Do you believe this...

[Mayimbe1979]

Alright, so I take my car to a shop yesterday to have the Eibach Pro Kit Springs installed. I purchased the springs myself and just needed to have the installation done. I go to a spot that looks credible (lots of customers, samples of their work, etc.). They tell me it'll cost $225 and to come back in 3 hours/4 p.m. I get there at 4 and have to wait until 7:30 to actually get my car. I take a look once I finally get it back and I can't really tell the difference in the front and the back looks really low, its supposed to be dropped 1.4 inches in the front and 1.6 in rear. The tells me that I have to drive about 3k miles for the springs to set/adjust. I believe and drive away. As soon as I start driving, I notice that it sounds like something is scraping against the road on the front driver's side area. I go back tell the mechanic (the actually shop was already closed). He starts looking in the hood, although I told him the problem seemed to be under the car. After he is done doing whatever he was doing, I start driving and I still hear the same noise. He then puts the car on the lift and removes the wheel, shock, spring, etc. I ask him if he dropped the car according to the measurements recommended by Eibach. He looks at me surprised and asks "You wanted it dropped? I just thought you wanted to change the old springs because they were in bad shape. They never mentioned that it should be dropped". I decided at that point that I needed to take my car and wait until the shop opened on Monday to speak to someone that has a clue. To make matters worse, my passenger side rear tire rubbed every time I hit any minor bumps on the way home.

I have to take the car back to these idiots tomorrow to see whats gonna happen. Three questions that I would like to have answered before talking to them:
1. How is the dropped determined, does it occur naturally depending on the springs, or is the mechanic responsible for dropping it according to the manufacturer?
2. How much damage could this error have caused to my car in the 50 miles or so that its going to have to be driven?
3. I want to find a reputable place to work on my car. I live in Northern New Jersey. DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A PLACE? I can't take this incompetence anymore. (BTW, they also scratched my hood while installing my billet grille).

Sorry for the long post, I really had to vent.

[Biggi_e]

i got a the eibach pro kit lowering sprigns and never had a problem with it. they do have to settle in a little bit.

If they are certified mechanics i would think its their fault and should take blame for screwing up your whip.

damage wise dont know what happened so i cant really help you out there

if you ever come to maryland i know plenty of shops and will hook u up.

[sydemoid]

weird

I have owed 2 cars, both dropped, and never experienced that..

Sounds like they didnt install something right, and you should take it to them, rip into the shop manager's ass, and make them fix the damage.

I know of a shop here in NYC that could do the job right, but it would cost u.

www.rctperformance.com

If you call, ask for Ryan, and let them know Dio told you about them. They are a bit expensive, but worth it man.

[Sentinel]

I think they are screwing with you... 3k for them to "settle" just got you out of his face.

You should have told him the springs were to lower, although if he read the instructions or even looked at the packing stuff he should have known, not that it should have made a difference if he installed them right.

oh yeah: the springs are shorter... that's why it lowers the car.

[unbalancedwood]

Well did they put the Eibach springs in or not?
Cause they are made to be the specific drop, you dont 'set' them to a certain height.

[PXLpainter]

TRD Springs are the same drop - lower in back than the front (though I still don't know why since the front has a bigger gap)

If the car LOOKS lower than it did, then they at least used the right springs, however, I have read that if you don't install them correctly, you'll get problems.

Good luck Monday!

[Mayimbe1979]

They installed the springs but the mechanic said that he didn't know he was supposed to drop the car. I asked him if the drop depends on what he sets it to or if the spring itself well drop the car to the appropriate height. He really couldn't respond. It was at that point that I decided to leave, the guy was obviously clueless. I will be going back tomorrow and trust me, the owner is going to here my mouth. I'm a 3rd year law school student so I'm not going to let them get away with anything, especially if there is are any long term effects. My heart sank every time I hit a bump and felt the tire rubbing.

I just bought 20 inch rims 2 weeks ago with brand new tires. How much rubbing will it take to cause damage to the tires?

Anyway, I'll give you guys an update tomorrow.

[unbalancedwood]

They installed the springs but the mechanic said that he didn't know he was supposed to drop the car. I asked him if the drop depends on what he sets it to or if the spring itself well drop the car to the appropriate height.

My heart sank every time I hit a bump and felt the tire rubbing.

I just bought 20 inch rims 2 weeks ago with brand new tires. How much rubbing will it take to cause damage to the tires?

The springs were put on, there is no adjusting to the appropriate height.

Now what size tires do you have on there? If they are too thick then yeah, you might have a problem and its really not their fault, but they or you should have checked it before hand.

Just a guess, if you had 20" rims on at the time, and have anything thicker then a 50 and wider then 225 then it might be a problem...idk too much though, let us know what size tire you have...

