GOT RIPPED by the mechanic !!!!!!!! Please Help !!!! please Help me !!!!

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Rooim

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Hi guys need ur help !!!
as i posted couple of weeks ago ive started to do swap in my a3 swap 1.8 for an 1.8T. got in touch with a mechanic
that i did know for about 4-5 years and after ive left the car and the engine ah his he rang be back saying Chris
for servicing this car and "make it up and running" for u 450£ ill give it to my best mechanic he is an audi specialist
so my answer was ok gave him 200 pounds in advance and waited in mean time ive Bought the downpipe coz i did knew it will be different the car was at his garage for about 3 months its quite important in the contest of the story (ive bot the car as non runner . rang him couple of days after the guy was about to start so i decided to go and have a look on the progress he took the full engine in less than 2 hrs so i was impressed in the process of putting it back found out that drive shafts does not match ,so bought 2 new ones witch on of them was wrong so the decided to go to scrap yard and buy used one so we continued got the engine in wired up everything turne the keys and ut turrned over it did not start as we needed to remap ecu been told by steve he's got a lad that he will sort this out no problem (nothing about extra cost was mentioned ) one week after the car was dead still not starting up he found another guy this one spouse to be very good came connected the laptop after 2 hr dsaid that the previous guy corrupted the ecu and need to get the bypass code and it will be done waited another week and still nothing rang me today and said can u come to the garage .was exited as hell coz i fought its where done.... it was not... not even near
was told the clocks ecu and key was "synchronised"it starts on laptopfut not with the key and i need to go to company called Camco88 in warrington with ecu the will sort this out i asked do i need to pay he said yes but everything else is done
so ive asked him how much for the engine and his reply was....600£ on top of 200 pound i gave him and the car dont even starts :( ive said i will not pay ive asked what is it for no went out and said ill get back to him
rang and audi specialist in stoke that does this kind of stuff and he quoted me 100 pounds for unlocking the immo and making it running ive txt steve that its a ripp off and that is an answer ive got


"m8 price up removal and fitting up the engine drifeshafts
exhaust (i think he means fitting the downpipe witch ive bought )
2 days of remapping Ecu (still does not work !!!!)
borrowing the money to pay the mechanic ,Storage !!! (WTF?? asked him on the begining is it ok if it stays at his yard he said its fine hes got plenty of space ,not aske me for any money
spending half a day at the scrap yard and paying for the bits (what bits ??)
pushing it in and out for the last weeks
i think it adds ok
come and have a look everything is itemised

he naver mentioned that the pric e will double trough all this time !!!!
please guys help me !!!! dont think all this crap with ecu is true he wants to ripp me off

sorry for my English
kindly regards
DESperate CHris :(:(:(

 
Did you take the ECU from the1.8t donor engine? if so you needed the clocks too and ..possibly keys..

Anyway i suppose you know that now, regarding the bill, they should have warned you it was going to be more expensive, but what can you do?
 
YES ive got the ecu from the donor not had the keys for it thou but that is not a big problem u can program the key
i will not pay for the ecu remap
guys what should i do ?? :(
 
This is why it's cheaper to BUY a 1.8T, than to have the transplant/conversion! My Local mechanic wouldn't even get out of bed for £300 just for a straight like for like engine swop, nevermind an engine conversion. You live and learn mate. Though the mechanic in question should have called you up to confirm pricing before going ahead with the work!
 
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As said you need the ecu clocks and keys ideally. However all is not lost and the ecu and keys can be matched to the car. Sounds like the ecu or clocks are encrypted or not compatible and they are looking into an imobiliser delete.

Where abouts are you maybe a local vcds/vag tacho user could help out.

