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Location:
Perth
Registered:
August 2003
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Location:
Gawler, SA
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Thu, 05 February 2004 11:23
 
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Fuck that, your friend agreed for a $160 tune up not $1k. Some of the stuff they 'accidentally' broke should be their problem not yours. Id try my luck with a legal document from a lawyer which shouldnt cost much and it might work.
They cant keep your car, just tell them to send you the bill then ignore it for a while.
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
April 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Thu, 05 February 2004 11:24
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Did he authorize the additional repairs?Cause if he didn't then he don't have to pay.
Also make sure you get the old parts that they say they changed so you can see what they have done.
Basically if they break it then they have to fix it but in the case of the broken plug lead it could have been from old age that it let go.
But if it was all working fine before you took it there then get an itemised bill and go to someone to see about what can be done if anything.
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Location:
Gawler, SA
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Thu, 05 February 2004 11:31
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Last time I got an unexpected bill for $350. I wasnt asked if I actually wanted to do it, I went back and complained. After kicking up enough stink I managed to get the part I didnt authorise knocked off the bill. So I paid $200 for the rest of the job but I got the part ($150) for free.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Epping, Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Thu, 05 February 2004 11:42
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"spark plugs fucked up" usually means they fried them on the dyno
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Thu, 05 February 2004 11:44
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I simply would not pay for unauthorized work. And if they break something, well thats their problem, not yours.
My mother put her '92 Excell in to get serviced. The stupid fucks bled the breaks then backed it into a wall! Anyway, they panel beat up the repairs for free (fair enough) but do a shit house job, and then two years later when she goes back to sell it to them, they say it wont get much 'cuz the roof is damage from when THEY BACKED IT INTO A WALL! If I was my mother (I wasn't in to cars at the time this happened) I would have taken it back to them and got them to completely fix it perfectly or replace the car new for old... or sued them for the cost of a new Excel and cost of worry and inconvenience.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
sydney.au
Registered:
August 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Thu, 05 February 2004 12:11
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| draven wrote on Thu, 05 February 2004 22:42 |
"spark plugs fucked up" usually means they fried them on the dyno
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true story
man some "tuning shops"
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Thu, 05 February 2004 15:16
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sorry was speedworks not xspeed 
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Thu, 05 February 2004 23:04
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Ahh, was gonna say. XSpeed is usually very reliable, Speedworks on the other hand... 
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Location:
Adelaide, SA
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 00:00
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Did your mate get a quote for the $160 tune-up? In writing? If so he has a good case for refusing to pay bits they broke. If it was just verbal it is just a "he said they said" thing and it's not worth it.
Complain to the office of consumer and business affairs, also if the workshop has an RAA (or whatever you guys call it - auto association, motor traders association) sign then complain to them. Calling a lawyer will cost you for every sis minutes you talk to them, and everytime they do anything for you will also be charged in six minute blocks.
Do anything you can (legally) to get possesion of the car first. Say you'll be paying be the bill, pretend to be understanding about the issues, praise the work etc.... BUT Take duplicate keys, ask for a test drive to show you it's working, anything to put your mate in the drivers seat then piss off with the car without paying. They'll have to send you the bill and you can argue about it to your hearts content with the car in your possesion.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth, Western Australia
Registered:
December 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 04:35
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You need to change your first and subsequent posts relating to erroneous business names, you are commiting a form of slander as it stands at the moment.
As for the costs you've outlined, I understand the tune up costing $160, however I feel if your mate was thinking he'd get "the good spark plugs" for that price, he's kidding himself (normal spark plugs that need to be replaced more often than the higher priced platinum items, are only around $3 each and usually included with the tune up). Leads are also a replaceable item, what are the resistances on the remaining leads - this will give you an indication of the condition of the original leads, and wether or not all of them need replacing? The infomation given reads to me like your mate has asked for the boost controller, for which either way he would wind up paying for (he's probably got it cheaper than the business would have supplied it for anyway, as they can't add a markup to something that is supplied), and installation costs.
