booger

iTrader: (6)

SGP made some mistakes on my engine build Order [ not the build ] When I got the time and money to pull the motor . I sent it back to them and they redid the motor . Coated the new CP pistons , changed the Compression for me...all for free > Doesnt sound like the same shop described by the OP

ouch1011

This is all I needed to see. Your head gasket was already blown at this point. Don't these engines often have problems with the heads lifting under boost?

cubu

iTrader: (21)

well sgp was reading this thread at 9:30am(my time isn't set right >.<) today but didn't post a reply,
why do people have to post threads like this before companies make things right?... or not. why does it have to go this far?

after all is said and done, if i spent 25k in parts and labor, i'd expect a hell of alot more than what the op was given... i'd at least expect a working car, no excuses

thanks speedrcr, ill look into that shop

luty77

25k spent at the shop.
more than enough length of time spent with number of long distance visits
I would at least expect a working car...personally, i wouldn't have settled with anything
less than what i wanted..
what's up with that screw off comment, if they actually did to a 25k worth
customer..no..any customer..
THEY DESERVE TO BE FLAMED

P.S - I mean, if a guy spends 25k on his Z they outta know that he's a member of my350z.com..

jinsei888

iTrader: (14)

gotta admit though, you DID blindly spend your money on mods before the ACTUAL overheating issue was even resolved; ignorance is a lot to blame here

cubu

iTrader: (21)

i wouldn't call it ignorance really... more like misplaced trust
there has been alot of good experiences posted here and many members refer fellow members to sgp, so i don't see how he can be blamed for trusting the community. i had a similar instance when purchasing an exhaust from hpautoworks, i was referred to them by a member that trusted them, it was not his fault but mine because i did not do more research on the company, if i had i would have found negative threads that would've changed my mind on purchasing from them. hopefully others that consider having work done at sgp will stumble on this thread before they decide to or not

DDS_RACER

iTrader: (2)

Rocks and The Tech,

Poptarts does feel responsibility in this matter. What person placed in this situation would not accept some type of personal accountability for what happened??

I never understood it when someone shares their experiences in a public forum and people respond with callous, unsupportive remarks. He’s sharing his story so that as readers we can make better informed decisions. How are you helping the original poster by playing the blame game? You presume to know something about cars so that gives you the right to act like a total ***?? wtf

I for one recently spoke with SGP Houston and pretty much set up a deal for 10K to rebuild my engine. After reading this, I will consider other mechanics/FI shops in the area or go NA and buy a ZO6 instead.

Poptarts, if it were me I would be extremely angry and I would get some wise legal counsel on this matter. I think a consumer lawyer would be most fitting in this type of case. Sometimes I wish I went to law school instead of dental school so I could represent my Z bros pro bono. It makes me sick to hear about these things b/c it reminds me of my bad experience with Wheelmax.com.

Good luck man.

Poptarts

iTrader: (1)

I had heard many good stories about SGP before i took my car to them, however i heard these stories from people who had their cars worked on while Kyle was still one of the co-owners. When i went to SGP originally I dealt with Mark who is the current owner and very customer friendly guy. Unfortunately, after that first time i started talking to Sean to help me make my descisions. I found out very quickly that Sean is very arrogant and thinks he knows everything there is to know about the VQ motor. Every time that i would ask "what should i do next?" or "why is the car doing this?" I would never get an answer to the problem, rather that i needed to upgrade some part. That is why i always buying parts for the car.

For example: I asked them to figure out why the car is running so lean in the midrange on 5psi. Instead of just retuning the car to make it work right on 5psi he told me i needed to buy the return fuel system, 770cc injectors, a new FPR, and the Greddy e-manage ultimate cuz they would be able to do alot more with the tune and make alot more power. So thus i trusted them to be making the right descisions for me and i figured since im upgrading i wont have to worry about it later instead of just getting the car to run properly on 5psi.


Obviously any shop can be a competing shop but in my opinion there is no need to bash that shop so arrogantly. I simply told Sean that the car went to engine logics to get a second opinion on what may be wrong and he just laughed. He then went on to bash on the shop and even told me that he had an evo and a wrx there that had blown motors from engine logics and that chris at engine logics does horrible work. I told chris what sean said and he told me that they definately do not have any of their cars at SGP and that Sean is lying. I didnt instigate this situation further but it just goes to show that he will say anything just to bash on a competing shop.

99atlantic

iTrader: (1)

conclusion: 10s of thousands spent, hours of frustration and hair pulling to be able to run 12s

better altenative: 10s of thousands spent, hours of pleasure, ear-splitting grin when you run 10s out of the box stock......should have built an MK3 cobra if you wanted a real race car

Sam405

iTrader: (8)

whats the fun in that?

THE TECH

iTrader: (154)

I am not taking sides, since none of us really know the entire story. BUT, to keep blindly adding parts to an already problematic car does not make sense. If the car wasn't running right on parts that should have had it running in decent shape, why would you just add more parts to the mix that would complicate an unknown problem? It could all be SGP's fault...I guess time will tell how SGP responds.

