Notices
Good Guy/Bad Guy Talk about your buying & selling experiences with other individuals.

Pettit Racing: Bad experience thus far

Old 05-08-2015, 04:24 PM
  #1  
Registered
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
Tyblat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Angry Pettit Racing: Bad experience thus far

Let me begin by posting a link to my original thread I created regarding a problem I had with my car. The thread itself is about four pages long, and will detail where I started, and my experiences with Pettit up to this point.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...-ideas-257715/

After as long as this has gone on, and has continued to go on, I feel it it necessary to create a thread in this section. I waited what I believe is more than long enough trying to give Pettit a chance to correct how this has transpired, but I am unable to wait any longer.

My car died on me sometime in mid/late march, feel free to look through my post history for the full details regarding this troubleshooting process.

My car arrived at Pettit on Monday, April 6th. The previous week I called Pettit and spoke to Cam about bringing it in on this day. I called Pettit on the sixth again, do make sure it was okay to have the car towed, to which Cam gave the go ahead.

The tow truck arrives at my house in Orlando, picks up my car, and heads off to Pettit in West Palm Beach. By the end of the day I have not heard any confirmation of if the car had gotten there, so the next day, Tuesday (04/07) I call and speak to Cam.

Cam informs me the problem was the fuel pump resistor, and that the car is running fine now, and that I can pick it up "at my convenience."

Two days later, on Thursday, (04/09/2015), I call cam ahead of time and let him know I have secured transportation down to West Palm Beach to pick up the car. I arrive, Dan takes care of me, I pay my bill, get my key, and start my ride back up to Orlando with the car.

Approx 2.7 miles down the road (according to google earth) the car dies. No warning, nothing. Same problem as before. I pull off the road, get the car to a safe location, and call pettit and explain to them the same problem just occurred again. Cam apologizes, and asks if I need a tow. I tell him I am calling one after I get off the phone, and I have the car towed back to Pettit about an hour later after the truck arrives and gets her loaded onto the flatbed.

Back at pettit, the car gets unloaded, and my ride at this point has plans and has to be back in Orlando by a certain time. I ask Cam if anything can be done and he said they did not have time to get to it "today."

At this point, i'm mildly annoyed, but things happen. So I got back in the car, and went back to Orlando.

A entire week goes by, it is now 04/16 without hearing anything, I call and get no answer. Roughly half an hour later, Cam calls me back and said he has had a few guys call out, and had a project car he was working on, and that the car was all of the sudden now blowing EGI fuses. At this time I was slightly more annoyed, seeing as how a single week went by with no contact, and two messages I left went un returned.

Its now 04/21, I have yet to hear anything back. I call twice throughout the day, and get voicemail both occasions. Right before closing time I attempt to make one last phone call to them, and my phone dies (icing on the cake.) I borrow a friends phone, and I get up with Cam.

Cam informs me he has had some time to spend with the car (..as long as its been, the fact he said 'sometime' annoyed me) and he hasn't found the issue. He restated that it is blowing the EGI fuses. At this point I politely asked Cam if he had a time frame of when it would be done, and he didn't have one to give me. He also mentioned that he has had people bring cars in that "even the dealer couldn't fix."

I mentioned that I understand things happen but its been fairly frustrating not having my car. He mentioned I could always take it to someone else if I knew anyone (which also annoyed me, given that I had already PAID for service and have received next to no communication and little progress towards rectifying the issue) I asked him if he could just keep me updated periodically.

It is now 04/27. Few messages I have left since I talked to cam last again go un returned. I call, and get Cam on the line, he mentioned he spent some time over the weekend with his 'friend' who is an 'expert' on the eight, Still no luck with what is wrong. He mentioned he was about to pull the intake manifold off to see if any wires were pinched, etc.

