CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

grab a cup of coffee and follow me on my journey.

i began by confirming an order with dr. evil / road master transmission in june 2006. i was told they could not do a core exchange with my because the transmission model number did not match anything they are familiar with, this meant sending my physical transmission to them. ok, we removed it and their courier picked it up. they received the transmission not because they told me, but because i had to call to make sure it was received. during their opening of it never ONCE did they mention anything was missing that they needed. he described the condition of the transmission, i asked for a full written analysis so that i could have a record, i received nothing. i would also like to note that the transmission sat around for a week at their facility because they were installing a new transmission dyno. i dont know why they couldnt just run mine on the old one. also i was worried they werent familiar enough with the new one yet. needless to say i got my transmission back after about 4 weeks.

it looked good, the torque converter was painted red and the bellhousing was painted silver. but it was painted with all the sensor on so the sensors were covered in silver paint.

upon installation the torque converter did not match the flywheel. the torque converter was far too small. i contacted dr. evil and he asked for me to send it back. i overnighted the torque converter and 2 CL-S flywheels (just to make sure on our part) at my expense. i once again had to call to make sure he received them, and he admitted it was the wrong torque converter. i had to wait an additional week because they could not find the right converter. he said they got a new torque converter and send it out to get rebuilt.

so now we had the right torque converter and our flywheels back. everything bolted up just fine, but we noticed something strange. the neutral safety switch was missing. i contacted dr. evil and asked if he knew anything about it. his reaction was simply, we sent back the transmission how we received it. BUT he claims EVERY sensor and solenoid was replaced. so where is my neutral safety switch? my shop had no reason to remove that single sensor. we ordered a new neutral safety switch. not to knit pick, but the dipstick was also not sent back. this had to be ordered as well per my expense.

finally we had the car up and running again. we had issues getting the neutral safety switch set up initially, but it was figured out. sometime early august 06 it was complete and the car ran fantastically. ALSO my motor was rebuilt at the same, so i did not even engage vtec for almost 1,000 miles. the brand new tranny was broken in properly. i did not beat on it because both the motor and tranny were brand new. they were not abused.

sometime at the end of october of 06, the car was acting up. ocassionally when i would come to a stop, the car would 'slip' out of gear as if in neutral, and it would just rev. it would not engage back into gear unless i put it into 2nd gear manually. i wanted to eliminate any other possible problems before i blamed dr. evil. i brought it to multiple places and we analyzed the car over and we fixed other things. NOTE at this time, we did not receive ANY codes for the transmission on both code readers and professional scanners. we pulled up a couple codes for the catalytic converter and o2 sensors, all of which were fixed. by december of 06 the problem was still there, but the car was free of any codes. i finally contacted dr. evil.

i described my problem and he said to check out the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor). Our cars have 2 on the transmission. So i brought the car in and we checked the wiring for the VSS. All was fine, so we replaced the 2 sensors. The problem was still very apparent. Saturday, December 30th, days after speaking to Dr. Evil and replacing the speed sensors, my car threw a code. P0740. Holidays made times tough to get into a shop. I pulled the code with my reader. January 2nd I contacted dr. evil. I did not get a reply until Jan 3rd. I had left my cell phone, but i had no missed calls or voice mails from him. I told him the code i pulled and he still insisted on electrical problems.

I brought it to a local transmission shop where they pulled 2 or 3 codes. I contacted Dr. Evil again informing this of him. He get infuriated that i didn't tell him i wasnt using a scanner initially. When in reality it had been LESS THAN ONE WEEK since the CEL had initially came on and the car was driven VERY little. He said i probably made things worse and that it wasn't his fault. I told him I could not wait 2-3 weeks for the whole warranty process, but that i thought it was reasonable that i get some reimbursement for simply the R&R and/or shipping & handling. He refused all of this and said that he only warranties the work on the transmission itself. That's where our conversation ended as he hung up on me. Needless to say i'm not dealing with them anymore, and i don't recommend anyone else to either.

Louie11

I hate to see after months of waiting for your project to be done and something like this happens. It's very disheartening. I hope you get something out of them and I hope this doesn't discourage you from going further with the rest of your plans. Goodluck too ya

pits200

WOW< Sorry bout your luck. I noticed through alot of other threads that you are in more advanced stages of upgrading the CL than most other people on this board.

I hope you get some kind of financial restitution for all of this and I will be sure not to recommend Dr.Evil to anyone who speaks of them.

