Castro Motorspots, you would have to be high as hell to go here...

[castros]

Honestly I dont care if there was a problem with the part. I would have paid full price to fix it. You can't send someone out on the street without notifying them, yo your brakes aren't working that great you need these parts. Cool, fix it.

Not, I pay my bill they give me my cars keys, I drive out on the road and I have to pumped the hell out of the brakes to get the car to stop.

I brought my car in with working brakes so its kind of a big surprise when there isn't any.

This has clearly become a he said she said dilemma, I called and discussed the caliper/brake issue with you before I re-assembled the brakes, after you grabbed your car I showed you what was going on with your right front caliper, all of this has nothing to do with you paying full price or cash or even with a credit card. I offered you a service you accepted and you weren't satisfied so it's your right as a paying customer to speak your mind, weather this affects my business or not that part is for the consumer to decide. I've yet to this day denied warranty on parts or labor to anyone, and don't think it'll change any time soon. Like I said over the phone and in my original post, I apologize for anything you are/were unsatisfied with and all I can do is offer my help, weather you choose to accept it or not, that is completely your call.

[torqueflight]

Chis,

Just as a side note. If you have notes or safety concerns for customers regarding their car. Put it on the invoice and it no longer becomes he said she said. You'll have documented proof and this will never happen again and you'll also be cleared of liability.

[torqueflight]

That would still cause the caliper to stick and wear the pads unevenly. Its happened to me before.

Honestly I dont care if there was a problem with the part. I would have paid full price to fix it. You can't send someone out on the street without notifying them, yo your brakes aren't working that great you need these parts. Cool, fix it.

Not, I pay my bill they give me my cars keys, I drive out on the road and I have to pumped the hell out of the brakes to get the car to stop.

I brought my car in with working brakes so its kind of a big surprise when there isn't any.

[torqueflight]

Hello everyone,

Lets start out with clearing things such as installing parts and "stealing" stickers. The OP came to my shop about 3-4 times, the last time he was here was April, so roughly 6 months ago and is just now calling us back on issues he is having. If there was any sort of grinding, I would assume the customer would have returned back immediately and had us check to see what was going on, not complain about it 6 months later. For the record the OP's car is so far from being well maintained or cared for, making it very difficult to fix one thing without damaging the rest. Car came in with leaks we repaired what the OP asked us to repair, he did want me to replace rear end bushing, but we didn't just gave them back, we suggested to do a complete overhaul of the rear suspension rather than just replacing one or two parts, trying to save him time and money (BIG MISTAKE). As far as the shifter goes, this car has a drive shaft harmonic balancer, which I'm sure you are all familiar with, I told the OP we tried to bend his original unit to try and compensate for the rubbing, I did notify him and made him aware of the issue. OP states there were missing transmission bolts, however we did not perform any work with the transmission besides the shifter, so why would we go out of our way to loosen or remove bolts? OP did supply us with the proper hardware for the rack boots, and pointed out that zip ties were used instead of his clamps, I personally apologize for that. I'm unsure as to why my mechanic installed zip ties rather than the hardware supplied. I let two mechanics go about 3 months ago one of which work on the OP car. I told him I had no problem making this right. OP states his selector rod was not used, but in fact his was used and I let him know it was still rubbing, and that I'd shave it down to allow clearance. From what I understand shifters or selector rods don't wear, so I don't understand how the OP is all of a sudden feeling a problem. He also states he lost a center cap, speaking from personal experience I too have lost center caps and many times had nothing to do with the way they where installed. OP I offered to take everything apart in front of you, just to show you all the work we performed was actually infact done. OP also states he has squeaky lower control arm bushings, but all we did was installed the bushings he supplied us with which weren't OEM, so maybe he should contact the manufacturer instead of blaming us. OP also states we let him go without brakes, but in fact I let the him know his front brakes were wearing unevenly, and his right front caliper was sticking, he decided to have us leave it the way it was because he was going to do brake job later. After he picked up his car he drove it out the lot and came right back because he stated the pedal sunk to the floor, I told him this was due to the sticky caliper, I jacked up the car on the right front and showed him the wheel was binding due to the caliper. We then agreed to replace the caliper, front lines, and he still decided to keep the old unevenly worn pads (Again Big Mistake). What we find ourselves doing is trying to help people out but in the end it comes back and bites us in the a**. I offered to try and make things right, he refused which I can understand, but I'm still here to defend myself and my shop, I did apologize for the mistakes we made and am not afraid to admit we made those mistakes because I don't personally do all the work on the cars, and we are only human. Attached below are the two work orders of the work that was performed on the OP car, nothing has been modified or altered.