Now its 05/05, I called onece on 05/04, and twice today. no answer. Before closing time, I call from my girlfriends phone, and I speak to Cam. He said the car was running, and that they don't know what they did, but it hasnt blown the fuses recently. They have let it idle and road tested it, and the problem seemed to just go away. (they don't know what they did? )

He said he would have called me but he wanted to see if it repeated itself with blowing the EGI fuses before he did. I agree to give it a few more days.

The day after, I call him and mention maybe the alternator could be the issue (based on some research I've read on the forums.) Cam said they tested the alternator, and it checked out, and would let me know.

So here it is Friday, again the LACK of communication from Pettit, I spoke with the receptionist again, she took my number and said Cam would call me back after he got back from a test ride. Its now over four hours later and still no return call.

TLDNR:

My car has been down at Pettit for over a month, I was told it was fixed, made a trip down there, spent time/money/gas, and PAID for the repairs done to my car, only to have it BREAK DOWN LESS THAN THREE MILES FROM PETTIT! Over this entire month, Pettit has called me ONCE, and I have left multiple messages that went un returned!

I have paid for a service over a month ago, my car was not fixed, and it took them weeks to make ANY sort of progress on it, just to be told they did not know what they did but its not blowing the fuse anymore. I tried calling today to see if he had found/fixed the root of the issue and have had no luck.

My first experience with Pettit was amazing, phenomenal. Check my thread for reference. This time around is overall sub-par, and I feel like I have been given horrible service, and I am already out money to pettit when the problem was not even fixed to begin with.

Stay tuned, will update as this continues.

Last edited by Tyblat; 05-08-2015 at 04:28 PM. Reason: corrected Typos
Old 05-08-2015, 04:31 PM
  #2  
SARX Legend
iTrader: (46)
 
9krpmrx8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 33,784
Received 452 Likes on 366 Posts
Sucks dude, hope they get it sorted. But honestly it takes a real serious look and some time to diagnose issues like this and most shops just operate this way in my experience and I don't know how people do it who have to rely on others. Pettit is probably just poking at it when they get a chance and not really giving a **** so they really have no good info to give you so they are just blowing you off. Sadly this type of thing is par for the course in the industry.

There is nothing more annoying than being blown off and bullshitted when you are a paying customer. I have been there and done that.

Last edited by 9krpmrx8; 05-08-2015 at 04:34 PM.
Old 05-08-2015, 04:47 PM
  #3  
Registered
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
Tyblat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8
Sucks dude, hope they get it sorted. But honestly it takes a real serious look and some time to diagnose issues like this and most shops just operate this way in my experience and I don't know how people do it who have to rely on others. Pettit is probably just poking at it when they get a chance and not really giving a **** so they really have no good info to give you so they are just blowing you off. Sadly this type of thing is par for the course in the industry.

There is nothing more annoying than being blown off and bullshitted when you are a paying customer. I have been there and done that.
I agree with you, and I hope they do get it sorted out. I took my car there to solve the issue, not create more. If they make it right, I have no issue whatsoever with updating accordingly.
Old 05-08-2015, 07:59 PM
  #4  
skc
rev it up
 
skc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Brisbane Australia
Posts: 1,590
Received 11 Likes on 11 Posts
I had a similar issue and it required a new engine harness
Old 05-09-2015, 07:07 AM
  #5  
wcs
no agenda
iTrader: (2)
 
wcs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Ontario
Posts: 5,210
Received 62 Likes on 54 Posts
Great write up, well I mean great as in easy to read and well written.

Sucks donkey ballz about your experience.
I'm sure Pettit will come through for you.
G/L
Old 05-09-2015, 05:26 PM
  #6  
No respecter of malarkey
iTrader: (25)
 
TeamRX8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 26,718
Received 2,005 Likes on 1,634 Posts
The problem in general is that they should never accepted having you tow the car down there to work on it, assuming thats the way it really went down. Having seen you either argue with or ignore people offering you good advice makes me wonder.

