| Long with no Cliff Notes, sorry but I will never recommend RDZ to anyone and will share my experience with anyone that says they are considering going there. I've debated posting anything negative on a public forum but I want to save anyone from getting the low quality service and getting scammed from RDZ like I did. Enough people have asked for details so here it goes. I was foolish enough to give them a second chance to earn my business because Rich and Scott do appear to truly care about the Z community but I wouldn't let them do an oil change on my Z at this point. I'll briefly say that the first visit was for an alternator replacement and it quickly morphed into a laundry list of items that I should have done including PCV Valve replacement and 120k Timing belt service and soldering new injector connectors because mine are looking pretty brittle. I was given what I felt was a high quote but I have previously done a lot of the work on my Z myself so I understand that it's a pain and I liked the idea of someone else doing it. I was feeling OK about the work done but when I went to pick it up they had charged me around $200 extra for messing with my PTU do to starting issues. I then noticed some black mesh like crumbs in my passenger headlight. I questioned both and, Steve, working there at the time made an excuse that maybe it was there already. I also asked why they didn't just call me and get a replacement PTU. I reluctantly paid and had starting issues the next day. Turns out the Battery was extremely low. Charged it, problem solved. So much for the extra $200. Fast forward to a couple of years later, and only a few miles because the car was not running great since I got it back. I am driving and the car stops shifting properly. I've had a transmission go out on an earlier Z so I immediately go into panic mode. I realize that when cold the car goes into gear fine so in very short runs, I make it back to a local shop. After the mechanic admits he doesn't have the correct diagnostic equipment for the Z, I decide to have it towed home. When I get it home I immediately run Auto Transmission Diagnostics and get a code that the Speed Sensor is no good. This could actually explain all of the symptoms. It's common for a wire to be hitting the exhaust as the wire protection around the sensor wears away and when the car is warm is causes it to give a weak signal, basically the car can't figure out what gear its in or when it needs to shift. I get under the Z and of course my Speed Sensor is over the exhaust. After a few failed attempts to lower the exhaust and get to the speed sensor to swap it out and see if it solves the problem I cave and start calling around. Once again, I consider RDZ. After all they should have been able to repeat my Auto Tranny Diagnostic and have the right equipment to drop the exhaust and quickly swap the speed sensor to see if it resolves it. I call RDZ and speak to Rich at length about my past experience and concerns. He assures me that there won't be any issues and that they will test everything but he still feels its the transmission. I talk to him and eventually agree to have Scott come by and pick up my Z in their low profile trailer. (I had a towing mishap once, and have a low Fascia).When Scott showed up with a converted boat trailer I should have cancelled it, but like many of you I have an emotional attachment to my car and damn if I didn't just want it fixed. I load up the car with the Speed Sensor I bought, and 12 Quarts of Mobil1 ATF (2 6 packs from Amazon) so they have plenty of fluid to swap the sensor and replace the fluid. My front license plate is also in the car (more on that later.) A couple of days later, I get the call I was afraid of. They tested everything and its the transmission. We discuss options and I debate having it towed back because I didn't want to spend the money at the time. My wife convinces me that I should just do it. Once I commit, I decide I want all the upcoming maintenance items done. Luckily that only meant new brake pads. I ask them to turn the rotors and put in the new pads. Rich makes me feel good about my decision and I go away for a few days knowing all the work will be done when I get back. At first I am happy to have my Z back. I then see the ring of scratches around my passenger side front wheel well, slight damage on my wheels near the lug holes, and start looking around for my front license plate and what should be around 3-4 quarts of left over ATF. I put a call into RDZ and no one. I email Rich and he calls me the next day apologizing. He states they are normally very careful and will detail my car the next time i bring it in. He also says that he doesn't think they have my license plate and the fluid must have all been used while they were testing the tranny and when they replaced it. OK, but where the hell is my plate? Another day goes by and Rich contacts me. Turns out they do have my plate and he's not sure why they would have pulled it out of the car but they agree to mail it to me. I barely get to drive it before I also see a small spot of oil on the garage