Unfortunately custom jobs in a backstreet garage can end up going bad like this due to lack of knowledge and unforseen problems.
 
audi upgrades
it does not start with the key it starts on the lapotop what a lot of crap and he still charges me for the remap
and from day 1 he knwe about down pipe and the quote h gave me was get the engine up and running now he saes he meth turning he i load of crap the grarage is calleg warrington tyres avoid it as wide as u can
 
ill pay for the engine and stuff but not for ecu remaping 550 thats what i can pay tops !!!
 
anderswhk said:
I never ever get any work done, before i have a clear agreement of the cost in the end. That is also how it works at the dealers.
Click to expand...

You try going to a main dealer and asking them to carry out an engine conversion, you may be met with a bit of laughter and a funny look.

I'm guessing the garage in question assumed (incorrectly as it seems) that the conversion would be a straight swap, I.e bolt the engine and box in place and a bit of wiring. They weren't to know that it would require different shafts etc, I mean, how would they until it came to actually doing the conversion?

Also in regards to the paying him while he sources your driveshafts, other miscellaneous bits from the scrappy. He requires paying for going to the scrappy, no? The time he spent fetching your parts he could have been earning "easy" money by doing a couple of services etc. By "paying for bits", he likely means paying the owner of the scrap yard for the driveshafts and anything else required for the swap, did you expect him to absorb the costs of those?

The ECU/clocks/keys are linked when it comes to the immobiliser. If the clocks do not recognise the key, then it won't give permission for the engine to run, though they normally run for a couple of seconds before dieing again(?) Why should he have to absorb costs of a person/"specialist" coming to reprogram the clocks/ecu on YOUR car for a conversion YOU requested?

After all has been said and done, I believe this all boils down to a lack of communication between yourself and the garage in question. If there were going to be extra costs discovered along the way he should have got in contact with yourself to make this clear and to gain your permission as to whether to continue.

The storage charges are bullsh!t, you are paying him to do work on your car, what does he expect you to do, trailer it away everyday when he has done his bit.

When the specialists came to reprogram the immobiliser etc. If it didn't work, assuming he explained clearly what was required for them to do, then he shouldn't have payed them. You don't pay someone to come repair you boiler, for them to leave with it still not working.
 
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Chris,why did you not buy a 1.8T in the first place ?
Also buy a dictionary ***
 
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I did mention I'm my English is not the best in here in the first post
got this Audi very cheap so I fought that would be like a project.
 
Rooim said:
I did mention I'm my English is not the best in here in the first post
got this Audi very cheap so I fought that would be like a project.
Click to expand...
It's always the way,little bits add up to a lot,hope you get it on the road
 
In all honesty, my advice would be to get the car back, break it/sell it, cut your losses then buy a bonafide 1.8T. No offence, but given your apparent lack mechanical knowledge/hands-on capability, maintaining your converted car could be a life of pain/cost.
 
badger5 said:
you expect an engine change from 1.8 to 1.8t for £200?

Seriously?

madness
Click to expand...

no ,the point is the car does not start and I need to pay for Ecu remapping ??? They did nothing I will pay for genuine stuff
and suddenly there are extra charges like storage and pushing in and out I think that's madness
 
Of course you have to pay for the ecu/immobiliser coding. It's your car, why would they pay it.

The initial coding you shouldn't pay for. As really the mechanic shouldn't have payed the 2 specialists that came out to sort it but didn't.

The subsequent coding that is still needed you have to pay for.
 
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you gonna have to come to some sort of compromise - sit down with him, clear the air, and sort some kind of deal out.
 
They probably tried to align the ecu/clocks/keys but couldn't. Hence why the mechanic shouldn't have payed them.
 
Wow....spent quiet a while trying to decipher what's actually happened here between you and this mechanic/garage.

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark here and presume the main issue from the start of this was communication- which when you're changing and modifying huge areas of a car is imperative.

I've had my car in for weeks and months on end....but feck me mate - I would be ringing them every other day finding out how the builds going and if they have any issues or require any more parts etc. (just ask Ben @ parsons...he must hate my voice! lol)

I would love to hear the other side of this story though because taking it word for word - he has done what he said he would...

