GYC in hot water over Rex's lime green 70 Charger.

[Troy]

Let me clarify some of my thoughts:
Rex may very well be an opportunist or a money grubbing fool. I don't know. Whatever he is, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference in regards to the work that came out of GYC. Since that's what this thread is about that's where I'm focusing. What he did before is irrelevant. What he did after may be baffling but it is also irrelevant.

Also, I have tried to be very clear about the difference between "stuff GYC touched" and "poor prior repairs". GYC claims that some things that Rex is pointing out isn't anything they did. I'm ok with that. However, if they removed the bulk of the back half of the car, welded, painted, and reassembled it then the quality of that work surely needs to be owned by GYC. And, as far as I can tell, it is. If they had to "patch" new metal to wrinkled old stuff that's ok too as long as the owner was aware of the cost cutting measure.

I don't give a damn what the insurance may or may not have said and, as I mentioned earlier, neither party is putting the blame there either. So why are we talking about it? I know how insurance works. It doesn't absolve a shop from being clear with the customer about what they are doing. Certainly not if the owner had know idea how bad it was turning out. Surely whoever was dealing with the insurance (if not the owner) would have mentioned it along the way. If not, that still puts the blame squarely on GYC. Again, Mark is taking responsibility and offered to have it repaired. That doesn't sound like someone who cut corners to meet insurance demands. So, again, insurance angle appears to be a dead end.

I also am not aware of GYC asking for more money to fix extra stuff they found when digging in to the car. So, basically, they agreed to a price to fix the car and that's the end of the money discussion.

A good business should be able to "work with" customers with differing demands. Some customers want "cheap as possible" and others want the "very best quality". Many want both! The shop needs to clearly explain what they will be doing for the amount they are getting paid. As some may know, I painted the hood on my Barracuda all by myself (yay me!). When I bought the paint I said "I need paint that exactly matches my car because I'm only doing the hood and not blending the rest". As we were carrying the hood across the shop to the car I saw immediately that the paint didn't match. I went back to the paint store and they said "more expensive paint would have matched better but we were trying to save you money". Awesome! But now I just wasted a boatload of time, sanded off my fingerprints, and my car looks stupid. I was nervous about waves, sanding scratches, and runs in the clear - not color matching. Doing all the work a second time certainly wasn't going to save me any money! I thought I had been very clear about *my* priorities (color match), I never asked for the cheapest paint, and the shop never offered any pricing options. I assume that a large portion of their customers are shopping on price so I take some of the blame for not asking. A little extra communication here would have made everyone happy.

I don't understand how any business can low-ball a job (or take a job with no margin) and then blame the customer for crappy work. If you can't do it right then send them down the road to find someone else. I reminded one of my bosses that his name (literally) was on everything that we produced. No one looking at it "in the wild" would know that the customer fought to exclude features or wasn't willing to cover the cost of doing something correctly. As a professional, you should know how much it will take to meet the standards/goals set out. On the flip side, if you're going to demand/accept a price for a certain quality then you're responsible for meeting those same standards in the end. If the expectations are vague then, well, it's not likely that anyone will be happy.

Is Rex being unreasonable? Probably. Would I be unreasonable in the same situation? Probably. It would be easy to feel betrayed after taking a car to a famous shop only to get it back looking like the local vocational school worked on it. I'd like to think that, at some point, my logical side would take over and we'd all move along - and I'd have my car back on the road (correct this time). I don't really see the value in trying to discredit the shop when they've made a good attempt at making things right. This ain't HLPAG we're talking about.

Troy

[Aero426]

The thing I still don't get is how the car got out the door the way it did.   It is hard to believe that on a car blown apart that far,  there was seemingly no one in a position of responsibility to poke their head underneath to do a final inspection before it left.    

Pretty clear that the body tech working on the car was in the deep end on this job.   The complexity of the repair would seem to have been way over his skill level.       I am not talking about the cosmetics or the piddly stuff like overspray on the blower motor.     I am talking about the structural part of the job.    Some of that cannot be fixed CORRECTLY without at least part of the car being blown back apart.    

[myk]

The thing I still don't get is how the car got out the door the way it did.   It is hard to believe that on a car blown apart that far,  there was seemingly no one in a position of responsibility to poke their head underneath to do a final inspection before it left.    

Pretty clear that the body tech working on the car was in the deep end on this job.   The complexity of the repair would seem to have been way over his skill level.       I am not talking about the cosmetics or the piddly stuff like overspray on the blower motor.     I am talking about the structural part of the job.    Some of that cannot be fixed CORRECTLY without at least part of the car being blown back apart.    

Based on my personal experience, I think the owners/managers of businesses are counting on the ignorance of the customer to complete their transactions.  Clearly, Rex didn't know what he paid for when he first bought the car, so maybe GYC figured he would be equally clueless when they "finished" his Charger...

[Aero426]

Based on my personal experience, I think the owners/managers of businesses are counting on the ignorance of the customer to complete their transactions.  Clearly, Rex didn't know what he paid for when he first bought the car, so maybe GYC figured he would be equally clueless when they "finished" his Charger...

As previously stated, this isn't HLPAG.   Reputable shops have processes and some evidence of quality control.    It's not one thing wrong.  It's many things.   And they are biggies.   The left rear rail appears to be tacked in and doesn't fit up right.   Some of the welds in the photos look like boogers.     The trunk floor does not appear to be spot or plug welded in.     These are the kinds of things you might expect to see from guys cobbing together rebuilders without industry (I-CAR/ASE) certification.     It's not that the work on this car was sloppy.  It appears to be inept.

