Totally agree with OP. I'm thankful that I'm able to do 95 percent of my own work (don't fab or do machine work). There is no way I could be in this hobby if I depended on people to turn wrenches.

What's worse is that a lot of Evo guys are enablers...supporting every move of these bogus shops. Very few that I'd trust!

 

no they don't. thats just you trying to justify your choice. line up a bunch of cars and see what kids/teens pick. they will pick sporty cars guaranteed. the muscle car thing is back too. mustangs, camaros, and challengers keep coming out with more and more hp. cars running on batteries are not the future. cars running on hydrogen are. watch top gear (UK of course) and see.

and while there are many incompetent people in this scene there are many who know what they're doing too.

 

Hybrids are popular with some, but a car going fast is not going anywhere.

 

sounds like u asked too much from one place and couldnt handle the wait. i learned if u cant pick it off the shelf expect to wait. usually is worth it in the long run

 

I was poking around in this thread since it was brought back to life and saw this post. I'm shocked. I know Adam (Evo8dad) is an extremely honest and knowledgable guy who is normally extremely efficient in his work. Second, I've used Paul at JNZ Tuning to source nearly every part on my build so far, and not only have they beat everyone's prices, but they've gotten me every part by the exact deadline on which it was promised.

I just wanted to share this, as I think that xpehbam's bad experience is not one that happens often.

 

Wow, what an idiot.. The OP was given a deadline by the person supplying the goods/service. It doesn't matter what he asked for, If you say you will do something by X you have it done by X. He doesn't have to "handle" the wait.

 

I was just talking about this very topic to Evan @ ESTuning in Tucson, Arizona. It is beyond sad that at the end of the day it is about the bottom dollar (for some) instead of the customer (like most). I make the majority of my money by getting deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan, and in this case, this is my 6th deployment. One of my biggest fears is dropping my car off at "x" shop with all of the parts I have purchased while deployed only to not have those same exact parts installed when I pick the car up. Heck, I am so paranoid that I would take detailed pictures of any and everything that I buy if need be. To the OP, my friend, I am with you as it is beyond hurtful for me to do what I do deployed while most people are relaxing back home sipping coffee.

 

Amen.

Shops know you'll pay til its right at times. They gamble on you that youll do it. My friend spent 10000 dollars in getting a built ej255 built. They used stock sti rods tuned his car and told him he should run it detuned due to stock rods. Do you think a person who drops money on a 35r kit builds a motor to be held back by stock rods"? They only had to say hey these are your short comings would you like to upgrade so you can run 35psi and meth like we know you're doing?

750 would have been a drop in the bucket and they wanted the job security ..

 

I'm not a business owner but I've learned that if you are good to customers....esp. car enthusiasts and you treat them right....even giving them a deal here and there they (for the most part) will be UNBELIEVEABLY loyal. At least thats been my experience.

Esp. with all the bad service everyone is having.

 

This. ^

Admitting you made a mistake and doing what you can to make it up to a customer can make you thousands of dollars down the road.

 

Yup. Similarly if word gets around you like bang people in the head for parts or labor prices......soon they will stop coming to your shop.

 

I had no problems with getting parts from JNZ try let them work on your car. That's when my problems began. With Adam he f***ed up my car twice so it's not like he never got a second chance. Plus the car was suppose to be completely done and tuned, and I got it with no tune and exhaust leaks all over the place. In the end I had to buy a new exhaust manifold to fix it. In his defense he did a good job on installing clutch in my friend's evo.

 

w.e. i get that concept but no reason to get fired up over it. plenty of other things to stress out about these days. deal with it and move on. dont go there anymore if u didnt like it....

 

Amen to you brotha!!!!! for me owning my evo for these 7 years already, i was all gun ho about getting the car worked on and what not, now really whenever i have to take it in to get something done, or worked on i literally at times dread doing it.

the wait of having your car gone for a week or more, people keep telling you someone will be done when its not, buying parts from certain vendors and they never show up on time..

good luck with leaving the evo tuning scene, im sure the bug will bite you with another car.
in my experience now, its always good to own a spare car or even two so you dont have to deal with your fast one. thats why i just bought a brand spanking new 2012 automatic toyota yaris so i can just drive it whenever and deal with the speed demon when i want to.

 

Thats why we kept my wife's IS300. Solid car and if and when the motor blows I will be puting a 2J in it (Apparently the 2001 IS is the only one that can pretty much run the motor with out any real modifications to the harness.

My wife has an STi so that and the Evo is our fun cars. I have amazingly been a lot more patient when I didn't have to bum rides off of her or depend on the Evo as my daily.

Modifying any car to me is crazy if you don't have something else to rely on, down time doesn't hurt as much and if you don't have the cash to fix it the way you want (like was the case for me year before last until Feb of last year) You can take your time and SAVE the money to do things the way you want instead of charging it or "settling".