Ok, first off.....how yall doing? Long time no posts !

Alright, now for this bull shi. situation that almost has me ready to kill someone.... for real.

I haven't had the best of luck with my TL (with the ladies....GREAT LUCK!), replaced the motor and had the tranny rebuilt 3 times in a year .... a year ago.... along with 2 radiators and the blower motor and egr and a/c are all broken just like my headlight. I have come to terms with these problems and it will just be that much sweeter when I win some car shows/competitions and I can rub it in everybodies face who told me to get rid of my baby (litterally hold them down and grind it on their face.... haha bitches) .

Well in late may early june I got off the freeway and I was at a stoplight. I was on my way to the dealership to get some honda ATF and then to the tire store (F*** LES SCHWAB) to get my bald tires rotated. Well, I get the green light and I'll be damned if my car wasn't dragging something, sounded like the fender, and thats just what I assumed it was! To my horror I could barely get the s.o.b. into park, then out of park.....then it didn't matter the car was in whatever gear it wanted to be in. Well I wasn't dragging anything at all.....F########! I am a genius, so I hobbled the car to a parking spot and did a little bit of diagnostic procedure. The car wouldn't budge in reverse unless I GASSED it hard, then it felt as if I was rolling over something, but it was in the gears. The shifter would lock up a little here and there and so I just admitted defeat and called the MOST EXPENSIVE BEST OLDEST MOST REPUTABLE Transmission service shop in N.Cal, SR Hydramatic. I was ready to eat the $3k for a tranny, 4th one in about 400 days thanks to the second most expensive shop in the area.....they know what they are doing....let me tell you!
Whatever, I drive like a man so I can deal with the consequenses like a man. Fresh tranny=nascar speed!

Well I get a call from DB (short for Dickhead's Brother...it will make sense in a minute). He says that it's all good, it's just the differential.... probably going to cost less than $1,500 to fix.....HELL YEAH!!!!! ONLY $500 LABOR...HELL YEAH!
##### MID JUNE #####

DB even let me find my own part ("let" HA....... you try finding a diff. for the 2.5). Well, in between me finding the part and the previously mentioned phone call I recieve another phone call.

"Um....Do you have the reciept for your wheels?"
"huh?"
"blah blah blah....blah blah....mexicans.....blah blah....hole in fence..."
"what?......oh wait your fuc$ing serious...... SWEET!!!!! NEW TIRES!!!!!"

My rims where stolen from the shop, I had the reciept so hell yeah, new wheels and tires. The people had dropped their wallet when they stole them and so the shop said "we'll probably catch them".

I made 2 phone calls and waited 20 minutes and I was on the phone with one of the people who stole the rims, I had the person who found them detain the people until I confirmed that I was going to be covered by the shop......somebody would have to be hurt or "persuaded" to give them back because I didn't call the police....catch my drift? (The shop doesn't know about what is mentioned in this paragraph btw.) I recieved an apology and the 2 of the 4 people ended up needing medical attention...in an un related incident. I am also told that someone told them when and where to get the rims....the car was in a bay every night but the night they were stolen.

I got the part....$400 used differential....shipped to the shop....June 21...TOLD THE SHOP TO HURRY! Now I was dealing with Dickhead (dickhead and his brother own the shop) The shop said they made a "mistake" and the labor was going to be $1000, they had to pull the tranny.
######JULY*********
So I am forced to borrow a car, drive 40 miles, borrow a truck, drive back with my stock wheels, take the truck back, drive the car back.... $50 in gas. By forced I mean the shop refused to do anything but drop my car on the pavement if I didn't get something to roll the car around on. I got the check for the wheels the same day. They don't make the Arelli Reigns anymore so I got some sic CABO wheels, made about $500 profit....AWESOME?! Right?!

