need to share an experience to others who might | FerrariChat

need to share an experience to others who might

Discussion in 'LamborghiniChat.com' started by ben, lj, Jan 24, 2005.

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  1. ben, lj

    ben, lj Formula Junior

    Aug 23, 2004
    594
    find themselves in a similar position:

    in a similar position:

    Well I have gathered my thoughts, tried for almost three days to rein in my emotions as well as spoken to both of the other two shops which are authorized to do tech inspections for FOC (on my 1 1/2 month old Carrera GT). Both said it is a rigorous VISUAL inspection which results in ZERO driving of the car - as I expected! They were both floored to learn this shop justified abusing a customer and his/her car as some sort of responsibility required by the tech inspection. Absurdly enough, he still thinks he did nothing wrong!!!!!!!!!!!

    Here are some notable quotes from Steve Maxwell, the owner of Exotic Car Care ("car care" being a bit ironic in this case) who was the offender. It is immediately ajacent to M.O.M. Mind over Motorsport:

    "did you know your exhaust glows when it is hot?" (never seen that myself nor has anyone behind me in several spirited mountain drives commented on this).

    "the traction control on this car in first (gear) is useless" (fwiw, you have to give it a LOT of throttle to make the traction control useless in first gear and this suggests he was enjoying my tires he didn't have to buy himself).

    he stated, "the car has some wander during high speed cornering". to which i said i'd had it at some fairly high speeds in corners without experiencing any wander. he then looked over at the guy who does detailing for the shop who was apparently a passenger in the joy ride and said "what did we hit in that one corner? about 150?" to which the detailer responded "yes, 150". he then went onto say proudly "it was 16 mph more in that corner than any other car i've taken through there."

    in addition to the detailer, a director of the FOC was there and likely heard a great deal if not all of this conversation.
     
  2. LittleBro

    LittleBro Formula 3

    Jul 7, 2004
    1,790
    Herts, UK
    Full Name:
    Woody
    Were they just winding you up, or what? Surely, no specialist worth their salt would be so brazen about an abuse like this?

    I'm assuming that there evidence that he did give it a leathering? (sorry, I havent seen previous posts)
     
  3. ben, lj

    ben, lj Formula Junior

    Aug 23, 2004
    594
    wasn't winding me up at all. when my friend who referred me to the shop confronted him about it, he admitted to a watered down (but still ludicrous) version. remember too, this was a VISUAL inspection which the other two FOC authorized tech inspector shops said did not necessitate ANY driving. however, this guy has deluded himself into thinking this sort of this is his JOB.
     
  4. MikeAR303

    MikeAR303 Formula 3

    Dec 23, 2004
    1,072
    Chicago, IL
    Full Name:
    Michael
    Does the CGT's ECU record 0-60 launches, high RPM runs, etc...?

    If so, I would take it to a shop who can dump this data for you. The ECU in my Elise records the top 5 RPMs along with some other things, and lists the temperature and number of hours on the engine for each. If you can get this info, you might have something to use against them.

    Just a thought...
     
  5. ben, lj

    ben, lj Formula Junior

    Aug 23, 2004
    594
    I don't think so, but did know about the Elise since my friend is breaking his in now. BTW, after reading his quotes on the internet (which were placed after he admitted to the same details on Sunday to the friend who referred me - only he reduced the speed to 115 mph in this version), he left me a message today wanting to get together so he could explain why he hadn't done anything wrong!! I'm telling you the guy honestly thinks his job as a tech inspector is to drive other peoples cars at 150 mph (in corners), hammer the throttle in first geat sufficiently as to cause the "traction control to be worthless", and achieve his best times on his personal race track - hence the "I was able to carry 16 more mph through there than in any other car before". It's simply unbelieveable to me that someone can be in this much denial. It is his attitude that this is not only acceptable behavior but REQUIRED behavior as a result of his job that I feel it is so very important to let other victims know his biz practices because he apparently has no intention to change them.
     
  6. Ryan S.

    Ryan S. Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 20, 2004
    28,866
    pardon my ignorance, but, "FOC" stands for what?
     
  7. F40

    F40 F1 Rookie

    Apr 16, 2003
    3,230
    AZ
    Ferrari of Orange County.
     
  8. Chiaro_Slag

    Chiaro_Slag F1 Veteran

    Oct 31, 2003
    7,789
    CA
    Full Name:
    Jerry
    Actually, in these case, it stands for Ferrari Owner's Club.
     

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