I paid $6,000 for a Transmission Swap from Paul. Here’s my story (NOT a happy ending)
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10-09-2014, 07:33 AM
#122
Intermediate
Frosty,
I am sorry that you had to endure this terrible situation.
Excellent documentation and write-up, your timeline was thorough and concise. You’re obviously very technically skilled. Luckily you have the skill set needed to sleuth out all of these issues and fix the majority of your electrical woes and uncover (and fix) some of the mechanical issues. A person without your resources would have needed to hire out all that work…which would have added insult to injury.
I am not going to enter into the clutch, or the dirty car debate. However, I think one thing is clear; a proper checkout was not done on this car before returning it to you. Furthermore, attention to detail seems to have been nonexistent. The sheer volume of things that were awry proves this.
As for not answering your phone calls until you changed your phone number, well that takes the cake.
Thanks for taking the time to share this…you have likely saved some other people same the anguish that you've been through.
Good luck on resolving all of your issues.
I am sorry that you had to endure this terrible situation.
Excellent documentation and write-up, your timeline was thorough and concise. You’re obviously very technically skilled. Luckily you have the skill set needed to sleuth out all of these issues and fix the majority of your electrical woes and uncover (and fix) some of the mechanical issues. A person without your resources would have needed to hire out all that work…which would have added insult to injury.
I am not going to enter into the clutch, or the dirty car debate. However, I think one thing is clear; a proper checkout was not done on this car before returning it to you. Furthermore, attention to detail seems to have been nonexistent. The sheer volume of things that were awry proves this.
As for not answering your phone calls until you changed your phone number, well that takes the cake.
Thanks for taking the time to share this…you have likely saved some other people same the anguish that you've been through.
Good luck on resolving all of your issues.
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10-09-2014, 08:01 AM
#123
banned for lifeOp you have indirectly just saved countless others from potentially the same fate. Im sure karma will be coming your way
Ps You deserve an award for how calm and collected you dealt with this situation. I would have been putting exclamations all over the place lol. You are more mature than most people out there and it definitely shows.
And we all wish you the best.
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10-09-2014, 08:42 AM
#124
Race Director
iTrader: (1)
Wow. Epic thread. Sorry Frosty this sucks.
Six grand for a tranny swap though. Ouch.
Six grand for a tranny swap though. Ouch.
10-09-2014, 08:48 AM
#125
'13 Hyundai Sonata
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 15 (12 members and 3 guests)
TLin401, 07typesjb, aIRpeACE, BillMFD3, bud_d, Due_Diligence, Frosty, Jackass, outersquare, TylerT, vietxquangstah
Frosty, did you get the 3k?
TLin401, 07typesjb, aIRpeACE, BillMFD3, bud_d, Due_Diligence, Frosty, Jackass, outersquare, TylerT, vietxquangstah
Frosty, did you get the 3k?
10-09-2014, 08:49 AM
#126
Turd Polisher
iTrader: (1)
banned for lifeOp you have indirectly just saved countless others from potentially the same fate. Im sure karma will be coming your way
Ps You deserve an award for how calm and collected you dealt with this situation. I would have been putting exclamations all over the place lol. You are more mature than most people out there and it definitely shows.
And we all wish you the best.
OP remained very calm & collected - good & well organized thread to boot.
I hate to see Paul go, as there is a side of me that feels he has done good work in the past and did great things for the J series over the years.
The fact still stands: Do shady shit work & placing partial blame on your customers is not how you keep a good reputation. The ban was well justified.
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Acura_Dude (10-09-2014)
10-09-2014, 09:05 AM
#127
I've known Paul for a number of years, and he personally saved me some good money when my Accord was in bad shape a few years back (head swap after a friend did a 2-3-2). His work was fantastic. And has lasted well over 130k miles. So I'm sad to read a thread like this.
All I can say to the OP is that I hope you get it worked out. It sucks to see this happen to someone in our community.
All I can say to the OP is that I hope you get it worked out. It sucks to see this happen to someone in our community.
10-09-2014, 09:27 AM
#128
UPDATE
Not to beat a dead horse, but for anyone reading who still has their doubts about the situation, I’d like to address Paul’s statements regarding my lack of willingness or desire to reach a resolution.
Quite frankly, this couldn’t be further from the truth. As documented in my timeline, it took me 14 days to make contact with Paul regarding my discovery of the transmission case modifications, and this was only achieved after creating a new phone number using a Virginia area code. I will reiterate that during the phone call on 9/14, Paul clearly stated that the transmission was NOT in this condition when he installed it into my vehicle, and that the modifications must have been performed after I reclaimed the car. I explained to him that nobody had touched the transmission since his installation, and that all I wanted was to receive the quality of parts and services I had paid for, and would now be forced to pay a local shop in order to accomplish this. He then told me, “You burned the relationship when you made me pay for a lip that I didn’t damage. Goodbye, Luke”, and proceeded to end the call prematurely while I continued to say, “Paul, don’t hang up on me”, as I sensed it coming.
