Forged Performance - My Story

Matt · 04-16-2010, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 370zdub

This for sure solidifies my decision to stay naturally aspirated.

This is the only result from these threads, as far as I'm concerned.

BTW Sharif, if you need a summer hire, I'd love to work for you. I know nothing about turbos, but I'm a freaking surgeon with a hammer.

Caravanshaka · 04-16-2010, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

BTW Sharif, if you need a summer hire, I'd love to work for you. I know nothing about turbos, but I'm a freaking surgeon with a hammer.

370zdub · 04-16-2010, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

This is the only result from these threads, as far as I'm concerned.
\

I'm not even saying that its totally isolated to one installer. I think any installer could have issues with fitment.

In my mind no two 370z's will be the same, no matter how hard Nissan tries to make them identical. Manufacturing tolerances will vary slightly. So for a company to design an FI kit that works on one Z and has everything fit correctly may not work on some other Z. That is what concerns me with FI. I thought about going FI for a while but have just decided to enjoy my car at the power level it has.

Zsteve · 04-16-2010, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

This is the only result from these threads, as far as I'm concerned.

BTW Sharif, if you need a summer hire, I'd love to work for you. I know nothing about turbos, but I'm a freaking surgeon with a hammer.

Thats cold but funny.

Zsteve · 04-16-2010, 04:59 PM

Yea I think I will do some final gears and an LSD and call it quits, no FI for me.

dpjones · 04-16-2010, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharif@Forged

I am glad we can finally clear the air on this. I think we are all getting really tired of these interelated posts. All of the recent forum excitment has revolved around this car. Doug and I had agreed to figure out a way to settle this privatly but since he took the initiative to publically post his complete story, I will respond.

Doug is leaving out some key points, and there quite a bit of misinformation that needs to be clarified

FACTS:

1) We never threatened a lawsuit against anyone that posts the truth about their experience with Forged. We have always defended ourselves vigorously against false statements, lies, exaggerations, etc.

2) We have always been willing to address any issue with a vehicle that has left our shop. We've been in this business and active with the community for 5 years, and we aren't going anywhere. As I've mentioned in the previous threads, we work on many hundreds of cars each year.

3) Doug decided to take his car to GTM unbeknowst to us, which is his right. Unfortunatly, GTM created a $20,000 repair order. Here is the estimate, and you guys can judge for yourselves. $5800 labor to R/R the ENTIRE turbo kit which is not needed. GTM charged Doug $2101.40 for a brand new turbo pair, instead of charging Doug for the .86AR housing which would have been about $500?? The ONLY difference between a stage I and stage II kit is the inside dimensions of the exhaust housing so there is no reason to purchase another complete turbocharger assembly. GTM charged Doug $2500 in just labor to replace the engine harness which is at most an 8-10 hr job....if you take your sweet time. These are just a couple of examples from the estimate below. Once another shop gets involved with my customers, obviously the other shop will conduct themselves in a manner that is self-serving. This is what happened here, and things escelated into the Forged vs. GTM battle that continues now.

4) The installation and figment issues are real. We aren't the only ones that have experienced this but of course no other shops wish to speak about this publicly or their GTM dealer status might be pulled. It's a very small world in the tuner business, and nobody wants to burn bridges.
Here is a picture of the GTM downpipes on a G35 TT we recently completed. Notice those darn brackets don't line up. So we'll be cutting them off and welding them in the correct spot, and eating the time and material since we can't charge this to the customer. This is an example of the reasons we sometimes steer customers towards other types of kits. We spend a lot of time massaging these kits to fix, calling for missing parts, wrong parts, and endless back and forth with GTM. The clearancing you see on Doug's piping is to clear the steering column and dump tubes.

5) Doug's harness was melted and discolored (still perfectly functional and repairable) not because of improper hardware as GTM stated on the work order. Instead, the exhaust leak was from a badly warped flange. We found this exhaust leak before Doug arrived, and spent several hours R/R this pipe and machining it as flat as possible. We used a smoke machine to recheck for leaks and observed none. GTM charged Doug $4700 for this repair (new OEM harness and labor)
Here is a pic of the warped flange. I notified Sam of this while the car was here, but never got a response back.

6) Now lets talk about the turbocharger situation. I have given purchase orders to Doug's attorney showing them we did in fact purchase two identical kits. We had the wrong part numbers on the PO but they were identical. One kit was for Doug's G37, and the other for Dave's G37. When it was brought to our attention that we may have received Stage I housing instead of Stage II housings, I checked Dave's engine since it was on the ground, and we did in fact have a Stage II housing on his car. I made the assumption that Doug's would also be stage II since we ordered identical PO's/kits. Now, we know Doug's car had Stage I while Dave's car had Stage II. This was careless on my part, and I take responsibility for it. There was no deception involved or intended at all. It's human nature to make assumptions, and that is what I did here.

