You see this post..... right at the top of this page.... well guess what? It's MiNE!
Yes, as a matter of fact I did do the shift indicator in blue to match the rest of the gauge needles Thank you again for the reproduction needle cap, it fit and looks PERFECT!
I got a few more things done today. I was able to wire up the 4 x 90mm headlights mounted in Timo's headlight buckets. They are wired either low beam OR high beam at the moment. After Daytona, I plan to get a couple of relays, and rewire it so when the High Beams are on, the lows are as well.
I am having a difficult time trying to find a plug that will fit in the parking lights in the 355i front bumper. They are from a 2001 Chrysler Sebring convertible. NONE of the parts store carry, or can even order the plug. That includes Napa, Pep Boys, Congress Auto, Advanced Discount Auto and Autozone. I will have to hit the local salvage yard to try to find a pair. In the mean time, no front turn signal lights, and I have to manually click the turn signal lever so the back ones work at least
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 03-25-2014).]
Originally posted by JohnWPB: Yes, as a matter of fact I did do the shift indicator in blue to match the rest of the gauge needles Thank you again for the reproduction needle cap, it fit and looks PERFECT!
That's glad to hear that it fit good...I won't be making it to Daytona this year,it's hard to get any kind of help with my Fiero in this area.Maybe next year.
[This message has been edited by fierogtlt1 (edited 03-25-2014).]
Things are not working out for me this year to make Daytona. I have the electrical problem figured out and it appears to be the battery even if it tested good. After checking just about every fuse, connection, and cable I swapped out my battery with one from a project car. The car starts and runs fairly well now but does have some slight hesitation when first starting. It is not bad and only occurs for a fraction of a second. I will put some more starts on it before I head off on a long trip.
I just cancelled my Daytona hotel reservation but it was not because of the car but I now need to attend a funeral in South Florida on Friday afternoon. It would be painful to get back in time for the Saturday show (with an extra 600 miles of driving) so I will miss Daytona this year. If anyone can use my show registration number it is 62X and made under the name of Nelson Thompson. I can scan and e-mail a copy of the post card if anyone wants to try and use it.
Originally posted by hnthomps: Things are not working out for me this year to make Daytona.
Nelson, I replied to this post in the Daytona Thread.
Ok, This is more aggregating than anyone could know! I have been having fuel problems from the day that I was taking the Fiero to Daytona a few weeks ago. It has been, and is, almost impossible to diagnose!
I filled the tank and drove 97 miles, when it felt like it was running out of gas. It has been many years since I ran out of gas, but I totally remember what it feels like when an engine is starved of fuel. It sputtered, would buck, and eventually just quit as I coasted off the side of the road. It would not restart, and I could hear the fuel pump engaging when I turned on the key. I thought, Ok, I thought I had filled it, but there must have been an air pocket or something. The whole time the fuel gauge is reading above full, and am pretty sure the sender or the gauge is toast.
I called a friend to bring me some gas, I just tapped the key after putting gas in, and it started right up. I made it to a gas station, and when I filled it the auto cut off clicked on the pump handle when the fuel came up the fuel filler neck. It only took 4 gallons, which made no sense if I had just ran out of gas. It was then I heard gas pouring out all over the place. Looking underneath, it was not a small leak, but a waterfall under the car. It lasted a few seconds and stopped. So whatever it was was only pouring out gas when the tank was completely full.
Now what could it be?! The gas tank was full, but the car was "running out of gas" after driving a few miles. What would cause that, and gas pouring out when I tried to fill it?
Mean while, I had my mechanic, Frank, , the one that replaced the fuel pump for me a few months back come over. We drained the tank into two 5 gallon containers, and about a gallon into a drain pan. So the tank was indeed full after all. As soon as he dropped the tank, I could see EXACTLY where the fuel leak was when I filled it up:
As you can see, the ring had not been tightened correctly when the fuel pump was put in place. Frank apologized, and said he was very sorry, but was sure that he had tightened that ring. Which makes sense, as how could you not notice it like that when putting the tank back. Who knows, stuff happens.