I gave Paul every chance in the world to make things right with me before deciding that it was time to sound the alarm, and warn others of my experience through this thread. The following text messages were sent immediately after the phone call I described above:
October 5th
I gave Paul one final opportunity to work towards a resolution, by sending him this message via text AND Acurazine PM, which included my ENTIRE write-up from post 1 of this thread. He never responded.
October 6th
On another note, a member of DriveAccord.net ran a CarFax report for my transmission VIN and discovered that the loaner vehicle had almost 80k miles, not 42k as Paul had claimed in our early conversations. Honestly, this comes as no surprise to me, and I even remember sensing hesitation from Paul in purchasing this particular transmission. After nearly two weeks of searching for a 6MT since I had sent my $4,500 deposit, Paul had finally found one with less than 50k like he was looking for, and was now hesitating to buy it? I never understood his reasons for this behavior, but I think they are starting to become clear now. The only documentation of the transmission having “42k” miles is a text message that I sent to Paul, following a phone conversation I had with him after inquiring about the status of his search on 5/17. During this time, we were also in the process of scheduling a date for me to bring the car down to VA. (The "things" that I was having shipped to Paul's house included: aftermarket shifter bushings, Skunk2 knob, and a shift boot)
I apologize for my delayed follow-up with this thread. I was waiting for the $3,000 payment ($2,912.70 after fees) to clear my account before making a response.
Not to beat a dead horse, but for anyone reading who still has their doubts about the situation, I’d like to address Paul’s statements regarding my lack of willingness or desire to reach a resolution.
Quite frankly, this couldn’t be further from the truth. As documented in my timeline, it took me 14 days to make contact with Paul regarding my discovery of the transmission case modifications, and this was only achieved after creating a new phone number using a Virginia area code. I will reiterate that during the phone call on 9/14, Paul clearly stated that the transmission was NOT in this condition when he installed it into my vehicle, and that the modifications must have been performed after I reclaimed the car. I explained to him that nobody had touched the transmission since his installation, and that all I wanted was to receive the quality of parts and services I had paid for, and would now be forced to pay a local shop in order to accomplish this. He then told me, “You burned the relationship when you made me pay for a lip that I didn’t damage. Goodbye, Luke”, and proceeded to end the call prematurely while I continued to say, “Paul, don’t hang up on me”, as I sensed it coming.
I gave Paul every chance in the world to make things right with me before deciding that it was time to sound the alarm, and warn others of my experience through this thread. The following text messages were sent immediately after the phone call I described above:
October 5th
I gave Paul one final opportunity to work towards a resolution, by sending him this message via text AND Acurazine PM, which included my ENTIRE write-up from post 1 of this thread. He never responded.
October 6th
On another note, a member of DriveAccord.net ran a CarFax report for my transmission VIN and discovered that the loaner vehicle had almost 80k miles, not 42k as Paul had claimed in our early conversations. Honestly, this comes as no surprise to me, and I even remember sensing hesitation from Paul in purchasing this particular transmission. After nearly two weeks of searching for a 6MT since I had sent my $4,500 deposit, Paul had finally found one with less than 50k like he was looking for, and was now hesitating to buy it? I never understood his reasons for this behavior, but I think they are starting to become clear now. The only documentation of the transmission having “42k” miles is a text message that I sent to Paul, following a phone conversation I had with him after inquiring about the status of his search on 5/17. During this time, we were also in the process of scheduling a date for me to bring the car down to VA. (The "things" that I was having shipped to Paul's house included: aftermarket shifter bushings, Skunk2 knob, and a shift boot)
I apologize for my delayed follow-up with this thread. I was waiting for the $3,000 payment ($2,912.70 after fees) to clear my account before making a response.
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10-09-2014, 09:37 AM
#129
Burning Brakes
Glad to see you got your $3k back...
now that you were reimbursed half your $, and Paul is banned for life, it's time to move on.
Life is one big lesson... you live and you learn.
Good luck with your tranny rebuild. It will be great knowing it's done right this time.
now that you were reimbursed half your $, and Paul is banned for life, it's time to move on.
Life is one big lesson... you live and you learn.
Good luck with your tranny rebuild. It will be great knowing it's done right this time.
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WishaninjaWood (10-12-2014)
10-09-2014, 10:37 AM
#133
Stay Out Of the Left Lane
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I saw that too, but in his response to this thread he said he was moving.............
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10-09-2014, 10:38 AM
#134
Three Wheelin'
Thanks for posting a followup Frosty.
