Vinny Ten Racing
 

I’d like to start out by saying that I’m being as honest as possible. Here’s how my experience went down at Vinny Ten Racing:

As everyone knows I tried installing my RTP’s myself and was unsuccessful and stripped my passenger’s side top bolt. I stopped there and figured it was a job for a professional. I called VTR and spoke to Brandon. I made an appointment for Thursday, June 16, 2011 @ 9:30am.

Thursday comes by and unfortunately I couldn’t find my RTP’s. (I’m currently moving so everything is boxed up) I called VTR and explained I’d be late. I get there an hour later @ 10:30am. I tell the mechanic about the strip bolt. He attempts to remove the bolt and fails. VTR ended up sending me home (about 1 hour drive one-way) and re-scheduled me for today Monday, June 20, 2011 @ 9am. I was originally quoted $85 for the RTP installed but that changed to $125 since they would have to bolt-out the stripped bolt. I wasn’t upset with this at all since I was late to begin with and the bolt was stripped.

Monday comes by and I get there @ 9am to find only 1 mechanic and no Vinny nor Brandon in the building. We had a good conversation and chatted until they came in. My car finally gets on the lift an hour later around 10am. They start working on my car.

To make a long story short, it took VTR 6 hours to install my RTP’s. I came in and expected a 1-2 hour job as those on the forums have mentioned even with a stripped bolt. It turns out that the stripped bolt wasn’t even the issue. They had to extract both the stripped bolt and non-stripped bolt the same exact way! Yes, these bolts are notorious for not budging but by no means did I expect to stay there for 6 hours. In addition there is no waiting area or any chairs to sit down. I was not offered somewhere to sit and when it came to lunch time they had asked almost everyone in the shop what they wanted for lunch except me. I walked a few blocks and found a deli and had my lunch.

In addition to the six hours the mechanic had accidentally torched the rubber covering my fuel lines! It went on fire and the mechanic had to run for water to extinguish the flames. He insisted it was fine and that they are steel lines and there is nothing to be worried about. He went ahead and bandaged it up with heat tape. I took his word since he seemed honest.

After this grueling experience it’s finally done and I’m ready to pay and leave. I go into the office and I’m surprisingly told that I owe $350 for the work. Supposedly they are giving me a discount and charging me for fewer hours. I protested and stated that it’s unfair because I was never told it was going to cost me more than the original quote that was $125. If I had known it was going to take VTR 6 hours and it was going to cost me $350 for the install I would have never done it. I understand mistakes and new problems arise but the business must let the buyer beware. Unfortunately, Vinny and I had an argument about this situation. He had insisted that I should have known and it was my part to know that I will be charged per hour instead of the install cost initially agreed upon. I disagreed with him. For example, when a dealership realizes that a new problem arises or something needs to be done they give you a courtesy call stating the problem, giving you a new quote, and then finally asking for your approval to continue. I was more than willing to pay more than what I was quoted but it was the manner that I was approached with the issue is what frustrated me.

Has anyone else had this issue before? Have you ever gone to a shop agreed on a price and returned to a bill that is triple than what you expected? Am I supposed to just cough up the money and move on? I didn’t think so. That’s poor business ethics to me. If I was told ahead of time I would have most likely backed out or worked out a new price and then taken it from there. Vinny also stated that I was driving a $60,000 car and the money shouldn’t be an issue. I worked my *** off part time for 5 years and I’m currently unemployed as I am going for back to school for my MBA. What business is it how much money I have? If I drove a 99 Honda Civic you I have been charged differently? He also insisted that they used his method to remove the bolt and that he had invented it. Why did it take 6 hours to complete if they already had a method to remove these top two bolts? I know from personal experience and on the forums that many have successfully removed these top bolts (even stripped top bolts) in an hour or two. And that’s without a lift. It was also insisted that they were the best mechanics and much better than Nissan head techs. I even tried to tip the mechanic but unfortunately, Vinny came out running and forced the tip back to me and made a scene in the shop.

I can go on and on but I don’t want to turn this into a book. I would have been more than happy to fork up some money if it was handled differently. I had gone to VTR because of their reputation with our cars and I thought I was going to the best shop. I was willing to pay a little extra for knowing that I had the best shop working on my car. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as I had expected.

On a positive note, the mechanics and visitors were friendly and easy going. There were a lot of nice cars in the lot.