JULY 21,
Get a phone call asking me to come sign an RO.....OK, about time! At this time I request, and pay extra, that the previous rebuild/work was thouroughly checked out, I had already found 3 out of like 6 MAIN MOUNTING BOLTS less than finger tight and the car never ran right after the 3 rebuilds that were done last year.
July 23,
Get a phone call saying that the differential was done, but the car was still just as fuc#ed as before.
Dickhead
"Come get your car out of here, you already got your god damn rims stolen."
Me
"Well if it is still broken, just replace the tranny!"
Dickhead
"No, come get this car out of my shop, if you want to replace the tranny, we'll deal with that another time"
Me
"Can it drive?"
Dickhead
"Uh....sure it can 'drive'"


So I go to get the car, dickhead is there and I pay him $1000 labor and don't even get ANY kind of feedback or guess as to what is still wrong with the car. The car gets started with a jump and I immediatly notice an exhaust leak and I get dickhead and tell him that there is a problem.

Dickhead
"The car was towed in here, not running. We didn't touch the exhaust AT ALL, and I am already $2000 out of MY POCKET, so it is not my problem."
Me
"I know my car very well, I am sure that there is a problem that wasn't there before so just make a mental note and I'll check it out at the house."
Dickhead
"Yeah, sure I'll remember. There is no way I am fixing your exhaust, we didn't touch it."

WHAT A DICKHEAD!

So, it is now July 29 and my RIMS arrive to my house via Wheelsnext (great site for rims....awesome!) I go to install them and this is where the shit gets sour.

While installing the rims I check the work and also try to figure out what the problem is. I find that the tranny pan bolts are finger tight (half of them anyways) and I have a fit! I get my celly out and I call the shop while under the car.... I used the light that was beaming from under the passenger front seat. WTF, WAIT A MINUTE....WTF?! Yeah, thats right.....a hole in the underbody of my car.....from a bottle jack. All four corners were caved in by jacks, and the exhaust. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! !!!!

DB
"We'll just beat it down and weld it shut for you"
ME
"No thanks, I am not satisfied with a half ass repair, the vehicle will be in IASCA comps., structural integrity is a good thing if you don't want the frame to rattle"
DB
"Well I'll come take a look in a day or two, I am still trying to look up what the problem with the tranny is"
ME
"Why are the tranny pan bolts loose"
DB
"We didn't touch the tranny pan"

THEY CHARGED ME $30 FOR ATF....without dropping the pan....?

MONTH LATER AFTER TONS OF PHONE CALLS........

DB
"I am going to bring my welder on over and check out the damage"
Me
"I have ONE person who I trust to work on my car in light of recent events, so there is no need for the welder"
DB
"Look, if you don't let me do this, my brother will just say FUCK YOU SUE ME, HE IS A DICKHEAD! He has expensive corporate lawyers, you'll just end up spending a bunch on court and lose."
Me
"I am over $50k into this car and I am prepared to do what I have to do to have it like it was before your shop got it."

Somewhere in there DB mentioned that DICKHEAD had taken a picture of the car with the jack under the floor....THE JERKS DIDN'T TELL ME THERE WAS DAMAGE!

The damage is such that I can't move the Drivers seat at all and it took me 2 hours to get it out.

I spent 1400 dollars to have my rims jacked, and my car totalled by underbody damage and I don't even know what the original problem with the car is.

I am sick to my stomach, almost in tears about this... WHAT DO I DO?

OH YEAH.....The shop got rid of the diff after I told them to hold onto it when they had it and they said OK.

THANKS!

 

Is this a 2.5 or 3.2?

NO excuses for paying that kind of money. Its ridiculous, you can buy these transmissions in junkyards (they are NOT in high demand)

 

It's a 2.5, and I know about the used tranny availability, which is why is was just saying.....REPLACE THE TRANNY!! The shop wouldn't replace the tranny after they did the differential, I straight up said...."I am going to leave it here and you can just print up an RO for a Tranny R&R." They said to get my car off of the lot. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Here is a pic of a LITTLE OF THE DAMAGE.... There is TONS more....

