probably gonna cop shit for this being as im an apprentice mechanic, but does it really make them bad mechanics for leaving a couple of bolts out of the timing cover and the dust seals hanging out? i will admit to leaving bolts out of timing covers. sometimes, theres a bolt that will take you 10 minutes to get out, and more to put back in. its not worth the time when theres about 5 - 10 other bolts holding the case on which ways a couple of grams and will not fall off.
dust seals: these things are usually totally stuffed on older cars. i try to put them back on, sometimes they are stuffed beyond repair. the miniscule amount of dust that gets inside the timing cover will do no harm. a rock might, but this is rare even with ppl who dont put covers back on at all.
now im not defending these ppl, i dont know them they could be dodgy, the timing cover on your car isnt easy to get on/off but can be done without damage. i dont know you or them, and havent seen the extent of the damage, but is it really so bad?
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Location:
sydney
Registered:
March 2003
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Re: Word of mouth
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Wed, 10 March 2004 10:51
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ive been a mechanic for 12 yrs and the biggest problem is
cutomers dont want to pay alot of money for work to be done
i know some workshops get a bad name for charging too much
but if the job is dont very good then the price is justified
did they quote u a low price for the job
what happens if someone quotes u a price is
if the mechanic is runnin behind time he will skip things
if he skip things usually its little bolts here and there
if yr car is old and dirty he will get shitty and not worry bout it as much as a new looking car
everything comes down to time taken and price quoted
these days i do get some jobs where i loose out
but i still do the job as best i can even if i quoted for one day and i took 2
but i do get guys think im too dear then in afew weeks time i have to fix someones fukup
its bad to put shit on a business especially on the net
but there is alwasy 2 sides to a story
u should have just taken it back and had a word to them
in a polite manner because if u have a fight then u get nowhere
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Location:
sydney,nsw.oz.
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Wed, 10 March 2004 10:54
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Good 1 EVOSTi,
Glad you don't work for Qantas or Virgin Blue !
She'll be right mate ! Leave a few bolts out !
I know the timing cover bolts aren't critical and so what if it takes 10 minutes to get 1 bolt out and more to put it back in.
The customer is paying and they expect it done properly.
Cheers
T.
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Location:
cambo
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Wed, 10 March 2004 11:05
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yeah thats true, i guess im dodgy then 
im not saying its what i do, just that i have left out bolts before. not bellhousing bolts or anything like that, just little things. but its not worth trashing someones business over is it? maybe they are dodgy i dunno. knew i shoulda kept my mouth shut 
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Location:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Wed, 10 March 2004 11:33
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EVOSTi, I really don't agree with those practices. In the case you've described though, I can clearly paint the picture that you arn't to blame, but your boss is if he tells you to hurry up and to just neglect sending the car out in any condition close to what it was when it first came in.
It's the boss's fault for underquoting on time, and that will hurt his business more as the customer is less likely to come back and will spread the word like FWDboy has. But then again, they could just be know nothing dodgy bros that are like the moron that had my mums car for probably a total of 1 week and still couldn't change brake fluid properly, where I can do a full system flush in two hours from car on ground with wheels on, to car back on ground with wheels on taking my time. And guess what I'll be doing either this or next weekend. Having fun doing a job that a "qualified mechanic" (not an apprentice but the owner of the place), can't do.
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Wed, 10 March 2004 13:02
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I'm not "bashing" anyone here...I'm saying I've had good experiences with the guys but I'm recommending that people don't take an entire car over there. These guys have always done a *good* job when I have just taken engines/engine components there and for a very affordable price.
I know you pay what you get, but I paid about $800-900 all up to have the rear main seal replaced and the idler pulley and tensioner pulley bearings replaced and a few seals (the rocker cover) re-gooed and they put a new alternator belt on while they were there.
I talked to these guys and asked if it was okay by them to do the job and do it properly, and they said no problemo, and I get a job that is merely 'okay' and definitely not worth the money I paid way too much for it, it was a complete rip-off. If they had told me "Oh were busy and we may do a shit job" then I would've really appreciated the honesty - then I would've done the job myself 
Regardless it was a complete waste of my money and time...I could have easily done the job myself for the cost of the parts but I simply didn't have the time and I needed the car on the road...I *paid* them for their time and I feel duly ripped.
I haven't gone back to them and complained because I have no further need for them (I'm always doing the work on my car from now on because I love my car, and the average mechanic doesn't give a flying crap) nor do I wish to talk to the guy about him doing a 'dodgy' job especially if I catch him on a bad day (he's cool on good days though)
| Quote: |
ok im probably gonna cop shit for this being as im an apprentice mechanic, but does it really make them bad mechanics for leaving a couple of bolts out of the timing cover and the dust seals hanging out?
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Bad mechanic? Maybe not - but definitely not the kind of mechanic I'm after! Dust covers are not a critical part of the car, and the flywheel shield thingo isn't overly critical either, although I don't want dust working it's way around my flywheel seal/bearing...it simply doesn't make them look like a good mechanic that I can trust.