Rooim said:
"make it up and running"
Click to expand...

So the bloke did 'make it up' - he made a laptop make it start...and it runs!

For starters, in the future I would go to a reputable garage - I didn't even need to google 'Warrington Tyre's -I mean the name says it all- there a tyre place clearly? Then when I tried looking at there website, my PC won't allow me as it's come up with a million potential risks of visiting the site! lol I think you would have had more luck if you went to Kwik Fit in all honesty.

If the price is too good to be true then double check and communicate with them just to clarify you are on the same page.

In terms of what you can do now- get the car back for as cheap as possible - break it and buy an A3 1.8t.
 
Well now the engine is in the car, there cant be much left to do to get it running.... I would of though the conversion would have been the hardest part??
 
Guys I do apologise for my writing in here I was very upset yesterday
What I want to point here is that the Ecu specialist was told to make the car start and it still does not and I've got still charged like he would fix it
something like I've fixed your boiler but I does not heats up the water would u pay for it ??
 
you dont pay for things that havent been done. the end.
tell him that and if he cant comprehend it then perhaps he needs a smack in the mouth for taking the ****.

you pay for WORK DONE, not WORK ATTEMPTED BUT FAILED DUE TO INCOMPETENCE
 
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superkarl said:
you dont pay for things that havent been done. the end.
tell him that and if he cant comprehend it then perhaps he needs a smack in the mouth for taking the ****.

you pay for WORK DONE, not WORK ATTEMPTED BUT FAILED DUE TO INCOMPETENCE
Click to expand...
aleluya there are still people out there that understand
I do apologise one more time for my English will try to calm down and write properly
 
I wouldnt give up there mate, like I said the hardest part is done. jsut need someone with a bit of knowledge to get it running
 
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Chris i hope you dont mind, but after talking to you on the phone i asked the garage for there side of the story ( i have nothing better to do today, and was ready to offer them help to marry the ecu/clocks/keys up and possibly help with any translation issues!)

Ok, so chris was quoted £450 for a straight engine swap as his car broke a timing belt.

chris supplied engine and box complete from a cupra 1.8 turbo

So now on top of this, as it wasnt a straight engine swap, he is being charged for supplying and fitting correct driveshafts which were sourced at a breaker, fitting a different downpipe (no big deal), and the garage is having to delete the ecu immobiliser via a specialist.
Engine has also been fitted with new timing belt kit, but worryingly not a clutch.

I understand the garage took a chance on an unknown mechanic marrying the ecu/clocks and it failed. The ecu was never fried.

Chris has made me aware that he has the ECU and cluster from the cupra doner! This means the ecu matching to the cars exsisting clocks could have been very straight forward, reading the pins from both clusters, and then matching the turbo ecu to the car.

As the garage are not specialist, you would expect them to need to do a little research, and spend a bit of time on issues arising. I dont think the £800 they are asking is over priced, but they probably could have been clearer at the start. I would have expected a new clutch to be fitted though.

The garage says itll be running tomorrow when the immobiliser is deleted, lets hope you get to enjoy it!

Dont forget to upgrade the breaks though!
 
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i dont think its a bad price inc the belt kit shafts ect ect
 
bez101 said:
i dont think its a bad price inc the belt kit shafts ect ect
Click to expand...

Exactly, i just think theres some confusion over the ecu matching, now if the car had gone to a specialist with a higher labor rate and more knowledge, chances are the job would be finished quicker with less hassle and come out at the same or higher price.
For example, I once spent 4-5 hours replacing rear beam bushes on a golf mk4, and the job came to £120+ parts to the customer.
When Lincs VW specialist fitted the same to my rear axle on the a3, they took 2 hours at £60 per hour iirc. same price done twice as fast because they know how.

Engine conversions nearly always present teething issues, I built 5 205 mi16's and 3 2litre turbos. only one was a simple job completed in a day and driving sweet. It not a job I would have wanted to do for a customer until I had completed it myself several times.
 
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