You never mentioned the missing stickers from my car. I seen with my own eyes that it was stuck to a license plate of another car on a lift. I know for a fact that it is mine because I made them and they only exist to me. I do believe that is theft. Wether is a $1 or $100.

You never fixed any leaks on my car. I only asked to see if you can look to see where they were coming from and how much it would cost to fix. You told me it would be about $1200. Which I would never pay. I could fix it myself for a couple hundred. There are however 2 bolts to the fly wheel cover missing however I can't fully fault you not knowing for sure they were left out by your shop, but the holes are extremely clean.

The selector rod I gave you had a bend at one end. This selector rod was never used and Im sure its still in your possession. One that has been ground down was used. Once I left the first time around and found out that it was grinding and called right away someone at your shop told me that after awhile of grinding that it will stop once it wears down. While Im sure that is true thats not how I want my car to be. Wether you personally tell me this or not is irrelevant. Whoever works there is a representation of your shop. I wouldn't want a ground down one, ever. The one that has a bend corrects the new lower angle of the of the short shifter so its not pushing the selector rod on an angle causing harder shifts and more wear. Also you didn't include the first PDF showing I was changed for the bushing replacements which didn't happen.

I can't say for certain that you are the reason that the missing center cap is your fault and I apologize but it was right after the tie rods were installed and I've never lost one in 70k.

As for the brakes. I was sent off the lot with no breaks or barely working brakes. When I brought you the car they were working. No one warned me. I had to drive off the lot and have the pedal go to the floor to figure it out. I right away brought the car back to you asking you why and you personally drove the car with me in the passenger seat. Regardless of bad parts or needing parts no one warned me. I could of easily rear ended a car and it would of been my fault. The reason I had you put the caliper on. The reason I didn't have you do the rotor and pads was because Im done dealing with your shop. Too many bad experiences. I can do all the work myself for free and I know it will be done right.

Look dude. I feel like a total waffleswaffleswaffleswaffles having to write this and I feel horrible that it might hurt your business. I was upset ever since the being sent on the street with no brakes thing happened (the last time my car was at your shop). But when I went under my car the other day and seen the zip ties and the ground down selector rod I was too pissed off not to say something. I called you and to your credit you did say bring it back, but at this point I wouldn't bring it back even it if was free. Im scared something will go missing and Im scared that Ill be sent out on the street with safety problems.

Beyond all the work and not being notified of certain things. A sticker or stickers were taking from my car and I know for a fact. I seen with my own eyes. Thats a big deal dude. Im not saying you personally did it, but it was your shop. Once this has been done I have to question everything.

And to be nit picky I do remember asking if you guys could replace the missing bolt from my exhaust hanger (which I would have been willing to pay for). Which I just seen the other day isn't there and now the exhaust hangers are broke.

Once again Im sorry for having to post this and feel horrible but its not like I didn't pay full price for my car to be work on and this is the only justice I can get since I won't be bringing it back. I won't go as far a BBB or anything else.

PS Im not sure how you went out of your way to help. Other than maybe getting parts faster. I do recall paying full price for everything and not only that but in cash.

[torqueflight]

It sounds like you beat your 30 year old car to shit and things just start giving out. Seems normal to me. They warned you of the leak and your trans was dry when you checked a few MONTHS later?...big surprise. You dont even know if you put the proper oil in your trans.

Mind your business. You know nothing of my car or dealings with Castro. As far as trans oil goes fucking 90% of e30 owners are confused about which is the right one to use. ATF or MTF. Only after doing hours of research do you come to find out it doesn't matter as long as you use the correct weight MTF.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Again, no. A sticking caliper doesn't cause a soft pedal, and a soft pedal is NOT a fault, but a symptom of another fault. Also, a sticking caliper is cause by nothing other than a seized piston or sliders. It is not possible for any of the 3 causes of a soft pedal to contribute to uneven brake wear.

