Mar 1, 2014 - YouTube After buying my challenge car from Pete at universal Autosports to run the CCR series this year I finally got her out to the track today. The video clip is for today. The downside is I got a puncture in the first session only 10 laps in and didn't have my spare wheels with me - long story, don't ask, sore subject lol But before that my brakes faded - at homestead - in the morning - 8 or so laps in. Pete sold me the car with the guarantee of the car being completely "race ready" for the CCR series. The deal required him to go through the car top to bottom and Change all fluids. To say the least, he didn't. An exhaust bracket was broken and the exhaust had burned a whole in the bottom tray. He never mentioned this until we already had the car. To his goodwill he agreed to pay for the repairs so all ok. As I got to go through the car myself there was a brake duct completely detached. No big deal but becoming more clear that they didn't go through the car as promised. Again not a big deal - until today. For the fluid to boil at homestead so fast and early under 70 degree weather is silly. So I bled the brakes and this is what was in there. That's not motor oil - that's race ready fresh brake fluid by universals standard. There was also tons of "debris" in the lines where the fluid had solidified from age. He clearly didn't flush the brake fluid and now I'm guessing he didn't do anything else he promised either. My fault for not checking the fluids myself and trusting universal to do what they said, but the Ferrari world is very small, the challenge world even smaller. So a fair warning if dealing with Pete to my fellow fchatters. I was warned to be careful from another challenge car owner who bought his car from Pete and I didn't heed his advice. Don't make the same mistake and miss out on precious track time for something like this. I'm sure many of you have had good experiences with him and mine was fine as well until we started going through the car, even though he still hasn't followed through on several things (still waiting on the padding for my passenger seat!). I sent the pictures to Pete and gave him a chance to make things right, there were other more minor issues as well, but he chose to ignore the issue so I'm letting others know that you need to cya as it's not real fun going Into turn 8 with no brakes! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Lovely. Disgusting. They should be ashamed. Want your challenge car set up and properly checked over and maintained See Jim Magee at Pocono Sportscar. No nonsense. Some of these Independants are real pieces of work. I won't even get my shoes shined in Long Island. They'll ruin them too. R
Here's a shot of the goo that was in the lines. Ferrari central Florida has helped me with my Modena for track set up and Dave watterson there has been awesome so I'll be taking the car back in there to do the things that I can't this upcoming week. Got one more day at homestead today and then back to the garage for a real vetting Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like Universal Autosports has some explaining to do...unless they think this is ok and accurate and having nothing to say on it. In which case it is a very significant warning to others who may be considering doing business in the future.
I've had brake fluid look like that after one session, but that was running extremely hard in the very hot. I doubt your fluid got there in just 8 laps. Pete and Universal are great, I guarantee you it wasn't on purpose. Miscommunication between Pete and tech? Other miscommunication we don't know about? Hold your horses, Pete is in Austin right now, but will respond.
Thank you Rob for the support! You are correct as I have been running 9 cars in the opening of the CCR season at Cota in the rain for past 3 days...forgive me for not responding sooner. This post is absolutely uncalled for, as I only heard of these issues from the original poster at 11:00 am yesterday (on a saturday), and here we are getting slammed on the internet less then 8 hrs later for being "nonresponsive". The strategy of taking any issues you have to a public forum because you did not recieve a response your text message (no phone call or email) is childish. The best part, the poster knows exactly where I am, and why I wasnt able to respond and still made this post. Bottom line, myself and Universal Autosports have an impeccable reputation in the ferrari challenge world, and have worked very hard for that (ask both our present and past customers and they will concur). Since this car was delivered, we have been in communication with the owner on small issues with the car that we were happy to handle. These are race cars, and no shop or seller offers warranties with these cars, but we always do our best to properly represent cars, and send them off in good running condition...if things were missed or overlooked, we would of had no problem making them right..which is what we would always do. However we cannot be accountable for anything or everything thats happens to a race car when it is tracked, especially after it was also gone through by your local ferrari dealer, who also gave the car their stamp of approval to be track ready. It may have been a better idea to actually call, leave a vm or write an email explaining what your new issues were, and actually waited more then 8 hrs on a saturday for us to get back to you, then we would of loved to handle them...unfortunately you decided to take this approach..
So is this a case of unreasonable expectations? Or did Universal promise things that weren't delivered? What was in writing? As it seems no one is worth their word these days.....
