Sob story

[240sxsilvia2]

So okay lettme tell you a little sob story
first off been wantin a 240sx for about the last 5-6 years never had the money tho and rearwheel daily driver not good idea in CT
My little story starts in July of 06
So i go to this "Great online store" that sells and builds 240s with sr20det swaps now the place is far away but they known for good work so I call ask if they have 89-93 hatch w/ maybe front s15 conversion, they say yes jus so happen they do so I say okay how much for this w/basic swap package, engine bay painted, and exterior painted they say 12000 (bout 1 G goes to shippin) shipped, and will be done end of Aug. I say great set up w/ eloan to payem.
Aug comes around I givem a call they say gonna be longer first motor they put in no good.....I think well thats good that it happen down there they say another 2 weeks
2 weeks go by...still not done they say they're waitin on painting another 2 weeks...
2 weeks go by still waitin on paint..
2 weeks go by car is done w paint but now engine is burning oil and runnin like shit (thats 2 engines) they say another 2 weeks....
finally nov. (begininng of Snow here in CT but we have late winter this year 06) They ship car I get it 2 day later bout middle of Nov. now...
I get car and I'm like WTF!!
1. Paint job shitty swirls and shit all over (i waited like over a month for this paid 900 dollars lokk like shit!!)
2. its missing the front emblem
3. missing squirters and antenna
4. still got tape from paint on it
5. the driver side seat is rusted all over where it bolts in so it moves everytime u shift
6.lights on interior don't work (dash)
7.key only works one way in door and ignition
8. have to press in clutch in just right for car to start
9.had used intake filter (so dirty that when I clean bucket is black w water)
10.used BOV (rusted as hell)
11.used couplings(some where actually cracked)
12.used IC pipes
13.MAF sensor wire from ECu was 4 feet too long could take out of engine bay and it could almost touch rear tire)
14. some other minor stuff i forget..
So I get this an I'm like wtf!!
Then I'm like okay at least I got and its fast
Then after 1 week it starts actin funny.. jerky, idling funny, some other shit i can't remember..
I call up place they say try this..try that.. I do nothing solves problem..
Then car just stops working one day while I driving (this is begininning of JAN jus 2 1/2 months later little over 2000 miles)
I say WTF try this...try that... I do find out cams not spinning when I try to start car...
I say F this you guys fix they say okay I pay for shippin down there they fix they sell for me I say okay...
I ship down there middle of Jan call them up week later and they say cam snapped proly from over rev (I drive this thing like pus never past 5000 cuz it road like shit since i got it)
I say Whateva u fix an sell they say okay
now it end of march car still not sold I call them they say that they can't cuz somethin bout me have loan on car..
I say fine fix a bunch of things then pay for half of shippin....
this was last week hopefully they redeem themselves
gawd I got screwed...

[Okinawa Drift]

HAHA! holy shit man! FUCK THAT, im next doing that, this thread taught me to do shit yourself, haha

hope you get it back working

[AJ1356]

oh yeah, that is why you dont do business with places far away and never buy a car unless you drive it and check everything b4 paying, good luck with it all

[ranger240]

was that the shop featured in a grassroots motorsports magazine article...

what kind of warrenty on their service/whatever did they offer you.. anything in writing stating exactly what your getting.. 12k is a whole lot of $$ for an s13..

[240sxsilvia2]

yeah I'm an idiot for trusting a shop thats why from now on I will do all of me own work at lest i'll know whats goin on then

Ranger240 are they're any clubs in CT??

[s13gold]

wtf that sucks....shittty asss work.
might you post up who did the work or what shop???

[snappy]

12k is a whole lot of $$ for an s13..

Shit yeah it is, I'd at least go to their base of operations and see the cars myself. I'd tell them straight up that the car wasn't as specified and that they need to give you your money back. If that doesn't work take em to court.

If you're spending 12k you could've just found a 240 hatch, bought all the parts separately, and found a local shop to put it together. Anyhow, hope everything works out for you.

[Okinawa Drift]

haha, yeah with 12k you can get a perfect s14/s15

but yeah snappy good idea, haha if they dont give your money back or fix it, court time!

[Cash]

You should have done WAY more research. You got ripped off. There's no way that car is worth $11,000. They took advantage of you. You should have used a little more common sense though. I'm sorry to hear that people can consciously rip others off who don't know any better. Do you mind giving the name of the shop so others will know to stay away?