So that's where the leak was, now how was it "running out of gas" with a full tank?! After looking at the rubber hoses in the tank, one of them was pretty soft and deteriorated. He said it was probably sucking air around the outer core of the hose. A quick trip to the parts store, and all hoses inside and out side the tank were replaced.
So, it was 2 separate problems causing these weird symptoms! I knew it has to be something strange, as it just made no sense at all! We put the tank back in, filled it back, and replaced the fuel filter again (Was replaced a couple months ago), since we were already under there and all.
Frank assured me that all was well, and I would have no more problems like that.
Fast Forward 3 days, and I have put around 100 miles on the car. Today, driving back from the junk yard, it started to sputter, again, as if it were out of gas. I was like #$!!#$ $#**#@@@@ ! ! ! ! ! Again, called a friend, put 3 gallons of gas in it, and it started right up. I went around 2 miles, and it "ran out of gas" yet again! ! ! ! ! <Insert lots and LOTS of really bad words here! ! !>. So guess what, yep, you got it, friend with the gas can again LOL! (He says this is the last time! LOL ) As I was putting the gas in, low and behold, it starts pouring out like a waterfall again! Have a look for yourself (This was after setting the gas can down, and starting to record on the phone, so I just caught the tail end of the leaking on video):
So, here I am again, literally right where I started from 2 weeks ago. Put gas in, and it spills out as it's over full and leaking again somewhere, and it runs out of gas with a full tank. Unreal! ! ! ! !
Check out your fuel vapor canister / filter aka evap canister. If that is not operating correctly it might not allow proper air flow when you are fueling.
I just ordered a brand new everything for the inside of the tank from the Fiero Store. $230 spent with shipping. This will update the resistor type crappy design to a modern design with a new fuel sending unit, so the gas gauge will actually work now, and accurately at that. The sending unit also comes with a new gasket, float, sock, and new metal lines in the tank. Mine were pretty rusty. Being the gas tank is actually holding fuel when filled up, this should take care of it running out of gas with a full tank. That combined with all new fuel rated lines in the tank, as well as the new fuel pump, 100% of everything in the tank will be new.
As for leaking when it is filled to the top, I have this feeling that the ring again did not seat when we closed it up. We DID ensure that it was put on correctly, and tapped/spun around with a hammer and screwdriver till it stopped. The ring may be bent, or the gasket is not flexible enough to hold it tight. Honestly just guessing till the tank is dropped again next Monday. With the new ring and gasket, hopefully that will take care of the leak as well. We are going to pressurize the tank this time, and see if there is anything out of the ordinary before putting it back together this time!
I started to work on the wheel wells today. I figured I would wire brush everything and hit it with Rustoleum, do the wheel well liners with spray on bed liner material, and paint the brake calipers. I started with the front left, and with the wheel off, you can clearly see that the Tie Rod / Control Arm is severely bent. I know NOTHING about suspension, so it was actually pointed out to me when I posted a suspension question in the tech forum. There is more discussion over there has to how to fix, and how it could have gotten bent so badly. Here is what it looks like: . .
I continued on, and Purple Powered, wire brushed and pressure washed everything in the area: . .
I then let it dry and then painted the area with the high temperature caliper paint, and then the bed liner on the wheel wells. I didn't really have to mask anything off for the black. When it came to the blue, I started to mask things off that I had just painted black. I wasn't about to go to the trouble of removing the brake calipers just to paint them blue
. .
I did not worry about what the shocks look like, as I will be replacing them with new ones very soon. Starting to look pretty good. Not the perfect shade of blue I wanted, but there are not too many choices when it comes to high temperature caliper paint:
. .
After it dried a bit, I put the wheel back on. One down, 3 to go!
. .
Now to get a new control arm, ends and such and work all of that out..... it never ends!
