Guten Parts + Service - ZM Blue Devil

[5ickride]

I've known Levent for as long as I've been here on r3v. He's one of the good guys. I'm sure he'll make it right. I think you posted this prematurely and should have waited until he got back from vacation to give him the opportunity to straighten this out.

[deutschman]

Maybe I missed it, but I didnt see anything in your post about contacting GPS about your problems and getting them fixed.
It is a general courtesy to first try and resolve your problems with a shop/individual before posting on the forum. He might have excellent explanations how why these things went wrong, or he might just say yeah I fucked up and Ill do my best to make things right.
Give the guys a chance to fix what may or may not be his mistakes before throwing him under the buss. Especially sins 99% of his feed back is positive.

[deutschman]

Sorry to hear that you have to deal with that crap! I will never get any work done by them or order parts with them!

Dont base your decisions on one thread. Read GPS's feed back thread on this forum and you will see he has very very high positive feedback. Every shop messes up and has unhappy customers. No one is perfect. If you stopped shopping at places because you knew of one single unhappy customer you would run out of service providers very quickly my friend.

[bradnic]

I've known Levent for as long as I've been here on r3v. He's one of the good guys. I'm sure he'll make it right. I think you posted this prematurely and should have waited until he got back from vacation to give him the opportunity to straighten this out.

^ this x 100.

Been dealing with Levent on all my cars for quite a while now. He's never steered my wrong, and when I've run in to problems he's made them right. Clearly something is wrong with your transaction. But you definitely should have posted to the transaction feedback thread as mentioned by robrez.

As to E30 A/C retrofit/repair, I have some opinions based on experience. I've done 3 DIY R134a E30 A/C retrofits using 3 different compressors (Bosch, Seiko Seiki and ND), on both pre and post 88 cars (different receiver/driers used in each). I also share your perception of gluchlich21's R134a retrofit DIY.

Here goes

1) that Behr receiver/drier is definitely a new part. It's absolutely not worth putting a used one in - it's just about the cheapest part in the retrofit anyway.

2) it's hard to know in advance everything that needs repairing on A/C. You find out as you go along. You stop the leaks, make sure you have good low/high pressure diffs, etc. Without that the AC just doesn't work right.

3) given the condition of that compressor it's no wonder your A/C isn't working properly. That Bosch compressor in the pic is absolutely NOT reman. It's an original R12 unit pulled off a late 80s car. I had the same one in my 88 IX coupe.

4) Every one of the my E30s had bad compressors, so as a rule I just automatically buy a reman unit. Best source price/quality wise for me has been TechChoice. Excellent service, fast ship and phenomenal prices. A Bosch reman compressor for E30 from them will run you about $245 or so plus ship, and it will be R134a ready (right seals etc).

5) Don't get hung up on Thailand this and Taiwan that. Get the compressor replaced with a reman first. It's highly likely the system will work just fine with those parts. Judging from the debris in there you'll need the lines flushed out.

6) You need an R134a expansion valve too. this is well documented in the DIY.

7) You'll need a new receiver drier. EVERY time you open the system you have to replace it. If you opened the system yourself you have to take the responsibility for replacing the drier, sealing the system, etc.

Again - don't assume you're being screwed here. Let him make things right, but at the same time, don't forget you opened the system up and need to take responsibility there. At a minimum you should get a reman compressor and new drier.

Drop me a PM if you have any questions.

[bradnic]

Forgot to comment about the pressure switch. You're right, like the compressor that's definitely not a new part. Was there a rush on the job or something?

EDIT one more comment, because I think there's a range options to pursue before getting an attorney involved. yes it's a $1200 repair. in the grand scheme of things though, and as mentioned by others here, that's not an outrageous bill. Trashing someone's business over a $1200 repair is some serious serious sh%t.

Reach out to the community and you'll get the help you need - count me in.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Sorry to hear about that levent is a good guy. BTW unless your lawyer is free your gonna be paying more for that lawyer then you will have on that system and a good chunk of a new one....

[hendrixvodu]

I will say one thing people can say it's a 20 year old AC system that's complete bullshit, 10 deg difference from outside temp is not acceptable I work on 1970's mercedes that are running almost all original ac components and are putting out 50-45 deg temps on an 85 deg day... Yes it's an old Ac system but this man was not paying $1200 to bandaid his original AC. That being said I have been to gps before and would not think twice about having work done there

[MR 325]

Went ahead and merged your thread with the existing thread.