Why you thought taking it down there was the solution is not making much sense either. It was clearly an electrical issue from the start. There were any number of auto electrical specialists in Orlando that could have handled this. It doesn't need an RX8 specialist, which they really aren't any way.

Either the wires have continuity or they don't, and they also have it consistently or they don't. This is exactly the kind of thing they would throw at an auto tech skils contest for high schools students, yet your car is still sitting down there not repaired. If they don't have the time or ability to handle it then they should get it to someone that does and just pass that part of the cost on to you without marking it up so that you can both get on with your lives.
Old 05-10-2015, 12:23 PM
  #7  
Registered
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
Tyblat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by TeamRX8
The problem in general is that they should never accepted having you tow the car down there to work on it, assuming thats the way it really went down. Having seen you either argue with or ignore people offering you good advice makes me wonder.

Why you thought taking it down there was the solution is not making much sense either. It was clearly an electrical issue from the start. There were any number of auto electrical specialists in Orlando that could have handled this. It doesn't need an RX8 specialist, which they really aren't any way.

Either the wires have continuity or they don't, and they also have it consistently or they don't. This is exactly the kind of thing they would throw at an auto tech skils contest for high schools students, yet your car is still sitting down there not repaired. If they don't have the time or ability to handle it then they should get it to someone that does and just pass that part of the cost on to you without marking it up so that you can both get on with your lives.
I double checked my posts, and I don't believe I did anything regarding ignoring/arguing with anyone. If it came across that way, then I apologize. But every piece of advice was taken into account that I received.

I took it down there for this problem because my car was down there a month or so before this occurred having work done on it, so I wasn't sure if they were related or not (Cam did some misc work with some grounds, battery terminal, etc.) I figured if they were related, Cam would be the best person to take it to as they touched it last.

But either way, I hope this gets resolved amicably. As I stated before, if this ends up working out well I have no problem whatsoever with giving credit where credit is due.
Old 05-10-2015, 12:31 PM
  #8  
Modulated Moderator
iTrader: (3)
 
dannobre's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Smallville
Posts: 13,718
Received 334 Likes on 289 Posts
They should have a better idea what they worked on...and that is where the educated diagnostician would start to look.

I am a firm believer in the "**** don't happen by itself" theory of diagnosing problems. If the problem started after you were pissing with something then that is a good place to start looking

I have had engine harness problems after removing them a few times on older cars. They get brittle and when you move the wires they can break/short out

Intermittent electrical issues are one of the hardest things to diagnose and repair.....so sometimes it can seem frustrating to the customer.....and often the only way to fix it is to replace the whole harness...unless you have a TON of time to go over the whole harness inch by inch..and even then sometimes you can't find the problem


Did you check the relays??
Old 05-13-2015, 11:05 AM
  #9  
kevin@rotaryresurrection
iTrader: (3)
 
RotaryResurrection's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: east of Knoxville, TN
Posts: 1,415
Likes: 0
Received 57 Likes on 35 Posts
Wow. As a shop owner myself I would ask you to tow your car out of my shop and not return. IF you can't repair a car yourself, you are going to have to rely on others to do it for you. When you find those "others" who are reputed within the industry to be one of the best by a large number of people, and you still are not happy with their services, it's an indicator that the problem lies with the owner and not the service provider.

No one is perfect or a miracle worker, and contrary to what you may believe, your emergency is not his emergency.

It sounds as though he is doing the best he can with what is obviously an intermittent electrical issue, the worst kind of issue to try and troubleshoot/trace on a car. And to make it worse, you're not only asking him for a guaranteed fix to a problem he hasn't even found yet, you're asking him for a guaranteed time frame as well. This is not how auto repair works.

That does not mean that he has to drop everything else that was already going on prior to your job waltzing through the door, and give yours nonstop attention until it reaches resolution. That is not possible to do as a business; you have to work on multiple jobs and issues at a time, a little here, a little there, to try and keep all the irons in the fire turned without letting any get too hot or too cold.