[240sxsilvia2]

well it went like this
car w/ front end 5 grand
engine plus labor and parts 5 grand
paint 1 grand
shiping 1 grand
yeah maybe i coulda done it myself for maybe 2 grand less but I figured I wouldn't have to worry bout stuff not working.... I put too much faith in humanity
I WILL put the name of the swap shop if they don't give me what I expect

[eastcoastS14]

ha fuck yeah you got screwed....for 12k should really be talking to a lawyer if the car is junk and rusted out/a shit box there has to be somethin you can legally do...you should have at least got pics or went to see it while they were workin on it or at least had serious words with them as soon as you got it...seriously man good luck with that cause that fuckin sucks, i would be absolute ripshit if that happened to me..talk to the bank talk to a lawyer and get your money back

[Big Bronze Rim]

Man those prices just seem severely inflated. $5000 for a chassis with a front end conversion that has all the problems of a $500 beater car?! Yikes. Well, I hope you are able to get all of your issues sorted out. I don't know how much legal recourse you will have in this situation. It sounds like you learned a valuable lesson on this one. It pays to do your research, do as much work as you can on your own and be wary of shops doing that kind of work for you long distance. Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

[Matej]

You could've put together a nicer car for half the price. As eastcoastS14 said, you might want to consider taking legal action.

[Cash]

I'll just give you a quick idea of what $5,000 can get you. Last summer I bought a S13 fastback with a silvia front end, halogen headlights, 5 lug swap, z32tt wheels, z32 brakes, apexi coilovers, s14 seats, 180sx glass, redtop sr20det that ran perfectly, front mount ic, koyo radiator, FAL fans, 3" turbo back exhaust, safcII... I'm probably forgetting some stuff. Anyway, I bought that car for $5,000.

[s13rookie]

damn, that sucks. It always sucks to see a fellow enthusiast get screwed ( and a fellow nutmegger as that) you should threaten legal action, hope things get resolved for you


Also, there are quite a few car clubs in ct, i think a couple 240 specific clubs as well. most of the clubs i see you need pushrods and a mullet to join

[drift freaq]

I'll just give you a quick idea of what $5,000 can get you. Last summer I bought a S13 fastback with a silvia front end, halogen headlights, 5 lug swap, z32tt wheels, z32 brakes, apexi coilovers, s14 seats, 180sx glass, redtop sr20det that ran perfectly, front mount ic, koyo radiator, FAL fans, 3" turbo back exhaust, safcII... I'm probably forgetting some stuff. Anyway, I bought that car for $5,000.
that was a hookup unless the car you bought was beat. Basically something like what ccash listed above would sell for around 8-10k. 5k usually gets a clean chassis with a decent SR swap. Or 3-4k for a good chassis with a Silvia front end. Figure 3k for a clean stock chassis 91 up low mileage. Figure anythng under that at this time is a deal. If a fully modded car is done right with fresh paint and the whole nine yards i.e. lots of name bolt ons and whatnot it could sell for 10-12k My friends and I have sold cars like that. We stand behind what we put out there though. I am picky about my chassis's which a lot of members here who bought cars from me can attest to.

To the OP its too bad these guys fucked you over. I would have researched them carefully before going with them. I have built and sold cars to people out of state and never had a problem. Hell, I have even found and shipped cars to Canada for people.
I wish you luck on getting it sorted and get disgusted at the places like Proto Motorsports and whatnot, it seems the place you were dealing with is in the catagory. Again good luck.

[Phlip]

well it went like this
car w/ front end 5 grand
engine plus labor and parts 5 grand
paint 1 grand
shiping 1 grand
yeah maybe i coulda done it myself for maybe 2 grand less but I figured I wouldn't have to worry bout stuff not working.... I put too much faith in humanity
I WILL put the name of the swap shop if they don't give me what I expect
You know what?
My feelings would not be hurt if you actually put the name of the shop up and put it in the reviews section.
See, even if they DO eventually make good, the shit that you have gone through for the amount of money you've spent is ridiculous.
Now, on the other hand, the amount of money you have spent is also ridiculous. I don't know where you paid to have your car shipped from, but you could have driven to the Southeast (SoVa, NC, SC, GA...) and gotten a car without the rust of the northeast, driven it home and had SOMEONE in the Tri State do the work you were in need of, up to and including the paint and suspension and still have less than 12k in invested, especially in an S13...
Let this, as well, be a lesson on how you should shop in the future, I tend not to make big purchases if I can not "kick the tires," as they say.

