Protomotoring = Scammers

[dc05sd]

I finally decided to post up my experience with these people to try and save anyone else from going through this. Also if any one has gone through this and has any info that may be able to help me out that would be great.

I bought a car from ProtoMotoring about a month ago and as of today I am getting my car back not running and have to resort to a lawyer to get this siuation handled. I purchased a completely stock 1995 240 se from ProtoMotoring for 8000$ and did this in hopes that i wouldn't have any engine problems since everything was stock other then body work. I was given a 30 day warranty. Now i live about a hour and half drive away from them so its not convient for me in anyway but i was fine with this thinking i was getting a decent car.

This is where everythign began i was told my car was ready to pick up so i drove up there to pick it up and was told they just needed to clean the inside out and it would be ready. Two hours go by and i start wondering whats going on and then i find out it had no thermostat installed in it so they needed to install it. Three more hours pass by before my car is ready which at this point i am pretty annoyed after waiting 5 hours but I have my car now at least. I noticed it started running hot after it was driven for a long period of time so i take it to my mechanic to get everything checked out and find out it has a blown head gasket. Not to mention before this i stopped in to get some food locked my car and come to find they didnt even give me a key to unlock my doors, just a key to start it, so i had to use my AAA to come get my car unlocked and had to go buy a autolock to keep my car safe until they sent me my key.

At this point i call them to see what they want to do to fix this. They want the car back up there so they can look at it so i use my AAA membership to get it towed back up there. I also get a ride up there myself to make sure this gets fixed along with all the things they didnt have done before such as license plate lights, front turn signal's, door key etc... It was inconvient but it sounded like they were going to take care of it plus they needed to finish the paint job which we had planned on wet sand, etc... So i thought at least i could get my paint job taken care of while they fixed the rest.

A week goes by I call to check if its done and he says it is ready and I can pick it up. I get a ride up there to get my car and made sure they knew this time i was coming from a good distance so that it would be ready. I get up there he(James) tells me it is almost done two hours go by he leaves to get my key which was suppose to be ready. Then they take us out back to show us whats done and my paint job is no where done and they are working on all the things that were already suppose to be done turn signals, license plate lights, etc. We wait another 3 hours and at this point my ride and I are pretty annoyed ecspecially after being told it was ready to pick up and they tells us it will be at least another two more hours. At this point were so fed up we were just goign to take it how it was. Right before we tell them they say its done which it wasn't i get a car with huge swirls all over it but i don't care i just need to get home so i take it how it is. As for the blown head gasket they tell me i didnt have a blown head gasket and that the problem was air pockets in the coolant system so i just take their word for it and let them know im getting it checked out by my mechanic as soon as i get back in town.

I was glad to finally have a car again, getting to work at 5 in the morning with no car is not very fun. Everything seemed fine other then the fact it was running super cool and took a long time to warm up. Now i take it back to my mechanic have them check it over and they find it still has a blown head gasket and that they have taken the thermostat out(explaining why it took so long to get to operating temp) which i had to replace the first time i took it to the mechanic because it was the wrong one . So i see that they deliberately took out the thermostat to cover up the blown head gasket because the thermostat was what was causeing the pressure in the engine putting hydrocarbons into my cooling system therefore superheating my water and making the head lift and overheat.

This whole deal seemed sketchy and very shady from the day i signed the paperwork and now all the thoughts in the back of my mind were confirmed that they were trying to scam me. I call them and tell them they have fixed nothing my car still has the same problem and they need to fix it right; they say they will put a new head gasket in and resurface the head. I use my AAA for a third time and get it towed up to them. I have already spent close to 300$ getting their work checked out, have a incomplete paint job, and have used almost all my AAA calls that i have for the year. I figure ill give them one more chance because i just want my car and do not want to have to deal with court. They tell me it will be done in one week which was yesterday. Not to mention contacting these people are a joke after i called them and let them know about this issue for the second time they started not answering my calls while i was trying to figure out what was going on with my car and when it would be ready. I call them two days before the day its suppose to be ready they say we will bring it to you on the day it was suppose to be ready. I call the next day to make sure it still coming and that they know where to take it, no answer I try contacting them all day ,left messages, no calls returned. I finally get ahold of them the next morning and they tell me they had tried using some sealant to fix the head gasket and after a long test drive they found it was doing the same thing and it needs a new head gasket. I am very annoyed because this is what was suppose to be fixed the very first time i brougth it up and they keep trying to ghetto rig it so they can get it out of there hands and my warranty expires. James tells me they need it for two more days to put a new head gasket in. There was not much i could do so i agree being as its only two more days and getting mad won't help anything.

