Ok, so i brought a 2005 sti with ppp back in october 2007. Figured i'd get it in for a stage 1 performance package (5/12/07) at a reputable subaru tuners inclusive of 3" Full system stainless exhaust system, induction kit, uprated fuel pump and a re-map and dump valve all to the tune of £2106.12p. Being only 24 at the time, a little naive and not really knowing much about the car back then i thought that was it and job done. Only recently since carrying out a bit of work on the car myself and finding an old receipt it was then that i noticed the car still had the prodrive down pipe and after a little thought realised that the prodrive had no need for an uprated fuel pump. What i really want to know though is what course of action can i take? as i've been charged for parts and labour that i never received

 

Given it was well over four years ago there's probably not a lot you can do.

Might as well name and shame if nothing else

 

Yep it's a bit too long to wait before doing anything mate, they'll just say they were fitted and you've removed them.

Who's the garage in question ?


(and it's 'bought' not 'brought' buddy).

 

If it was the tuning companys standard stage 1 "package tune" and you said "ill have that" without much thought.. then I would guess you have no recourse at all, + as stated its more than 4 years ago..

Name and shame if you feel like it is about as much as you can do I think..

You haven't lost out on much the pump itself is worth 65quid! (not even a tank of v-power)

 

Seriously! It's alot of money mate but so long ago nothing you can do.

 

Feel for you dude I hate reading anything like this.

 

You have to be careful here though - what parts did they state (specifically) would be included?

Uprated fuel pump (common safeguard for upgrades on most motors - cheap and worth fitting) - you haven't said this wasn't fitted?
Full exhaust system - more often than not you have to check exactly what's on offer, full could be simply a cat-back system for some companies.
BOV - not necessary in the slightest, but again they would have listed this in their package - it's up to the buyer to do his research whether this would be beneficial to them.
Induction kit - again, not really necessary but a desirable alternative to the silent induction the stock system offers.
Map+ecu/standalone - this is where at least 50% of your money will have gone. Check what ECU they have fitted to get an idea of if you've been ripped off here.

What have they stated should be fitted - and what is missing?

From what I can gather the price you paid seems average for what you've had done given they are all new parts + labour.

 

Go on... spill the beans?....!

 

To be honest im not a big fan of the name and shame. It could be a genuine mistake. the performance package consists of uprated fuel pump (neccessary for sti models) 3" stainless full exhaust ( de-cat downpipe, centrepipe, backbox), caik, and ecutek remap. I know the downpipe was not fitted but cant say if the pump was or not but in my eyes is something that wasn't needed as the current 1 had only done around 8k. Its mostly principle as it wouldn't only be the fitting of a new downpipe but the mapping to go with it also

 

Name the garage mate, they have obviously mislead you and charged you for an item they never even bothered fitting.

It's only fair their name is put up for future reference, or at least PM it.

 

How do you know they didn't change the fuel pump?
I assume the fuel pump is the only thing you're querying?

 

What parts/labour have you not received exactly?

DO not name and shame unless you are prepared to put up evidence of what was invoiced contridicting what you actually have. Otherwise you are at risk of legal ramifications .


Points to note: "full exhaust" to most people is cat back. (i.e centre section, including second cat and backbox). Pretty much every full exhaust system I've ever seen on pretty much most cars does not include the downpipe...Impreza included (as well as the uppipes).

Unless the invoice states "sports cat" or "down pipe", then you aren't going anywhere.

If you have a uprated fuel pump in the tank and thats what is invoiced. Nothing wrong there.

Filter + dump valve - pretty obvious to check for.

Remap? Thats the tricky one....you'll need a mapper to prove its been remapped.

 

Feel for you buddy,

I was 21 when i first had my Subaru, and when it came to mechanics, i was a little 'green' to it all. Only a few months after i had the car the Turbo failed, and i subsiquently ended up using a 'specialist' to replace the turbo and whatever the car needed. He gave me options on whether to replace the turbo like for like (estimate cost of £800) or an 'upgraded' item for the price of £1175 (or thereabouts). Being a tad naive and think ''moore power-great'' i went for the latter. What the garage neglected to inform me was the fact that with the 'upgraded' turbo, the car would need a re-map, not only for the turbo exchange but also because the car already had an induction and exhaust modifications. It was a year or so later when i started having problems, pretty much all down to the fact that the car had not be re-mapped. had i have been informed of this in the first place i would have forked out long before to have the car mapped.