7) With respect to any damage to Doug's car, of course we take 100% responsibility for that, and always have. And just for clarification, nobody hit or drove into Doug's car, it was basically a door ding and went unnoticed until Doug picked up his car and advised us of it. Either way, I agreed to pay for the repair which was about $400 at Hong's or $800 at the dealership body shop.

8) The person that work on Doug's car is no longer employed by us. We have put in place a strong QC routine that will insure these oversights of missing clips and such so this won't happen again. They are also communicating issues as they appear rather than trying to resolve them on their own. We have the strongest group of current technicians ever working for us. They all have 5 plus years of experience in both high performance and dealership environments, families, kids, and stable commitments to Forged. We also have Scott as our GM which provides an addition layer of oversight and follow up.

9) I have offered Doug a full refund on the labor performed at Forged, and have always been willing to work with him in a reasonable manner to get his car back up and running. Unfortunately, he hired a lawyer which in turn, meant that we now have a lawyer, so I can't really comment much more on this topic. We are well insured and capitalized and this distraction will not have ANY impact on our financial condition.

This will be my final comments on this matter, and I still hope we can reasonably resolve this with Doug, and put this behind us all.

I'm not sure what Sharif is talking about when he says we agreed to work this out. Back in December he was suppose to get back with me after he spoke with Sam, and nothing. Earlier this week, as I said in the post, he contacted me asking me if I would keep quiet. I told him I didn't think I could sleep at night and I felt obligated to let people know. I told him he had his 30 days and the ball was in his (or his attorney) court.

1) He and his attorney told mine they would sue if I posted.

2 & 3) As stated in my story, Sharif initially told me he would do nothing. Then he said we could compromise (50/50), and then he said he would get back with me...which he didn't. Sam got an estimate from Infiniti on replacing the harness, and they charge more hours than Sam is...it is a much bigger job than what Sharif is claiming. As most would know who have worked on cars, homes, anything, fixing the mess of someone else is almost always more work than starting from scratch. Not only that, the estimate is to fix EVERYTHING on my list (knocking noise, EVC controller install, hooking up the EVC and Knock Amp properly, literally everything on that list except for the body damage. He just didn't want to have to itemize everything out on that estimate. I think the labor is very fair, especially considering how much time he already has in it just taking the stuff apart.

4) Why have their been some backyard mechanics that were able to put these kits on without any problems? Also, why if they didn't fit, wouldn't Forged ask for new ones from GTM??? I would certainly have wanted that over bashed in pipes.

5) I complained of exhaust smell while their and on the drive home. Instead of being told this was normal, you would think Sharif would have wanted to check it out before sending me on an 8 hour drive in the car. Not only that, both sides were leaking...I could move the wastegate and dump tube back and forth by hand on the driver's side.

6) Like I said, my attorney and I had these POs a long time ago. What was going on in the 3 days it took to get the pictures of Dave's turbos....the engine was just sitting on the shop floor. Also, as stated in my story, Sharif emailed me in December saying "He had seen them with his own eyes" when referring to my turbos. Now that lawyers are involved....he was assuming. I have the email from his as proof of his statement.

7) Again, as already stated....when I contacted him with my estimate from an Infiniti dealer, he told me to get other ones because he didn't like the price.

8) How many times are we going to hear that?

9) Whatever....I feel I was the most patient client ever..from the original install (which Sharif told me all the time)....to waiting on some sort of resolution. Sharif certainly wasn't making any efforts the past few months....not until being contacted by my attorney. And why is it Sharif feels the need to point out he will be fine financially....it seems like that is all he cares about.

dpjones · 04-16-2010, 05:06 PM

Just some other general comments:

I don't know or understand why some people on here have nothing better to do than post up stupid comments and insults. One mentioned not feeling sorry for me....I don't want or need anyone's pity. It amazes me that some of you can't understand I'm doing this for everyone else. I will get my car fixed regardless of posting....this is to help others....how anyone can say this isn't relevant is beyond me. If you are considering having major work done on your car (not simply wheels or coil overs), then this should matter to you.

Getting slammed for not posting again? I monitored this for the first 3 hours and there was no reason to. I do actually have a life...job, wife, kids, and just things to do in general. I can't man the computer 24/7.

I appreciate the concern of some as it comes to my posting. I do have a great attorney who is nationally known for 1st Amendment rights. Nothing I posted here isn't in the complaint/suit against Forged, or in the Complaint made to the Office of Consumer Affairs. I have nothing to hide, I'm just trying to give others all the information I can.

Chris@FsP · 04-16-2010, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zsteve

Yea I think I will do some final gears and an LSD and call it quits, no FI for me.

Don't let any of this sway you from going FI, if that is what you really want to do. There are MANY more success stories than there are failures.

Matt · 04-16-2010, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpjones

It amazes me that some of you can't understand I'm doing this for everyone else.

I was on your side until you posted this.

