Bradan Mondial T major service.

Well, that is a no brainer isn't it Anyone who lives within 100 miles of Competizione and takes their Ferrari anywhere else to be serviced is insane IMHO. I have very high standards for Ferrari mechanics and I am continually blown away by their expertise. They are among the elite few top drawer CERTIFIED MASTER Ferrari techs out there.

 

Joe, I understand where you are coming from and you are certainly not a troll by any stretch. It chaps my a$$ that whenever somebody disagrees with another member they throw that word out. You have been a strong advocate and your input has been appreciated, at least by me. That being said, I think all of us...whatever side of the fence we may be, need to sit tight and let this thing play out for a bit.
Ted has understandably elected to have Braden make good on their warranty. Everyone has said their piece, all of our opinions and positions are well known. It's Ted's car and Ted's decision. Therefore, I think the best thing all of us can do is rally behind him and hope that this works out for the best. If it does not, I have no doubt that those who are suspicious of Braden's expertise, including me, will voice their displeasure. If, on the contrary, Braden is able to resolve Ted's issues to his satisfaction, I, for one, will thank Braden for taking care of Ted, give them a virtual pat on the back and move on to more pleasant threads.


On a side note, Braden, I am sure you were unaware of this, but it is bad form to highlight every cosmetic defect you can find on a customer's car and post it online--without the owner's prior consent. I presume you were doing some CYA, but its best to keep the photos dated and to yourself. I would be fit to be tied if you ever did that to me, and I can only imagine you have alienated more than a few potential clients by doing so. I would contact the moderator and have them removed at once.

Just my .02

 

Fixed it...

 

Bah. 300 miles is for wimps! http://g.co/maps/g6x4k And drove it back home to NC being chased by a December snowstorm, IIRK.

 

Well said, Joe.

 

I agree. I will not comment on Bradans work until the conclusion of this service. The only reason I posted Bradans quote from last month [#232] is I too was concerned about the pictures they just posted on Teds car. They weren't the most flattering and I got a sence that they were looking to point some blame on Ted.

IMHO

Joe

 

Ted,

My reason for posting these photos is not to hint at the fact that your car is "rough". The photos are to clearly show the current state of your car’s condition. I want the condition of your car to be abundantly clear by using detailed photos so this saga does not continue. When you receive your car back and you notice some new chip or scratch, we want you and everyone else on Ferrari chat (since your car issues are now so very public) to know what we are and are not accountable for. These photos show the current condition of your car.

You swore the chip was not on the front of your car when you inspected it. After doing so much work on your car, I was not even going to bother arguing whether or not I was at fault. I may be too easy going at times which unfortunately and obviously comes back to haunt me when people take advantage. I did not chip your gas cap. You asked me to take care of it while I was fixing the ding on the front of your car. Burning paint? Look at all of our detailing threads that show us taking sand paper and multiple stages of compound to a car and never once has there been a complaint of burning. The truth of the matter is you inspected your car in a Manhattan show room, an indoor showroom in the middle of winter no less, designed to make any car look good. You never drove the car or saw it outside. You just responded to my email that your car did not leak at all before I serviced it and when you inspected it in a show room. In my PPI to you, I stated multiple engine leaks, most of which will be resolved by gaskets replaced during your major service. Reviewing photos of the engine before we started show this as well. Again, this is not a blame game but a resolution to an unhappy customer. You are clearly very concerned about your car and expect perfection. I have respect for that and can appreciate it being a car guy myself. At the same time, my reputation that I care very much about has been dragged through the mud. So it’s now time to hear the other side of the story.

In my original estimate to you, I suggested replacing the rear main seal. I removed the transmission and once I saw it was in good dry condition, I removed it from your invoice. I told you it was not leaking and ate my labor time removing and reinstalling it. It is now leaking 4,000 miles later. Any mechanic on this site will see that there is oil dripping from the weep holes on the engine. A leak was a major concern on the front of the engine. A mechanic told you it could be something easily fixed by tightening an oil drain. You never mentioned this on the site leaving everyone under the assumption that Bradan is to blame from our major service job. Photos have been posted showing all replaced seals and gaskets bone dry. I just spent 8 hours removing an engine to make sure I'm not missing anything. If I'm wrong, I'm clearly stepping up to the plate and leaving it open to the public to see.