SGP_Racing

iTrader: (3)

Tarts, you want to talk? call me... If someone really spoke to you the way you say in this post. I would like to know for sure so, call me on that for sure.


** Well, I guess we will start here I am going to just give our side and let it be. Going back & forth will do nothing but, get more political as it goes on…. **


This all started off back in July of 2005 when my engine leaned out from the Greddy twin turbo kit and the passenger side oil return line was pinched thus blowing the seals on the turbo and cracking the manifold. I had my car towed to SGP in good faith that my car would be taken care of, since the shop that did the turbo install went out of business. They informed me that I had detonation across all the cylinders and there was an 80% leak in the 5th cylinder. They recommended that I buy and install forged rods, pistons, and rings. I did this as well as ordered a set of JWT cams for the new motor. The pistons were Wiseco 8.8:1 compression with titanium rings and Pauter forged rods. I received the car back at the end of November of 2005 with a new motor and a tune on the Greddy E-Manage. I took the car back to school in Lubbock after thanksgiving and noticed relatively no problems.

** This is all Pretty Much Correct: Basic Shortblock: Wiseco Pistons, Eagle Rods & we installed the fuel pump with the block. He came back, Did a flash around Christmas. **


It is now January of 2006 and I went back to school. I changed up the exhaust while up in Lubbock, not thinking it would drastically change the tune and affect the car. The car was still drivable but it was misfiring horribly and having definite fuel problems. I tried driving the car around but decided that it had to go back to SGP in Houston and get this taken care of. In February of 06, I drove the car home 550 miles with a random cylinder misfire and relatively no problems other than that. The next day I’m back in Houston and get on the road to take the car to SGP. I get about 3 miles from my house when the engine overheats. I get a tow to the shop and let SGP have the car. I then flew back to Lubbock to go back to school.

** OK, The Exhaust was changed out from a Greddy EVO Exhaust, the old style single 2-1/4” mid resonator pipe to Dual Mufflers TO: Dual 3” straight pipe from the cat delete pipes on. No Mufflers, nothing, just 3” exhaust pipe all the way out the rear. First thing here is that, when the engine was installed, I had asked you time and again to get Injectors, Fuel System, anything except the 440cc Injectors & the E-Manage Blue Setup. You said you could not do it right now so; I left it with “OK listen, IF you have to leave the system this way for now, I want you to leave the car @ 5 - 6 PSI. No more than that until you can get it done & get your tranny fixed (You stated it would already barely shift BEFORE the engine build). When your vehicle gets to the shop, I see the exhaust and ask about the boost level. You tell me you have not touched the boost controller & I say yeah but, the exhaust? When I get in the E01 peak reads 8.2 psi. By the way, the random misfire was the E-Blue scattering the signal & + / - fuel…On top of a slipping transmission. We check the coolant with a Chem tester & the system was clean. We then pressure it up and find the radiator cracked. **


They call me saying that the car is blowing coolant out of the radiator under boost, because the pressurized air is getting into the coolant and pressurizing the coolant. They say this is what is causing the car to overheat, so they run a few more tests and find a crack in the radiator. I authorize them to order a PWR radiator as well as the return fuel system, 770cc injectors, and the e-manage ultimate. I come home for spring break at the end of March 06 hoping to have a working car. I call and SGP says the car is tuned and running great with no overheating problems. I go to pick up the car and as soon as I leave the shop the car overheats. They did not do any actual road testing of the car but merely put it on the dyno-pack with a lot of fans while tuning it. As you can imagine I am quite upset at this point. I take the car back to them and tell them to figure out the problem. They said that the radiator was not fully bled and they would need a day to this. I tell to do that and install a Nismo thermostat since I had not done that yet.

“They call me saying that the car is blowing coolant out of the radiator under boost, because the pressurized air is getting into the coolant and pressurizing the coolant.”

** If this was what we had found & had actually told you that. The engine would be coming out @ this point. You are saying here that we just explained to you that you blew a head gasket. We would have then said to pull the heads…Not true….

** The next thing is: We were out of stock on the radiators due to waiting on the PWR radiators so, we swap in another stock radiator, install the 750cc, EU & FRS. The car gets tuned & driven several times the whole time you are calling and checking in. We say it will be ready when you get here & we were still waiting on the rads so, we order you a KOYO to speed things up. You then come in town, call one day and ask if the car is ready. I tell you yes as we had received the KOYO 2 days before & I had noticed it in your car. You come in to pick up the car, I hand you your keys & you drive off. My tech then comes in from lunch and asks if that was you leaving I say yes & he tells me he had not pressure bled the new radiator. As he goes to call you, you come back saying that it started to heat up again. THIS WAS ALL MY FAULT….The tech did not know you were coming in & I had not checked to make sure he was done. The system was full but, had an air pocket…Everyone knows about these.. **