I get a call from the mechanic today( yesterday was when they told me they needed two more days) there at the machine shop and say that it will cost 350$ to get everthing resufaced. We were suppose to get a 30 day warranty which was written on the first reciept but after signing everything i realized that he had put 50% of the cost of repairs will be covered by me on the warranty paper i had signed and at that point there was nothing i could do to change that. They tell me that i need to cover half of the 350$ to get it fixed pertaining to the warranty after all the crap they had put me through. I was not ok with this at all, that would have been fine if something had broken while i had it but they sold it to me with a blown head gasket and they need to cover all cost for that repair. I am getting my car towed back to me today most liekly with my motor in pieces because i am not waiting any longer and told them the next call would be from my lawyer.

Now i have to deal with the courts and i have never dealt with this kind of thing before so its not gonna exactly be easy so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I was told to report them to the Bureau of Automotive Repairs but after looking at there sight it has been cut from the state budget and there website says to contact the Bureau of Consumer Affairs which is my next step as well as the DMV for selling me a car that wasn't safe for the road as to the laws in California. I believe I was very fair with these guys i tried giving them chances to fix my car right and all they tried to do was rip me off. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND PROTOMOTORING TO ANYONE. The way they run their business is a joke not answering calls, telling me things are fixed when they aren't, etc. I will be updating this as things progress hopefully i will have a runnign car soon or all my money back from what i have spent on this whole ordeal.
Modified by dc05sd at 3:26 PM 8/7/2008

[Dittoz7]

2005 240sx?

[1unar3clipse]

EDIT: DAMNIT Beaten to the punch ^

not to be a douche but...whats wrong with this sentence?

I purchased a completely stock 2005 240 se from ProtoMotoring for 8000$

I see an error in the sentence that would have made me stop right in my tracks before dishing out 8k.
Modified by 1unar3clipse at 3:27 PM 8/7/2008

[Dittoz7]

240sx Production Years.

1989-1998

Pictures?

A Little Research Goes Along Way...

[dc05sd]

haha sorry had to much running through my head 1995

[dc05sd]

http://www.protomotoring.com/n....html

Thats my car on there sight. All this just happened less then two hours ago so of course i still have alot of research to do. Im just seeing if anyone has gone through this and what they were able to do about it

[Dittoz7]

You Have All The Right To Be Mad.Lawyer Is A Must.

But Still 8k For A Zenki.Should Of Been Swapped For That Price.

Edit: Saw The Picture, Nice Car But Not Worth 8k.Even With All The Stuff They Did.

[1unar3clipse]

My best advice is to ask a mod, or contact Greg for tips on how best to go about this.

I've personally only been to proto, I have no real complaints about my experience..

[dc05sd]

Ya i didnt realize how much it was overpriced until after i should have done more research on that aspect. I was running out of options to get to work and had to make a quick decision. Most definately a bad decision on my part.

[1unar3clipse]

A quick decision to get to work is like an $800 beater, when you make a quick purchase that involves a used car from 1995, $8k, and the pressure of needing transportation to get to work you probably weren't thinking things through entirely.

**** happens to everyone at some point, you should calm down and get ready for the battle because any instances like this that will involve a lawyer will involve a chunk of your time, money, and patience.

[koukicody]

the guy wanted to hire my friend before (who will remain nameless) and he basically told him to just get the cars running good until the customer takes it off the lot. then its their problem.

[kornmanz]

I wouldnt have bought from the site from even looking at their site. They dont even speak proper english.

"U like we can bulid one...."

[dc05sd]

A quick decision to get to work is like an $800 beater, when you make a quick purchase that involves a used car from 1995, $8k, and the pressure of needing transportation to get to work you probably weren't thinking things through entirely.

**** happens to everyone at some point, you should calm down and get ready for the battle because any instances like this that will involve a lawyer will involve a chunk of your time, money, and patience.

It really has been a big learning experience for me unfortunately it had to be with so much money but next time i will think things throught alot more. Ya it will be a long battle thats exactly why i didn't want to it go this far but we will see what happens hopefully we can just resolve this quickly.