 

Its like they punked me for my rims, f@@@ed my car up, charged me up the A## and then said "dude, get this POS out of here, it's all screwed up and the rims got stolen"

 

u should even be able to find them on ebay...

 

Find a tranny? Well the whole thing is....I spent all the money on the differential and was willing to have them r&r, but they refused...which makes sense after finding the underbody damage. Now I am stuck with a broken down, totalled (front floor pan $1300 rear Floor pan $1,200, installation probably $3k), and they won't pay me for the damage. They are being bold about the whole thing, like it is my fault and I am lucky to get the wheels replaced.

 

 

BTW, I am trying to figure out how to go about getting paid for the damage and the repair that they don't have the old part for....court? CA BAR?

 

Get a lawyer and get as much documentation as you can.

 

Take them to small claims court and sue for damages.

 

wait a minute....$50,000 in a 2.5??? um....am I missing something?

 

Purchased Car in 2002-2003 for :
Purchase price : $20,999

 

Purchased Car in 2002-2003 for :
Purchase price : $20,999
Warranty: $3,000
Week later new brakes : $1000
6 mos. later: Radiator pops....Dealer charges me $600 to tell me the warranty didn't cover the radiator ....oh and the motor was toast : $600
Radiator+motor+install: $3000
Tint: $500 (bastards charged me for lumar bronze tint and installed charcool sh#t)
Rims + proxes4 : $2400
Transmission rebuild: $2800
Transmission rebuild:$900
Transmission rebuild+radiator+solenoid: $1600 (radiator was a scam, the one taken out had 2k miles on it)
Proxes 4s:$900 (yeah tires....but this was only 4k miles after I bought the first ones.....when you smoke tires on big wheels it looks awesome....the wheels are turning REEEEEAL slow but the smoke just POURS!)
Exhaust : $350
Stereo: $3000 (I have probably gone through AT LEAST $20,000 in stereo equipment in this vehicle, I am just counting the one that I am currently wiring up while the beast is broken.
Differential: $1400
New rims : $1200
STILL NEED:
EGR: $100
Blower Motor:$700
Cable reel : $300?
Headlight: $300
Fender: $350
Paint: $7000
Underbody R&R: $5000?
Hood:$400


I WILL WIN SOME KIND OF EVENT WITH THIS THING......I am all kinds of stubborn.

 

to get a lawyer or small court will cost you money, who knows what the out come will be...
If I were you, I would sell the car or parts to make some money.
From the list, there are still a lot more work needs to be done on the car.
For 6k to 7k, you could get a very good TL.

That's just me if I were you.

 

Why in God's name have you spent so much money on this car??

 

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dude sounds bad.. sell your car and replace it with another one. Your probably better off.. and PS if you bought warranty.. isnt the tranny covered in that?????

Also I paid 20gs for my TL back in 1999 where did you go that you purchased yours for 21k in 2002. I got mine with 18k miles on it. Practically brand new.

Either way... the shop should not be acting like that. You should have not paid shiet of what they have done...

Good Luck

 

You guys are kinda harsh geez.

Ok. I work at a shop (won't say which one because we are not a sponser =)) a customer brought in their TL to us due to noise from engine. We found the crank pulley was coming off and had torn the keyway out of the crank shaft, destroying the crankshaft. Customer had had timing belt replaced apx 4 month ago by another shop. Customer called shop that installed belt, owner of the shop basically told him to get bent and too bad. Customer then called shop and kinda acted like he was making a sales call.

"Who is currently handling your shop insurance for your company?" he asked. The gentlemen told them who it was and told him "we are happy with company x and please remove us from your calling list."

Our customer then went ahead and called this guys insurance company and told them what had happened. The insurance company called me, we discussed whta had happened and what could have caused the problem. The insurance company (without even calling the shop) deemed that their insured was at fault and paid us to replace the engine assy due to the damage ($4800.00).