Two weeks later the car is still at SGP because every time I went to try and pick up the car it would still overheat. They were stumped as to why the car was still overheating, but I was fed up with them at this point and told them that I had to go back to Lubbock and finish school. I asked them to install the SGP torque converter upgrade as well as the SGP valve body upgrade. I also asked them to look at the car and try to fix the overheating problem without completely tearing into the motor, because I did not have the money to spend for them to take apart the motor and tell me that the heads are warped and the head gaskets are blown. I come back at the beginning of May 2006 and they swear to me that the car is running great and that they have bled the system and driven it around to ensure that the car is not overheating. I take the car and that day I get into an accident on the freeway

** Actually, you left it that day when we said that it needed to cool down some to bleed the system & Install the T-Stat, you tell me as well that you would like to get the trans fixed as well. Two weeks later you call to tell me to go ahead and get Valve Body and Torque Converter installed because you had another used transmission put into the car last time you were in Lubbock. You come back in May, pick it up & leave chirping every gear on the way down the street. You then call later to inform me that the car was running good but, you had ran into the back of someone and may have ruined the Intercooler.. **

I have my car taken to the body shop and have it repainted and fixed. After it was finished at the body shop I had it towed to SGP to have them look and see if everything was ok as far as the radiator and turbo piping. It turns out that everything is fine and they re-bled the coolant system just to be on the safe side

** You & your vehicle then pulled into the parking lot on a tow truck, you said they had just finished painting the car and you wanted us to check out the Intercooler & Turbo piping before we installed your front bumper. You then proceeded to tell me that the guy @ the body shop drove the car around, checked it out and told you it drove fine was not overheating, had NO Water or Oil leaks that he could see. We pressure tested your Intercooler, installed your front bumper and you drove off. **

After all the time and money spent at SGP, I was constantly being treated like a little kid just spending money, because I knew about the VQ motor but I relied on SGP’s knowledge and experience to guide my choices of what to buy. I informed SGP of what was wrong with the motor and they told me **** off and never come back again since my car had been touched by another shop. This, in my opinion, goes to show that even after spending almost $25,000 on parts, labor, and the every frequent “re-tune” with them they were still arrogant and did not want to actually help me get a working car.

You were NEVER treated like that, I had to explain to you over & over to either install the correct parts or be happy with what you had until you could install a FRS, INJ’s, on & on…. Instead you would tell me about how you dumped in some race gas, went to a 1/8 mile track that had dirt pit areas & ran the car but, we need to get a Valve Body that tranny slips… The Highway Rolls, The Meets….Etc..Etc…. Not everything that you have stated here…

Even NOW we would help you & what you were told was to not bring the car to us from somewhere else all in BOXES, with pieces everywhere missing, etc..etc… We have 2 cars here now from well…. Like yours….& do not want to try and piece everything together like that again. NO-ONE Had to tear your engine down to find out it was that bad. A 5 gas analyzer or Chem Test, Leakdown & you’re done….Not 1 piece taken off of the car…



I apologize for the length & the time, I had kids with baseball games & a 2 hour drive each way tonight…It was late & I did not have time today to do this….

Mark-SGP-

dchengmd

All goes to show...there are 2 sides to every story.

Lots of bad decisions made on the OP's part in this whole sad scenario.

zman1910

iTrader: (3)

I'm gonna have to agree...it sure sounds like you made some bad decisions. When going FI you need to be careful with what you choose to do. The OP sounds careless in all that he did and didn't do.

boma

iTrader: (2)

any reply poptart?

Poptarts

iTrader: (1)

Mark i'll call you to settle this tomorrow. Thank you for replying and it doesnt bother me that it took a little while to do so. Everyone has to take care of their own business and i respect that.

I rarely would get the chance to talk to you even though you were the one who seemed most helpful. I was trying not to name people in particular although in retrospect i think i should have. Most of my misunderstandings and my feelings of disrespect come from Sean not you or SGP in general.

Once again thank you for replying and clearing up the things i had not remembered. It has been over a year now and i tried as best i could to accurately portray what happened.

TruBluZ

iTrader: (30)

It's easy to bash a shop that someone had a bad experience at, but when the other side of the story comes out everyone gets silent? I have never had a bad experience with ANYONE that works at SGP and Mark will tell you that my car is ALWAYS there getting upgrades. Now, I am not going to bash the OP but you must know where he came from and how many cars he tore up before getting the G to understand where most of the fault lies.

I would not trust anyone but SGP to handle my car. They have been there since the beginning and will be there in the end when it is done...GET READY!

Poptarts

iTrader: (1)

i had an 03 evo that i put through its paces, stock, and it fell apart. i didnt have it long enough to find out for sure if it was a lemon but my best guess is that it was.

The rsx never had any problems. The bike hasnt had any problems either.

Im not even gonna start about the difference of service you get at SGP if you're on nexstage or not. Different people, different stories.

Like i said from the very beginning, i was not bashing on the shop. I wanted people to know of the bad experience i had at the shop.

TruBluZ

iTrader: (30)

IMO, what you posted IS a form of bashing. Telling your story is one thing, but saying something like this is another: "Once again, I am only telling this story in hopes of deterring other from going to SGP and getting work done."

Being in Nextstage has nothing to do with this...