TSR engine upgrade

am posting results as they go with regards to the type of service i've received from TSR getting an engine upgrade done.

so far things not going too well, first of all the job was delayed by 3 weeks, so i eventually picked the car up saturday just gone, bill was ?2700. things went wrong before i even got off the forecourt…reverse gear kept junping out. problem was i was due at a meeting in exeter in a couple of hours so had to take the car as was…the mechanic promised to sort it once i bring it back when i'm next around in a couple of weeks..fair enoiugh.
i then realised as i was going down the road that the speedo wasn't working..went back again, he twiddled about and then it was working again..off i went. bit further down the road it stopped working again, unfortunately i was now stuck in a traffic jam on the m5 and was already running late for my meeting so had to motor on. once i got to exeter the gears droppped out, called then up and they told me to check the gear linkage which did prove to be the problem. popped it back on (small securing clip was missing), mechanic promised to send me a new gear linkage kit free of charge. also now noticed that the water temp was intermitant.

next day i drove back to london as everything else was running ok and TSR were obivoulsy not open on a sunday and i had to get home, took it easy not going over 4500 rpm. by the time i got home the oil pressure gauge was off the scale (goes up to 5 bar) and it was running rough! the bottom of each gear was spluttering, once you put your foot down it cleared out. got it in my garage and decided to have a proper good look around under the bonnet….found that the air aux valve hadn't been reconnected up to the breather pipe! then saw that there was a jubilee clip missing on the top rocker cover breather hose, i was starting to get the impression that this job was rushed at the last minute to meet an already late dealine….. then noticed there is was an oil leak and a coolant leak! car will now not tick over unless i keep my foot on the gas.

i'm gonna call them this morning and see how they propose to solve this…i'm reserving judgement until i see what happens but it's fair to say i'm not particularly happy right now. don't want to condemn this garage as i know problems can come up with these sorts of things so hopefully this will end happily.

i will let the forum know how this situation develops,…if anyone has got advice on my rights etc, that would be really appreciated…
fingers crossed!
nick

i've just got a new engine, and i couldnt rev it to 4500rpn until after 1000 miles or so.

you have to let the cam bed in and everything to settle in, (gaskets etc)

i'd take it easy on the engine, and get the tappets sorted after 1000 miles, new oil, coolent etc.

as for the other things, this really is unnacceptable and you are well within your right to be annoyed, go back and dont stop haggling.

especially about the oil leak, the will probably say that it ha always been there or some rubbish but dont accept it.  nearly ?3k spent, so make it worth while!

Cheers, Andrew

i thought the same about the revs but the technician said it would do more harm than good if i drove like miss daisy, he said as long as i didn't go over 5-5500 rpm i should be ok? (is not a new but re-con engine)
spoke to them this morning and so far they have offered to come and get the car and take it back to their workshop to get it sorted, which is what i expect really. will post future events….

make sure you keep a diary of all conversations and letters, i would expect a curtsy car too, there really taking the pi** don't stand for it mate good luck old chap

its a shame for TSR as i have heard quite a few horror stories now.

i once thought about taking my mk2 to them (it was a decision between the mk2 gettings done properly or spending ?6.5k on an audi a3 which i ended up doing in the end),

like dojo said keep a log of everything and dont accept the car back, OR PAY untill you are 100% happy, ?2700 is a lot of money to be spending so just dont pay untill its all 100%

Have unfortunately already paid when i first took the car away.
have now been told by a friend that they have gone into administration…still been assured that my car will be sorted though..we will see.
If they really are in financial difficulties then this might be a good time to give a heads up to anyone that is thinking about putting deposits down for stuff to get done. i need to stress that i could be wrong about them being in administration, but it's worth checking it out before anyone out there is thinking of using them.
i'm still waiting to see if they are gonna sort my car out, hopefully they will and their reputation should remain a positive one….will keep the site updated.
nick

Sorry to hear about how youv'e been treated, I don't usually post much on this site but I felt compelled to when I read what happenend to you.

What has happened there sounds inexcusable, the errors that they have done are one's an apprentice would make.  Your car obviously wasn't given a thorough enough test drive after the work was completed to pick up any faults either.

I work in an indedpendent VW specialist, when we finish a major job (i.e engine swap like your's) we generally send the delivery driver out in it all day on his rounds to give the car a thorough test and only when were completely satisfied do we give the car back, no matter how long wev'e taken to do the job.  The thing is garages rely so much on reputation and it wouldn't suprise me at all if the garage you went to is going down tubes..

good luck anyway

just been reading on the club gti site that TSR have definately gone down the tubes, so much for me getting a phone call today!
the supposed top mechanic down there, adrian, promised faithfully he'd get back to me and sort my car, doubt very much i'll be hearing from him now as i've read he'll be signing on.
future not looking good for my car, now have no money left and legal advice i've had says it'll take a fair while, cost abit too, all without a guaranteed result.

nick said

just been reading on the club gti site that TSR have definately gone down the tubes, so much for me getting a phone call today!
the supposed top mechanic down there, adrian, promised faithfully he'd get back to me and sort my car, doubt very much i'll be hearing from him now as i've read he'll be signing on.
future not looking good for my car, now have no money left and legal advice i've had says it'll take a fair while, cost abit too, all without a guaranteed result.

i know it makes no diference but i really feel for you mate :x

cheers

Sorry to hear about your troubles Nick,and not that it is any consolation but TSR haven't been TSR for quite a while.TSR stands for Tim Stiles Racing ,but Tim sold the business a few years ago,and from what I can gather the prices have been going up while the standard has been going down.Last I heard Tim was living in France and I should imagine he would be livid if he read this.
Good luck with getting everything sorted mate.

legal advice is def worth getting, my mate's mum has had a few dealings and is currently taking a garage to court after they fitted an exhaust to her 318, then when she was driving home it fell off or something or they hadnt welded the cat on or something along those lines.

maybe you should get in touch with him he would be able to give you some advice about the best way to get your money back, he is called chris lakin and owns the fiat 126 club (www.fiat126.co.uk), get on his forum and ask him what route to take, he is a nice bloke and should be able to help you out..

thanks, will look that up and get in touch
cheers
nick

I have read on Edition 38 that TSR has gone into the hands of the receivers. Looks like you might have a real fight on your hand to get it sorted  :x

http://www.edition38.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=49595

!ll;ll;

8O Really feel for you nick  :tlc:

Hope you get sorted out but feel you may be in for a long wait and in need of some good fortune!

:tlc: sorry to hear about the engine Nick :tlc:

Hope you've still got your car as for any vehicles TSR have is not a good situation to be in, as the receivers would seize them along witn company assets.  

yeah, have got the car…is currently sitting in my garage. still not happy though…it has cost somewhere in excess of ?5k in total and reckon in it's current state i stand to lose a fair bit…just haven't got the funds to get it done or keep it garaged,taxed etc so i'll been in the pub tonight trying to forget about all this crap…tomorrows another day

nick said

yeah, have got the car…is currently sitting in my garage. still not happy though…it has cost somewhere in excess of ?5k in total and reckon in it's current state i stand to lose a fair bit…just haven't got the funds to get it done or keep it garaged,taxed etc so i'll been in the pub tonight trying to forget about all this crap…tomorrows another day

talking of pubs i saw chris from the fiat 126 club over the weekend, he had a look at this thread and said he would be more than happy to give you some advice

thanks gorilly,

have registered on the 126 site and will try getting in touch with chris

cheers
nick