It's always a damn shame how the truth has to come out so ugly in these situations.
There's no point in saying "you should've gone this route or the other", what's done is done. You're handling your situation with a level head and also helping warn others of this guy's shady work. We can only hope that this latest story spreads across the other forums he frequents and stops getting customers. This obviously isn't the first time, but I think you're the first customer to go into such detail about your interaction with Paul. He only tried to right the situation until you pulled your trump card, not cool.
You'll get your TL running right again.
It's always a damn shame how the truth has to come out so ugly in these situations.
There's no point in saying "you should've gone this route or the other", what's done is done. You're handling your situation with a level head and also helping warn others of this guy's shady work. We can only hope that this latest story spreads across the other forums he frequents and stops getting customers. This obviously isn't the first time, but I think you're the first customer to go into such detail about your interaction with Paul. He only tried to right the situation until you pulled your trump card, not cool.
You'll get your TL running right again.
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Acura_Dude (10-09-2014)
10-09-2014, 10:48 AM
#135
Burning Brakes
^^ Don't mess with Acurazine. They will hunt you down 
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10-09-2014, 10:49 AM
#136
Glad you got something back at least, Paul has issued at least some kind of refund and has been banned for life, so I think it's best we just let the dead horse be dead.
Not sure who you plan on having do the work Frosty, but the guys at warrior racing in Tipp City look like they know what they're doing.
Not sure who you plan on having do the work Frosty, but the guys at warrior racing in Tipp City look like they know what they're doing.
10-09-2014, 11:10 AM
#137
Race Director
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Thanks for replying, Frosty. Glad you got the payment and it cleared. Too bad he didn't gift it so you got the full $3000. Oh well.
Hopefully that is more than enough to cover the repair costs and you're on your way to a fully operating 6MT TL. I hope you keep that car forever! Enjoy it in good health, Luke.
Sorry you had to go through something like this. I commend you for keeping your composure and documenting nearly every detail of this ordeal. It has certainly warned all of us to be weary of our dealings with others online.
Hopefully that is more than enough to cover the repair costs and you're on your way to a fully operating 6MT TL. I hope you keep that car forever! Enjoy it in good health, Luke.
Sorry you had to go through something like this. I commend you for keeping your composure and documenting nearly every detail of this ordeal. It has certainly warned all of us to be weary of our dealings with others online.
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Acura_Dude (10-09-2014)
10-09-2014, 11:17 AM
#138
Chapter Leader (Southeast Region)
Sorry to hear this happened to you. A few years ago I almost had the 6 speed swap done by him on my second gen tl, I was tired of replacing the automatics in my car. I had him make me a set of ported runners because everybody said he did good work. When I decided to have him do the swap there were a few red flags that made me decide not to do it. One was he was doing it out of his house and not a shop. The second was on the second gen the manual cl used a different mount that would not clear the auto headers. I kept asking him about it and he said it would be fine. I started researching and found a guy that used the auto mount and split the case. I mentioned it to him and he said it was still fine to use the auto mount. I decided to not take the risk even though it was done through paypal. I swapped in a 07 accord v6 transmission and took the money I had saved up for the six speed swap and used it to buy my third gen tl 6 speed. Reading you story makes me glad I didn't go through with it. He should have at least used a hose to rinse the car off with it being that dirty. Hopefully you get it worked out and running good soon.
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Acura_Dude (10-09-2014)
10-09-2014, 01:08 PM
#139
Moderator
Wow.
It seems this thread also caught Paul in at least one lie - he told Frosty he purchased the trans from a particular shop (which Frosty called and couldn't confirm the purchase), and then admitted in his response that he purchased the trans from a "shop near [his] house."
Note to anyone providing a product or service to someone else - If you have to LIE to cover yourself, it's you who's at fault, not the other guy.
It seems this thread also caught Paul in at least one lie - he told Frosty he purchased the trans from a particular shop (which Frosty called and couldn't confirm the purchase), and then admitted in his response that he purchased the trans from a "shop near [his] house."
Note to anyone providing a product or service to someone else - If you have to LIE to cover yourself, it's you who's at fault, not the other guy.
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Acura_Dude (10-09-2014)
10-09-2014, 02:11 PM
#141
I was screwed out of $3600 from Paula many years ago. I tried to recover the funds but his scandal thinking prevented me from doing that and the money was all lost. I now look at the situation in a positive way because had it not been for him screwing me, I wouldn't have ever began building these engines myself. In return, I've "taken" many prospective clients from him and have announced (somewhat recently) his deception to many people abroad. But yes, he took a large amount of money from me during a time I had very little. And he continued doing so for many years. Looks like his acts are beginning to catch up to him. 