Ahem... Didn't have time to respond?? You DID respond! You took the time to find a bottle of break fluid, take a picture and text it back to me! See pic below... The agreement was for the car to be checked out top to bottom to be made fully "race ready" and for all fluids to be changed. It's now becoming more obvious that that was not done. There was a right rear brake duct disconnected (no biggie but another simple smoking gun that you didn't go through car), there is antifreeze in the system (obviously not race ready), the rear bumper was burned through and the exhaust bracket broken (all of which you knew about and didn't disclose - massive fire hazard but you did agree to pay for), the very obvious brake fluid and, to top it all off, I lost the alternator and a wheel bearing yesterday (I'll chalk those two up to just really bad luck on the first shakedown drive - besides what's another $2500 at this point...). Ferrari of CF did NOT go through and check these things and sign off on them because you said you did. We trusted that these things were already done, so they just fixed the exhaust bracket and glanced over the car when the bumper was off. Never checked fluids. Why would they? Here's the bottom line. You responded yesterday immediately to my text. The only necessary response after that was "I'm so sorry, I'll look into it." Would have taken you three seconds, far less time than taking a pic and sending it. You promised something and didn't deliver, fine. I can live with losing some track time and flushing $50 worth of brake fluid through myself. I can live with that. What I can't live with is your disregard for my safety and those around me. What if I had plowed into a wall, another car, a corner worker? I lost my pedal at 122 mph going into turn 8. Thankfully, that's a place where I had lots of room to bring the car safely under control. We were lucky it wasn't at 170mph going into turn one at Daytona. You don't care about my safety, fine. What if the situation was a little different? Let's say we're racing, you spin in front of me (probably on the antifreeze that I'm leaking on the track). I go for the binders but the pedal goes to the floor and I'm sliding on a sheet of antifreeze anyway. Can't downshift to help slow the car because my alternator died and the car doesn't have enough amperage to downshift (got to experience that yesterday too). I T-bone your driver's side door at over 120 mph - all for $50 in brake fluid and flushing out the antifreeze with water... On an $85k race car... Now we're both in the hospital, out $100k each, wondering what happened... Things could have gone very wrong very quickly, thankfully they didn't. You skimped, tried to pad a few bucks of profit and I called you out. You want to make the situation right? I'll gladly post back on here that you did so and let everyone here know you made an attempt to make things right. As it stands now, I stated nothing but document-able facts in hopes that someone can learn from my mistakes and not trust that something as vital as brake fluid is good unless they check it themselves. A lesser experienced driver could have easily not understood what was happening and stayed out on the track until it was too late. Image Unavailable, Please Login
First off, I would suggest you guys take this offline and work through it. Even if the OP's timeline is off a bit, first thing you do is take it up with the person, not blast it. Also credit to Pete for responding and engaging. The biggest risk anyone can take is buying a used race car. Especially a Ferrari. Especially a "vintage" Ferrari race car. Strange things happen. I once had a brand new wheel bearing give up within a few days, and had exhaust brackets break and flywheels crack right after a rebuild. I've had brakee ducts vibrate loose. It sucks, it happens. With some cars you can expect the unexpected... Good news I have always had shops that are among the best in the business. They stand by their work, when **** happens they do their best to correct things (if it's their issue) or fix it (if it's not). Pete is clearly in that category - I did buy a (vintage)(used)(Ferrari) race car from him and he supported it for me...while I was rarely happy to buy parts, it was always FAIR and with integrity. Pete has a deep reputation of backing up his work, in many cases he bends far beyond where he perhaps should to keep the customer happy and in one piece. If anything, my experience with Universal is they are most conservative on anything to do with safety and reliability. I hope you can work this out. Offline.
Seems as the O/P has tried to work this out off line. What is there to workout? He's promised a car in a specific condition and didn't receive it as such. Fluids were supposed to be changed, he gets a race car with chocolate mudslide mix in the brake lines. I don't know either party involved however, it doesn't take a genius to figure out someone at the shop dropped the ball. Could be an honest mistake but the O/P isn't wrong for being upset about it, I know I'd be.
Here are some facts, and this will be our last reply to this thread...OP can continue to bash if he wants: 1.) To our dismay, brakes were bled and not properly flushed based on your results. We apologize for the oversight..mistakes happen...rarely in our camp..but happen..no excuses 2.) We have addressed all the exhaust issues and agreed to pay for the minor welding..no problem on that..we keep our word. 3.) The car has antifreeze (1/2 gallon) for transportation purposes only because it has been polar cold in NY for months. We didnt want to ship a car with a cracked block by the time it got to you. We mentioned this the recieving ferrari dealer..sorry if that communication didnt make it to you. 4.) Brake venting tubes fall off often, especially after the car is transported and straps are put through the wheels. Standard procedure after unloading at track is removing all wheels to inspect for oddities like that, as well as checking front and rear toe as straps can throw out alignment..not sure if you/your support team do that???? 5.) We did a full suspension set up/corner balance, camber, toe etc based on your bodyweight and emailed for your reference 6.) We had conversations with your inspecting dealer, and they specifically said they had the car on a lift and were going through it..not sure of the details on that, but they also commented on the great condition of the car. 7.) These are 14-15 year old used race cars...regardless of preparation, support team etc... things will break, its racing..and a ferrari... and I promise you that is part of the game. Your alternator and bearing issues are classic racing ferrari part failures (runs great at shop, breaks at track)..bad luck is an accurate statement. There are no warrantees from anyone once a race car hits the track. This situation is very unfortunate, and we will keep our word on handling the minor repairs we agreed on, however this strategy of public bashing / debate is a bit unneccesary, and we are done with this thread publically. Feel free to reach out (live phone call or email) if you need to discuss further.... Continue to blast us if you wish.
we'll allow RotarySwingGolf a response and then closing this thread down. thread will still be viewable. this is between the parties and open thread only useful if any new information comes out.
