No, he has no case. His loss was a conscious decision. I bought a new truck. 10 years later I sold it for less money. Ford is not responsible for diminished value either.
Well, it does appear there has been lots of work done on the car. If the standard of work is high, the car would be expected to drive very well. I do all my own work on my car, and I have spent countless hours keeping the car in top condition. I always wondered how people could do that when paying shop labour rates.
A search for a current California mechanic's license returns no results: https://search.dca.ca.gov/advanced?BD=21
I mentioned that in the other thread. As long as no one files a complaint he will go on doing it. As I said, there are several reasons his bill is uncollectable.
From the first post in the other thread: "Last year, I bought this black 328 GTS on BringATrailer with 25K miles, and promptly handed it over to Donnie Callaway for a once-over. Donnie's the same mechanic doing Matt Farah's (The Smoking Tire) restorations on his 328 and Countache." I'd be sure that Donnie is getting a lot of business from Matt Farah's viewers who watch the videos, watch Matt's praise of Callaway, and assume he must be a great mechanic to bring your exotic to for work. Ironic that Matt's 328 videos at Donnie's shop talk about how supposed work performed before Matt bought the 328 were not done properly or at all - sounds like he went out of the frying pan, into the fire! It's so disappointing... Gordon
The various processes people use to choose service providers would be an interesting study. So many do it so wrong so often. And yet with the very brief shot of under the hood of Donnies 308 combined with a few of his comments its pretty obvious Donnie is no better than his predecessors. Hes just a good snake oil salesman.
I made a couple of comments in the classified ad thread. It’s a sad story. I hope other owners who have cars in that shop read this before it’s too late. Sooner or later ol’ Donnie is going to screw the wrong guy.
And who would buy it? Everyone knows who Chip Foose is so he sells his name. No one knows who Donnie is.
Well Believe it or not he’s pretty well known here at least down here in Southern California and then there is that YouTube video that he did with Jay Leno with 876k views, so yes, I believe people know who he is.
Easy if no one reports it. Its really not very uncommon. If you have no license you also cannot get insurance. There was someone on here for a long time with everyone worshiping him for a long time and he was not licensed. Working out of a home garage.
The guy seems to play fast and loose on a number of fronts. People should understand that when you’re dealing with a sketchy character that some day they may find the authorities or his landlord have padlocked the place….with clients’ cars inside, likely in various states of repair or disassembly. I’ve had to deal with exactly this and it isn’t pleasant. Fortunately, in my case, the shop’s landlord was sympathetic and cooperative.
Perfect environment for someone with his personality and business ethics to thrive. Self promotion and puffery succeeds there like nowhere else. Like I said in one of the threads he is a poster boy for what Leno hates about the Ferrari world. I suspect it was part of the motivation for putting him on the show. Actually not a lot different than this place. How many have shown up talking a good game and lots of pictures with people going Oooohhhhhh Aaaaahhhh. LOOK AT THAT. Beautiful work. Only to have them turn out to be bums?
Matt Farah posted a video recently where they're taking the engine out of his Contact. Before doing so Donnie takes a bunch of wiring looms that he had left in the engine bay and throws them onto the floor, all the while some of the hard plastic ends are hitting the new paint on the car. Even Matt said something about it. Not sure it's a good idea to grab and throw wiring looms like that especially when they're hitting the paint. To do it in front of a client seems downright idiotic to me.
Yup - I knew who he was before even buying my 308. Unfortunately (and I know that @Rifledriver thinks otherwise), it is very hard to know who to trust with this kind of work. Despite the immense wealth of knowledge on this site, there is no list of recommended mechanics to trust with 3x8 work*. It's nebulous info at best, or held close to the vest at worst. It's no wonder that many new (or existing) owners resort to looking up things on the internet and finding people who have done a good job at marketing themselves (like Donnie C here). * there used to be an list somewhere but it's no longer live. And a lot of people thought it wasn't very good anyway
I sent a note to Matt Farah a couple of weeks ago with links to these two threads regarding the 328’s service costs with Donnie. Just wanted him to be aware since he’s been featuring Donnie in his videos and promoting him as a function of that. No response at all. Not even an acknowledgment… 2Cam
An internet chat room full of a bunch of people you do not know is a terrible place for referrals. Go to local events, cars and coffee, Ferrari club events, get to know people, see their cars, talk with them and you'll get vastly better, more reliable information.
I was fortunate enough to talk to a long time Swedish car repair shop owner who had an Italian guy working for him that once was a Ferrari tech. This shop was within a few miles from my home . The shop owner said that I could bring my 328 to his shop for all the work that I needed. These two guys did my entire major service, rebuilt my AC system as well as replace all my switches and gauges. They also rebuilt my entire suspension , bushings and all, and replaced all my brake rotors and pads. They did some work on my steering rack as well. They took pictures and gave me a CD of all the work as well. I know Im probably forgetting something, with that being said, I was 1000 % satisfied with everything they did. A while back, the owner retired and the Italian went back to Italy. Since then I took my car to the local dealer for an oil change, they also had my fuse board rebuilt and those rear 3 inch coolant hoses replaced. A little pricey, but I had the money ,I like their shop ,and I was pleased with how they treated me and my car. I will most likely take my car back for any additional servicing . I saw this Donnie guy on You Tube and I thought he put on a good show. I believe I may have even emailed him as well. I guess I dodged a bullet from what you cats are discussing. I thought about maybe using him sometime. I think at his point in my life, if I need any servicing, Im going back to the dealer, with that being said,the only upgrading I may do would be to the interior, Ive got some independent shops near where I live that I can possibly use, we shall see. When it comes to doing business with my company, I am of maximum service to all of my customers, I do not steal from them, and I have all the 5 star multi paragraphs reviews to back me up . Karma is for real, you reap what you sew, this chap most likely wont be around for the long haul. For some, the word FERRARI is a license to steal. Big G
I read that the cars owner is no longer reading responses but when I see the number of lines of "additional labour" totalling well over $10,000 I also see alarm bells going off !! Where are the checks and balances ? It's like walking into a restaurant with no prices on the menu, ordering a three course meal and getting a bill that says "food" with a figure of $3,000 written next to it. . I'm sorry but as they say.... fool and his money are soon departed.
