Shops to Avoid In My Area Thread

[Interlagos]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing. I read your post 3 times because
I could not believe my eyes..

I knew Maxx was used before you even shared. I know
the issue running this set-up. I am very familiar with S14/S38
aftermarket engine management system. Using this set up
gives me the indication.


Not providing dyno data with honest number demonstrates
absolute failure and disrespect to the customer who brings
busyness.

I am sorry to hear that and thanks for sharing this, people
needs to be aware of.

Regards,
Anri

The only dyno numbers I ever saw were long after the fact when I realized they’d posted about my car on instagram. See below photos. They never could explain to me why they ran the car with the wrong injectors in the first place… the build was discussed at length and planned for long in advance of the car arriving at VSR. They had it for 5 months and only upon the dyno tuning session did they apparently realize their mistake, then took another 2 months to get the correct units installed, then more issues suddenly and “randomly” popped up after 7+ months when the car was about to be sent back to me… I could go on and on, but it’s not worth it.

One day I’ll get around to fixing their mistakes and enjoy the car again, I’m just not there yet.

[raneeya85]

Shops in our area are okay, though I always feel like I have to pay 1k+ every visit. lol

[EthanolTurbo]

Apologies, Anri — I don’t log into S14 very often anymore so I never saw your questions.

My issues with VSR are bigger than just the tune and for those reasons I’d never trust them with my car again, so sending it back for them to correct was never an option. When we started having issues and I pushed back Mario decided to make things personal, so needless to say my only goal at that point was getting my car and any $ possible back as quickly as possible after it had been there for 8 months.

The car received a new chip for the ignition and is running the cap/rotor with the Maxx AN for fuel. The tune related issues I had were a bit hard to describe, but essentially the car felt like it didn’t respond to the throttle inputs I gave it in lower RPMs. When driving at slow speeds or being in a parking lot and quickly going from 1st to Reverse back to 1st the RPMs would surge up and kinda hang there for a second even though I was no longer giving any gas. It also just never felt as strong as I’d expected given the extent of the build. Beyond that I got stranded and had to be towed the first time I drove the car upon getting it back because some bolt came out of the shift lever or something and I lost the ability to change gears on the interstate. Mario said this had nothing to do with him even though they changed the driveshaft, clutch, flywheel, etc. and installed a different short shifter than what the car went to them with. I also had issues with the rear diff/axles once I got the car back and again, Mario denied this had anything to do with them even though there were no rear end noises when they got the car and they specifically did other rear end work… oh, the car also came back with scratches on the bumpers and Evo front splitter that verifiably weren’t present upon VSR’s initial intake photos. Edit: I forgot, they also used the wrong injectors even though this is a common build for them and ran the car on the dyno for multiple runs before realizing their mistake… I never got true dyno numbers from them after that.

There’s more to the story, but it just pisses me off thinking about it and I don’t want to type a whole book here today. At this point I haven’t seriously driven the car in over a year because I just don’t trust it and that sucks, because my dad bought the car when I was in middle school and I learned to drive in it. The car was our long term project together and the VSR rebuild was my dad’s dying “wish” for me to keep the car forever. It was one of the only things my dad and I saw eye to eye on and IMO Mario ruined that for me, especially when he decided to tell me he was doing me a favor by continuing the build after my dad passed since they’d been the ones to discuss it up to that point (even though the title is in my name and I paid all the bills he sent). Now the car is just an expensive, yet somehow worthless, paperweight that sits on a battery tender in my storage garage.

Wow you should sue these scumbags. What a bunch of fucknuts. Send the car to Anri so you can get it sorted!

[Interlagos]

Wow you should sue these scumbags. What a bunch of fucknuts. Send the car to Anri so you can get it sorted!

I was able to recover about 10-15% of the money I paid them which was enough of a “win” for me at the time. Obviously the situation still leaves a bad taste in my mouth though!

[M Coupe]

If you need bodywork done, AVOID International Auto Body & Paint in San Bruno, CA. The guy who runs the shop is a sleazebag and a hack. They repainted one panel for my friend and could not get it right still after three (yes three) attempts! Johnny Kotik will tell you it's an easy job (don't they all) and that it will only take a few days. It took him a month and the paint was way worse than before my boy's car went in. Don't be tricked by the Yelp pics from eons ago which show P-cars and other enthusiast cars outside the shop. It's all insurance work now.

[Obioban]

VAC Motorsports

Terrible in every way. A few examples:
-street park cars where they get hit, don't take responsibility
-owner picks up his kids at school in customer cars, and allows them to eat messy food in the car
-used too much sealant, and "fixed" it by drilling out the oil passages and calling it good (as in, not even an oil change after)
-in the ghetto, so terrible to get to/from
-completely inept at tuning

Avoid.

[Casa de Mesa]

EDIT. Re-reading my original post, I edited it down to this:

I recommend people avoid Everything Euro in Winston-Salem, NC.

PM me if you need the reasons why.

[bigjae46]

VAC Motorsports

Terrible in every way. A few examples:
-street park cars where they get hit, don't take responsibility
-owner picks up his kids at school in customer cars, and allows them to eat messy food in the car
-used too much sealant, and "fixed" it by drilling out the oil passages and calling it good (as in, not even an oil change after)
-in the ghetto, so terrible to get to/from
-completely inept at tuning

Avoid.

Aren't they in South Philly? Because I couldn't think of a better place in the world to street park cars...

[Obioban]

Aren't they in South Philly? Because I couldn't think of a better place in the world to street park cars...

Yes.

[Nate047]

The only really bad experience I've had was with a body shop called Fleiner Automotive Company in Crenshaw. They ordered the wrong parts even though I gave them detailed part numbers and links to buy the parts, charged me for their mistakes/oversight on the parts, took ages to complete the work, returned the car to me without everything installed, and the actual paint work came out murky and just not very good in the end. They tried to return the car to me with a MASSIVE paint run on the side too. Like, it was PAINFULLY obvious and the owner was like "what, I don't see anything"

[TosM3]

The Stance Shop, fucked up my suspension by over torquing my suspension and fuck up many other cars. I found out because my friend in a bmw group chat. Never again. SMH all I have to say dont ever let social media fool you.

[bigjae46]

The Stance Shop, fucked up my suspension by over torquing my suspension and fuck up many other cars. I found out because my friend in a bmw group chat. Never again. SMH all I have to say dont ever let social media fool you.

Why would you ever go to a shop called "The Stance Shop"?

[TosM3]

Why would you ever go to a shop called "The Stance Shop"?

I needed to raise my car because I needed to take my car on a trip. I didn't have time to do it myself. I felt like raising a car an inch wouldn't be a big deal. Learned the hard way. Believe it or not someone with a f80 m3 recommended them to me.

[bigjae46]

I needed to raise my car because I needed to take my car on a trip. I didn't have time to do it myself. I felt like raising a car an inch wouldn't be a big deal. Learned the hard way. Believe it or not someone with a f80 m3 recommended them to me.

Holy shit...get them to be a forum member so we can make fun of him.

[Cronenberged]

Holy shit...get them to be a forum member so we can make fun of him.

🤣🤣🤣🤣