By no means am I trying to bash VTR or have any hard feelings. I’m just giving my feedback and my experience to the forum. I’ve heard good and bad stories about the shop and unfortunately, I didn’t have the best experience. Vinny did state that I am still welcomed to the shop but we’ll have to discuss the financials before any work was done. Honestly, after this experience I’m not too comfortable going back. After spending all that time there and seeing all the boosted cars I really had the urge to one day TT my car. It’s a shame that I had to experience this and I definitely didn’t want to leave on a bad note.

The day did not get any better. I did not expect to spend all day at VTR. I left around 4pm and I am my brother’s assistant coach of his baseball travel team. I had to have a friend pick him up and take him to the game. I arrived in the in the fourth inning. I’m also currently getting a CEL light with my GTM RTP’s. They did do a beating on the bolt to try to remove it. I’m going to reset the codes and hopefully the sensors are still good.

Didn’t mean to write a book but I just needed to vent. I’d appreciate and feedback. Good or Bad. This is my first time going through such a rough experience with a business.

Thanks

BTW.. I did leave paying the $125...

FYI: Since I left VTR my car is hesitating and throwing a CEL code p1148. It seems like the broke my header 02 sensor....

that sucks man. hard to find shops that do nice work nowadays

CEL is pretty common with TP's so i wouldnt fret about that. Also, the ECU might need a little while to adjust.

I had somewhat a similar experience, I took my car to VTR last year to install HFC's and exhaust, it took a really long time, something like 3-4 hours... I knew that cat installation is tricky on our cars, but my car was brand new and bolts came off easily... anyways I didn't realize it at the time that it took ridiculously long and I was charged for that whole time. I also found Vinny himself to be arrogant... the whole time they were doing the install he was telling me how shitty the parts I'm installing are. Did I ask you for advice? Like I just bought these parts and haven't even installed them and you're already pooping on my party. Needless to say, I never came back to him again.

On a side note, I went to uninstall the exhaust and HFCs last week, to AZP installs, which is a small shop that does small installs on Subies (they used to be a vendor here). Their 1 mechanic did the whole job in like 1 hour, and then installed my parts on a Nismo 370.

By the way I went to that deli too for food, it's pretty good haha.

Performance MotorSports in SmithTown. I promise you, you will be shocked at how nice they treat you. Best shop I have ever been too. If I had 14K right now to drop on a TT set-up they would be doing it for me, and I think I can speak for alot of people on the forum.

:iagree:

and i got the trip from jersey which sucks... but there kind, personal and try to discuses what parts you may or may not need/want

im very happy and hopefully going this weekend for more parts to be installed

yea +1 for performance.

im there every week, and i have no complaints. Had test pipes put in last saturday...took them about 1.5 hours.

+1 for AZP..they installed my coilovers and rear camber arms. Good price and did the job on time even texted me while they were working to make sure everything was how I wanted it.

Sorry to hear. But damn thats a long time

AZP did a great job on my Nismo..1 guy. 2 cars. 2 hours!!! Thanx Toxik!!! Sounds GREAT!!!!

:iagree:
They are the 'F'en best. you will not be disappointed!

:tup:


On a side note, I will vouch for Performance as well, they are the shop of my choice. If you have a 370z, you honestly shouldn't even bother going anywhere else.

Throwing one in for Akuma here. They are a great shop and are basically the only people I trust with my car.

Welcome to Akuma Motorsports

Couldnt agree more,GO THERE!

this has been posted on lots of forums, and I was not around to see what went on but I had issues with my test pipe install b/c I had 66k miles on my 2007 G sedan when I had to take them off -- and I had them done by a mechanic that works on a VQ motor all day long at a dealership.

I personally recommended OMG to go to VTR b/c he knows myself and a good 40 other people go there on a regular basis. Me for 6 years and I send a lot of clients from my dealership to see him for work without issues.

And I'm somewhat helping resolve this b/c I do care as a friend to OMG and also a long time client to VTR that has been there to do a lot of work for myself and everyone I send over there.

+...10 at this point? Performance is the best around


i also used vtr before i found performance for one job and didnt have any complications really, just a long install but now i wont go any where else but performance motorsports

sorry to hear that. It took Forged Performance about 2 and a half times the time they quoted me to do mine, but they only charged me the original quote.

This is one side to the story and the customer is just assuming we "broke" something at this point. He refuses to bring us the car so we can further inspect what, if any problems there are, in which if there are, we will take care of it.

We have done thousands of HFC/TP installs over the years on the Nissans/Infinitis. It is very unfortunate that Adam had a bad experience but he is not giving us the opportunity to resolve any issues. The same day he had originally came to do his pipes we had a 2011 370z on the lift getting test pipes installed, taking the tech a little over a hour. Our techs are highly experienced and have many years under their belts.