What it boils down to is that I'm fastidious -> I want my cam timing cover to be non-'butchered and no longer worth even having on' - it's not even like they accidently broke it, they purposely cut off the indent where one of the bolts goes through so they could slip it over the timing belt easier. I can understand them doing this, but honestly it only takes like 60 seconds to figure out how to get the thing over the cam timing belt.
The end result - I had to go get a replacement one, and the bolts and then I had to do all the work that I paid them to do again.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: Word of mouth
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Wed, 10 March 2004 13:06
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Its a good theory to stick with if your not sure of the workshop: You get what you pay for!
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Location:
Bayside Melbourne.
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: Word of mouth
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Thu, 11 March 2004 00:07
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If they didn't put all the bolts back on where did they go? Did they chuck em over their shoulder or do they have a big bucket of unused bolts in the workshop? 
But seriously, I would be checking the plastic undertray for your missing bolts. I know that I always drop at least one of them down there and it's a bitch to get them out. Maybe they didn't bother and just left them there to rattle about and eventually fall onto the road. 
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Location:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Thu, 11 March 2004 00:22
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| SIMDOG wrote on Thu, 11 March 2004 10:07 |
If they didn't put all the bolts back on where did they go? Did they chuck em over their shoulder or do they have a big bucket of unused bolts in the workshop?
But seriously, I would be checking the plastic undertray for your missing bolts. I know that I always drop at least one of them down there and it's a bitch to get them out. Maybe they didn't bother and just left them there to rattle about and eventually fall onto the road.
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It's probably how some places get spare bolts to use on other cars. 
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
September 2003
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Re: Word of mouth
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Thu, 11 March 2004 00:41
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| EVOSTi wrote on Wed, 10 March 2004 21:20 |
ok im probably gonna cop shit for this being as im an apprentice mechanic, but does it really make them bad mechanics for leaving a couple of bolts out of the timing cover and the dust seals hanging out? i will admit to leaving bolts out of timing covers. sometimes, theres a bolt that will take you 10 minutes to get out, and more to put back in. its not worth the time when theres about 5 - 10 other bolts holding the case on which ways a couple of grams and will not fall off.
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WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Where are your priorities man ? Don't you take your job seriously ? The tghings that you state above are the exact reasons that I do all the work myself.
Let me know where you work , and I'll make sure I NEVER go there
I can't even believe that you can have those thoughts ? Dont you have ANY professionalism
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Thu, 11 March 2004 02:44
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No - there is no plastic undertray to speak of, I took it off a while ago while I was working underneath the car and I haven't put it back on, I have a new one lined up that I'm going to put back on once I've finished fiddling with all the oil leaks So yeah - maybe I'm a bit dodgy as well
Having said that, I do mostly agree with bbaacchhyy in that I do the work myself these days because most mechanics don't care about my car as much as I do (even if you *pay* them to care about it for a couple of hours of their life).
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Location:
was adelaide now newcastle
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: Word of mouth
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Thu, 11 March 2004 05:55
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bahhhh consider it a "stage one weight reduction"!!!!!
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Location:
cambo
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Thu, 11 March 2004 06:03
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bbaacchhyy, ive stated where i work before, but ill leave that alone for a while i think hehehe
FWDboy, i do believe you got ripped off even if it were a good job. that is way more than you should pay. we did a rear main on one of those celicas not long ago, i think it was around $160, $200 at most. the timing belt costs $40 to buy genuine toyota, and the labour for that and a few seals should make the job anywhere near $800. but then again my workshop has very low overheads so we can keep our work cheaper.
anyone who is a car enthusiast should do as much work as they can do themselves, noone wil look after your car like you will. if you need work done, ask if you can stick around and watch. customers hang around all the time at my work, half the time cause they are fuckwits that ask you "did you tighten that bolt enough?" for EVERY bolt you do up, and half the time they just wanna learn which is fine by me
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Thu, 11 March 2004 06:35
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This is a generalisation , no pointing fingers here.
I think if you work on your car personally and leave bolts off , or dont replace gaskets, or do dodgy work etc etc then its ok.
But when someone brings their car to you and you charge them, you have to do a good job. If you lose a bolt or its 'too hard' to get it in, too bad, keep trying or replace the bolt. I'm sure the customer would rather have to wait another hour to pick the car up then get it back missing parts. I know I would.
I think FWDboy , you should take your car back and complain. If they tell you to F*** off, then let them know that you wont recommend people to them. I'm a manager for a computer company, and i know for a fact that a good 60/70% of our business comes from referrals from other customers. If we annoy a customer and dont help, we in the end lose out.
Just my 2c.. Hope you sort it out
Gaz
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Word of mouth
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Thu, 11 March 2004 14:12
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Yeah, I think it was about $800...which is crazy. But they did do quite a number of little jobs here and there but it was still an expensive job considering what they actually did.
In the end, at least my car doesn't leak oil anymore (except for the power-steering pump).
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