Really boils my **** when garages do this, im sure this fella was thinking ''ooh ill have a nice little rebuild out of this in xx months time''. Ive had another reputable company on work on the car and i was not impressed with their service or aftersales care (spent a LOT of money with them), and im almost certain they took the **** with the work i was charged with. (and no-im not going to name and shame-too much time ahas passed) now im older and slightly wiser, and have got more and more familiar with the car, i won't have the **** taken out of me again.

Sorry to say your not the only one, and the only thing you can do is put it down to experience and move on, the more you think about it the more pissed off with it you get!

Rob

 

the only things in question are the exhaust... the website states full system exhaust as de-cat downpipe, centrepipe, and backbox and the fuel pump may well have been changed but as stated is something that was not needed

 

The problem you have is that may be what the website says now. Do you know or can you prove what there site said 4 years ago?

 

2k for that , thats a rip off in itself as said miles too late to do anything about it.

my advice is if you go down the modding route you have to learn about what is involved before hand, do research and arm yourself with knowledge, you need to come across to the tuner as if you know what you are on about.

 

Do you have invoice that the downpipe was fitted if so name and shame as i and everyone else would want to avoid them.
Regards

 

May i ask how you think the car had been passing MOT's as you thought it was de-cated. Surely come first mot youd be having the cat put back on?

 

That's why I bought all the parts for my stage 1 myself. All I paid the specialist to do, was to fit the parts and remap the car.

 

chalk it up as experience and move on, mate.
Thats all you can do this far down the line.

The only stupid mistakes are ones you don't learn from.

 

Just totting up parts at retail prices (including VAT @ 2007 rate) with a very generous labour rate, and the highest I can get it to is around £1500.

Unless the exhaust system and dumbvalve were super duper exuberantly priced items. So where does the extra £500 come from, unless service work was carried out (i.e oil/filter change, spark plugs, fuel filter etc).

 

Just totting up parts at retail prices (including VAT @ 2007 rate) with a generous labour rate, And the highest I can get it to is around £1500.

Unless the exhaust system and dumbvalve were super duper exuberantly priced items. So where does the extra £600 come from , unless service/repair work was carried out at the same time (i.e oil/filter change, spark plugs, fuel filter etc).

 

£600 for an EcuTek remap
£80 for a Walbro fuel pump
£150 for a decent induction kit
Price depends on make for dump valve and exhaust so I'd say it has worked out pretty expensive unless it has a blitz or miltek exhaust and a HKS ssqv dump valve, do you have a breakdown on the invoice of individual parts?

 

You guys all seem to be pricing up parts at todays prices here? You can be sure some items were more expensive 4 years ago.

As for the fuel pump, was it common knowledge that the OE pump was excellent when the car was so young? Product knowledge evolves and back then it may well have been a "Better safe than sorry" policy on a relatively unknown quantity.

Also, perhaps there are smaller items fitted not stated on the bill, like spark plugs etc? Again, more expensive 4 years ago than today.

 

I wouldn't say there is a big difference in price over the 4 years, my EcuTek map by powerstation in 2005 was £600, now if non of the parts are branded parts, Ie HKS, K&N, Miltek, Blitz, Etc....they would have been even cheaper than the prices quoted above IMHO

Agreed there could be other parts on the invoice too which is why I asked if there was a breakdown on the invoice,

Gaz.

 

If it was PPP'd to start with, the Prodrive downpipe would have a sports cat in it so any downpipe-back replacement system need only have been cat-free. The PPP on the STi included the uprated fuel pump (I'm assuming that applied in 05?)
Did the OP take the rest of the PPP exhaust system away with him? I sold my mine for £300 (including downpipe, though) after having a full Milltek put on. Always take away the stuff that's been removed from your car!

JohnD

 

Breakdown of invoice=
3" full system s/s exhaust= £495
k&n Typhoon= £235
Fitting= £50
Fuel pump= £165
Map= £550
Rollers= £100
D/Valve= £240
The only part i took away with me was the centre section of the exhaust, and being a bit green back then presumed this was the cat, so fitted back for mot time... never thought anymore of it until recently

 

that only adds up to £1,835


ahh + vat would make sense tho.

 

The fitting for them parts seem very cheap, and i dont think a downpipe would of been included in that price, it would of been cat back

 

That would be fitting for the caik mate, the other prices included fitting