I don't know if this will help you but maybe it will. I would reccommend either taking photos (assuming the car is not driveable) and taking them to a body shop for an estimate to repair floor damage. Save all the recipts from work you paid for. Get your cell phone bill to show when you called DB and then maybe try the insurance thing.

Another option would be to find an attorney that will work off of....(can't remember what its called but it basically means they don't get paid unless you get paid-they usually charge a little higher percentage but if you don't have the cash to pay for one up front it would be an option) . Now, don't go stumbling into an attorney's office without all the documentation and pictures because they will need to see that they have a "winable" case.

Remember this as well, Judges usually don't know an oil filter from and air filter (not insulting-just the truth) and will generally side with the owner of the car rather then the shop (provided that the documentation is good) seeing the the shop is suspose to be the experts.

Anyways, sorry for the long post, hope it helps.

Good Luck

 

That's a great piece of advice rom LSBoogie.

 

Ooooooooh. That's the answer I was looking for! Your information just made my day. Many thanks.

Honesty and integrity are more valuble than money. Even if I get paid for all this, I am still going to stop at nothing to put public shame to the individual and the business who have caused this. I know EVERYBODY says they are going to do that...but this is the last straw. Even if it is just a full window decal on my rear windshield or something, I'm just a genius like that.

Thanks for all that replied, my discontent has been momentarily suspended and that is priceless.

BTW, I bought the car from Prestige Acura, and the warranty company screwed me over with the help of the dealer so that I couldn't legally persue either. The motor that the dealer said was cooked was tested and sold for $600 by the person who swapped it, honesty and integrity...yup.

New wheels, I am not very happy with them.

 

Oh, and my TL had 65k on it when I bought it and the motor was "broken" at 85k.

 

no offense but it seems like you may need to get rid of the car and buy a new one... i think you may have overpaid from the getgo...

i bought my 98 3.2 in 2001 for $16,100 with 57k miles on it...

i think u should listen to the advice of some of the members on here, try to get as compensated as you can with the damages from the shop, part this car out, and look for a different car...

there is a link to a 96 3.2 on ebay with 56k miles on it going for pretty cheap... no matter what, best of luck to you...

 

The only other thing i can think of is that, more then likely, the damage to the floor pan was caused by the guys that stole your wheels. If you have full coverage on your vehicle, your insurance company would cover the damage under the comprehensive section of your coverage.

Unfortunately, with the BB value of these vehicles, this would more then likely total this car. At that point your best bet would be to take the check, take off all your goodies and either buy another 1G and put on all your toys or sell the add ons and start on another project.

Comprehensive claims usually do not effect your insurance company rates so you should see no increase. What you would want to tell your insurance company is that you initially believed that the only loss from the theft was the wheels which were replaced from the shop. But, upon further invesigation, you discovered the damage to the floor pan which the shop is not going to repair.

What usually happens then is that your insurance company will pay you but go after the shops insurance to reclaim their financial loss. You get out of having to do the leg work and you still get a check. Granted, you can't get pain and suffering from the insurance company but it is probably the easiest way to end the ordeal.

Good luck again

Mark

 

FULL COVERAGE!? HA! I am still starting my business, I don't even have insurance. The damage was surely from the rim theft, I am also upset that dickhead knew about the damage but didn't tell me, there is separation between the body and the frame.

I will never sell this car until I win SOMETHING with it. I am a stubborn MF, I was raised by my grampa....the honryest son of a gun there ever was. I own a car stereo shop, and I can sort of understand that people are always pissed about spending money on their car, but I was just ready to pay pay pay this time, with a smile. Now I am just pissed, I am not even mad that my car is broken and I have no money.... I work to much to drive it anyways. I will beat this, I am honestly ready to go the distance this time no matter what...because if I don't get any money than I will have to get my respect somehow and that is not what I want to have happen.

Thanks again everybody and I will keep yall posted.

 

Oh, and I love my car... its not her fault she is too complicated for these folks to work on.

 

lol... love the dedication ... GL and keep us posted!

 

we need more die hard members!!! lolz..