My only querrie in this infomation is the fact you've stated, it's taken three hours on the dyno to fit a boost controller?
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Location:
Compton.Sydney
Registered:
January 2004
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I supported Toymods
Location:
I renounced punctuation
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 06:58
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Oh yeah, don't hold back. Do a call out to da homies and go a big muddaphukkin' 1-8-7 on their skanky bitch ho asses.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth, Western Australia
Registered:
December 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 07:56
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| gianttomato wrote on Fri, 06 February 2004 14:58 |
Oh yeah, don't hold back. Do a call out to da homies and go a big muddaphukkin' 1-8-7 on their skanky bitch ho asses.
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yeah, cos WA is really like Western suburbs of Sydney 
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Location:
Compton.Sydney
Registered:
January 2004
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 07:57
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I will tomato boy
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
October 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 09:26
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| Callifo wrote on Thu, 05 February 2004 21:23 |
They cant keep your car, just tell them to send you the bill then ignore it for a while.
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actually they CAN keep your car till u pay,
unless u get a legal document saying the car has to be released ,
he had to have signed a document saying he authorises the said repairs, get the document and make sure it doesnt have a clause in it saying that said signature also authorises any other repairs,
trust me, i work in a new car service dept
as already said, get the parts, if these parts cannot be produced, then take legal action claiming undue expense and check to make sure said parts were even put in
and after a $1k bill, if it dont cut a sec off the 1/4, he better start reaming ppl
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Ademelaide, SA
Registered:
July 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 10:22
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now...i'm not exactly sure about this, i heard it a while ago, so some of the details may be a little sketchy....but...
i think, if you dont pay the bill, and there is also no contact from you for a month, they can send you a letter of demand for payment for storage of the vehicle, and then, if no contact for a total of 3 months, they can sell the car, for whatever price, get their money owed, including the storage costs, and give the (ex)owner of the vehicle the remaining cash.
dont quote me on this, i'll have to look it up...
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
October 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 10:38
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thats the basic jist of it, money can be recovered.
there is a MZ10/20 at a customer of ours' workshops, it has been there for a while now, i asked what was happening to it, the guy said it had a blown H/G, and that that the customer was going to pick it up soon, i went back 4 weeks later and the owner had in fact killed himself , and that they didnt know what was gonna happen
{his brother is soon gonna pick it up}.
i beleive that in that case had no one picked it up, the servo would become legal owner after a set amount of months.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 11:17
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If they quoted $160 for the repairs, that is all I would pay. I would give them the money and say "I didn't authorise any other modifications, and any damage you did to my car should be repaired free of charge"... and if that didn't work... legal asskicking time. Unless your friend was stupid enough to sign something saying they could do as many repairs as they needed to...
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 13:49
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he booked it like two months in advance to go get it tuned and boost defender installed (they ordered it that two months before). So the day he comes in they said they forgot to order it. at that time i would of gone somewhere else
i'll ask him if he signed a contract and see if he knows what it said like addissional repairs etc. But shouldn't they pay for anything that brakes "snaps" cause i've seen him drive this car and after drifting nearly every corner ever day since he's got it (about four months ago) nothing has screwed up till now.
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Registered:
March 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Fri, 06 February 2004 18:46
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Sounds similar to a place in Adelaide that I am very familiar with.
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Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 01:42
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It sounds to me like your mate wanted a $160 service & a FCD fitted which would cost $340 supplied & fitted, so the starting price was already $500, not 160.
Any like clint has said, spark plug leads & spark plugs are items that wear out & need to be replaced, particularily in a performance car. If your mate's not prepared to spend up on bits like this when needed, tell him to get a stock barina or the like.
Also, if you wanna have a modified car, but aren't prepared to learn how to do the mods yourself, prepare to pay up big time. I havn't heard about 1 "performance" shop doing a good job for a good price yet. Hell, I got totally ripped by Croydon Autosports, that's why I started doing everything myself.