[brandonlgilbert]

I hate to hear about your experience man. I previously worked in the car business as a salesman for about 3years, and I have a friend that owns a dealership. It is common to get a 30 day OR 1,000 mile warranty with 50/50 coverage on drivetrain only (motor & transmission). That means that you pay 50% of parts and 50% in labor and the dealer pays 50% parts, 50% labor on repairs. However, it was very unethical, to say the least, of them to sell you a car knowing that it had drivetrain problems. Not to mention trying to cover them up by taking out the themostat and using sealant.

I hope things turn out in your favor, and for what it's worth, the car looks pretty nice.

[1unar3clipse]

It really has been a big learning experience for me unfortunately it had to be with so much money but next time i will think things throught alot more. Ya it will be a long battle thats exactly why i didn't want to it go this far but we will see what happens hopefully we can just resolve this quickly.

I feel ya, I've made some mistakes in my life that would have been done-over if possible.

Have you contacted Greg? his advice is worth gold.

[MastaYu]

I wouldnt have bought from the site from even looking at their site. They dont even speak proper english.

"U like we can bulid one...."

[dc05sd]

No i have not contaced greg yet i'm still pretty new to this site how would i go about doing that or do you happen to have his email?

[dc05sd]

I wouldnt have bought from the site from even looking at their site. They dont even speak proper english.

"U like we can bulid one...."

Ya i just noticed that thats there new site though just got put up a couple days ago.

[ThuG LyFe]

damn you got got bro.

they seemed to have sold a lot of their cars some of them look pretty good maybe you just got the rotten apple of the bunch...

i guess you have no other option but to sue them because it sure looks like they aren't gonna straighten anything out anytime soon...

[dc05sd]

Ya i think i just may have been the unlucky one casue they do seem to have some decent stuff but i haven't heard from any other people who have bought cars from them so who knows.

Update: Went up there to get my car towed down there were parts all over the place,i hope i got them all, i had to go get my battery out of another car no idea why it was in another car. On top of that as I am standing there a little kids comes runing out gets in my drivers side starts crawling through my car and come out the passenger side. The head seems to be pretty warped hopefully still fixable but I will find out tomorrow after i take it to the machine shop.

Thanks for the responses guy makes me feel better about this situation. Nico club gets

[FeintMind]

Right in the first picture there is one simple thing that is a sign to shoddy workmanship and that they clearly dont care:

Take a look at the bumper in the after-paint picture. notice the chicken wire in the main opening, painted red.

Who leaves chicken wire on the bumper when they paint it?

Just plain tacky.

I hope **** works out for you though man, seems like youre getting the worst screwing I've heard about for a minute.

[sb253]

that site has shady written all over it IMHO. Good luck man

[tctomasc]

HOLY ****!!!! MAC DRE!!! Why do people from WA love the bay so much?? I mean I know were the **** and all. lol, I'm moving to WA in 2 weeks man, what part of WA you from?

Man, I am really sorry to hear about this ****, but unfortunately (An d i really hate to tell you this) the lawyer/court fees are going to way exceed the price you paid for the car. I'd ask a lawyer what he thinks it will cost, but I think you may find that biting the bullet will be cheaper :/. Shame on them for doing such a ****ty thing. Thats purely un-human. We had a lady bring in an E46 330i that she had spent about 5k in maintenance at this shop up in Davis, and the car had 80k miles. We did an inspection service, and found the original factory air filter, the oil was black like a diesels, the cabin air filter was still original, and there was oil all over the under tray. Some people in this world really disgust me.

[hbpignosePA]

ya there are alot of crooks out there.... you should have done more research before droppin 8k on a 13 year old car. but its a learning experience... when dealing with dealers i think its better to go to one that either doesnt know what they have or a new dealer that gets a trade in... u can talk them down alot if its a new dealership

hope things work out for you

[dc05sd]

Well it took a while but my head finally came back from the machine shop and it was 15/1000 of a inch off i believe? I have to go get the paper work today. The head was pretty messed up valves were not setting right and a few other things. I thought all the disassembly was done at the least to save on some labor but they also let the timing chain fall into the engine so now that just adds to the cost of everything. The total estimate to fix the car as it sits now is 2000$. Which I will not pay. I could put a new engine in for that amount so i jsut paid 8500$ for a shell pretty good deal right? Now its time to get a lawyer involved because the more time that goes by the worse things get. I will continue to keep updating this as a record for myself and for any buyers looking at this shop for a car.