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 04-16-2014).]
Originally posted by VikingRedBaron: Looks to me like you need a set of jack stands, and learn how to use them as well
No, I need to get a set of jack stands. However, what you do not see is the tire laying under the drivers floor board "in case of emergency". Anyhow, I am not getting under the car in ANY way with just painting the caliper.
I then let it dry and then painted the area with the high temperature caliper paint, and then the bed liner on the wheel wells. I didn't really have to mask anything off for the black. When it came to the blue, I started to mask things off that I had just painted black. I wasn't about to go to the trouble of removing the brake calipers just to paint them blue
. .
I did not worry about what the shocks look like, as I will be replacing them with new ones very soon. Starting to look pretty good. Not the perfect shade of blue I wanted, but there are not too many choices when it comes to high temperature caliper paint:
. .
After it dried a bit, I put the wheel back on. One down, 3 to go!
. .
Now to get a new control arm, ends and such and work all of that out..... it never ends!
What was the color of the blue called that you used ?
If you replace the ball joints yourself please let us know how it goes. I have been wondering if its a job I could do myself on my 85's considering I have never done suspension work before. Thanks
If you replace the ball joints yourself please let us know how it goes. I have been wondering if its a job I could do myself on my 85's considering I have never done suspension work before. Thanks
Replacing the ball joints isn't too bad of a job, that is if it's not too rusty. I just ground off the weld, just a BIG hammer, and smacked the old one out. Then I just used a ball joint press tool to set the new one in place making sure it was going it straight.
------------------ 1984 White Fiero Sport Coupe (Juliet) in restoration https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/089093.html 1988 Red Fiero Standard Coupe (Bella) in restoration 1990 Black Buick Reatta (Noir) 2002 White Chevy Impala base(Haylie)
Well I started to tackle the suspension over the weekend, just spent a few hours o n it really. I do plan to do more this upcoming weekend. I have just about everything new for the suspension minus the rear struts.
I changed out the front shocks, and have not even swapped cars around to take it out for a test drive yet! I really want to replace the Tie Rod, the steering stabilizer shock and a couple more things first, so the difference should be quite noticeable. That's the hope anyways!
I have been in older cars before, but man this one just feels terrible. It rattles, the steering is terrible, feeling loose and worn out. Overall, it just feels really old. Looking at the rubber between all the suspension parts shows why. They have all deteriorated, dry rotted and worn out.
I went with Gabriel shocks on the front, and will go with their struts on the rear when I get around to the back of the car.
I had purchased all new side markers and full smooth molding for my Fiero from the Fiero Store. I had left them there to be painted satin black when I had the car painted. I dropped of with the car and have been going back and forth with Maaco for months, about them. Calling and them saying they had not painted them yet, turning into they are scheduled for next week, then into "what moldings?".
I contacted the corporate office, and they said they had contacted the store, and to go there when I had a chance. I stopped by this afternoon, and it was if they were expecting me. The entire staff was fired, including the manager since the last time I was there from what they told me. There was a man from the corporate offices, and he was very nice, and said he will replace all of the moldings for me. He asked how the paint job was, and we walked out and I showed him the problems with it. A couple blemishes in the spoiler, and one on the front right fender, and the chip in the hood. I also showed him where the door jams were painted before the rest of the car, and then when it was primed and painted, it went into all of the areas in the trunk, hood and door jams. This left all of these areas the texture of 120 grit sandpaper.
When we went back inside and pulled the paperwork, the color code that they had painted the car was not on the paperwork, nor was there mention of all of the extra's I paid for, the door jams, trunk and under hood to be painted, as well as repair of the lip above the tail lights. Also when they were looking to lift the roof a bit to paint the seam between the roof and the rear clip, they lifted a bit too far and cracked the area just at the top of the "A" pillar. The had repaired it, but badly, and it could still be seen.