 

Engine removed. So far no signs of leaking.
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The front main seal, bearing, and the back of the crank pulley have been inspected and there are no signs of leaks. There is nothing left to inspect. I did see a drip of oil hanging from the front of the motor when it came in, no denying that. The crush washer looks wet in the photo for the drain plugs. Perhaps it's running from there and just hanging from the tip at the front of the engine. I'm not upset that I removed the engine or shipped the car across the country for no reason at my expense. It's finally an end to this ridiculous saga.
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As of now, this is no longer a warranty claim as all parts replaced by Bradan are not leaking. Taking the high road, I will not bill Ted the time it took to remove the engine and diagnose the issues. However, I do think he should take advantage of the engine being removed and do the oil drive bearing update and SR tensioner pads. After seeing what a failing bearing did to a 348 engine we are working on, I really take Helms’ words seriously and recommend no one passes on this update. I think the oil pan could possibly have a slow leak since it's in the same area and everything else has proven to be dry. During the bearing upgrade, the pan is removed and re-glued so it's killing two birds with one stone. There is no doubt in my mind that the rear main seal is leaking and should be replaced with a newer style F355 seal. All additional labor will be billed as if it was done during a major service.

 

Bradan,

A few things. First, the customer is always right. If you don't agree with that, fake it and/or find the classiest way of dealing with your disagreement. The tone of your post is disappointing. You are trying to cast Ted as a difficult customer and nothing could be further from the truth. Mistakes were made on your part, if not in workmanship than judgement. Let us not rehash the throwout bearing issue that utlimately left him stranded with his young daughter. That, in and of itself, provided ample grounds for him to question the balance of your workmanship-- remember that before you paint him with a broad brush. Ted has given you the benefit of the doubt and never publicly chastised you when others had--including me. If you want to vent your frustrations, point them at us. You are letting your understandable desire to vindicate your workmanship create ancillary issues. I am telling you this as a fellow business owner, not as an f-chatter.


I also have a couple of technical questions. I have always been told never to reuse an old seal. I never heard of anyone checking an RMS by actually separating the engine from transmission. Once you separated the engine from transmission, why wouldn't you just replace the RMS prophylactically? I mean at that point, we are really just talking parts. It would be akin to doing a full major and reusing the valve cover gaskets.

Also, did you recommend he do the oil drive bearing update and SR tensioner pads when he had the car with you last? If not, why not?

Finally, what became of the slow down lights?

Lastly, regarding the photos, A simple couple of sentences stating your position would have been sufficient. Even better, next time you take a customers car in for service, walk around it with him pointing out the blemishes. This way everyone is on the same page...publishing these photos did nothing to bolster your position. For example, I don't recall reading anything about wheel caps in this thread.

 

I have only one question to ask Bradan and I hope you will answer. Who started this thread?

Joe Malez

 

It's always at the request of the customer - he doesn't post without their permission and/or request.

I'm sure Daniel can chime in with a similar response - I know because I've been asked more than once.

Erik

 

PURE MADNESS if this truely is the case!!

I am replacing a worn clutch in a friends car in a few weeks time and I ordered a new rear main seal the same time I ordered the clutch kit.

The seal ain't leaking, but for the cost of the seal it saves me removing the gearbox again if it leaks down the track.

I can't actually think of ANY car that I have worked on over the last 10+ yrs that I never replaced the rear main seal in when either the gearbox or clutch was replaced. Geaboxes/transmissions, clutch kits and rear main seals go hand in hand. I learnt this while doing my apprenticeship.

I hate doing things twice, do it once and do it right.

 

Bradan said the car is rough.

Anybody have the serial no. for future reference?

 

It's not rough. The car is in really good shape for it's age.

 

Normally a rear main seal and clutch job would go hand and hand. On most cars the flywheel bolts directly to the crankshaft with the rear main seal behind it. On the Mondial T motor they are on opposite ends of the transmission. To gain access to the clutch you remove the rear cover. To gain access to the Rear main seal you must fully remove the transmission. Some photos to help explain.
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We did at the request of Ted. Customers have the option to have projects posted online or sent via email.