Re: the communication, it sounds somewhat weak, but that is also the case with most every small auto repair shop with only a handful of guys employed. Let's be honest here...mechanics are mechanics because they are good at working on cars, and not necessarily good at talking on the phone or holding people's hands. I am also a weak communicator because to be honest "I can talk or I can do, but not really both", and since I'm paid to "do", that is what I choose first. You might also consider that those who are better talkers may not be as good at "doing".

Last edited by RotaryResurrection; 05-13-2015 at 11:07 AM.
Old 05-13-2015, 12:00 PM
  #10  
Registered
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
Tyblat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection
Wow. As a shop owner myself I would ask you to tow your car out of my shop and not return. IF you can't repair a car yourself, you are going to have to rely on others to do it for you. When you find those "others" who are reputed within the industry to be one of the best by a large number of people, and you still are not happy with their services, it's an indicator that the problem lies with the owner and not the service provider.

No one is perfect or a miracle worker, and contrary to what you may believe, your emergency is not his emergency.

It sounds as though he is doing the best he can with what is obviously an intermittent electrical issue, the worst kind of issue to try and troubleshoot/trace on a car. And to make it worse, you're not only asking him for a guaranteed fix to a problem he hasn't even found yet, you're asking him for a guaranteed time frame as well. This is not how auto repair works.

That does not mean that he has to drop everything else that was already going on prior to your job waltzing through the door, and give yours nonstop attention until it reaches resolution. That is not possible to do as a business; you have to work on multiple jobs and issues at a time, a little here, a little there, to try and keep all the irons in the fire turned without letting any get too hot or too cold.

Re: the communication, it sounds somewhat weak, but that is also the case with most every small auto repair shop with only a handful of guys employed. Let's be honest here...mechanics are mechanics because they are good at working on cars, and not necessarily good at talking on the phone or holding people's hands. I am also a weak communicator because to be honest "I can talk or I can do, but not really both", and since I'm paid to "do", that is what I choose first. You might also consider that those who are better talkers may not be as good at "doing".
The issue is mostly the lack of communication. I never expected him to drop everything and focus entirely on my car, and I never said that to begin with. Yes, they are reputed by quite a lot of people to be very good, but that does not mean situations never arise and when they do they are always the fault of the customer, which sounds like what you are getting at (If i'm wrong on this one, disregard.)

I'm not asking for a guaranteed time frame, that would have been a bit demanding. When customers send you engines, i'm pretty sure you cant give an exact answer, but you probably give them something to at least paint a rough idea right? I would have been significantly less frustrated if the communication had been better. Even if they are too busy to touch my car for x amount of time, a simple call saying so would be great.
Old 05-15-2015, 09:16 AM
  #11  
Moder8
iTrader: (1)
 
04Green's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Oviedo, Florida
Posts: 2,578
Received 49 Likes on 31 Posts
I think I understand.

I had a camaro once (no hate please). Blew fuel pump fuses. Replaced fuel pump (shop cut hole in floor of cargo area, then had to drop tank when that did not work). Still blew fuses. Blew the fuse after I went over the RR tracks at work that followed the badge station. I started trying bigger fuses to "clear the short", still blew fuses.

Put car up on jacks. Started tracing wires. 7 hours later, tracking harness that runs across top of trans, then branches to rear of car, at the joint of the bundles, one wire was slightly exposed. Realize, this is on top of the trans, behind the engine, inside the tunnel on a 1985 camaro. That wire that you could see did not touch ANYTHING. But, if you ran over the railroad tracks, while accelerating from a stop, at about 30 MPH, that small part of the harness would swing when you hit a bump and touch a piece of flashing sticking out of the side of the transmission and cause a momentary short then swing back into space all innocent and sweet like. It took years to wear a hold through the insulation, and the hole was not visible from any angle.