[8380 Labs]

Jon,

Without a ton of speculation or getting bogged down in a bunch of he said/he said stuff, it's clear there are some misaligned expectations here. I'll address cars and professionalism.

I'm very comfortable with the way the car was represented in the sale ad - the numerous, in depth phone communications we had (with regular frequency, up to a month after the transaction had been completed) and the extensive collection of receipts/documentation you received all supported that. In fact, the other interested party who I had mentioned to you (who saw the car in person and test drove it shortly after we first spoke) made the same offer within 12 hours of you. Despite the fact that a local sale would have been quicker and much easier for me, I honored the fact that you had made the offer first, and respected your enthusiasm and the report we had developed.

You bought a 24 year old car you were totally unfamiliar with (the specific car and e30s in general) sight unseen over the internet, from across the country. Without even speculating about your personal expectation levels, this is a perfect recipe for dissonance. Your thread on R3V shows you replacing quite a few brand new parts, (with less than 500 miles and supporting documentation - both listed in the FS ad and explained to you over the phone) claiming they were worn or overdue for replacement (a developing trend?), chasing down perceived issues of every kind. You even publicly disparaged a vendor (another developing trend?), who supplied me with parts for the car while it was under my ownership, for not "supporting" a product they did not sell to you (that was by your own words functioning properly).

While some of the posters in this thread have applauded the way you've presented your case, it's my understanding that you haven't been quite as pleasant or professional privately - in fact you've been incredibly rude and insulting in a very personal way. This is counter to the calm professionalism you've received at each step - no surprise to anyone who's done business with Levent.

You're entitled to be unhappy, but the situation's resolution should be between you and Guten. This disagreement didn't happen in a vacuum, and regardless of your body of work as an E30 owner, or Guten's great track record, the online smear campaign/witch hunt is way out of line.

-Ethan

P.S. You might want to reread the confidentiality notice at the bottom of emails.

P.P.S. Maybe an E30 wasn't a good fit for you?

[Shadyhaze13]

E30

Dont base your decisions on one thread. Read GPS's feed back thread on this forum and you will see he has very very high positive feedback. Every shop messes up and has unhappy customers. No one is perfect. If you stopped shopping at places because you knew of one single unhappy customer you would run out of service providers very quickly my friend.

Your right! It just makes me mad when people that are so called experts take advantage of people who know less.

[Andy.B]

Your right! It just makes me mad when people that are so called experts take advantage of people who know less.

None of this reads like Levant took advantage of the op. It sounds like there was an issue of inconsistent expectations between the two parties, which was made worse by the lack of face to face communication.

As far as the actual work done, it looks like there were a few minor mistakes made in the repair that could have easily been addressed as problems arose, coupled with the fact that the op may have had higher expectations than the age of the car, or his budget, allowed. It does not sound like anyone intentionally took advantage of anyone.

I have seen people taken advantage of by dishonest shops, and I promise you, it looks much much worse than what we are seeing.

[bradnic]

Seems to me we are getting to the bottom of things here.

OP: arrange for a reman bosch compressor, new dryer and pressure switch. already posted source for the compressor. all will be well once the system is purged and installed.

[8380 Labs]

OP: arrange for a reman bosch compressor, new dryer and pressure switch. already posted source for the compressor. all will be well once the system is purged and installed.

According to the car's FS thread here on R3V, it was sold last week sometime, so it seems this task would be left to the new new owner, should he deem it necessary.

[bmwm42]

I find it incredibly stupid how everyone jumps on the bandwagon about how levent could never do no wrong and that goes for all the other ogs here like luke at gas George graves etc they have all fucked up some point and yet bc they were well known tge issues were juat pretty much swept under the rug...I've dealt with both of them and the are pleasant, but its clear that there was a fuck up here which I'm sure if this was a facee to face interaction this would have never happened. But you guys need to stop pretending that these guys can't fuck up bc they have all slipped at one point.

[agent]

Luke and George both owned up to their mistakes and, from my personal experiences with both of them and from what I've read, did everything they could to correct their respective issues. If Ethan or Levent - both of whom I've also done plenty of business with personally - have any fault in this, I'm confident they will/would do what's necessary to make it right.

All four of them have businesses which were built in no small part thanks to this community, so getting over on one of their/our own simply isn't worth it.