[BananaDan]

http://youtu.be/stlRXATRTtA?t=5m28s

I found the episode on YouTube that people have mentioned in this thread where the Charger is on the frame rack.

[TUFCAT]

Has season 4 aired yet? .....if so I missed that.

[r4daytona]

not to sound stupid, but what does HLPAG stand for?

[TUFCAT]

not to sound stupid, but what does HLPAG stand for?

Google search for Hans Luedtke Performance Auto Group, or use the search box here on DC.com for HLPAG....

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/luedtke-performance-auto-group-luedtke-auto-general-lee-dealer/lake-villa-illinois-60046/luedtke-performance-auto-group-luedkte-cars-luedtke-auto-general-lee-dealer-lil-le-235864

[1974dodgecharger]

Has season 4 aired yet? .....if so I missed that.

Dont know i know mark has been desperate asking people to watch so they could get more seasons....

[HANDM]

Has season 4 aired yet? .....if so I missed that.

Dont know i know mark has been desperate asking people to watch so they could get more seasons....

Every thread with the Mark bashing.... give it a rest already. We get it, you don't like him......

[1974dodgecharger]

Who said i didnt like em....seems u dont  dont project your feelings towards someone like that its rude....

Has season 4 aired yet? .....if so I missed that.

Dont know i know mark has been desperate asking people to watch so they could get more seasons....

Every thread with the Mark bashing.... give it a rest already. We get it, you don't like him......

[BananaDan]

Has season 4 aired yet? .....if so I missed that.

It seems that they aired episode 1 of season 4 this summer on 7/31.  That entire episode is the YouTube clip I posted, I just made a URL that starts it at Rex's Charger.  I don't know when the rest of season 4 is going to air.

[TUFCAT]

It seems that they aired episode 1 of season 4 this summer on 7/31.  That entire episode is the YouTube clip I posted, I just made a URL that starts it at Rex's Charger.  I don't know when the rest of season 4 is going to air.

Season 4 premiere is scheduled for November 18th at 8:00pm ET on Velocity

[hemi-hampton]

Watching the youtube clip I'm surprised I did not see them Plastigage the Crank Bearings to check for clearance & factory tolorances when they put the Hemi together

[Aero426]

Watching the youtube clip I'm surprised I did not see them Plastigage the Crank Bearings when they put the Hemi together

Scary when the other guy says a couple of times, "I don't know much about Hemis".   

[chargerperson]

It seems that they aired episode 1 of season 4 this summer on 7/31.  That entire episode is the YouTube clip I posted, I just made a URL that starts it at Rex's Charger.  I don't know when the rest of season 4 is going to air.

Season 4 premiere is scheduled for November 18th at 8:00pm ET on Velocity

Suspect there may be some editing out of Rex's car when the other episodes are aired.  The episode on youtube has several references to the car.

[myk]

Based on my personal experience, I think the owners/managers of businesses are counting on the ignorance of the customer to complete their transactions.  Clearly, Rex didn't know what he paid for when he first bought the car, so maybe GYC figured he would be equally clueless when they "finished" his Charger...

As previously stated, this isn't HLPAG.   Reputable shops have processes and some evidence of quality control.    It's not one thing wrong.  It's many things.   And they are biggies.   The left rear rail appears to be tacked in and doesn't fit up right.   Some of the welds in the photos look like boogers.     The trunk floor does not appear to be spot or plug welded in.     These are the kinds of things you might expect to see from guys cobbing together rebuilders without industry (I-CAR/ASE) certification.     It's not that the work on this car was sloppy.  It appears to be inept.

Is GYC a reputable shop?  I don't know if it is or it isn't.  All I know is that ZERO effort was made to verify the proper construction of this car.  Whether it was intentional or accidental makes no difference to me, the end result was the same...

[TUFCAT]

Is GYC a reputable shop?  I don't know if it is or it isn't.  All I know is that ZERO effort was made to verify the proper construction of this car.  Whether it was intentional or accidental makes no difference to me, the end result was the same...

I'm not following why someone who do this intentionally? 

[2592 creston]

      Think its time to let this die!!

[Ghoste]

It probably was a while ago.

[1974dodgecharger]

I just crushed my 68 today because I was bored

[Ghoste]

Cool. 

[Dodge Don]

Good god, this is still going on?

A mistake was made (they happen...don't pretend you never made one)

He acknowledged and admitted the mistake

He offered to fix the mistake

Case closed. Too many people always looking for any reason to form an angry mob

[1974dodgecharger]

I put my crushed 68 charger on youtube.....people are pissed...

[myk]

Is GYC a reputable shop?  I don't know if it is or it isn't.  All I know is that ZERO effort was made to verify the proper construction of this car.  Whether it was intentional or accidental makes no difference to me, the end result was the same...

I'm not following why someone who do this intentionally?  

Intentional, as in putting out a bad product and/or using smoke and mirrors to sell something and hoping no one notices.  That's something that most businesses on any scale are guilty of doing since the dawn of man.

Good god, this is still going on?

A mistake was made (they happen...don't pretend you never made one)

He acknowledged and admitted the mistake

He offered to fix the mistake

Case closed. Too many people always looking for any reason to form an angry mob

Have we made mistakes?  Sure we have.  Just the other day someone at my bar ordered a tall Coor's Light and I gave them a chocolate milk....oops, I made a mistake!  However, taking thousands of dollars over the course of 8 months from someone and giving them junk in return is more than a mistake, it's bad business (to put it politely)...