Air in lines
Leak
Master cylinder.

That's it, nothing else will cause a soft pedal, and a soft pedal will not cause a caliper to stick.. What you are stating happened to you, didn't. You misdiagnosed your issue.


By giving the explanation that his sticking caliper had caused his soft pedal you are indicating that you have no idea how a hydraulic system operates. Either that of you were relying on the hope that the customer lacks the knowledge. This is kind of worrysome.

Edit for cleanliness.

[tonywonder]

No. A soft pedal is the symptom of another problem, and a sticking caliper is not one of them.

A sticky caliper and uneven brake pressure are also symptoms of the other problems you stated.

To reiterate, It has happened to me before.

[Exodus_2pt0]

That would still cause the caliper to stick and wear the pads unevenly. Its happened to me before.

No. A soft pedal is the symptom of another problem, and a sticking caliper is not one of them.

[tonywonder]

No, no, no.

That makes no sense at all. The fact that you would say such a thing does raise an eyebrow to other things.

The brake system is hydraulic, liquid doesn't compress. Only things that will cause a pedal to go to the floor is air in the lines, a leak, or a bad master cylinder.

That would still cause the caliper to stick and wear the pads unevenly. Its happened to me before.

[Exodus_2pt0]

he stated the pedal sunk to the floor, I told him this was due to the sticky caliper,

No, no, no.

That makes no sense at all. The fact that you would say such a thing does raise an eyebrow to other things.

The brake system is hydraulic, liquid doesn't compress. Only things that will cause a pedal to go to the floor is air in the lines, a leak, or a bad master cylinder.

[tonywonder]

Castro Motorspots,

Okay Ive had enough. Ive been there 3 times. I usually do all the work on my car, Im very capable. I was so caught up with work and I needed things fixed asap. I now realize I've taken my car there 3 times like and idiot. I can't believe I see some many e30s rocking their license plate holder.

They have not used parts I have supplied. Changed me for work they didn't do. Sent me out on the street with no brakes. Stolen stickers out of my car and now I have no idea what work they really did or didn't do. Or if they have taken parts off my car.

Ive driven my car over 70k miles and owned it 5 years before I took it to Castro's. Ive never had any issue with my transmission and I beat the hell out of the car. The last time it was there I had them check the car to see where leaks are coming from. My e30 has typical leaks. I was surprised when they told me the transmission was leaking as Im sure it would of presented itself by now. So a few months later its getting really hard for me to shift and its gotten so bad it would barley go into gear. I go to swap the oil thinking its maybe really old and there was hardly any oil in it. Come to find out 2 mounting bolts are missing from the passenger side where the tans meets the engine. And the inside of the bolt holes are super clean. So they couldn't have been gone for that long. Now that I changed the oil the syncos feel fucked. Hopfully I just put the wrong oil in it.

I supplied them with the metal rings that hold the boots on the tie rod ends. Just found out they used zip ties.

I had them do a full bushing change / rebuilt kit when I had them install the z3 short shifter. They gave me all the bushing back and said they didn't want to drop the driveline but still change and said they would do it if I ever brought it back. Not only that but they gave me the car back with the linkage grinding the hell out of the driveline with no mention to me that it was doing it. They just told me to let it grind till it wears a notch in it and then it will stop. Needless to say it was so bad I had to take it back and have them install a bent one. But now the car doesn't feel like it has a short shift so Im not sure if its still my shifter or not. Im gonna have to take it all apart and check the part number.

After the tie rod swap I noticed a couple days later I was missing a bbs cap on my weaves.

Had them doing the wheel bearings and all I hear is crazy grinding on the passenger front wheel when I make a hard left turn.

Also had them install the bushing for the controls. It squeaks so bad I feel it vibrating under my feet.

Unreal. Not only is this poor business practices. This is fraud.

Beware.

It sounds like you beat your 30 year old car to shit and things just start giving out. Seems normal to me. They warned you of the leak and your trans was dry when you checked a few MONTHS later?...big surprise. You dont even know if you put the proper oil in your trans.