floor. I try to contact RDZ, no one gets back to me. (Do you see a pattern?) I already know the Oil Pressure Sending unit is no good so I order one locally and go back to DIY diagnostic. I jack up the car to get a better look and change the sending unit. This is when I just about lose my $h!?. The leak is a small one from the drain plug but Holy Sh!t. That isn't a new speed sensor. If that sensor still works then the bad connection or loose wiring was what caused the "Speed sensor circuit is shorted or disconnected" code. Before I go ballistic I call RDZ and ask if the rebuilt transmission I got came with a speed sensor. He says no they have to swap it or in my case install the new one. "But Rich, the new speed sensors have white wrapped wires the one in my new transmission that you said I needed looks just like my old one, complete with grime." Oops. Rich looks into it and calls back basically saying that he goofed and forgot to tell the tech to swap in the new sensor first and that he'll put it in for no charge when I return to get the fluid drained and filter changed after 1,000 miles. At this point I'm thinking, No f'in way, but remain calm. I got conned but at least my Z is running. I tell him its good to have my car back but I'm not sure I'll be back. I also write an email stating how disappointed i was that I was willing to pay a premium for great service from someone who allegedly knew and cared about Zs and instead I got short changed with incredibly sloppy work and poor communication. Rich calls and confirms that he got the email and apologizes again saying he will somehow make it up to me. He sounds sincere and I tell him I appreciate the car and will consider giving them my business again in the future but it will be a tough decision. Winter comes with me barely driving and come spring I start up the Z and it sounds like crap. I again try calling RDZ, even after finally getting someone on the phone and asking to speak with Rich. I never hear back. I also email a few times, never hearing back. I tell my wife that I'm on my own so expect me to have bloody cut up handy, use all kinds of new curse words and buy a lot more tools so I can fix anything wrong myself. I run all kinds of diagnosis and am actually releived when I find that one of my old style Nismo injectors is bad. At least its not another RDZ screw up. I decide to get new style injectors and do the swap myself. When I do the swap I see all the other sloppiness from RDZ. Every and I mean Every connector behind or in close proximity to the plenum is destroyed being held on with glops and globs of Red RTV. Even some of my new injector connectors are broken. I still don't understand that. When I cut off the old style connectors that RDZ soldered I see that the bad injector and a few others have cold solder joints and the wires are basically coming apart. I am replacing them anyway, but once again, wtf? I thought they were supposed to be experts. I get the injector swap completed and yet the car still sounds like crap. Some cylinders still aren't firing. WTH, I start to re-diagnose everything. I taped and diagrammed every connector and line when pulling everything apart. I even left the tape on the lines after hooking them bakc up to be certain everything was as was before I started. I decide to go back to the factory manual and online vacuum diagrams. I even call Specialty Z for some support and suggestions because i got the injector kit from them. I also thought that maybe I got a bad ECU. Jonathon puts me on hold and talks to a few of the guys over there and says it sounds like a vacuum or boost leak issue. (Side note, Specialty Z is great to work with). I start searching for vacuum leaks and find that a lot of vacuum lines and Ts to my boost controller and gauge are hooked up incorrectly (many of which I did not have to touch). On top of that, my AIVs were bypassed when I took my car to RDZ but I notice they were hooked up again. Seems that once again RDZ didn't pay attention to detail. Additionally, the PCV and AIV solenoid are both hooked up incorrectly as if they did at least one connection of each as if it was the other solenoid. I also notice my red vacuum line is gone and a lot of black has been put in it's place. I earlier noticed my dummy red line to pass emissions from the AIV port on the cats is also now black. Why would they replace several lengths of silicone line and not mention it. Oh yeah, they don't communicate well. I try to reach out to Rich again and after getting no reply from an email, I write again asking that he please ship my speed sensor because I will not ever be going back to his shop. I get no reply but a day later I get a package sent certified mail with my speed sensor. At this point I consider RDZ to be the least competent shop I have ever brought a car to. I also believe they scammed me and if it wasn't a year ago now, I would probably bring them to small claims court. Please learn from my mistake and if you care about your cars being cared for and want to avoid overpaying for piss poor unqualified sloppy work look elsewhere or learn to DIY.
|