Let's be honest. You did this to hurt Forged, not because of some crusade to protect the innocent from the destructive hands of some malevolent mechanic.

z370z · 04-16-2010, 05:14 PM

Well put, you stated your case and didn't need to follow up to others input. Thanks for the heads up and making things known for others. Many people wouldn't have the balls to stand up and let others know about these type of problems because of "legal" fears!

Good luck to you and you're case!

dpjones · 04-16-2010, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

I was on your side until you posted this.

Let's be honest. You did this to hurt Forged, not because of some crusade to protect the innocent from the destructive hands of some malevolent mechanic.

You couldn't be more wrong....if I had known of Juan's story, or maybe if there are others out there that never got told, I probably wouldn't be in this situation. So you are basically saying that if this happened to you...you would keep quiet? Or are you saying if this happened to you, you wouldn't care about helping others????

Vegitto-kun · 04-16-2010, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

I was on your side until you posted this.

Let's be honest. You did this to hurt Forged, not because of some crusade to protect the innocent from the destructive hands of some malevolent mechanic.

If I had this kind of thing happening I sure as hell would post it too.

for example I buy something simple like brakes. and they are POS and break and I get treated like scum. I would post it. not to hurt the company but to warn people(which ofcourse hurts the company in the progress)

and forged deserves this kind of thing if they are ******* up so hard on something people could DIY with no problems.

I am suprised GTM is still willing to work with them.

forged: mm this doesn't fit....

cowzrul · 04-16-2010, 05:59 PM

New G37 = $40k
Turbo install x 2 = $46k
Getting flamed on internet forum = Priceless!

I don't care how you slice it and dice it, this is sad for both parties.

puckshaw · 04-16-2010, 06:23 PM

Thanks for posting up the story. The pictures speak for themselves. No excuse for a shop to let this happen to a customer's car. Very disappointing. I hope the case goes in your favor

By the way, the tags for this thread are hilarious

Zsteve · 04-16-2010, 06:44 PM

man Im probably never going to hear the end of this but, I just noticed the tags at the bottom, so how do you tag something? Motel 6 didnt enlight me enough to know how to do this, just about the law.

04-16-2010, 04:59 PM	#125 (permalink)
Zsteve A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: TX Posts: 3,298 Drives: the 2 balled club Rep Power: 22	Yea I think I will do some final gears and an LSD and call it quits, no FI for me. __________________ 2010 LS3 C6 Silver coupe corvette

04-16-2010, 06:44 PM	#135 (permalink)
Zsteve A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: TX Posts: 3,298 Drives: the 2 balled club Rep Power: 22	man Im probably never going to hear the end of this but, I just noticed the tags at the bottom, so how do you tag something? Motel 6 didnt enlight me enough to know how to do this, just about the law. __________________ 2010 LS3 C6 Silver coupe corvette

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04-16-2010, 05:06 PM	#127 (permalink)
dpjones Base Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: St. Peters, MO Posts: 11 Drives: 09 G37 Sedan 6MT S Rep Power: 15	Just some other general comments: I don't know or understand why some people on here have nothing better to do than post up stupid comments and insults. One mentioned not feeling sorry for me....I don't want or need anyone's pity. It amazes me that some of you can't understand I'm doing this for everyone else. I will get my car fixed regardless of posting....this is to help others....how anyone can say this isn't relevant is beyond me. If you are considering having major work done on your car (not simply wheels or coil overs), then this should matter to you. Getting slammed for not posting again? I monitored this for the first 3 hours and there was no reason to. I do actually have a life...job, wife, kids, and just things to do in general. I can't man the computer 24/7. I appreciate the concern of some as it comes to my posting. I do have a great attorney who is nationally known for 1st Amendment rights. Nothing I posted here isn't in the complaint/suit against Forged, or in the Complaint made to the Office of Consumer Affairs. I have nothing to hide, I'm just trying to give others all the information I can.

04-16-2010, 05:14 PM	#130 (permalink)
z370z Base Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Niagara Posts: 222 Drives: 09 370z 6M SPT/NAV Rep Power: 15	Well put, you stated your case and didn't need to follow up to others input. Thanks for the heads up and making things known for others. Many people wouldn't have the balls to stand up and let others know about these type of problems because of "legal" fears! Good luck to you and you're case!

04-16-2010, 05:59 PM	#133 (permalink)
cowzrul Base Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 58 Drives: 2014 370z Rep Power: 16	New G37 = $40k Turbo install x 2 = $46k Getting flamed on internet forum = Priceless! I don't care how you slice it and dice it, this is sad for both parties.

04-16-2010, 06:23 PM	#134 (permalink)
puckshaw Track Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 620 Drives: 09 PW 370Z Touring Rep Power: 17	Thanks for posting up the story. The pictures speak for themselves. No excuse for a shop to let this happen to a customer's car. Very disappointing. I hope the case goes in your favor By the way, the tags for this thread are hilarious