[240sxsilvia2]

I have completly learned a good lesson here I like that most of you guys feel my pain instead of talk shit (cept whover put "Your pussy hurts. No one cares. Shut the fuck up." in the Latest Reputation Received of my profile)even though I know i'm an idiot for goin through this, also legal action is not really a posibility as I "got what I paid for" as what the Paperwork says IE "as is" the best part is that the shop that I got this from keeps sayin that they gotta rep and that they've done hundreds of these swaps....

[driftsilvias13]

got pics of the car?

[Cash]

that was a hookup unless the car you bought was beat. Basically something like what ccash listed above would sell for around 8-10k. 5k usually gets a clean chassis with a decent SR swap. Or 3-4k for a good chassis with a Silvia front end. Figure 3k for a clean stock chassis 91 up low mileage. Figure anythng under that at this time is a deal. If a fully modded car is done right with fresh paint and the whole nine yards i.e. lots of name bolt ons and whatnot it could sell for 10-12k My friends and I have sold cars like that. We stand behind what we put out there though. I am picky about my chassis's which a lot of members here who bought cars from me can attest to.

To the OP its too bad these guys fucked you over. I would have researched them carefully before going with them. I have built and sold cars to people out of state and never had a problem. Hell, I have even found and shipped cars to Canada for people.
I wish you luck on getting it sorted and get disgusted at the places like Proto Motorsports and whatnot, it seems the place you were dealing with is in the catagory. Again good luck.


Yea, the car was definately not beat. It was in great condition. I was able to sell the shell for $1,800.

[S14DB]

was that the shop featured in a grassroots motorsports magazine article...

what kind of warrenty on their service/whatever did they offer you.. anything in writing stating exactly what your getting.. 12k is a whole lot of $$ for an s13..
What I was thinking. Place seemed sketchy on paper.

Time to get a lawyer and get your money back. If anything they sold you an federally emissions illegal vehicle across state lines.

[ranger240]

Ranger240 are they're any clubs in CT??

ctdrifting.com is probably your best bet to meet s chassis owners in the area.. great bunch of people.. good to find parts and stuff too

a few of them have sr20det swapped cars so they'll be able to likely help you out

they used to meetup at the pike frequently.. not sure if they still do

checkout 240sxone.com too.. another local 240 site

goodluck with this car trouble.. an attorney would be a smart idea

[240sxsilvia2]

you know that the thing.. If I get what I want I won't go to an attorney then this whole nasty thing will be behind me an I'll have a car that If want even if it does reguire extra work.. Thanks ranger240
was that the shop featured in a grassroots motorsports magazine article...

what kind of warrenty on their service/whatever did they offer you.. anything in writing stating exactly what your getting.. 12k is a whole lot of $$ for an s13..
its not that place out in washington if thats what u mean...think more down south

[S13SilviaGirl]

Is it Proto motorsports out of Riverside, CA?

[Howard92884]

you know that the thing.. If I get what I want I won't go to an attorney then this whole nasty thing will be behind me an I'll have a car that If want even if it does reguire extra work.. Thanks ranger240

its not that place out in washington if thats what u mean...think more down south

The one in washington is Cruzin auto sales, they sell overpriced riced out 240's, don't know any other place though. I'm with everyone else should of just did it yourself and learned as you go. Well you live and you learn!:duh:

[420sx]

do more research
you know this would be a sob story if you did any work yourself. thanks to guys like you i have business. thank you god for people who cant do mechanical work. no, really. thank you

[240sxsilvia2]

do more research
you know this would be a sob story if you did any work yourself. thanks to guys like you i have business. thank you god for people who cant do mechanical work. no, really. thank you
__________________

yeah but you an this shop are hopefully different an u don't rip people off right....?
I never said that I couldn't do mechanical work just don't have time/tools
all i'm saying is that i expected a certain standard for the money that i paid and i got horseshit/scammed they only had to give what i asked for and be upfront with the quality and i woouldn't have any complaints
Look I just posted this cause I thought it was relevant to the import scene and I learned a lesson that i wanted to share with everyone else at the expense of making me look like a tard
Now since I'm done w/school I have more time cuz now i'm not full time student and worker jus full time job now...
So i have more time toi work on car, now I do all that i possible can by my self
I'll keep this open till I get my car back and am able to throughly review what has been done..

