Told to stop complaining about poor shop repair. May I do this here?
all did high dollar work. MAG billed me for five shocks while working on my 02 cc spyder, my first Maserati. after a heated conversation they agreed to remove one they also said I did not send the keys and put a new unit in. nice. Evans did the next three Maserati a Bora and two Merak SS. all needed repair after a local shop messed them up. local shop used a body grinder to plane the heads and other awful things. the Two Meraks had 5# oil pressure at hot idle. sent to Evans along with my 550. George Evans snickered at the the car and called it a piece of junk, it had been wrecked, and three 400's. the Bora got repaired, great. the two Meraks still had 5# oil pressure. I ask, no comment. there was no billing to solve the oil pressure. of the three old 400's. one was clean and came home ok. another would not run he repaired the PC board and got it to run only to discover oil in the water. I got screwed on e bay. the third was a 365. turns out this one has oil in water. I decided to fix the 365 and had the other two hauled home. in the end, after the motor was pulled they found the block had a foot long crack. so I hauled it home as well. Obama got elected and the cars got parked, all 47. last year things recovered a little and i sent the 365 to Grandturismo Auto Repair, Alliston, Canada. the car has been there with a spare complete motor and transmission for 15 months and is waiting on parts, they are only ordered when they run into a stopping point. now for NJB. sent the 2002 Maserati spyder after taking two to make one. took three trips to fix and had issues when returned. i had enough, 550 needed three trips to fix, and it got fixed. the QP3 was sent back three times, it still had issues. now about the issues. spyder, no air, compressor locked up, hole in condenser. loud rattle at rear(they said a baffle was causing the noise, that also caused the trouble light to appear. the real reason, missing bushings in sway bar! light problem, all the wires were not hooked up. that has been fixed. 400ai one was retuned multiple time, last returned with steering column wires lying on top of column . no lights, wipers, windows, A/C, turn signals and more. the 430 Maserati had been there for months and still was not fixed. the second 400 returned with a huge fuel leak. they had used an epoxy based al. sealant that did not hold. the tank was to far gone, i am making three new ones. i ordered a complete new HYVAC for the QP3 and 430 had loose diff drain plus leaking transmission(five speed), torn CV boots, blown fuses. now have great A/C. QP3 still has needed. i will post the solutions later. spent more than $100,000 with NJB this year. $4,000 to repair/correct so far.
Wow, I'm glad to hear this now. Thanks for posting, Mitchell. I was considering using one of these shops on a vintage Maserati. Funny thing is, it sounds like they referenced your cars when they told me about the experience they have working on vintage Maseratis. It may be best to stick with the shop I know well (a sponsor here!). They mostly do modern cars, but they very recently rebuilt a 3500 engine. I just wonder if it would it be weird for me to ask to speak to that customer (like I don't trust the shop). Normally I'm happy with feedback that is not model specific, but in this case I'm focused on the straight six and not many are around here.
That's painful. With so much work available, why don't you employ someone yourself and have it done on your premises? Best, Jack.
We could also argue about spare parts providers... Even if I've not experienced any pb with the ones who sell Maserati parts.
well, I could tell you a lot of horror stories with Eurospares. Like a Gallardo part that I paid for as new, but I received a used part, then they tried to tell me over the phone that I'm crazy and that I was looking at a new part (full of used scratches, oil, dust, different plastic parts at opposite ends, etc, probably a "refurbished" part than new). plus, their pricing is a little on the wild side, prices on the site are without VAT or packaging and postage. In addition, if you try to order a "full service kit" you'll receive just 2 filters and a belt... because somewhere hidden they have the rest of the "full" kit listed as optional. now I only use them in case of emergency, for parts that nobody else has.