[Nissan240sx_s13]

Welcome to the club, I paid for a over priced wrecked 240. Now I learned my lesson and its my beater/ learner car. It will only get better.

[supreamS14]

I purchased a completely stock 1995 240 se from ProtoMotoring for 8000$

Im sorry to hear that, but the rest is just nuts! I'm sure your not the first victim! Good luck!

[ZX88]

your first mistake was buying a stock 95 for $8000. your second mistake was not checking the car before you signed the papers if you do not have the knowelege you should have brought a mechanic you trust.

on the other note it really sucks what happened to you deffinitly bring them to court it seems there really is no way you could lose try to get as much evidence aginst them. pictures, recording, etc.

**** scammers and low lifes

[JamesProto]

I sell and build cars for a living and we all know some are good well taken care of and some are pieces of sh**. As a company specializing in cars that are modified and fixed up both aesthetically and performance, there are gonna be some good ones and bad ones and I sell both however I do not intentionally sell a car knowingly it is bad, unsafe, or is gonna fall apart a week after i sell it. If I sell someone a car I let them know what I think of it . Call me and I will be honest with you some are good and some are bad and they are all priced accordingly. The vehicle here was a completely stock 95 s14 with decent miles good body and clean interior, no engine mods whatsoever, not even a filter or muffler. I drove this vehicle home for about 2 weeks. I live about 35 miles away from my shop and never experienced any overheating or engine related problems. The vehicle was primered black, kouki front end conversion, vertex type bodykit,and 18" Staggered xxr mesh wheels (blk with red lip). The asking price was around 7K the way it was. We wheeled and dealed and we agreed to paint the vehicle (candy red) and take care of all the paperwork and reg out the door for 8K which was a pretty good deal because the paint job is worth about 1500 and taxes, tags, smog, doc almost add up to be around 800 bucks. It took about a week and the car was picked up. I did find out the door key was not working and i agreed to get him another. The car still had to return for colorsanding and buffing. The way it was written made it sound like it overheated the same day it left, it didnt..It was about a week or more after the pickup that i recieved a call that it was experiencing heating issues. We deal with the KA motor alot and they are known for air bubbles in the system so I asked him to just bring it back up. To make a long story short I did agree to change the headgasket but once I told him that the resurfacing of the head was gonna cost $400 dollars and I asked for half, he wanted to pik up the car and have his mechanic fix it. Im not gonna lie, I would be pissed too. However my warranty which I rarely give especially on cars that are this old was limited. The warranty only covers 50%labor and 50% parts and is limited to mechanical parts in engine only. It specifically states no electrical or damaged caused by overheating is covered. I'm sorry about this whole situation and this situation rarely does occur because I know what I'm selling. I know kids arent buying 240's because they want to put a sound system in it, put dubs on and cruise, no they but it because they want to drift. Cars with over 100k miles and over 10 years old need special attention if they are going to be drifted or raced out. Now, I do not offer any kind of warranty or guarentees. Anybody buying any car can have anybody (their own mechanic) look at and inspect the car. I do not force anybody to buy any of my cars and if you dont like the price of my cars than its easy to look the other way. I do take pride in the work i do and in this business I've learned you cant make everyone happy. It is unfortunate about this situation but I am willing to help Ben out in any way I can.. If you need another motor, you are more tan welcome to take 1 of the many motors I have here. I have a couple good running S14 motors here. I know your experience with us was a bad one and is probably gonna be a learning experience both for you and me. Proto has been in the game for almost 10 years now and you dont stay in business that long by screwing people over. I am willing to help out just give me a chance. Thanks PROTO>scammers

[Dattebayo]

The way it was written made it sound like it overheated the same day it left, it didnt..It was about a week or more after the pickup that i recieved a call that it was experiencing heating issues [...] To make a long story short I did agree to change the headgasket but once I told him that the resurfacing of the head was gonna cost $400 dollars and I asked for half, he wanted to pik up the car and have his mechanic fix it. Im not gonna lie, I would be pissed too. However my warranty which I rarely give especially on cars that are this old was limited. The warranty only covers 50%labor and 50% parts and is limited to mechanical parts in engine only. It specifically states no electrical or damaged caused by overheating is covered.

Sorry jimmy, but local lemon law supercedes this issue. You are most likely gonna have to pay for your oversight this time.