[420sx]

LOL. me? rip off? no. im talking about people who are paycheck racers like you.

no tools/time?? haha i got full time job, gym, full time school and im in my graduation year, and i run a shop. what the fuck are you talking about. you got no time.... lamest excuse.

excuses=lame. real men dont make them.

[240sxsilvia2]

wow that was quick..
like i said I didn't have time to put car together wanted it done in 2 months woulda taken me 8 months plus wanted sooner than later without the headaches (motorswap, paint)
I can do all the other basic stuff no proplem
plus I could finance car get everything all at once
But now I agree w/ u I really wished i done it myself so I would know more about whats goin on which is why I said from now on I do as much as I can by myself no need to be insulting

[myriad]

he's so angry

[S14DB]

Still think you would have been better off buying a shell and paying a someone you had more control over to do the swap and have a real body shop do the paint.


I can ether see this thread go in two directions. You sue the place to get your money back or a $12k S13. Or you create a review thread of the place.

If you just want a Pity Party I can just lock this now.

[Phlip]

wow that was quick..
like i said I didn't have time to put car together wanted it done in 2 months woulda taken me 8 months plus wanted sooner than later without the headaches (motorswap, paint)
I can do all the other basic stuff no proplem
plus I could finance car get everything all at once
But now I agree w/ u I really wished i done it myself so I would know more about whats goin on which is why I said from now on I do as much as I can by myself no need to be insulting
Check this out
Still think you would have been better off buying a shell and paying a someone you had more control over to do the swap and have a real body shop do the paint.


I can ether see this thread go in two directions. You sue the place to get your money back or a $12k S13. Or you create a review thread of the place.

If you just want a Pity Party I can just lock this now.

...That is basically what I said last night, adding the fact that you also chose to allow yourself to be ripped off for the dough by NOT getting it done somewhere closer, so you could at least drop by and stand over them and have more of a hand in your work if you weren't able to do it all yourself.

[AbsoluteZero]

Is it Proto motorsports out of Riverside, CA?

That wouldn't surprise me... their cars are crap! :loco:

[DJ_Sunrise]

since people have different standards of what "fair, good, etc" is.. i never take anyones word for anything. oh that shops great? ok. i let it go in one ear and out the other. heres the way i was taught to see it.. along with the technicians i work with, who btw have built some sick supra, mister twos, and celicas.. "why would you pay some jackass to work on your car? they're just human beings like you. if they can do the work, why cant you? what do they have, that you dont? they had to start somewhere, so did you. so, put the car on stands, and go to work." a few years ago i didnt even totally know what an oil change consisted of. at some point, none of us did. at some point, you knew nothin about nothin. start somewhere tho. you'll gain experience reading through forums, and doing shit yourself. my advice is find an fsm.. thats what anyone who will do work on your car does, cept for the 240 shops and all. if they can read a book, then i surely hope you can too :)
oh yea.. what scares me about doing my own work on my car (in the end i do it myself anyway) is the fear of something going wrong, and me not having a car for the next day. smartest move you can make is buying a beater, so that when you are working on your car, you dont have to worry about something bad popping up and not having the car the next day. is it just me or does something go wrong EVERYTIME.. honest to good... the only time ive never had something jump in my face was my sway bars and exhaust manifold.. lol. FSM + beater = the win :bigok:
-Bart

[240sxsilvia2]

Still think you would have been better off buying a shell and paying a someone you had more control over to do the swap and have a real body shop do the paint.


I can ether see this thread go in two directions. You sue the place to get your money back or a $12k S13. Or you create a review thread of the place.

If you just want a Pity Party I can just lock this now.
Yea I know that now I'm sayin last year that was my reasoning
No pity party pls just want to share my horrible experience
alright got the car back looks and sounds great so far..
Paint fixed
new BOV, pipes, intake filter
clutch fixed
handling better than i remember
rust not bad at all in trunk just surface
so far i'm happy will do review after couple o weeks

[azndoc]

^^^ well glad to hear that your some what a little more satisfy with the current condition perhaps. But take this as a lesson learned perhaps. GL with the future of the car.