The time it took to install was not 6 hours. If the install was started at 10am, 30min lunch at 130pm, he would have left close to 5pm. He had somewhere to be at 3pm (baseball game) in which he personally sent me an e-mail stating he was late and got there 4th inning. The total job took around 4 hours to do, and if ANYONE has ever ran into complications with bolts that are stripped or won't budge this isn't horrible.

I am doing everything I can to help the customer because we never want an unsatisfied customer, especially if there is anything wrong with the car. But without being able to look at it, how are we able to take care of it or see if there is anything wrong with it?

^^I think you guys can find some common ground here. It's just semantics, but he was at the shop for 6 hours. That's a long time to wait no matter how you spin it. It doesn't sound like he's upset or angry, just disappointed at the way he was treated. If the terms of the estimate changes, you should have a least informed him. No one wants to be surprised with a bill thats more than double the original estimate. Legally a repair shop cannot place an increase of more than 10% of the estimate without the customers prior approval.

I'm sure you know this already, but customer service goes a long way. You didn't have to buy the guy lunch, he just wanted to be treated better.

OP, the CEL issues with RTP's are common. I would personally give them another chance to get everything resolved. The Z community is listening and they want to make sure thier reputation stays intact.

Here is my post from his other threads:

Here was my reply:

Brandon,

I appreciate you coming onto the boards and replying to the message. I'll address myself to each point you have made:

If you had read my post thoroughly I did mention that I made an appointment for Thursday without advising you of the stripped bolt. I did reschedule with you for Monday after you acknowledged that the bolt was stripped.

Second of all the stripped bolt had nothing to do with the prolonged time it took for the install. The mechanic used the same technique for each of the top bolts. In other words the stripped bolt was as hard as the non-stripped bolt.

How can you return a car with a CEL light and hesitation. Do me a favor and ask the mechanic who worked on my car if the CEL was on when he gave it to me. If he's honest he will tell you it was. There are hundreds of members who have installed GTM RTP's without any CEL because they have the extended bungs. I'm almost 100% positive that through all the banging of the top bolt caused the AF sensor in the headers to go bad.

On the ride home my car was hesitating and had the CEL on. I came home, pulled out my OBDII scanner and read the codes. This is when I found out about the code P1148. I did a quick search and found various members who had similar issues. It is highly recommended to remove the sensors prior to any installations, especially if you're banging the top bolt with a hammer.

I am now stuck with what most likely is a bad sensor. The sensors are around $150 ea. for the part alone. I would be more than happy for you to fix this issue but I'm worried about coming in and you working on my car. Having gone through such an experience I don't know how comfortable I am coming to your shop.

Yes Brandon, you did ask me if I wanted breakfast in the morning. I did eat already so I thankfully declined. It was when Vinny came out and asked the individual next to me for lunch and completely ignored me. He even made eye contact but didn't say anything. This is the least of my issues.

It was foul business ethics that disappointed me. We can go back and forth arguing. I was 100% honest with my post and I'm not hiding anything. Regarding your comment about only installing 1 side of the pipe: First of all it was not till the very end - near the 5 hour mark when the mechanic had finally removed only one of the top bolts. It was not like the mechanic had one side done and was just working on the other.

My point here is not to point fingers and say that it should have been a 1-2-3 install. I spoke to both mechanics while working on my car and they insisted that they don't do many installs on these newer cars. Nissan/Infiniti has changed the top bolt configuration making it slightly harder to remove. I believe your mechanic stated that they had last done an install on my type of car many months ago. There are many members here and friends of mine who had stripped top bolts on both sides and still managed to get them installed under two hours.

I did email you guys last night after pulling the codes. It is obvious that you have read my email to Vinny. It is 1pm and I have still not received any response and how your shop would like to follow through with my CEL and hesitation issue. Hence, why I posted it online. Instead of replying to this thread why not email me back with the steps you would like to take. I told you exactly what codes I'm having and I'm almost positive it's the sensors. You did receive my email about this matter and have not replied.

I hope you're not blaming my RTP's for causing the CEL. Shouldn't your shop be responsible for checking the car before handing me over the keys? How can you give back a car with a CEL and hesitation throughout all gears around 3k RPM? Research and various members have comfirmed that they experienced similar situations and it was caused by the damage of shock caused to the Air Fuel sensors or Oxgygen sensors. Again, if you had replied to my email and stated that you'll take a look at the car it would have been a different story. I'm still waiting on a response. Although as I said before, I'm cautious about your shop working on my car again.

