Hey guys,
I just came into town yesterday, and I drove by my mechanic's shop, and he hasn't touched my car for three weeks. Three weeks ago when I was home, I went and talked to my mechanic, and I brought my dad along, and we all agreed that he'd have the car done January 1st, and I'd pay $500. Well, now it looks like my car isn't going to be done. My mechanic lied to me, and in fact hasn't even started the wiring yet, which is going to be very hard. Also, there is other stuff that needs to be done, such as the A/C, power steering lines, throttle cable, etc.

So I'm almost completely positive that my car will not be done on January 1st. When this happens, I'm going to bring a laywer and my dad with me, and we'll have a talk with Josh, my mechanic. So below are the options I'm thinking of telling him he's got.

1. Tell him that he needs to pay someone to come out and finish my car correctly, or tell him that he needs to pay to get the car towed to a competant shop where they'll finish the work, which he'll need to pay for as well.

2. Tell him that he needs to put my stock 7A-FE back in correctly, and buy the 4A-GE engine from me for the price that I paid for it and all the replacement parts.

What do you guys think? Are there other options I should be thinking about? Is there anything else I should do?

i would go with option one.. if he promised to do something for a price and can't then he has to pay for you taking it to another shop that will do the work he should have done

I'd go with option one u already have come to far and have waited to long to go back to the 7afe.

yea, just let him know either get it done right, or give me my money back so i can take it somewhere that can do it right.

option 1

uno!

screw the 7AFE!

-boosted_K2+Nov 26, 2003 - 5:45 PM

Or you can tell him that every week after the due date will be 100$ off. If its 5 weeks late, its free.

-Supersprynt+Nov 26, 2003 - 6:03 PM

-Coomer+Nov 26, 2003 - 9:10 PM

All I have to say is get your lawyer to rape him into finishing it.

Option 1. With your lawyer there he should be more willing to get the job done versus having to go to court and loose time and money. Another option would be to contact your local media and get them to do a story about how poor their service is and so on. He won't want the bad press.

Daniel

-Drunken_Style+Nov 26, 2003 - 9:20 PM

Get your money back and have him ship the car to a shop of your choice and then back to you when its done. You should be able to get this from him if you take a laywer with you and your dad.

You could charge him for not having the car ready when he said it should have been done.

-Bryan-

Either way, we're all behind you Coomer. Good luck whatever the outcome. (Of course with him paying all your bills.)

Thanks for all of the advice so far. Do you guys think I should take a lawyer with me before January 1, or wait until January 1 when the car isn't done, and then take a laywer? Also, I don't have anything in writing, but I have an eyewitness(my dad) who saw us agree that he'd have the car done by January 1. Does that matter if I end up going to court or getting a laywer involved?

Thats ****y man, I would just go in there and say if your not going to do it then your taking your business somewhere else. I mean $500 is cheap for a swap but if he isnt going to do it then whats the bother, and if hes that half assed about it then he may not do a good job anyway.

You have tons of contacts on here, maybe someone in your area could give you a hand with it?

Is this guy nice? Are you buddy buddy with him?

-Uppitycracker+Nov 26, 2003 - 7:02 PM

that answers everything. I always wondered why you never talked about your 4agze any more .

one coomer. you have gone way to far to quit now. Missing it for this long, you can miss it a little longer.

Good luck bro. we need a damn lawyer on the site, who can do legal stuff for free >>

go there first with a lawyer there and confirm the jan 1st date.

with a lawyer their he might get off his ass, if not, you can really screw him over.

Coomer, i maybe rough by teling this to you, but any way... This is not only for you:

Guys, i dont get it, WHY then START somthing and leave unfinished??? You knew that you may run in some problems... Why then RUN from these problems? Get your lawyer, talk with the mechanic, and take your car else where.. You still have your another "CAR" (i hate AUDI's), so you have what to drive... Then Finish your project in any price!!! You just dont leave your clients page unfinished???Do you? Then why do it to your self? Ruin your OWN dream?

I think you should take it home and finish it yourself, it may take a LONNNNGGG time, but you would learn a lot along the way,,,

You may want to consult with the lawyer 1st b4 going back to the shop, but only if you know the lawyer and trust him, , If you piss off the mechanic too much, he could screw you big time, (I think it would be a toss-up on who gets to you worse, the mechanic or the lawyer)
the mech could simply say he already has all these hours in it, and you dont want to pay what it will cost to finish, I think the judge would take his side simply because he is a "businessman" and you are just a "kid" (nothing personal )
Worst case - he gets a mechanics lein and legally keeps or sells your car, any reputable shop will be getting at least $50.00/hr for labor, there is no book to look up how long a swap should take, so its his word against yours on how much time he has in it.
Hindsight is always 20/20, My other recommendation would be to put the stock motor back in and just drive it. Swaps are way too expensive if you are paying going labor rates. Even if he were to get it running, will you know what all the parts are from? and what wiring diagrams to look at in the future? , If you dont know and/or cant work on it yourself, every mech from now on will just be guessing as to what parts to order, etc. Meantime you will be paying their labor rate while they experiment, I hate to be such a bummer here, but from your description of where things are at now, I think he has at least another 20-30 hrs of labor to complete it, and maybe more parts costs too. he is NOT going to do it for $500.

SO the only 2 practical options I see are:
1: take it home and finish it yourself- however long it takes,
2: put it back to stock, either yourself at home or the mech if he will do it for a reasonable price. Good luck either way...

any other option will take LOTS more money and time.

-Coomer+Nov 26, 2003 - 8:02 PM

Heres what I think you should do after sleeping on it.... get him to sign somthing by a lawyer stating it WILL be done by that date, that way if not done not only is it oral agreement you have a written agreement and have at the bottom certain terms perhaps he will have to abide by if it is not finished.... I suspect he will comply.... if not.... Sue his ass for all he got

i think u guys are going over board. he is doing a very custom swap. how well does he know his toyota's? if u were in his place, working on a car which seems to have no need and you told they kid a good price, well its not paying the bills. im going through it right not with my nissan, just s simple sr20 to sr20 and its been a over a week and not work was done.. its total BS but i think if you get some promising leads in the wire harness and what not it should start to work..

if the guy is really hard about it get it to a new shop. my dealer said they would do my 20v swap when i wanted it for 800 dollars... theres places that are willing to start it but finishing it is the hard part. threathen him with a lawyer or whatever it takes but if u didnt get the bill yet he could be the last laughing.. dont pay bill, storage fees etc etc...

number one number one number one

Whats the deal with your swap Coomer?

I would suggest number one but wait until the date he said before you do that.. dont jump the gun on it, expessially if he is the one that is going to finish your swap or you might use him in the future. That and it kind of sounds like you might of been friends with him before.. I wouldnt try and burn that unless you have to >>

needless to say he told you he would do something and should keep to his word about it.

lol i knew i should of used a different thread to find out....