I like this thread, its the only way to stick it to a business when they aren't local and refuse to resolve an issue.

Make sure you get it out there and send them the link to the ACURAZINE website and this thread and tell them about all the GOOD publicity they are getting!!!!!!!!!!

That will make them think twice.

CL Platano

That sucks man so whats your next step?

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

my first step is to examine the transmission. it is being determined if mechanical and/or electrical problems are the culprit. if it is mechanical, a full list of what is wrong will be provided by my current shop. at that point, i'm going to contact BBB.

i'm only seeking reimbursement for the original missing parts, torque converter overnight charges, and labor and/or parts for this current fix.

directly from their website:
"All Dr. Evil Street/Strip Transmissions are warranted for 12-months and includes warranty labor rate coverage when installed by a professional repair shop. "

i was told over the phone that they do not cover any charges if installed by someone else.

o1s

wow, i was thinking about buying one of their tranny's when mine bit the bullet. guess i'm not fooling with any shitbag companies like that. so what "exactly" is wrong with the design to make them keep failing?

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

this has been discussed numerous times. it's a flaw in the design of the clutch packs and cooling system.

my shop at the moment assures me it will be bulletproof. i sighed and rolled my eyes as this is not the first time i have heard this. i will know more tomorrow. he said he was excited to open it up and see what the previous guy did. lol.

i called this shop at about 4pm so i was not expecting service until tomorrow at the earliest, he said bring it down right now. he took a drive almost as soon as i got there. he said leave it today, and i'll have you out by friday if i don't need any major parts. he called me around 5pm, it was already on the lift, he was asking me for my wheel lock key. to me, THAT IS service. no bullshitting. i dont have time for crap like dr. evil. if you have no interest in working me to stand by your product, then i dont have any interest in working with you anymore.

BigLizard

Holy crap...I was going to go down Dr. Evil's road as well...looks like a now. I'll have to look elsewhere.

bigblackjohnson

Sorry to hear bout this. I was hoping to hear good news from you one day on this transmission build, but I guess not. Anyways, I hope you get whats owed to you. Good luck.

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

Jeremy is a pretty fair and understanding person. I have to believe there is some serious negligence on the part of Dr. Evil for it to go this far. I hope everything works out for you.

PhilB81

Wow, you seem very calm explaining this, I think I would need 4 keyboards to type all that, probably a new desk too.

Too bad we can't put that on their website as "customer experience".

It's terrible to hear a story like this, especially after you spend so much time and money into this car.

Well I hope all turns out well for you, best of luck!

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

thanks for the support guys. anyone who has ever dealt with me knows im very fair and im not out to screw anyone over. i just want a working transmission in my car. i went through every possible reason NOT to blame dr. evil, but when it came down to it, the tranny would not work. it serves me no purpose to spend money to pull the tranny and send it back to them when they couldnt fix it the first time. so i learned the hard way never to deal with companies not within driving distance.

ThinJim

iTrader: (3)

Sorry to hear that, Dr. evil is just hurting himself by not offering to stand by his product. Go with the BBB and pass the word on to the honda forum as well. keep us posted.

Lord Helmet

This sucks man. I'm real sorry to read about this. I hope ghost_masterCL (Eric) sees this. I know he was planning to go this route as well. I hate to say this but I could have sworn I read that back in the day the Dr. Evil tranny was crap as well. Regardless, I hope you get it worked out. I'd be pissed. I'll also be sure to let anyone looking to go the Dr. Evil route to steer clear. I can't believe he hung up on you.

fsttyms1

I was turned off by them when they wouldnt even hint to me what they did to make it "bullet proof" or what they did to solve the problem. I asked many times when my 5th trans failed many times but they wouldnt revile to me any thing and in the end i told them that with out them telling me what they did or what they would do to solve the problem i would not spend that much money on their trans. I was not happy with them then and i still dont recommend them. I went 6 speed manual instead.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

if i had more time and money, i would by all means go 6 speed. im in the process of finding parts. but at the moment it wasnt an option. for the price i was quoted for a working transmission, i had to go for it. plus he had my car on the lift at the end of the day, that sold me.

withoutcomp1

iTrader: (1)

That sucks mansorry to hear that, What place are you using now?

BigLizard

Where's the accord guys when you need em...I want to know what they have to say about Dr. Evil as well. 02AV6, where ya at?