He did not want to have to repaint the door jams, under the hood and such, as it was all not on the paperwork, and he insisted that I had those areas painted some where else! I had to pull up photo's on my tablet to show him pictures, in this very shop, where they were working on the door jams. He agreed, but was giving me trouble about the trunk and hood, so the tablet to the rescue again to prove that they were painted here.
They looked through a bunch of paint chips, and they are 80% sure we found the color that the car was painted. This was not the color I wanted, but one that they gave me. Thats another long story.... Just to play it safe though, and not have mismatched paint, he told me they were going to sand and respray the whole car! I was pleasantly surprised that he even said that! He said he will do whatever it takes to make sure I am satisfied. I wonder..... just how hard did corporate come down on this store! LOL! Well whatever they said, I am just happy to get what I paid for in the first place
So I am to drop it off next Monday morning and see how it goes!
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 08-07-2014).]
It's good to hear that they will be taking care of your Fiero's paint issue for you.Hopefully it all comes back in great condition.
P.S. What was the color of blue used on your calipers ? ... Please....
Oh man! I am so sorry! I totally forgot to post about that when you asked a LONG time ago! I got side tracked after I read your question, then just totally forgot.
When I took the car to drop it off at MAACO 2 weeks ago, the gentleman from corporate was not there. One of their main guys pulled my paperwork, and wanted to go over everything with me. They now did not want to do the door jams, under the hood, trunk, or the repair above the tail lights, as it was not on the paperwork. Wow, DeJaVu! I had to go over everything that the man from corporate had told me, and show proof with pictures on my tablet, that they had indeed painted those areas of the car. He was pretty adamant that the door jams and under the hood and trunk were painted after the car was taken from their shop. This is all the same exact stuff I had to show to the guy from corporate to get him to say they would repaint the car.
Just to get this information in here, as I had not mentioned it before:
Here is a photo of the car the moment it was backed into MAACO: . . Before I left, I removed the drives and passenger mirrors, and gave them new Fiero store gaskets to put on after the car was painted. I had removed just about everything that I could to not leave any seams and to ensure the car was painted correctly. I removed the gas cap and surround, the hood, headlight doors, all trim and molding, side markers, front bumper, outer dew wipes, the sunroof tracks, antennae, the reflectors in the rear bumper, removed the tail lights and both rear and front trunk area gaskets, and I removed the quarter windows. I also called a local glass shop to come remove the front window from the car so there would be no paint seam around the window molding.
When I originally dropped the car off, We had went in circles about the color that I chose for my Fiero. I had originally provided the color name, the year and make that the color was used on. A 2007 Mustang GT. (Sapphire Blue). We went around and around, and they tried to get me to pick another color from one of their books. It was not 10 minutes later when one of the paint guys came out with a can showing me the color he just mixed to paint my car. In the can it looked exactly like the Ford Sapphire Blue. When I received the car, it looked great, but was not near the color that I wanted. They refused to budge and I learned to just live with it.
With all of this prep work done myself, they still charged me $2800 for the paint job. A basic 2 stage, paint and clear coat. I think that is FAR more than fair to get a decent paint job and done right. Especially as there was NOTHING to remove and just having to throw covers over the tires, and minimal taping and papering around the windows & sunroof opening.
I had left them alone, as I said to take their time and do it right. Well it has been 2 weeks since I dropped it off, so I called for an update. He told me that they have not yet started on my car. Sure, I told them to take their time, as I wanted it done right, but not to forget about it I told him I was coming down to get the tail lights out of the trunk. After losing all of the new side molding and markers I bought from the Fiero Store, I honestly did not trust my brand new tail lights being left there.