[speedgod^s13]

Yea I know that now I'm sayin last year that was my reasoning
No pity party pls just want to share my horrible experience
alright got the car back looks and sounds great so far..
Paint fixed
new BOV, pipes, intake filter
clutch fixed
handling better than i remember
rust not bad at all in trunk just surface
so far i'm happy will do review after couple o weeks


I'd still be pissed. Even though they fixed, SOME of the problems, you still paid 12k for a rusted s13. Did they ever fix your seat, or you still riding roller coaster, style? :aw:

I can kind of relate to your story, although I didn't spend nearly as much as you did. When I first got my s13, I didn't know jack about 240's, let alone swapping an sr. I blew my sohc, and picked up a redtop. Since it was my daily, I couldn't have it down for that long. Some guy on a local forum, pm'ed me, telling me that he could swap the motor for 750. Not too bad, I thought. Being the idiot that I am, I agreed. He had a turbo set-up, that was on a KA, so he asked me, if I wanted to buy a front mount, and dp. I said sure, why not, since it was pretty cheap. I got the car back, a week later, expecting the worse. Turns out, the dp, was homemade, and the welding was horrible. Front mount, wasn't in that good condition, either, but it does the job, and it was a big spearco. The swap, was actually pretty clean, and the car still runs fine, to this day. Will I ever take a chance like that again? Not in this lifetime. The hard part for me, is the fact that most of my friends, are into Honda's. So, when I need info, I look here, of google. Having friends, that are into the same cars as you, is a really big help, which I don't have. But, I do try to learn on my own, and I have, although I wish more of my friends, had 240's.

[Jon Michael]

So...what was the shop??? If this really was as big a hassle as it sounds, you should tell us so you can maybe save someone the same problems as you had. Also, you can always file a report with the Better Business Bureau.

[420sx]

I'd still be pissed. Even though they fixed, SOME of the problems, you still paid 12k for a rusted s13. Did they ever fix your seat, or you still riding roller coaster, style? :aw:

I can kind of relate to your story, although I didn't spend nearly as much as you did. When I first got my s13, I didn't know jack about 240's, let alone swapping an sr. I blew my sohc, and picked up a redtop. Since it was my daily, I couldn't have it down for that long. Some guy on a local forum, pm'ed me, telling me that he could swap the motor for 750. Not too bad, I thought. Being the idiot that I am, I agreed. He had a turbo set-up, that was on a KA, so he asked me, if I wanted to buy a front mount, and dp. I said sure, why not, since it was pretty cheap. I got the car back, a week later, expecting the worse. Turns out, the dp, was homemade, and the welding was horrible. Front mount, wasn't in that good condition, either, but it does the job, and it was a big spearco. The swap, was actually pretty clean, and the car still runs fine, to this day. Will I ever take a chance like that again? Not in this lifetime. The hard part for me, is the fact that most of my friends, are into Honda's. So, when I need info, I look here, of google. Having friends, that are into the same cars as you, is a really big help, which I don't have. But, I do try to learn on my own, and I have, although I wish more of my friends, had 240's.

from what i understand you need new friends. theres a few members on here from hawaii

[speedgod^s13]

from what i understand you need new friends. theres a few members on here from hawaii

My friends are cool, but yeah, having new friends who are into drifting would be cool too. My very first car was a Honda, but when I got my 240 a few years ago, I never looked back. I'm sure, that when I get my license back, and I drive my car again, i'll meet up with some folks. The scene is pretty bad in Hawaii, because our only racetrack, closed down. Hopefully, another track reopens.

[kawika219]

My friends are cool, but yeah, having new friends who are into drifting would be cool too. My very first car was a Honda, but when I got my 240 a few years ago, I never looked back. I'm sure, that when I get my license back, and I drive my car again, i'll meet up with some folks. The scene is pretty bad in Hawaii, because our only racetrack, closed down. Hopefully, another track reopens.
who did your swap??? and are you the dude with the gray coupe???

as far as taking cars to shops, most people in hawaii work on their own cars but take it to shops to get it tuned. I understand that some people just dont have time, but id rather do things for myself and with friends so i know what would go wrong with the car.

[GoodOl'S13]

so who ripped you off? this is pointless without the shops name

[speedgod^s13]

who did your swap??? and are you the dude with the gray coupe???

as far as taking cars to shops, most people in hawaii work on their own cars but take it to shops to get it tuned. I understand that some people just dont have time, but id rather do things for myself and with friends so i know what would go wrong with the car.

I'm the guy with the faded red fastback, with the camo action primer hatch.