I've talked to Dr. Evil as well in the past, and the salesman seemed a lil off key in wanting to build my tranny for me. They don't want my money, fine, I'll go somewhere else.

-And @Dr Evil stating their trannies are bullet proof.

danielsmi

I guess I won't be EVER getting my tranny done by Dr. Evil! I guess that's why he's called Dr. Evil, you should've going into it with a name like that.

dalostpinoy

that does blow man. sorry to hear about all the problems with the aftermarket tranny. hopefully they lose some customers because of this and realize that customer satisfaction should always be the number1 priority.

hopefully you get this resolved with or without Dr. Evil

All Mine

Good luck with this, Jeremy. I hope you get what you deserve from that company. You didn't take your car to Cottman, or anything like that, did you?

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

no cottman, lol, i dont think we even have one of those around here. comparison to that would probably be like an AAMCO. the place i went is a local/private place. he swore up and down it wouldn't be a problem. we shall see.

Dead-Fox

wow. I was actually giving this Dr. Evil Tranny some serious thought as my fix... I'll look elsewhere.

cltypeSLOW

how has the response/support been on the other forums?

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

i posted on dodgetalk.com because a lot of guys over there use dr. evil, i've been a member there since may 06, but my post was eventually deleted.

update: my tranny shop now says this was put together terribly, there are 2 filters on the transmission and he said it doesnt look like they were ever changed, they were clogged up and looked original. he said the oil system was being starved. he said the torque converter looks like something out of a junkyard. he mentioned a lot of other things, but i plan to have a full description by tomorrow or saturday.

MSW 6SP

After all this terrible customer service im glad to hear you found someone honest(or so we hope). Cars can be frustrating

All Mine

Holy shit. May be all Dr. Evil did was paint those two things? That's terrible. You Definately need to call the BBB on their ass and get some major restitution.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

the exact words from my shop "it looks like they just cleaned it up and spray painted it"

i'm really not trying to exaggerate, im being 100% honest. at first i was worried that i didnt send it back to dr. evil, but i realize i would have blown $1,000+ of my own money just to get another tranny that will crap out.

BigLizard

Time to SUE!

That's rediculous...

bigblackjohnson

No one should pay SO MUCH for a half assed job. Bulletproof!? . Sue the fools!

AznX TL

im pretty sure the courts would tell him to get the warranty work done

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

point being, they said they were going to do something, and they didnt provide. my transmission shop is a qualified professional, so i dont see why his analysis of the transmission would not be valid. he has no reason to rip me off, he does plenty of other business.

chirik

Not good it comes from Dr. Evil since there is no single failure with 4AT as I've read on Accord forum and guys are happy about it. Very weird and look for legal advice.

El Cid Acura

I would certainly look into legal routes for this matter. You really need to. Hey, no one in business (in this case shoddy business) truely listens until you hit their wallets. Do it.

johntypes

sorry to hear this can you sue him?where is he located ?

hemhaw

Suing seems unlikely, given the high cost of litigation and the low amount of Clean's damages. Maybe he could represent himself in small claims court, depending on NY laws.

I would check with the AG's office in the state where Dr. Evil does business, and at least get a complaint on file. It may be that there are others and adding yours might cause some action...

Good luck and thanks from all of us slushboxers for taking one for the team.

cltypeSLOW

damn jeremy. looks like the av6 boys arent givin you any love over there. i dont understand where they base their claims that your tranny should be bullet proof. the 5at and 4at are completely different mechanical devices. quite frankly the 4at could be built bulletproof and the 5at NOT. and for 02av6's story it seems a bit stretched.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

yea like i said, i never lied or exaggerated any of my claims. that would just be ignorant on my part because if this information ever came up in a legal situation, it would make me look foolish. so believe what you will, i never said the 4AT arent bulletproof, but the point of sharing my experience is to just give people another look at the situation. i never expected my online posting to cause dr. evil to give in to me, it was only to share information with other people. so i say, do what you want, use dr. evil if you want, but just think about it long and hard if you are not local to them.

fsttyms1

With every one saying that they were bullet proof i looked into them, but when they could never tell me what or how they intended to solve our issue it turned me off right away. I didnt care for their business practice and the way they treated me

YeuEmMaiMai

i would not use them since they ddon't reallly know too much about the 5at. The problems with the 4at are very easy to fix compared to the 5at.......