Now, on to my experience with them today:
When I got there, we had the exact same conversation and argument that I did when I dropped the car off 2 weeks ago, and the week before that. The gentleman from corporate was not there, neither was the owner, so I had to explain everything all over again, this time to the manager. He wanted to just touch up areas of the car. He was now reluctant to do the door jams and under the hood and trunk, fix the chip in the hood, fix the back where they batched a repair job, paint under the headlight doors, and so forth. His excuse is that none of these items were itemized on the original paperwork. I was thinking to myself are you serious, I went through all of this already, TWICE! The man from corporate said they would just respray the entire car. Here I go again having to explain everything all over for a third time.
First he starts by telling me that they can not do the door jams as he has had people get the car painted there, then take it somewhere else to have those areas painted! I tell him the jams do not need painted, just the rocker panel corrected, as the paint to the touch, from when they did it felt like 200 grit sandpaper. I explained that the door jams and inner door itself stay black and untouched.
(Do they have some secret code of conduct to follow to get out of repairing something? This is the 3rd time that I have been accused of having under the hood, trunk and door jams painted at another shop after picking the car up from them....LUCKILY I have over 100 10 megapixel photos of EVERYTHING to prove otherwise.)
I then just casually asked if painting the door jams was extra, and he said "of course". I show him this photo, of the car in their paint shop showing the door jams THEY painted the first time around: He then tells me that in the photo the door jams are blue already, and it came into their shop that way, and he is not going to paint them!
After listening to him accuse me of painting the jams after I took the car back from MAACO, I pulled up another closer photo, showing that the jams are masked off, and the did that to get to the lip of the white rear quarter panel to match it. The blue he is seeing in the photo is painted masking tape that they used to cover the black paint of the inner door frame I then walked him over to the car to show the door jams are still painted the original factory black. I then re-explain that it is JUST the rocker panels that need painted. . .
So now, I play dumb a little bit, and say that you said painting the door jams and inside the decklid and hood is extra right? he agrees. I simply state that the pictures clearly show that they did paint these area's, and therefore I must have been charged, as you just told me you do charge for this. Thus the paperwork that he keeps referring to is mistakenly missing all of the "itemized lines" on the paperwork. Bottom line, an error on their part, an error on their part, not mine. Heck on the paperwork, they spelled my last name wrong, first letter of the last name so they had a hard time finding me in their computer. That and the fact that they did not even put the paint code on the paperwork. I tell him with all of these known errors, that it is far more than likely that the items he keeps telling me is not on the paperwork, are another mistake, and not my fault.
So, on to the hood and decklid, he still is insistent that they could have been painted somewhere else after I received the car! even after going through this with the door jams!
Exibit A: (Car in their shop, under the decklid not painted) . .
Exibit B: Same Shop, their employees, Under decklid painted: . . All of this, and they are trying to get me to tell THEM what color the car is painted, so they can match it. I tell them it should be on the paperwork, of which it is not (Seems to be ANOTHER line item error or something! just proving that the paperwork was not filled out correctly in the first place....... More on this later in this post......
Now that that is settled, we move on to a chip in the fiberglass of the hood. He is insistent that the chip happened after the car left their shop. Again, my tablet to the rescue!
Here is the car after rolling out of the paint booth behind the shop: . .
The photo clearly shows the gouge in the hood.
Next, on to the headlight covers, they failed to paint the under side of them, and just did the top. I had removed them and they were with the rest of the parts to be painted separately. He said they were attached to the car, and therefore could not paint the underside as they did with the hood (So now he says they DID paint under the hood! LOL) I reassure him that they were provided separately, and guess what... yep, the trusty tablet to the rescue yet again!
You can see the headlight covers in the back left of the photo laying flat, not hanging as they should be to paint both sides: . .
I forgot to mention earlier, that the front bumper was a different shade / color than the rest of the car. they denied painting the front bumper at all..... Surprise surprise! ! ! I point to it in the photo, in their paint booth , and explain that it is a different color as it was painted with the nose up in the air, thus a different angle which will not work with metal flake paint. On top of that, the lip between the bumper and the hood, which is facing down when they painted it, is still white and was never painted. Now on to the interesting part..... I noticed a bumper in the back right of that photo, that does NOT belong to my car. Could be a rear bumper from a Grand Am or something looking at the round light areas for brake lights. I point this out to him, and ask:
what are the odds that:
1) You try to get me to go to another color 2) The paint guy comes out with a gallon of paint a few minutes later saying here is your paint! 3) There is a bumper to another vehicle getting painted the same exact color as my car at the same time.