So, we have to be very cautious in our appreciations. I only experienced 100% pleasure w/ Eurospares. (I only work w/ Claudio) Once, they made a mistake (wrong side) on a body part for my BB. THey sent me back the right ones and refunded me back all the expenses involved. And I must confess that for my BB, 90% of the parts came from Eurospares, cause I did not find less expensive 5 years ago. Or as you mentionned, elsewhere. Since, I also bought an impossible to find Dino wooden steering wheel and was the happier of us when I got it. As regards Maserati, I found very huge distortions in prices betwwen some well-known historical providers and smallers ones (or locals). 1 Ghibli font bumper 1.500 € in Modena, 3.500€ in the North of Italy. But an alternator, 750 € in Modena, 300 € in France... The pb w/ bad experiences is when the people do not want to accept their mistake. And there's a terrible in Germany specilized in Dinos (w/ many unfavourable topics down there). Even if personnally, I never got any pb w/ them. But 2 friends of mine experienced pbs, and the guy did not accept to ship what wasn't. 1 must be a little bit a masochist cause he experienced twice the same pb !!!
I have had enough of employees in fact after 50yrs. I closed a very good, profitable business because I could not find one every close to qualified. Ky. Is the second worst for users. There r shootings and robberies every day. Very sad. In the last two years I have spent about 1/4 million. I just want these cars fixed. I plan on keeping 14. I sold 17 last Dec. to Maseratisource. What a crook. I had to issue a warrant for his arrest over a QP1 complete motor and transmission. I got it back. Another crook. Maserati Compound. Sold me a QP 3 that only needed a carb tune up. Had a bad motor, melted starter, etc. so now I have 17 non running QP 3's and an d Biturbo to rob
Maybe Lexus or Acura? If those have issues maybe Freightliner or Peterbilt something that's more industrial. Sounds like your pretty hard on cars.
Hi Mitchell, agreed on MaseratiCompound, only the "best used quality" parts to be found there. If you don't mind, and you have the QP3s there, would you mind adding their VINs and model years to the registry? quattroporteiii.com Thanks!
Sad story Mitchell. Just the other day I was watching some video on urban decay in the US, and cities that I visited when I was in my twenties have completely gone down the tube to 3rd world status. One would expect though, that a reputable shop should deliver quality work for an honest buck, but it seems those days are over as well, so if you find someone that does, stick with them. With so many cars and prices where they are today, why don't you sell off what you want to get rid of, instead of pumping more money in, and keep the ones you find the need to keep and enjoy them. One can only suffer so many headaches. Best, Jack.
Mitchell, I must say that I am disappointed by your lack of professionalism. First of all, Maseratisource never purchased 17 cars from you. Which 17 cars are you referring to? I personally purchased 4 Indys, not 17, directly from a broker by the name of Jerry Husholdof, who was brokering them through another intermediary for you. I was given a description of the cars and upon seeing them, when I arrived at your place of business, I was surprised to find that they had been misrepresented. I had been told that the majority of the cars were complete and only one had an automatic transmission--but that was not the case. But as it turned out, the cars were not complete and only two cars were manual transmission. After expressing my concerns to you, you offered to refund the money to the broker and re-sell the cars to me at a huge discount. In other words, you asked me to bypass the broker so I could receive the cars for a much lower price---which is definitely not good business. I immediately refused your offer to bypass the broker since I had already made a deal with him and not with you. I felt obligated to respect and honor my contract with Mr.Husholdof, because I am a man of integrity. I could have saved $10,000 but I chose to take the loss and maintain my honest reputation. Bob Beverly was present, in your office, for this conversation and if I remember correctly, you told me that you also recorded it with your video and audio surveillance cameras. So if a witness or proof is needed for this, I'm certain it can be provided. After the previously described exchange, you offered a Bora, Merak and another Indy to me, in addition to 5 engines and 2 manual transmissions, as well as some miscellaneous gears to be included. I specifically asked you to show me all of the engines and transmissions located in the adjacent building which, without knowing why, you flat-out refused to do. You asked one of your employees to show me the parts instead, a person who had hardly any knowledge of Maseratis. I remember you telling me not to take the Qport engine and transmission that belonged to the Qport series one that was sitting under the snow outside. So with your permission and the aid of your employee, I spent several hours loading up 3 engines and 2 transmissions into my truck. One indy engine was inaccessible and still remains at your place and another Qport 3 engine was left behind as well. I checked the Qport chassis number of the car that was outside and matched it to its original engine and factory s5zf 