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
October 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 06:06
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MOST of the time when u have to sign a form saying that u authorise them to said repairs but it also says shit about extras, since they rang your mate and told him shit was fucked and needed replacing, he said ok so fuck him, he should've got out his calculator and worked out how much he was up for b4 he said yes
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Location:
Sydney/Wollongong
Registered:
October 2003
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
February 2004
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 13:18
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| jackel wrote on Thu, 05 February 2004 23:16 |
sorry was speedworks not xspeed
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I'd be very careful what you say here.. it does edge towards slander/libel territory... (as does what i'm about to say )
Basically... it appears that these days, if you don't have anything nice to say about a workshop, you shouldn't say it...
Thats why, even though the previous owner of my car took it to XSpeed on occasion, I won't discuss them in public...
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 13:39
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Basicly anyone that sends there car to a "perfomance work shop" more then once is:
Ignorent,
Stupid,
Has too much money,
Is a tosser,
these people should not be allowed to own anything other then a stock car as it rolled off the production line!
Further more, I suggest People be licenced to own a modifyed car, or at least part of a approved car club that has a form of training for safe modification of ones car.
There are too many tools out there doing stupid shit that reflects poorly on those who goto the trouble of doing the right thing.
Allan
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Location:
Adelaide, SA
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 14:33
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Go on, tell it like it is Allan!!
Performance Workshop usually equals twice the price using mechanics that are half as experienced, but crap on twice as much! Most good mechanics are reccomended by word of mouth - and it can be hard to find a good mechanic who is reasonably priced.
Of course doing it yourself is always good, but there isn't always the time/space/tools/expertise to do it.
It's easy to get burnt by shoddy workmanship, overpriced repairs and overcharging - unfortunately slander and libel laws prevent any forums from having black lists of dodgy workshops.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 14:34
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Looks like this one touched a nerve for Allan.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 14:45
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Yes undoing performance workshops hack jobs on otherwise good cars is my hobby 
Allan
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 14:48
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Hmmm. I'll keep that in mind for when I fuck my car up at a shop...
On second thought perhaps I should just confer with you before doing the modifications myself.
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $1050
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Sat, 07 February 2004 20:05
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well in the end my friend ended up paying $700. And after everything they couldn't install the boost cut defender (something about his engine doesn't support it i dunno)
anyone put a boost cut defender on a 7m-gte? it came with instructions
well i'll have to think twice before taking my corona there for a tune up
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
February 2004
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Sun, 08 February 2004 01:25
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Doesnt the 7M-GTE use the Air Flow Meter to determine boost levels?
If thats the case, then you don't really want to be faking a low signal from that, at the same time your hitting over a bar of boost...
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I Supported Toymods
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
December 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Sun, 08 February 2004 03:54
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haha... Toyota did a similar thing to me... I wanted to get a log book so I got a service while I was there... they came back with:
Real Problem - Toyotas description - Price
split steering arm boot - split power steering box - $2500+
split CV boot - broken CV's - $450ea
their method of repair seems to show that they are not willing to repair parts of a car only replace...
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Registered:
February 2004
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Sun, 08 February 2004 04:21
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I can understand your frustration with the boost cut defender not being ordered, I understand the sales guy you would have dealt with is no longer working there.
Trying to make sense of your slander.
$500 odd initial cost.
Lets rephrase; you're whining about a $500 tune up costing $1050
Is the extra $550 unreasonable?
$180 for leads (If you leads are crap(hard & brittle) then they're due to be replaced, Seems like your mate agreed on the price, i've bought a set of 4 leads that expensive before)
$22.50 for top range plugs ($135 for 6) (which i also presume he agreed to buy at that price. If he didn't look after his leads no wonder the plugs were screwed).
What do you expect speedworks to do, start pulling plugs and leads off and testing them, making you pay for the time and effort it takes to test these before you're even on the dyno. Maybe strip down the engine and make sure there will be no issues with that once on the dyno?
Fair suck of the sauce bottle!
Instead what they did was realise your engine had issues, troubleshoot it, found pour maintenance to be the problem.
