Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

^ not very but yes it is. I always double check them before going on long trips if I am required to take my ISF, or if I have a little paranoia.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

At the beginning of every track day and immediately after the first session. It's not a question of whether it is worth it for me. I have four torque wrenches in my box. I made the investment a long time ago.

Boma

iTrader: (4)

All right guys! Thanks for all the feedback once again. Here is the obligatory update post...

So last Monday I called the shop first thing in the morning. I had pumped myself up for that moment, but honestly didn't know what to expect. Would they do the right thing or not? I talked to the owner and I was as polite as can be, regardless of what happened I kept cool about the whole situation. To my relief, the owner instantly sympathized with me and was apologetic. To the shop's defense, it was one guy who did all the work on my car, which included the joy riding and the incorrect wheel mounting and the loose lugs. The owner implied that he is getting rid of the guy who did the work and offered to have the car towed back to the shop and will personally have all repairs done on his dime. I couldn't refuse the offer and it was back in the shop shortly after.

Fast forward to later that day. The owner called back and gave me the scoop on what happened: much of the damage was to the wheel studs, and the rest of the wheel assembly including the brakes suffered almost no damage. The rotor was slightly scuffed from the caliper scraping on it but nothing too serious. He said they would have to keep my car there at least two days to wait for new wheel studs and lugs, and assured me it will be kept locked up inside to prevent anything else happening to it. As much as I hate the idea of my car being away from my house for any duration let alone two days, I went along with it. Luckily there is a Walmart nearby (we go through groceries fairly quickly so we make almost nightly food stops) which gave me an excuse to drop by each night and see if they made good on his assurance, which he did!

Two days later, as promised he had the car fixed and ready to be picked up. He assured that the car ran just fine and didn't need any further adjustments such as a new alignment. I picked it up and sure as hell triple checked all the lugs myself. It all looked good and drove away satisfied.

So to make a long story short, this ended up having a happy ending. Luckily I had a very understanding owner/mechanic who was willing to make the situation right and he made good with it. Would I recommend this shop to others? Maybe for regular non-sports cars. For high performance cars like the ISF, let's say I learned my lesson and I'll go with a shop that is more trustworthy.

SoulFreak

iTrader: (1)

I'm glad you're happy with the results, and you truly come across like a humble person. I thought, I was humble...lol. Please, next time buy the tires yourself and take them to the Lexus dealership. They charge roughly $29.95 for each mount and balance. $99 for the alignment. I wouldn't have tolerated ANY of this incompetence. A scuffed rotor or any type of scratch I would have gone crazy! In my line of work any kind of scratch/scuff to structure or component section, can always lead to cracks and God forbid failure of a part. If you were wise still get it inspected and choose better next time. Good luck

PDP180180

iTrader: (3)

Glad to hear you got it sorted out chap.

Nothing worse than finding people have mistreated your pride and joy!

Had a similar issue with my car over here.

Had my old neighbour reverse into my IS-F whilst it was parked outside our old house (we have since moved to a bigger place with garage and driveway).

Managed to stay calm somehow, and got a recommendation from my Lexus dealership for a bodyshop (same one they use for repairs).

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and I was removing my headlights for blacking out. When I lifted the inner wing trim to unclip one of the lights, the clip has been snapped off!

Just shows that even with shops and people who come highly recommended, there is still a risk involved.

Hopefully you can put your incident behind you, and carry on enjoying your car!

All the best,


Peter

RichFlair

iTrader: (2)

i know the feeling. My car just came out of the body shop with curb rash. Now were just pointing fingers until its solved.

RedlineAZ

iTrader: (5)

I try to make it a point to walk around my car with the service advisor and point out ANY damage that was there, that way its documented and if theres any additional damage, they can take care of it since it was documented as not being there prior. The worst about this stuff is discount tire, seriously I dread going there because it seems like they always tear something up...wheels, lug nuts, your front lip, etc. After they replaced a set of my forged wheels on a different car because they chewed em up, I always make a point to go over the car before hand to avoid the pointing of fingers and passing of blame later. Despite Discount always causing some sort of damage, they always make it right and for that, I always go back to them. There aren't a lot of shops that have the means to back up their mistakes, so I take the risk with them because I know they are good for it.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

I've been going to Discount Tire for over 15 years now. I've really never had an issue with them. But, if someone works on my car, I don't let it out of my sight. That's a problem with the dealer since they take it away, and you can't go near it. The dealer only sees my car it truck only for warranty or recall issues. Anything else I do myself, or as I say I never take my eyes off it while someone else has control of the car.

But, now that I think of it, not totally true. I've had it at the body shop twice (bumper repair) and I did leave it.

Lou

SoulFreak

iTrader: (1)

The Lexus dealership? Every Lexus dealership have a see through glass waiting area, where you can sit, watch and wait while your car is being serviced. Plus, you can always enter the bay escorted and set direct expectations with the service tech. My tech always lets me enter the working area, he puts the F on the lift and let's me know exactly what's going on with the car.

RedlineAZ

iTrader: (5)

I've invested in a dash cam that I've recently installed. I think it can capture a lot of the abuse that can happen while they drive it (or if they aren't supposed to drive it but decide to anyways). I also take a photo of the mileage before hand in a dealership setting because I've had my cars returned over the years with a few miles extra "for test drive purposes" - AKA probably getting lunch in my car. Hopefully the dash cam will deter this activity. But I agree 100% about watching it as often as you can, no one cares about my car more then myself, and most of the time my presence is enough to ensure they are extra careful with the car.

LexusNN

iTrader: (5)

Stick with the dealership to avoid these horror stories

yjk1975

Good ending.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

If you think nothing bad happens at a dealer's, I have a bridge you might be interested in

Lou

I8ABMR

I'm a dealer only owner as well. I want the tech to know my car AND if something goes wrong they will take full responsibility ............... Oh yeah I like the 50k GS F sport loaner they always give me and the fact that there is little to no disruption in my busy life . To each his own. Nobody says dealers are all angels ( spoke to a good buddy CL member about a horror story today ) , but in my experience they will always make things right and will usually bend over backwards to make a pissed customer happy . They are still the lesser of the evils