[krawzyazn]

wow you paid $225 to have them installed WOW they got you good

[Down2TheC]

The springs set the height. If they installed them, the drop should be there. Anyone know if there's a chance they reversed front/rear?

Height is adjustable only on coilovers. Standard strut/spring setup is on the left

There's nothing adjustable for the upper or lower spring caps. So replacing springs should be a no brainer for them. c/o is on the right and you can see that the lower end of the spring can be altered to set the resting height.

And don't drive much until you find out what's grinding. That sounds really bad.

[JMSinMaryland]

Sounds like the meeting of the minds. Who's on first?

[Mayimbe1979]

Thanks for the input guys. My tires are 225/35 and the rims are 20x7.5. I know the max size for the Gen 2 is 20x8.5 so I figured that I would be safe.

The springs are on and I'm glad to hear that the drop is automatic. But what concerns me is that the mechanic didn't know that. When I asked him about it he told me that he could drop it to whatever height I would like. ???

We'll see what happens tomorrow. Something is wrong because and I don't want to drive it unnecessarily out of fear of causing damage.

Also, they made a pretty deep scratch on my hood. I guess it happened when they were installing my billet grill. On top of that, they left the lining inside of my trunk completely out of wack. Lastly, I had to wait 3 1/2 hours longer than what they originally told me.

I paid a total of $300 for the installation of the springs and grill. How much would that normally run. I'm trying to gather as much info as possible so that I can really get in their a$$ tomorrow.

[Chinky420]

all i know, being a haggaler myself, is that this incompetence warrents free service

seriously, if you can explain the fact that anyone who can read the packaging should have known it's for a drop, then that alone should get the bill comp'd.

that aside...the fact that they're a shop that SUPPOSEDLY has a good reputation, then they should be accountable for any and all f'ups that should NOT occur.

the best way to negotiate with them on monday would be to go during what you would think is the busiest time (like you said, they were reputable in your eyes partially b/c they had customers there), and if the manager or whomever starts jacking you around, just get real loud and obnoxious and start talking about how incompetent and idiotic they must be to argue with a 'lay person' over the fact that they messed up.

if that shop has any respectable ethics/guidelines that they run the business by, they should fix for free just to shut you up

if nothing else, have them repair/repaint the hood scratches for you, since you're feeling so unsatisfied from their job



and if that doesn't work, then just burn the place to the ground

[Mayimbe1979]

Alright guys, this may be hard to believe but these morons made things even worse. If you remember I was supposed to pick up my car yesterday after the springs were installed properly. And the story begins…

So I go to the shop to pick up my car when the manager tells me that the car is still rubbing and that the problem is that I bought the wrongs springs. (I bought the springs on-line and just had these idiots do the installation). I tell him that I am positive that I ordered the right springs, but concede, for arguments sake, that it’s possible that the company sent me the wrong springs. I explain, however, that regardless of whether I took them the wrongs springs it is their duty, as professionals/experts, to realize that the springs aren’t compatible with my car. He, on the other hand, insists that I’m at fault for taking the wrong springs to them. We go back and forth for a while and I eventually tell him that I want a refund and that I want him to put my factory springs back on. He refuses to issue me a refund and tells me that I have to leave the car there another day (it was 6:45 pm at this point) in order for him to put the factory springs back on. He then tells me that I can use a loaner car, a 1988 Jeep Wagoneer, to get home and to work until I pick my car back up. Having no other choice, I take the Wagoneer home. BUT this morning, the piece of sh*t dies on me when I’m on my way to work. I have to call AAA to two the dam thing back to the shop. When I get there, the guy tells me that he contacted Eibach and they informed him that the springs that I ordered are an upgrade from the former springs for the Solara and require an additional adapter (or something of that sort). He went on to say that the car is now driving perfectly. The first thing I did was drive the car and luckily its driving fine and looks great with the drop. So I go back in and clarify that this means that I did buy the right springs and that they installed them incorrectly. I then listed all of the inconveniences that I suffered as a result of their error. He then offered to paint my hood as a “courtesy” to me. I explained that they scratched my hood, so painting is not a courtesy but rather there responsibility to correct many wrongs. We went back and forth again but didn’t reach an understanding. As it stands now I’m supposed to take the car back to them on Saturday so that they can paint the hood, I’m not sure if I’m actually going to do that. Other than that I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I’m undecided whether I will seek legal recourse, at this point I am probably limited to punitive damages. And finally, I will have to “take other actions” to make sure they pay for their lack of service, professionalism, and care.

I thank you guys for letting me vent.

[Mr. Slippery]

i would not even consider having them paint anything. You get what you pay for especially with body work. NOT WORTH IT..