http://www.thatvideomagazine.com/newyor ... ten-racing
Maybe a repost but the truth from this video is so real. i experienced it on a daily basis, even on non performance vehicles. the horrors i seen in only a few years is amazing because its how you live by and make a living.
The truth
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Dattebayo
- Posts: 33288
- Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2002 10:04 am
- Car: 2004 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner
- Location: NE DC
Re: The truth
Uh, yeah.
So explain this bit to me:
Whats the angle here again? Cause I heard a lot of excuses on that vid, especially the ones that back scumbags who take advantage of idiots.
So explain this bit to me:
But he's "calling out the fake shops" along with the "fu*ked up cars" and the people that are frustrated because of that?thatvideomagazine wrote:The shop is always to blame; it’s was their fault, right? Eh, maybe not so much. It may be time for tuners to look within.
Whats the angle here again? Cause I heard a lot of excuses on that vid, especially the ones that back scumbags who take advantage of idiots.
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Hijacker
- Posts: 14373
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
- Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150 - Location: Fredericksburg, VA
Re: The truth
I see where he's coming from after having dealt with the nightmare cars in the past.
He's not necessarily defending the con artist shops out there. He's defending shops that get in over their heads or shops that deliver a car to a customer who's dreams were just out of reach by the budget.
The old adage; Cheap; Reliable; Fast. Pick 2 of the three. It really applies to this situation. You have kids who want Cheap and Fast, but shops can't deliver Cheap and Fast, they can deliver Reliable and Fast or Cheap and Reliable. So a kid pays the shop for the cheap and fast car and takes it out and blows it up, then they're blaming the shop for doing shoddy work.
We had a kid roll through my friend's shop with an S13 hatch he wanted a CA in. Easy job. We drop the CA in it, tell him the mileage that was reported to us on the motor, give him the skinny on what the motor can and can't do (stock CA mind you), and send him on his happy little way. A few days later, the car is towed back with a blown motor. He blames us for doing a s*** job but once we talked to his buddy that was giving him a ride, turns out the kid was doing third gear pulls on I-81 and overboosting the piss out of it. The motor didn't last long, obviously, but we're the ones to blame for a crap job?
I went into the video a little skeptical. I've seen too many shops try to turn around and unfairly blame the customer. People forget there are always three sides to a story; both the parties' stories and the truth. I've seen some really crap shops out there. They're usually fly by night tuner shops that some rich kid who was good at oil changes set up to get list price on his favorite aftermarket parts. Unfortunately, they try to do real work and that can bite someone in the butt who's primary concern is budget.
One thing Vinny doesn't cover is the fact that there are a lot of companies out there, primarily engine import companies who do installs, that are very good at flying under the radar and delivering some half assed products. I agree it's on the customer in this case to do his research and find those shops so they can be avoided. Buyer beware and all. However, the finger shouldn't solely be pointed at the customer. The shops who are trying to gyp people should be held accountable. I think Vinny's point was that he was tired of having some 20 year old come to him to get work done, b**** about the price, leave to go to another shop that he can afford, get a half delivered product, and then come crying back to Vinny. I didn't do $20k to $30k jobs, but I even saw it on the lower end of the spectrum. Young guys will do anything to save a buck.
A modern mechanic is more of a computer miracle worker these days, and you do have to pay them for the work. Cars today are so freaking complex, it's mind boggling. Nissan uses a LAN inside their vehicles to get the myriad of controllers to function together. Someone accustomed to working on simpler systems wouldn't know that and would probably start screwing things up fairly quickly. So if you want the job done right, expect to pay some money out. That was the take away I got from it.
He's not necessarily defending the con artist shops out there. He's defending shops that get in over their heads or shops that deliver a car to a customer who's dreams were just out of reach by the budget.
The old adage; Cheap; Reliable; Fast. Pick 2 of the three. It really applies to this situation. You have kids who want Cheap and Fast, but shops can't deliver Cheap and Fast, they can deliver Reliable and Fast or Cheap and Reliable. So a kid pays the shop for the cheap and fast car and takes it out and blows it up, then they're blaming the shop for doing shoddy work.
We had a kid roll through my friend's shop with an S13 hatch he wanted a CA in. Easy job. We drop the CA in it, tell him the mileage that was reported to us on the motor, give him the skinny on what the motor can and can't do (stock CA mind you), and send him on his happy little way. A few days later, the car is towed back with a blown motor. He blames us for doing a s*** job but once we talked to his buddy that was giving him a ride, turns out the kid was doing third gear pulls on I-81 and overboosting the piss out of it. The motor didn't last long, obviously, but we're the ones to blame for a crap job?
I went into the video a little skeptical. I've seen too many shops try to turn around and unfairly blame the customer. People forget there are always three sides to a story; both the parties' stories and the truth. I've seen some really crap shops out there. They're usually fly by night tuner shops that some rich kid who was good at oil changes set up to get list price on his favorite aftermarket parts. Unfortunately, they try to do real work and that can bite someone in the butt who's primary concern is budget.
One thing Vinny doesn't cover is the fact that there are a lot of companies out there, primarily engine import companies who do installs, that are very good at flying under the radar and delivering some half assed products. I agree it's on the customer in this case to do his research and find those shops so they can be avoided. Buyer beware and all. However, the finger shouldn't solely be pointed at the customer. The shops who are trying to gyp people should be held accountable. I think Vinny's point was that he was tired of having some 20 year old come to him to get work done, b**** about the price, leave to go to another shop that he can afford, get a half delivered product, and then come crying back to Vinny. I didn't do $20k to $30k jobs, but I even saw it on the lower end of the spectrum. Young guys will do anything to save a buck.
A modern mechanic is more of a computer miracle worker these days, and you do have to pay them for the work. Cars today are so freaking complex, it's mind boggling. Nissan uses a LAN inside their vehicles to get the myriad of controllers to function together. Someone accustomed to working on simpler systems wouldn't know that and would probably start screwing things up fairly quickly. So if you want the job done right, expect to pay some money out. That was the take away I got from it.