iLoqin

iTrader: (5)

So I brought my car to DBTuned for a 60k Maintenance and front brake pads and rotors...

But in the process somewhere between when I left my car there, and when he called me this morning a wire from my alarm was disconnected and now my engine won't start.

Paul described to me that the alarm was wrapped around the steering column thing in the engine bay, and that one of the wires came lose in there. It would be an easy plug back in, but because of the wad of wires its a bit confusing and he can't exactly find the location of where the wire came loose.

What would you do next?

I'm not tryin' to dick anyone around, but the only thing I can think of right now is to have him put that wire back where it was disconnected at his own charge, cause it was at his shop when it occured and he was the only one working on it.
I've had the car since 2002, its an 2003 WRX Sedan and had the alarm put in it when I bought the car.

Or have it moved to the nearest location (which the only one I could get in contact that is open is at the base of Folsom foothills) cause the person at the shop said that they don't have anyone mobile to get there and look at it, and the only way to have the alarm looked at is if the car was towed to their shop.

Don't get me wrong, I think Paul is a good guy, I spoke with him and hung out for a bit at his shop, and he even helped me out with a little bit of a deal.

But coming from a consumer's perspective my friends and family are tellin' me to charge the shop for it, have the shop tow the car to a reputable car alarm shop to have it looked at, and fixed all on the shops bill cause it was in the shops hands when the problem occured.

I think maybe I'll have him look at it and see what he can come up with first.

RussB

iTrader: (2)

maybe discuss this with him and try to seek resolution before airing your laundry in front of a bunch of satisfied customers? just a thought.

btw, where was the alarm installed? if it was along the lines of audio express / best buy / circuit city, i would err on the side of a not so great install.

Nick Koan

iTrader: (3)

I'm not saying one way or another regarding Paul's shop, but you should also make sure the alarm was installed properly. The wires being wrapped around the steering column sounds odd to me, it sounds wrong but it might be right. I personally just don't know enough about alarm installation. Either way, if it was installed improperly, then it could have been just a matter of time before the wire disconnected itself, and it could have happened anywhere. If that's the case, you might want to contact the original installer instead. Otherwise, I'd see what Paul has to say about fixing it.

Max Xevious

iTrader: (8)

I could understand if Paul did something wrong in regards to the wiring of your car. when he was in there and doing something unrelated to the wiring, but somehow disconnecting a wire that was wrapped around somewhere it should not be, it would be kinda hard to place blame with the shop doing the current work and not the people that were responsible for the install and the wrapping of said wire.

Paul is a good guy and sure he will help you out, but I think you need to talk to the people that did the install of the alarm and find out why they did a janky *** alarm install.

iLoqin

iTrader: (5)

The actual existence of that shop doesn't exist anymore. I remember driving by the place too and it was gone or bought out.

I had to call shops around here (since I live up here now) and they only suggested to tow the car to their place and allow them to diagnose the problem, which is more then I'd like to pay right now.

And as to regards to the resolution, there isn't one at the moment there isn't one until the alarm is fixed. So I wanted to ask some advice from iclub because I'm sure there are others with strange experiences such as this with some advice on the situation.

Like I said before, Paul is a good guy, and I know that a lot of you hear a lot of good things about him and DBTuned. But good comes with the bad also, and flaming me about a bad response would make the board seem obligatory to only post good things about good shops/people/places. I'm not tryin' to give a bad response to anyone including this situation.

I'm asking for advice, but obviously the comment about not saying bad things about good shops shows some lopsided affairs because people want to avoid comments like yours.

Of course there is another story that has to do with another reputable shop (Auto Innovations in Milpitas) that I haven't even discussed. And my tires came from their shop (not just 4, but 6). Which turned out to be the first reason why I brought my car to DBTuned due to a clicking sound (which turned out to be a tire).

But I avoided posting that because I'm pretty upset with the deal that turned out between me and Auto Innovations and wanted to NOT hear from you about airing laundry with a bunch of customers who are already satisfied with them but since the issue came up I feel like I should explain my ordeal in order to explain the posting in the first place.

Max Xevious

iTrader: (8)

well

does the car not start? (is the red wire used for an ignition kill?)

if so, yank out the starter kill relay and that should get you down the road for the time being. I have a feeling the red wire that fell out was the +12v for the relay and it will not open when the alarm is disarmed now.

iLoqin

iTrader: (5)

I think the red wire was already disconnected for a while when I was there (cause I was under the car when I first heard the clicking sound, and wanted to check a couple of things)

I think it's a different wire that got disconnected when Paul was explaining it to me. And I think that wire probably has somethin to do with it.

sybir

iTrader: (45)

People aren't trying to prevent you from "airing dirty laundry". That's what a forum environment offers, the ability for everyone to give feeback, positive or negative. Unfortunately, people jump to conclusions, and that can hurt all parties involved. This is why you come to resolution with the business before posting a thread instead of during.

What people are asking is whether it's appropriate to present this issue as something Paul did; a 60k service and brake job doesn't involve anything around that area except the master cylinder way above it, so I don't see how he could have anything to do with it.

It sounds like an unfortunate coincidence that a janky alarm install let go after a couple years and the people giving you advice to "stick it to whatever shop it was at when it happened", while maybe looking out for your best interests, aren't really thinking about what that means to the poor guy who just happened to be helping you out at the time.

From our perspecitve, the alarm shop who did the ****ty job is gone, and you're looking for someone to take care of it for you instead of owning the situation. Does that sound fair?

Max Xevious

iTrader: (8)

well, look around the steering column and find the ignition kill relay

should look like this



there should prolly be 2 white wires, one black and one red (if the shop you worked with is worth anything, and since they are out of business, I would prolly say no).

take the two wires that are not red or black, and bridge them together. That should bypass the ignition kill and get you down the road.

skeeler

i used worked in the service department of a dealership for a while and we would take care of the cost of problems like this, but of course we had car alarm specialists there. i'd expect the shop to take care of it, its just good customer service. im sure you and the owner or whatever could work something out.

iLoqin

iTrader: (5)

Yay, he spliced up the 2 disconnected ends of some black wire (and called the alarm installer idiots and a ****ty job) which I'm going to agree with, and it fired up. Soooo in the end

*2 thumbs up to Paul* And DBTuned.

Max Xevious

iTrader: (8)

if a current shop inadvertently disabled my alarm because of another shop did a **** poor job of installing the system, I would not hold them accountable.

the first shop did a horrible job of the install (from what he described) and I would feel guilty if another shop had to go and fix the problems on their own dime because it was hacked up to get it to work in the first place.

Nick Koan

iTrader: (3)

Glad to hear it!

midnitewrx02

iTrader: (9)

+eleventy katrillion for paul

sybir

iTrader: (45)

Glad to hear it worked out.