They offered a solution which your mate accepted; $315 in parts.
So $815 + time taken to diagnose and fix your leads and plugs and time to redyno and make sure it's tuned properly by one of the best tuners in WA on the very best dyno in WA.
Nothing seems unjust, and at the end of the day it sounds like you paid even less than that.
If you want cheap repairs buy a skateboard.
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Sun, 08 February 2004 06:08
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na i don't like skateboards 
na the thing is everything was running good before he took it in there "it stopped working on the dyno" first thing they said one of the spark leads broke. THen the next day they said the spark plugs were screwed they said you need these ones $22.50 each
then after just installing the spark plugs and cords another two hours on dyno for what reason two hours? they didn't tune anything
i would also blame my friend on some of it he just agrees with everything someone says
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Sun, 08 February 2004 10:38
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my mechanic did about $500 extra work on my monaro and told me about it when i went back to pick it up...
I gave him a flat look and he told me I didnt have to pay for it...
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Location:
Sydney/Wollongong
Registered:
October 2003
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Location:
Potts Point, Sydney
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Tue, 10 February 2004 08:46
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Dude, just rock up to the shop with a solicitor or a letter from a solicitor and they'll probably shit themselves. You can try hire one of them solicitors that dont charge anything unless you win the case
Thats my 2cents worth...
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Registered:
February 2004
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Tue, 10 February 2004 09:04
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"Dude, just rock up to the shop with a solicitor or a letter from a solicitor"
Take your hand off it.
$315 in parts,
$385 in dyno time, trouble shooting and repairs.
Most lawyers will charge more than that to write you the letter.
"They write about cases like these in the private eye handbook, honey. Something about a ten foot pole." - Ford Fairlane
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Tue, 10 February 2004 09:58
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| Conquest wrote on Sun, 08 February 2004 21:47 |
| Toobs wrote on Sun, 08 February 2004 14:54 |
haha... Toyota did a similar thing to me... their method of repair seems to show that they are not willing to repair parts of a car only replace...
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Ok not related to the above discussion on Speedworks...
I know exactly what you mean. For instance one thing Toyota quoted me was a new muffler, over $500.00 worth (said it was corroded right through). Took me all of 5 minutes with some polish to get it looking like new, and guess what? Not a single piece of corrosion to be found...
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toyota brookvale dropped my dads sw20 of a jack stand, bent a locator rod and dented the firewall and refused to admit it...
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Location:
Adelaide, SA
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Wed, 11 February 2004 00:10
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Before everyone get's carried away, remember the morale of the story -
If you want something repaired, get a written quote for the cost of repairs (itemised for each and everything). Don't keep adding in things like check this and fix that and install this on a verbal basis. Don't authorise further repairs unless you are happy with the explanation or have seen what needs doing yourself - and have another written quote for those repairs. Thus, there should be no causes of arguments when it's time to pick the car up. I've made this mistake before, and will never again.
Also, there's no such thing as a free lunch - these $160 tune-ups/services are a teaser to bring the car in and get you using the workshop, nothing more. Of course they find problems with the car, that's the whole point. It's like the free "28 point safety inspections". It's up to you whether you authorise the repairs, or get 'em done elsewhere.
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Location:
Sydney/Wollongong
Registered:
October 2003
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Registered:
May 2002
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Re: $160 tune up ends up costing $700 (was $1050)
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Wed, 11 February 2004 12:20
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no offence to any mechanics out there, but all slimy grease monkeys rip young people off for basic work anyone can do themself...
I took my car to get tuned at an electrician here in adelaide, he told me he WILL get my 3TGTE to run perfect, a month later he asks me to pick it up, charges me $480 for labour, no parts, engine still running same as when i dropped it off. Fair enough the job was difficult and he DID spend hours (@ something like $40 an hour) on the wiring etc, but it still stinks. [/rant]
i reckon if your dissapointed with a mechanic, whats wrong with warning other toyota owners that they've had bad experiences with the place??!?
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