To top it off, it was the power SENSE line for the fuel pump, the line that the ECU monitored to make sure there was power at the pump. It ran in a different harness than the fuel pup wires. It did not show up as a power line on the drawings.

Electrical issues suck! Man, I feel better.

Whomever has that car may be wondering whey a whole freaking roll of electrical tape is wrapped around one harness junction.

And, the only time the issue occurred was going over that RR track, accelerating, from the guard station.

If you get home and it occurs again, I can recommend a local shop. I just hope you do not live in Altamonte.
Old 05-15-2015, 09:28 AM
  #12  
Modulated Moderator
iTrader: (3)
 
dannobre's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Smallville
Posts: 13,718
Received 334 Likes on 289 Posts
Yep...work on cars long enough and these show up

I had one one time that was 2 wires in a harness....the outside was pristine...but the harness flexed a bit on bumps....and the wires rubbed together enough that they would short inside the harness. Nothing showed up outside at all...and the current was low enough that they didn't do anything but blow the fuse. Took a week of headscratching to find that one
Old 05-15-2015, 09:35 AM
  #13  
kevin@rotaryresurrection
iTrader: (3)
 
RotaryResurrection's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: east of Knoxville, TN
Posts: 1,415
Likes: 0
Received 57 Likes on 35 Posts
I'll add to the story. My own personal turbo II swapped rx7 convertible has a power window electrical issue. It pops fuses at an unknown time and for an unknown reason. You can use the windows all day long to your heart's content, together or individually, up or down, and the fuse remains fine. You can turn the ignition off and on all day long and the fuse remains fine. You can drive the car all day and the fuse remains fine.

You let the car sit overnight, come back to it the next day, and the fuse is blown.

IT'S MY OWN DAMN CAR THAT I PERSONALLY DRIVE EVERY COUPLE OR 3 DAYS AND I STILL CANNOT FIND THE ISSUE lol.

Now imagine if this were a customer's car, and the issue was a fuel pump and not the power windows. How long do you think it would take me to track down the issue? Hell I could spend a week on it and probably never find it....and it's unrealistic to expect a shop to dedicate 8 hours a day for 5 days on one job.
Old 05-22-2015, 12:24 AM
  #14  
Registered
 
shazy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Montreal,QC
Posts: 2,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Honestly. They want your car out of their shop as quickly as you want your car lol.Yea it sucks and we have all been through it. Give them a chance. Honestly it seems to me that a good gesture turned into a nagging type thing. I understand, you have a life and need a damn car to go move around with. But you are not by any means TOP priority. Give them another week, if there is nothing, take your car elsewhere simple as that.
Old 05-22-2015, 09:14 AM
  #15  
SARX Legend
iTrader: (46)
 
9krpmrx8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 33,784
Received 452 Likes on 366 Posts
Excuses, excuses, there is no excuse for poor customer service. And a lack of communication is poor customer service. As a customer he was/is not being unreasonable. But then again I have high standards which is why I do my own **** 99.9% of the time.
Old 05-22-2015, 05:21 PM
  #16  
kevin@rotaryresurrection
iTrader: (3)
 
RotaryResurrection's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: east of Knoxville, TN
Posts: 1,415
Likes: 0
Received 57 Likes on 35 Posts
IT is easy to harp about "customer service" and "communication" when you either a) don't have a shop or b) have a small shop that you is just starting out. Hell, I did it for the first few years myself, because I wasn't that busy and had few demands on my time. So I could afford to kiss butt to get a job and stay in constant communication and hold hands. When you get bigger and there are more demands on your time, something has to give. You either turn away work (and thus money) or you work more and talk less.
Old 05-22-2015, 05:48 PM
  #17  
SARX Legend
iTrader: (46)
 
9krpmrx8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 33,784
Received 452 Likes on 366 Posts
Yeah knowing when to refuse a job is important. I always make sure all of my employees (30 of them so it is tough at times) are clear with patients on what they should expect because that eliminates a lot of problems. If their expectations are not something we feel we can meet, then we just tell them that they should go elsewhere.