 

This is why I don't like to post pictures of my car and/or talk about work I'm doing on it.
There is someone somewhere that thinks tracking the VIN and dogging the car is "good for the community"

 

At what point is the customer wrong? Our name has been dragged through the mud. I lost 2-3 days worth of work for free. I removed un-broken parts just to discover that the customer is wrong. I told Ted to put the car on a lift even at a local gas station and take a bunch of photos. He did not and asked me to pick up his car to take care of the remaining issues. He was told it could have been a simple fix. He just assumed it was not and demanded I pickup the car. Do you understand how much time, reputation, and money was lost over this? Very serious things have happened from these accusations. All of these issues turned out to not be my fault and simply additional problems to his car. It reaches a point when you must stand your ground and fix your damaged reputation.

Let's go ahead and rehash the TOB. Ted had my cell phone number his entire trip. After driving around our area for a few days, he called me noting his clutch felt odd. I told him it must be the TOB and he decided to continue with his trip. He was never stranded with his daughter and made it home fine. A new TOB was sold to him at cost and we agreed to split the labor. The difference was to be mailed to me. I finished my end of the deal.

Ted's engine was covered in oil and it was difficult to determine where it was all coming from. Once I slipt the transmission and engine out, I found that it was bone dry. A new rear main seal is roughly $300 with a few hundred in labor to access it. How do you ask somone to spend nearly 1k on something that is not broken with all of the other money being spent? Your analogy of doing a full major and reusing valve cover gaskets is not accurate. The seal is not removed or touched in anyway when removing the transmission to see it's condition. And it is unrelated to the clutch area.*

No, I did not. If you look at a comparison photo of the front cover bearings, you can see Ted's car has the updated style. I will not go out on a limb at this point and say something is in good condition and leave it alone for obvious reasons. If the smaller bearing behind the cover fails, he will lose his engine. I will stress that I did not replace it because he has the correct newer bearing installed. But, we cannot see if they did the job correctly and replaced the bearing behind it.*

I could not reproduce his slow down lights but will keep trying and diagnose it when the car is back together.*

I make notes to all customers about their car's condition when it arrives. 99.9% of the time these remain completely private. Dated photos before I service each individual's car leaves no room for argument.

There is nothing left to argue or point fingers at anymore. We have to close this car up correctly, recheck everything, and hopefully Ted enjoys a drama free 2012.
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At what point do you realize that 18,883 people have viewed this post. At what point do you comprehend that someone paid you $15,000 to service their car, only to have you stand by your "I'm right, your wrong" attitude? At what point do you realize that, if he could do it all over, Ted would not do buisness with you?

I'm glad you feel you've stood your ground. The rest of us will find someone better to do business with. IMHO

PM me if you have issues with me, or this post.

Joe Malez

 

The only company that will work on my cars will be "Bradan" ! You have performed all work on my cl600 & 575m for the last 2 1/2 years . I could'nt be happier with your work . prices & customer service . After careful reading the entire post ,I believe you have bent over backwards trying to resolve the mondial issues in this thread . I look forward to my spring major service . Thanks .

 

Lol.

Cheers buddy, I know what is involved here. But thanks for the explanation and the pics for those who don't know this arrangement.

I interpreted Joe's post as the gearbox was removed from the engine? Which is why I thought it was mad to not replace the rear main seal.

If the gearbox was not removed, then that's fair enough. I wouldn't remove the gearbox to replace the rear main seal if it's not leaking either.

But if the gearbox WAS removed, $30 seal or a $300 seal................I would replace it.

Thanks again.

 

I truly do not understand what your stake is here and why you're on such a crusade to prove your point, which in my view is very incorrect. I also think 18882 people on this thread will tend to agree with me on that.

 

Joe,

I thought your remaining question was who posted the thread? I answered this for you. Since you are never going to stop posting and trying to find a new angle, I will simply explain how things work to you.

The commodity I sell is time. In exchange for my time, I offer a service that is billed at $115/hour. The amount of time plus parts is the total that Ted spent. I have proved that Ted has received what he has paid for with detailed photos. Regardless of what he has spent, Ted's car now requires more of my time (and parts) which I can sell to him at $115/hour (plus parts). This is a simple business concept. How many views this thread has and how much money Ted has already spent are completely irrelevant pieces of information.

Just because I am a small business owner does not mean I can be pushed into offering my services for free to make someone feel better.


Whether or not Ted or any of his affiliates would like to accept it, the quote below illustrates exactly what is happening right now....