This stumps him, and he reluctantly agrees to paint my car the color that I wanted in the first place! They are now, again, agreeing to respray the whole car. Wow, what a battle just to get something fixed that was done incorrectly from the beginning.
I just have to hope and pray that they do not change their minds a 3rd time, and that it comes out the way I paid for in the first place. That is all I want, what I paid, and paid well for, in the first place. Nothing more.
It is now 3:45 in the afternoon, and I asked what time they closed, so I could bring the paint code back to them. He said he would be there till 5:00 PM when they close.
All of that aside, I tell him I still need to get the tail lights, and he points to go around the far side of the paint booth where my car is parked.
To my horror, I walk around the corner to see this: . . The interior is not completed yet, still missing a few trim pieces. However there is new carpet, new floor mats, new Mr. Mike Seat Covers, gauge clusters, switches, new door panels....... I was in no mood for further confrontation, so I grabbed my tail lights and just left.
I left and drove to the Ford dealership to get the color code. I purchased a bottle of the touch up paint so there could be no mistake. When I hauled butt to get back to MAACO, I got there at 4:32 and they were locked up and closed. So much for the manager saying he would be there till 5:00 for me to get him the color code!
I just sent a follow up letter to the corporate office with photos of the interior the way the car has been neglected. I am waiting to hear what they have to say.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 07-08-2014).]
If a shop put my car in that shape I'd sue their a$$ off ..... two weeks and they still haven't finished man what a bunch of clowns !!!! I hate to be in your shoes my friend .... I'd probably be in jail for beating the pulp out of that yahoo !!!! Courage my friend !!!
You my friend are a lot more patient with them than I would of been!!! I would be seeking counsel if you haven't already, it doesn't look good at all. The pics are nice but I would be recording ALL conversations from this point forward if you haven't already. Seems like they have memory problems? This is after sitting in their "shop" (I am using that term loosely) for two weeks? The dusty pics are just sad, I sure hope you can get satisfaction.
john with the pictures you have, take your story to the trouble shooter at your local tv station. speaking as a former news reporter and anchor we looove that kind of stuff. one call from a reporter to corporate and heads would roll !!
I am still in the hopes that they come through. Corporate is aware of the situation, and appear to want to resolve this correctly. It is at the store level that I am having the resistance. That is why I contacted corporate again today, and included the pictures of the car the way it looked today when I was there.
I will let them try to resolve this, and wait till the car comes out of the booth the second time. If it is not right, then that is when I will stop being patient Mr. nice guy. I will go to the local TV station here, who has a segment in my area called "Contact 5". This is a pretty clear cut case, and just the type of thing they like to take on for their segments.
I will also display a nice sign next to my car at car shows with photo's and information on how not to take their cars to MAACO.
that I can can guarantee that I will have information available, and emailed to the 1200 people on my committee email list for the planning of next years Turkey Rod Run in March. That should get the word out to some of the 75,000 or so attendees of just that single that car show
That is all jumping the gun though, and I am just venting I guess for now. I do want to give them the benefit of the doubt, and hope they do correct it this time, as they have said that they will 3 times now.
And yes, as someone mentioned above, I have taken photos, notes, and video of both the manager and the gentleman from corporate saying that they are going to redo the car.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 07-08-2014).]
I too hope you did not pay them the full amount and did get your car out of that place. I know people want to save money on paint jobs but that is not the thing you want done at a discount rate. It costs $2,000 for a low quality paint job and up to 10,000 for a really nice one so if you want a good decent paint job you will need to spend at least $4,000-$5,000 for it. You are better off doing it yourself or having a friend do it if you want cheap and do not care if it is nice.
