Robby

I don't know much about engine's & will be the first to admit it, BUT, I DO know that the timing belt is a CRUCIAL point in ALL of these cars- to deliberately NOT change it AND to change only THREE lifters & not all of them while you were at it- this sounds ridiculous to me- it actually sounds as if Jonas wanted to just tape it back together to sell it for as much as he could get & let it be somone ELSE'S PROBLEM- if that's the case, then, he got what he deserved. That's the #1 problem w/these cars- neglectful PO's- if it weren't for them, the mechanics wouldn't have to figure out & diagnose so many trifling probs & have things like this happen in the first place- I've seen a few things in my 4.5yrs of ownership thjat have just blown me away! For one thing- the first incompetent mechanic I had- RON TOURTE owner of RPM in Knoxville TN- had replaced my timing belt, water pump, etc & ripped me off pricewise- lied to me about the costs & charged more than quoted, etc- not only that, but didn't do half the work he charged me FOR- the upper balance seals, for instance- these had to be done in hte summer of 2002- shouldn't have needed that if they had REALLY been done in the FALL OF 1999! The water pump realy was done though- he sold me a new one instead of rebuilt, whivh would have saved me >$200, but... What really sucked- there are several models of water pumps- THIS model that he installed had a plug- it was to be used for NA's- for a TURBO, which MY car IS (had he been smart enough to check the rear emblem!), one is supposed to pop out the plug (drill it out maybe?) & run the tubing up to it- well, he ran the tubing allright, BUT, did NOT drill out the plug! The fu**ing IDIOT! My car was not circulating coolant correctly, throughout, for over a FULL YEAR! Not to mention that I had to pay again for stuff that had already been paid for... This sucked! Thing is, there were lot's of things going on & my mechanic, while he didn't think very highly of Ron anyway, at LEAST gave him the credit to do these basic things- he had seen the sky-high reciept & had just ASSUMED that those basic things had been done correctly- to go through & double check all of it seemed a waste of time- well, the only waste of time was taking my car to Ron to begin with (not to mention $$$).

Now, all of this was compounded by the neglect of the PO- his mechanics were ripping him off right & left & when he finally figured out that it hadn't been maintained as well as it should have been, it was time for a new C280- well, I'm the one who paid for it- I've got >$25K in this car that cost me $9K to begin with in '99 w/125k. I STILL need new paint, new motor rebuild w/larger turbo & several small performance goodies, etc- what- another $12K or so....? It really ruins the fun of owning these otherwise fine cars...

As for John- I've always thought him to be very helpful, but, I have to ask the same question- what about Dave here? THAT STORY MADE ME PHYSICALLY SICKER THAN I ALREADY AM! I have strep throat BTW.... The worst things I've heard about John, & I've heard them a lot, is the time frame thing- no offense, but, you've got some problems there & it's lost you a LOT of business by now- I know several personally & have seen a few other strange things that I'm not going to mention, since it's not MY car- I'll let them mention that if they want to- I don't think there was intentional neglect or malintent, but, in the end, when someone needs their car, they need their car- when you say 3 or 4wks it should mean 3 or 4wks! An extra week is acceptable in extreme situations when something out of your control comes up, but, NOT when it's the norm & some of the times we've seen have been MUCH longer than that! Like 6 MOTHS, 8 MONTHS, a YEAR....!!! I would be going ballistic- I'd be making $300/month car payments w/OUT even having the car! Paying insurance for the car, for instance- did you ever consider that? If you had my car for a year, I would have wasted >$900 on a car I wasn't even able to drive- some companies in some states will penalize you for dropping your coverage too. These things add up & when someone tells you it will take a year, you can be ready for it, or, find someone else, but, if you keep getting told- "next week" or "it shouldn't be much longer now" then something's got to give- not to mention that many of us pay mechanics to do our work & we dont have places to store the cars- the mechanics dont want to turn their businesses into junk yards for us either while we pay SOMEONE ELSE to build our engine....Not trying to rag you, but, merely bringing up some points- this stuff REALLY adds up & makes it hard to trust...

GMS

When owners start wanting to do only half a job and the shop knows it will cause problems fairly soon after the repair. The shop should then push the car off the hoist and write up the invoice to date, making sure that its' noted that the repair recommendations were declined, get the Porsche owner to sign the repair order and wait until there is money available to complete the repairs properly. That way the shop doesn't get sued. "slap it togther and hope it works" repairs don't.

Jonas Goldsmith

i will post when the time is right, and that is all i have been instructed to say by my lawyer...

Cheers,
Jonas

89magic98

Well, it's only fair then to bring people up to date on some relevant threads:

Me asking about the chain tensioner, pictures of the 16v head:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=103029

On snapping the timing belt:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...&pagenumber=17

On asking John to save money by "refurbishing" the chain tensioner, on having no information on the service history of the car from the previous owner:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...&pagenumber=18

On John warning Jonas about timing belt maintenance that he chose to put off:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...&pagenumber=19

..........................................