I think I have handled this in a professional and mature matter. I brought up my issue to you and Vinny and I was disappointed with the outcome. This is a forum and I'm providing my feedback. Unfortunately, I didn't have a good experience and nothing has been done to recoup my losses.

- My 6 hour long day at VTR
- Car is Hesitating at 3k RPM
- Car is throwing CEL code P1148 (most likely a bad sensor due to the shock and impact of removing the bolts) $150 each sensor
- Car was on fire (Tore the rubber that covers the fuel lines... Should replace the rubber instead of bandaging it with heat tape?...)
- Upon leaving, I was expected to pay 3x the amount initially agreed upon.
- Poor customer experience

How am I suppose to be happy? Usually businesses suffer losses on their mistakes but it looks like I'm the one who lost here.



Yes, I was in your shop from 9am - 4pm which is actually 7 hours total. I had originally deducted an hour because of lunch.


Yes, you have finally offered to bring my car back in after all these threads. You even replied to the threads before emailing me back about the issue.

I'm a little hesitant about bringing my car back into your shop. As you mentioned in your email this situation is not like a product that was broken and could be returned or fixed. This was an install, more of a service contract. If you had a poor customer experience let alone the actually service was poor, would you hire that person or company to do it again?

This is my only car and it's currently not drivable in this state. We'll talk and see what we could work out.

You made the threads the night of the install. You never e-mailed me, you e-mailed Vinny. Vinny is not by his computer 24/7 as he does all of our tuning/engine building, so the threads were the first things I saw. I handle all the customers, if there are ever any problems or questions that may arise.

I have e-mailed you and am looking to resolve this. You have my e-mail as well as the shops number. I can't help you if you are not willing to work with me.

Again, only assumptions are being made at this point.

Yes, I had made the thread the same night of the install. I then emailed Vinny about the issue.

The following day comes and I still have no email but at around 1pm you join the forums and post a reply to my thread. Acknowledging the fact that you have read my email and know the situation. You should have emailed me first before replying to the thread.

Nevertheless, this doesn't change this situation. I'll keep in contact with you and we'll see what we could work out.

Just seems like you're arguing points just to argue. Hope to hear from you.

My gut it saying to stay out of this thread. So i'll do my best to be positive to both shops here.

About a year ago I brought my Z to VTR to have them install my Berk HFC and CBE. They were fantastic, good to talk to, did the work in the time expected, etc. Nothing bad. But more recently I got some other work done to my car, I drove over to their new location, and I could just tell they were not settled in yet, so i decided against it. Before they moved, trust me, this shop was absolutely fantastic, and Vinny is a genius with the VQ engines. Vinny had to drop something off from one shop to the other, and brought me along and laid out how the new shop was going to look while we were there. When we got back, he actually yelled at one of his workers because he hadn't installed something perfectly (i was walking out of the shop to get picked up by this time), so he does care about the work thats getting done, but right now he's probably more worried about getting his shop fully done.

As far as Performance goes in smithtown, if you were unhappy with VTR, try them. They are who I brought my car to for my springs, spacers, and sway bar, and I cant tell you how amazing they were. Alex and Nigel are two of the easiest people to talk to. Before getting the work done, Alex walked me around the enormous shop, showed me where things get done, also seeing the beautiful Lotus was a plus. One of the mechanics who comes to give Alex and Nigel updates, when you hear him talk, you are like, ok, you know what you are talking about. The shop is a little far even for me, about 50-60 minutes, but worth the trip.

Both shops are great. Performance makes you feel like your part of their family, and VTR makes you feel like your at a mad genius shop. just my 2 cents.

+1 for great shops in our area. VTR is a little closer to me, so I hope to do business with them one day. Only visited Performance once for a CBE install, but they were really friendly and know their stuff.

From reading this I get the feeling that the OP is really in the mood to bash VTR...

Brandon seems to want to resolve the situation with the car hesitating.. which is the main issue here... The poor customer service that the OP feels he got can not be changed, that is done. But if VTR will make good with the car's issues right now I feel like they do not deserve to be bashed on what it seems like multiple forums... its not like they caused his motor to blow up...

its 150 dollar sensor and a little labor... Internet could be a good and a bad thing, here I feel like its being abused....


But on the other hand.... Yes performance is a great shop, they are the best shop I have done business with by far.... Never dealt with VTR but in this situation it seems a bit extreme that the OP posts this thread the day of the install on multiple forums..

I have had issues with shops that I trusted completely that took some time to resolve and I have been able to resolve these issues and keep full trust in there workmanship and customer service..