Here is a few things you do not want at a discount rate: 1. Paint job on your car 2. Eye surgery 3. Plastic surgery (kind of the same as paint job) 4. Home remodeling 5. Nursing home 6. Day care for your kids 7. Engine swap 8. Fire arms & ammo 9. Guard Dogs 10. No name hotels
The list could go on but you get the idea.
I am not sure what any of us can do to help you at this point, I wish you would have posted a thread saying I am thinking of taking my Fiero to Maaco to get a paint job what do you think, I feel you would have been told by countless people to NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO THEM!
If you were here in Colorado I could tell you a place to take it and have the paint fixed, at a price but they could fix it up.
Let us know if there is something specific you want us to do to help, do you want us to bombard them with emails or phone calls? if so give us an email address or a phone number. Maybe you should contact the local news station and see if the want to do a story about them ruining peoples cars or ripping them off.
What to do? what action to take?
If they did that to me I would go there every day and harass them until the end of time and make them wish they had never done it to me and rue the day they pulled that crap on me, but that is me. Rue the day they would!
You should have seen me at Best Buy when they said they would not honor my extended warranty on my TV, It only took me 30 minutes for them to give me a new replacement just to get me to stop frightening the customers and making them leave the store.
If you have your car back you should park it near the front of their store off of their property and show it to every potential customer that tries to come in and see how they like that. If that fails let me know and I can give you more ideas they will not like that are legal and you will not need a lawyer.
I too hope you did not pay them the full amount and did get your car out of that place. I know people want to save money on paint jobs but that is not the thing you want done at a discount rate. It costs $2,000 for a low quality paint job and up to 10,000 for a really nice one so if you want a good decent paint job you will need to spend at least $4,000-$5,000 for it.
I did not try to cheap out on the paint job, and went with a $3,000 paint job, that I thought was fair. As we all know 90% of a paint job is in the prep work. I had removed everything and anything from the car, so there would be no tape lines, and minimal labor for them. I went with high end paint, and paid extra for 3 coats of clear.
The car is to be a daily driver, and will get bumped nicked and scratched being such. I was not looking for a $10,000 paint job, as in my case that is just stupid.
quote
Originally posted by Christine: You should have seen me at Best Buy when they said they would not honor my extended warranty on my TV, It only took me 30 minutes for them to give me a new replacement just to get me to stop frightening the customers and making them leave the store.
LOL! I can actually picture you doing that! I bet your husband even went and hid behind something LOL! I would have paid full price for tickets to that event!
quote
Originally posted by Christine:
If you have your car back you should park it near the front of their store off of their property and show it to every potential customer that tries to come in and see how they like that. If that fails let me know and I can give you more ideas they will not like that are legal and you will not need a lawyer.
I have already thought about that. I talked to a business owner the other day that shares their parking lot when I dropped the car off and was removing the tail lights. He really dislikes anything and everything about MAACO! I know he would let me park the car in the parking lot by his place, and people would have to virtually pass me to get to MAACO. I could catch everyone on the way in and gladly share my experience with them.
Again, though this is good for me to vent and blow off steam, but I will still wait and see what happens. If all is good, case closed. If all is not satisfactory, then is when I will have to take matters to the next level.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 07-08-2014).]
If worst comes to worst, and you say you have lost all confidence in them, they should pay for you to get it painted at some other shop that you deem reliable, even if its a couple grand more.
Looking back, I see that I did not post pictures of the color that I want the car painted. It is an awesome blue, that was used on the 2007 Mustang GT called Vista Blue. After going to the Ford dealership yesterday, I now know that point code to be G9 PMP-19500-7147A
Here is the photo I gave them to match the paint color with: . . This was the gallon of paint that they mixed up when I dropped the car off originally: . .
Here is the car the day the rolled it out the back of the paint booth, the color is not even close . .