Working on 17 year old cars is not always going to go perfectly. I don't know about the standard of what needs to be proved by an attorney.

Seems like John was taking a chance to save as much money for his customer as possible. I think the customer has to assume some risk here if they are adamant about replacing as few parts as possible.

Dave

If it comes down to Jonas's word against John's... one need only read back over this thread to see what John's word is good for.
I can't believe this thread was hijacked by John!!!!

Still no word on MY issue, eh John?

Tom R.

I spoke to Dave before, during and after his fiasco. i also spoke with people Dave spoke to along the way. Dave's story is 100% consistent no matter who you speak with (other than AMW of course).

I'm part of the court of public opinion, and I'm with Dave, and Jonas!

If I do buy the SC in need of a motor that I am toying with, you can be sure there is one place I won't do business with, no matter how good the promises sound.

jonnybgood

I think Kevin has posted enough links to Jonas' own words to impinge his credibility and desire to cut corners to save $$. If I am a juror on the court of public opinion I would rule in favor of John on this one.

As far as Dave is concerned I see much more 944 experience and credibility and I think that is why John Anderson has not responded to Dave's situation. To receive a short block that has blued connecting rods and mis matched pistons and expect those parts to be the basis of a rebuild!!?? How many of you guys would really consider that a proper way to do a rebuild?

Matt H

Johnny - how could you "rule" either way since you dont have the facts (or at least one version of them). For that matter has it even been posted what occured to Jonas' car? Seems a bit premature.
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89magic98

I just didn't like Jonas lumping in his experiences with Dave's.

Jonas can't say anything because his lawyer told him not to, but he could say something like "wait until you hear _my_ story, my attorney...", which implies it is as bad or worse than Dave's.

On the other hand, the old posts _do_ already say a lot about what happened to his car. And I do know he was trying to sell this car on these very forums.

I just wanted to post some additional info here because most people were not reading the S. Cal. Timing Belt Party thread.

AndyK

Wow, this is a mess! Two completely different situations lumped into one thread.

Dave has a damned good point, and a horrible (to date) conclusion--or lack of one. And Jonas has a completely different problem (self inflicted, from the look of things).

And in the middle, is John, who to me, seems wrong in Daves' case.

Good luck everyone!

badass951

That is completely rediculous that John would not respond to you personally, or on this thread. IMO, anyone that would do such a thing SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED to own or run a business. Clearly he is active on Rennlist, proving him a coward in this situation.

Until I hear Jonas' side I will not comment on that story.

I hope these problems with companies like Huntley and AMW stop, because soon I will not trust anyone and will have to learn how to make all of my own parts and upgrades :-) Good thing I have had such great success dealing with ProMotion Racing, as I have definitely had no desire to do business elsewhere. Seeing as David at ProMotion can do just about anything and everything to these cars, I will stick with him, even if he is 1200 miles away from me. Soon you guys will hear about how great ProMotion is, but until my new car is parked in my driveway I do not want to jinx anything.

Matt H

When owners start wanting to do only half a job and the shop knows it will cause problems fairly soon after the repair. The shop should then push the car off the hoist and write up the invoice to date, making sure that its' noted that the repair recommendations were declined, get the Porsche owner to sign the repair order and wait until there is money available to complete the repairs properly. That way the shop doesn't get sued. "slap it togther and hope it works" repairs don't.

Right on the money, and if you do repair it then guess what, when it fails (and it will) then you own it. You have a choice what you work on and what you dont. When I was at a store I had many a car towed to the customers house because they didnt want to fix it right and I couldnt in good conscience let them drive it.
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Devia

It has been brought to my attention that I was mentioned in this thread.

Let it be known that I am NOT A MECHANIC! Yes, I do play around with these cars,
learning, and trying to help others.

But I cannot tell you what went wrong with Dave's engine or Jonas' car!

Both get into a realm where I do not know enough to even say anything that would mean anything to anyone.

Sorry, we are at my knowledge limit.

But then, I iintend to assist in replacing a headgasket soon, so I know more. But that's the only way I know how to learn, IS TO DO IT!

I'm not even going to try and be a side-line quarter back, and make guesses.

I feel the truth will out.

- Julie

Jonas Goldsmith

Ok, i have been displayed in a very bad light on here... Yes, in some old posts i have made some mistakes, but just wait till you hear my side of the story... Thats all i have to say...
Back to the subject at hand, however... This thread is not about me, and i never intended it be... All i had posted was for Dave to stay tuned for an upcoming thread involving my situaution with AMW... Thats what i think you should all do as well... The time will come soon enough...

Cheers,
Jonas

Robby

Jonas- I hope to hear your story soon then- I'm not giving my opinion as of yet, but, what I said before, was based on what I had heard to that point- I will keep an open mind- this is a tough one really, but, you DO have some credibility since John wont respond to Dave- that DOES help you as little- I also understand not saying anything when an attorney tells you NOT too- anyway, I'll keep my eyes open for your future response...

In teh meantime- John- what about DAVE?