[tonywonder]

I had my front suspension modified there a few years ago so I could install them myself. I went there thinking they would do a decent job and boy was I in for a surprise. Chris cut and welded the front housings to spec and even installed the coilovers into the housings just as I requested! Not only that, he even welded on M3 sway tabs and resprayed the housings so they looked nice! Unbelievable.

Another time after leaving their shop, I was rearended. I called chris because it was literally a block away and he had the audacity to send over his brother to check the damage. He didnt even ask for anything in return!

What a bunch of assholes!

[castros]

I had my exhaust setup done there a few years back and asked them to install the S52 headers that I had provided. They ended up leaving the M50 headers on and broke one of the header studs without telling me anything, causing me to have an exhaust leak for a few months until I noticed it.

OP states we didn't install manifolds, before leaving the M50 exhaust manifolds on we discussed as to why we didn't install them with the customer. If I remember correctly, this car came in for a BAR Legal exhaust. This would be the reason as to why we left the M50 manifolds. According to our BAR office the cast M50 manifolds must be used in order to pass the California State Inspection. As far as the broken manifold stud, I personally was not aware of it and if it did cause issues I would have no problem repairing the problem. The only way I am able to fix or repair issues after we work on a car is only if I am notified of the problem. I do apologize OP for the inconvenience.

[castros]

Hello everyone,

Lets start out with clearing things such as installing parts and "stealing" stickers. The OP came to my shop about 3-4 times, the last time he was here was April, so roughly 6 months ago and is just now calling us back on issues he is having. If there was any sort of grinding, I would assume the customer would have returned back immediately and had us check to see what was going on, not complain about it 6 months later. For the record the OP's car is so far from being well maintained or cared for, making it very difficult to fix one thing without damaging the rest. Car came in with leaks we repaired what the OP asked us to repair, he did want me to replace rear end bushing, but we didn't just gave them back, we suggested to do a complete overhaul of the rear suspension rather than just replacing one or two parts, trying to save him time and money (BIG MISTAKE). As far as the shifter goes, this car has a drive shaft harmonic balancer, which I'm sure you are all familiar with, I told the OP we tried to bend his original unit to try and compensate for the rubbing, I did notify him and made him aware of the issue. OP states there were missing transmission bolts, however we did not perform any work with the transmission besides the shifter, so why would we go out of our way to loosen or remove bolts? OP did supply us with the proper hardware for the rack boots, and pointed out that zip ties were used instead of his clamps, I personally apologize for that. I'm unsure as to why my mechanic installed zip ties rather than the hardware supplied. I let two mechanics go about 3 months ago one of which work on the OP car. I told him I had no problem making this right. OP states his selector rod was not used, but in fact his was used and I let him know it was still rubbing, and that I'd shave it down to allow clearance. From what I understand shifters or selector rods don't wear, so I don't understand how the OP is all of a sudden feeling a problem. He also states he lost a center cap, speaking from personal experience I too have lost center caps and many times had nothing to do with the way they where installed. OP I offered to take everything apart in front of you, just to show you all the work we performed was actually infact done. OP also states he has squeaky lower control arm bushings, but all we did was installed the bushings he supplied us with which weren't OEM, so maybe he should contact the manufacturer instead of blaming us. OP also states we let him go without brakes, but in fact I let the him know his front brakes were wearing unevenly, and his right front caliper was sticking, he decided to have us leave it the way it was because he was going to do brake job later. After he picked up his car he drove it out the lot and came right back because he stated the pedal sunk to the floor, I told him this was due to the sticky caliper, I jacked up the car on the right front and showed him the wheel was binding due to the caliper. We then agreed to replace the caliper, front lines, and he still decided to keep the old unevenly worn pads (Again Big Mistake). What we find ourselves doing is trying to help people out but in the end it comes back and bites us in the a**. I offered to try and make things right, he refused which I can understand, but I'm still here to defend myself and my shop, I did apologize for the mistakes we made and am not afraid to admit we made those mistakes because I don't personally do all the work on the cars, and we are only human. Attached below are the two work orders of the work that was performed on the OP car, nothing has been modified or altered.

[Dj Buttchug]