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 07-19-2014).]
Ok, I just called to give MAACO the paint code, and was informed now that they are only going to touch up spots on the car. This getting VERY VERY frustrating, and I am about to lose it! 3 times now they start with just touching it up, and then all three times ending in offering to respray the whole car. Now we are back to square one with just touching it up.
while typing this, MAACO called me.
He said he spoke with corporate, and yes they are to respray the whole car, under the hood, door jams, under the decklid and the rest of the entire car. He said they need to sand the engire car and repaint it. If however I want to "change" the color, it would be $350 in materials. I then asked him if they are respraying the whole car, what all is invloved, he replies "As I said, prep and resand the whole car". I say ou said this includes the door jams as well? "As I said, Yes". I then say if you are sanding and prepping the entire car, and door jams, trunk and all surfaces, and repainting the entire car, to just use the correct paint code that I wanted when they respray it. He paused a moment and replied "It's doesn't work like that." I say why is that so, he replies that because there is paint and materials involved. I tell him that you are redoing the entire car, there is already paint and materials involved. He replies "Yes but it is different materials"......
So now I have to call Pete @ corporate 704-377-8855, and see if there is anything else that I can do.
Make sure they dont paint the black parts of your door jams, etc. After all this I can see something dumb like that happening. I'd say you do want them to use your Ford blue for sure because if they dont they may even just touch it up and only say they resprayed the whole car.
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 07-08-2014).]
Sad to see this happen John. MAACO needs to understand that this will have an effect on people choosing their business for work, either positive or negative. Word of mouth advertising goes a long way and this seems to be headed the wrong way for them. When I worked at and managed a retail store I always considered that word of mouth...it is by far the most effective or destructive advertising available. I allowed customers to return damaged merchandise that was in no way our fault. heck, I allowed a 1960s era T shirt to be returned as it had worn out! I always bent over backward to make folks happy. They tended to come back and buy more merchandise. I remember a specific example of a mom doing her back to school shopping for both a college son and college daughter. She had done quite a bit at another store for her son and was in mine for her daughter. She spent about 2 hours with me and had a stack of clothes for her daughter and excused herself for a minute. She left the store with her shopping bags from the previous store and came back empty handed. While we were looking for some more items, now for her son, she casually mentioned that she had returned all the other stores items and was shopping with me for the next few hours. Really made me feel great! I spent 4 or 5 hours with here and sent her home with 2 full new wardrobes...about $4,500 in new clothes for her kids. A few days later a corporate headquarters rep showed up in the store with a letter the lady had written to the HQ. I received an service award, a thank you, and a copy of her letter. Later that month her friends started showing up with her to the store.
Here is the point, before I drone on any longer: If you have a great experience you will tell a few select folks. However, if you have a bad experience you will tell everyone you know, everyone you are acquainted with, and even total strangers. Bad word of mouth advertising is one of the worst things a business can have. MAACO can turn this around by doing THE RIGHT THING. Instead of taking all the negative time and energy the company is spending take the car and make it right with the best possible paint job they can produce in the color you really wanted. Heck, we have seen folks come out very happy with their MAACO job but it is because the folks at that location took their job to heart. You may want to even look through threads and find that location and contact them. A possible route to take would be to ask for a refund from this location and take it to the other for the fix. or ask MAACO to send the car there for a proper job. We are about to have an Indy done up here in St Louis. needless to say, it won't be going to MAACO as I don't want to go through this experience.
John I dont know if ya noticed but if you look top left of your pic you can see the same blue on the truck ...... man they are really a bunch of clowns ... did they have a special on YUKKY Blue paint !!! .......... bunch of morons
Danyel
[This message has been edited by Danyel (edited 07-08-2014).]
....It makes me want to go work on my P.O.S. 
...... man they are really a bunch of clowns ... did they have a special on YUKKY Blue paint !!! .......... bunch of morons