20 transmission. I left these parts behind as you had informed me not to take them because they belonged to your car. Not once did you come out to the building and inspect our work. I asked you to double-check and you said that everything was ok (looking back on it now, you were probably setting me up). Fast forward one month: I received a letter from your ATTORNEY stating that I had stolen the engine and transmission out of your shop---which was utterly preposterous. I called you right away but you refused to talk with me other than insisting that I return the engine and transmission immediately. So as not to make a bigger deal out of it than you already had, I obliged your request and returned it immediately. I am aware that misunderstandings happen and in this situation with you, I felt that losing the engine and transmission and the other 2 engines that I left behind, was the price I had to pay for my lack of judgment and for being too trusting. I have done business with thousands of people and I have made the mistake of trusting the wrong ones over the years---as is evident here. I am by no means perfect but I would never steal anything from anyone. If you had at least walked over to the next building when I was loading the engines and parts and pointed out all the parts that were to be included in the package deal, we wouldn't be here right now. It is crucial that my business (and me as a business owner) maintain its reputation for being honest and forthright. I would appreciate it if you would cease and desist with your libelous slander as I have done nothing wrong. Regards, Jacques
Maserati Source. that was 7 cars. first I was one sick guy with cancer. you knew that. I did not have the ability to walk across a 60' street. i told you. as to the four cars. I did offer to return the money as you stated. you could have purchased the cars from me that was your decision. because I wanted the get rid of three cars and five motors and transmissions we struck a deal. I basically gave you the Merak SS because Jason(sold you the 4 indys) kept promising to buy it and I got tired of the delays. it had a 2.7 motor, rust and the motor was on its last leg. Jason knew this and wat to pay me $13,000. you put the thing on ebay saying it needed a brake fix only and got $25,000 buy totally misrepresenting the car. you did well but in my opinion very unethically. all the parts were in one building none outside, short memory. you and I went over the QP1 motor at least five times. you waited until my employee left before you took the motor(5 min.) all this is on disc. when I came in the Monday I talkyou about the motor. Quote 'I have it and I am not sending it back'. since I was stupid enough to let you charge $100.000 I shut up. waited after several days of no money I called. you did not answer for a week and a half. finally a BS excuse of in Calif. moving. you had not problem before the deal answering every call. you did send the money a few BS excuses and days later. I had already written the money off. I then called about the motor and transmission. you finally answered, ' no' . I called an attorney and had him send a letter explaining what I intendedto do. you went on and on with the big BS distortion I ever heard. I said read the letter. you said you would deliver the car in two weeks I ask you to put it on a truckand I wouldpay the freight. two weeks went buy and no motor. you called again and said you would bring it the following Friday, no motor.thefollowing Friday I left 30 min. early. I get a call from the trucking co. to unload a motor. Monday I would have signed a warrant. Sheriff and judges and most atty. are personal friend.. the Mayor as well. you did good. would have been awful on your family, I thought a great deal about that. the jailer would have put you in with Bubba and painted a big target on your. enough, as to the motor it is a 4.9 block and head(one), no main caps. u can pay the freight and I will ship at my 78% discount. I am sure that with your selling skills it would sell as a new motor. I still have the CD's
you are so correct. 31 years ago I dated a a woman from you country, my, 'African American' cute Dutch. her father was the only white Dr. at the Soweto hospital a real horror story.
Mitchell, I am a Dutchman, came to South Africa after Apartheid was abolished. The horror of it will haunt this country for many years to come, which is unavoidable when such a large part of the population literally has nothing but the clothes on their backs, and unscrupulous politicians doing their advantage with it. That said, Johannesburg these days appears a safer spot than Detroit. Hope you will get your differences sorted with whomever you feel done short by, whether business or hobby, this first and foremost should be fun, otherwise it is not worth it. Best, Jack.
Back in the day,when i was in the apparel business i travelled with Arthur Ashe doing store appearances in the states..it was at that time he made his trip to SA..i always wondered about the impact of that both short and long term..He was a great guy..Jack
NJB Automotive responded in the previous Mitchell thread "bad shop experience" on 8/12 if anyone cares to read through it..same stuff...we stand by our work and reputation..Jack
think both sides have been offered up. no reason to let this linger. message me offline if you don't agree this should be closed. thanks.