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10-09-2014, 02:14 PM
#142
While everything is done, and I'm very glad Frosty received his money, I hope it is permanent. Frosty, please let us know after the 30 day time for paypal disputes if there was an attempt to charge back the funds.
Since there is speculation, I believe Paul found a 'great deal' on a wrecked car and bought it to save some parts money, which ultimately becomes extra labor money. Unfortunately, it bit him big time on this and he decided to try to get away with it for one reason or another.
I understand he has been banned, but has he ever actively advertised here? I had inquired about his supercharger, and decided not to purchase from him based on his poor communication efforts. He's just too much trouble to deal with.
Since there is speculation, I believe Paul found a 'great deal' on a wrecked car and bought it to save some parts money, which ultimately becomes extra labor money. Unfortunately, it bit him big time on this and he decided to try to get away with it for one reason or another.
I understand he has been banned, but has he ever actively advertised here? I had inquired about his supercharger, and decided not to purchase from him based on his poor communication efforts. He's just too much trouble to deal with.
10-09-2014, 02:51 PM
#143
Race Director
iTrader: (1)
^Nope. Just word of mouth AFAIK.
To be perfectly honest, all things considered, the ban wasn't the correct thing to do. IMHO.
To be perfectly honest, all things considered, the ban wasn't the correct thing to do. IMHO.
10-09-2014, 03:00 PM
#144
I forgot to expand on what screaminz had mentioned about the salvaged parts. It's a very common thing to find the threaded mount holes at the end of the transmission to be damaged from an impact and though the transmission can generally still be used, it is often not mentioned or overlooked when the transmission is used in a swap or sold outright. It appears Paula tried to remove the area that revealed uneven material from the break by cutting thus allowing him to install a spacer flat rather than on a jagged surface but messed up in the process of his trickery.
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Chisel (10-09-2014)
10-09-2014, 04:14 PM
#146
Moderator
10-09-2014, 05:33 PM
#148
Senior Moderator
iTrader: (1)
Considering what Astro said previously and knowing that you do work for some of our members without being a vendor, I would tread lightly... Just sayin. Sent from my iPhone using IB AutoGroup
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10-09-2014, 06:26 PM
#150
Chapter Leader (Southern Region)
10-09-2014, 06:50 PM
#151
David_Dude
Even your reply from earlier today is well thought out, documented. I guess Paul thought you were bluffing even though looking at the date of the texts you gave him warning well in advance. At least you got some of your money back.
to the OP
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10-09-2014, 08:09 PM
#154
Bottom line is Robb let's things slide as long as all is copacetic. He's not a Nazi about doing work using our forum via word of mouth and not actually advertising or having friends advertise for you. He only steps in once you do that as a non-vendor AND start fucking people over. 
10-09-2014, 08:32 PM
#155
I won't comment on the rest but this post is absolutely not true. You can easily trash a clutch in under 1 mile. All it takes is to glaze it in one botched hard launch. All it takes is to take off in the wrong gear. All it takes is continued "spirited" driving while not knowing how to rev match the downshifts, slipping the clutch on take off and between gears, to overheat the clutch. I think the OP mentioned a particularly spirited night.
I've personally destroyed an almost new clutch in 30 seconds when I decided to take it to the junkyard, I've written about it in the past. I've also worn a brand new set of tires down to the threads in about 1 minute. These things aren't normal but they're not hard to do either.
On the flip side, maybe the clutch got contaminated by one of the oil leaks (I admittedly skimmed through a lot of the thread).
I've personally destroyed an almost new clutch in 30 seconds when I decided to take it to the junkyard, I've written about it in the past. I've also worn a brand new set of tires down to the threads in about 1 minute. These things aren't normal but they're not hard to do either.
On the flip side, maybe the clutch got contaminated by one of the oil leaks (I admittedly skimmed through a lot of the thread).
Last edited by coopcoop30; 10-09-2014 at 08:43 PM.
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10-09-2014, 08:59 PM
#157
Stay Out Of the Left Lane
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Bottom line is Robb let's things slide as long as all is copacetic. He's not a Nazi about doing work using our forum via word of mouth and not actually advertising or having friends advertise for you. He only steps in once you do that as a non-vendor AND start fucking people over.
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10-09-2014, 10:03 PM
#160
Suzuka Master
iTrader: (2)
I was screwed out of $3600 from Paula many years ago. I tried to recover the funds but his scandal thinking prevented me from doing that and the money was all lost. I now look at the situation in a positive way because had it not been for him screwing me, I wouldn't have ever began building these engines myself. In return, I've "taken" many prospective clients from him and have announced (somewhat recently) his deception to many people abroad. But yes, he took a large amount of money from me during a time I had very little. And he continued doing so for many years. Looks like his acts are beginning to catch up to him.