I do however feel as if the OP's install was done in a manner in which they could of damaged the sensor and even though Brandon has stated its an assumption I get the feeling that if the sensor is in fact bad, it would be replaced... in which case this thread was pointless... just my .02

By no means am I trying to bash VTR. There's no hate or hard feelings. This is a feedback thread and I'm just providing the forums with my experience. I'm being as honest and biased as I can be. Unfortunately, I had a bad experience and hopefully it will be worked out so we can all put this behind us.

VTR and I are discussing the issue and we're trying to come up with solutions. I'll keep you guys updated. I can't wait for this headache to finally be over.

OP go to Performance Motorsports, they are by far the best over this way. They did my TT install and and various other stuff and nobody but them touches my car. I had my car dynod at VTR and let me tell you the way he was speaking to me lol he is arrogant. I'm anal about my car so his tech is laying on the dirty *** floor strapping mycar down and then he sits in my car all dirty, dirtying my seats up his hands all dirty touching my steering wheel I wanted to flip smh. I will never ever set foot in his shop ever again. I'm not bashing either thas the truth.

Jeff, you are just something else. :nutswinger:

First off let me say just because you come from another shop doesn’t mean you have to speak untruths. We respect everyone in the community no matter what shop they come from. That’s a fact. We have many different shop employees who come to our events and hang out… it’s NEVER a problem.

We held a Nissan/Infiniti Dyno day that started at 9am and ended around 4-5pm. EVERYONE left and the only remaining people around the shop were those who worked there. YOU came to the dyno day an hour after we stopped puling cars. It was close to 6pm and you asked if you can get dynoed. Even knowing PM built your car, even with the fact you were from another shop we did it any way. On top of this we didn't charge you to make pulls. We even hooked up the wideband gauge on your car, which we didn't do on anyone’s car that day. All of which you failed to mention in your post filled with untruths.

Vinny was/is arrogant? Vinny took time after a LONG day of strapping 15 cars on the dyno, to put your car on the dyno FOR FREE! Hooked up the wideband and took the time out to go over your graph of your car. He explained what all the graphs meant and at no time was he demeaning or arrogant I only witnessed a polite informative conversation between the both of you.

We treated you with the upmost respect, the same we’d expect any of our customers to be treated if they walked into another shop. We are constantly hearing that you are calling this person out and that person out on the forums… but when it comes down to running one of our z’s you’re speechless. You do a lot of bashing on us and run your mouth BECAUSE of your car, yet you never let your car do any of the talking. We have been to several track events with multiple shops and we’ve YET to see your car out there. The only time we heard of your car at the track with your TT setup is running a 114mph trap…

Lol first of all Vinny tried o play me like I'm stupid taking a A/F reading frm my tail pipe and saying my tune is messed up, and he can fix it for me lol. You don't take readings from there its inaccurate. The way he was speaking to me I didn't like it. Seem like he had a problem with me, the tone in his voice. Secondy I traped 119mph with wheel hop and letting off the gas. My car does talk, don't you recall me giving that beloved M6 a spanking? Ohhh okay. The rest of you guys are cool but I'm not to fnd of Vinny. And btw I'm not bashing I'm stating opinion which I'm fre to do so. Thanx have a nice day.

And the only reason I came there to get dynod was because everyone was telling me to go get another dyno to see how it compares to PM that's it. If he would have said no its to late I cant dyno your car I wouldn't have cared it really wasn't that serious. SO THANK YOU FOR DYNOING MY CAR FOR FREE LOL..I would have never came there if it weren't for people asking me over and over again to get a dyno somwhere else. You can call me a nut hugger all you want that doesn't bother me lol.

Yeah Sal called me out to run his Z but what does it trap like 140mph? What would be the outcome of that??? I run cars that are in the same power range not a 10sec car smh be for real dude. One of you Zs I don even associate with none of you guys so how am I suppose to run one of your Zs?? But I'm def done speaking on this non sense, I'm not gonna sit here and bicker back and forth with you I'm not into that kiddie ish, like I said have a nice day.

You think you got it bad from Vinny Ten?!
lol, my friend had them install and tune his 350z TT Kit and during the tune Vinny Ten blew his motor and he even had the nerves to charge my friend storage fee for leaving his car there...
He got nothing back in return.

Ibtl

Your were already In Before The Lock :p:icon17:

O Shlt thats right... this one got out of hand quickly...

i dont know vtr at all but they seem to be getting the short end of this one lol

Yep, this got out of hand quick. Let's just all take it easy and let the OP and VTR handle this.