Last edited by 9krpmrx8; 05-22-2015 at 05:53 PM.
Old 05-23-2015, 11:10 PM
  #18  
No respecter of malarkey
iTrader: (25)
 
TeamRX8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 26,718
Received 2,005 Likes on 1,634 Posts
Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection
Wow. As a shop owner myself I would ask you to tow your car out of my shop and not return.
Thanks for proving my point about private enterprises, not to mention taking the OP completely out of context.

Frankly, and quoting your own later statement, you might want to consider working more and posting less


.
Old 05-25-2015, 10:23 AM
  #19  
Moder8
iTrader: (1)
 
04Green's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Oviedo, Florida
Posts: 2,578
Received 49 Likes on 31 Posts
OP,

Car back yet?
Old 05-25-2015, 10:55 AM
  #20  
Registered
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
Tyblat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by 04Green
OP,

Car back yet?
No, not yet.
Old 05-27-2015, 03:09 AM
  #21  
Registered
 
Mutaku's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Fort Walton Beach, FL
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I wouldn't expect a shop to make calls to update me but if I did make the effort to call them and left a message I would expect a call back, which I feel like did not happen in this case. Like others have said electrical problems can be a beast. Trust me, I work on million dollar aircraft that are over 50 years old and I have had some horrible nightmares for wiring issues. Hopefully you get everything sorted
Old 05-27-2015, 06:18 PM
  #22  
Moder8
iTrader: (1)
 
04Green's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Oviedo, Florida
Posts: 2,578
Received 49 Likes on 31 Posts
Ask Alonzo about wiring on F1 cars...
Old 05-30-2015, 04:10 PM
  #23  
No respecter of malarkey
iTrader: (25)
 
TeamRX8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 26,718
Received 2,005 Likes on 1,634 Posts
Originally Posted by Mutaku
I wouldn't expect a shop to make calls to update me but if I did make the effort to call them and left a message I would expect a call back, which I feel like did not happen in this case.
Exactly, and then for another business owner to suggest that he would tell you to take your car and get out under that circumstance is pretty incredulous ...
Old 05-31-2015, 06:24 PM
  #24  
kevin@rotaryresurrection
iTrader: (3)
 
RotaryResurrection's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: east of Knoxville, TN
Posts: 1,415
Likes: 0
Received 57 Likes on 35 Posts
Originally Posted by TeamRX8
Exactly, and then for another business owner to suggest that he would tell you to take your car and get out under that circumstance is pretty incredulous ...
I was trying to let you first comment lie as a sleeping dog for the sake of keeping the thread on topic. However you just can't let it go can you?

You clearly have a problem with me and the way I post online and run my business. This has been evident over the course of the years we have both spent on the forum.

But, there are a few things you should know. 1) I don't care. Think of it as perks of the job. 2) There is nothing you can do about it, so why do you keep carrying the burden of crusading against my posting style online? 3) It has worked well enough for me since 2001 when I quit my last full time job to start the business from nothing, so I don't think I need to change now just to suit you (and those who are like minded). 4) Even if, somehow, you and those like you who say that I am running my business and posting on the internet incorrectly could get your wish and see me go out of business and off the forums tomorrow...you still could not debate the fact that the vast majority of what I've said, done, and posted online over the years has been true and correct, or that I have effectively helped and served thousands of customers and rotary cars during that time. I've accomplished that by always telling people the truth whether or not they wanted to hear it. I'm sorry you don't like facts.

Stay mad team.
Old 06-08-2015, 10:16 AM
  #25  
SARX Legend
iTrader: (46)
 
9krpmrx8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 33,784
Received 452 Likes on 366 Posts
Any updates?

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:
You have already rated this thread Rating: Thread Rating: 0 votes,  average.

Quick Reply: Pettit Racing: Bad experience thus far



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:58 AM.