Re: bubbas east coast customs
Posted by:
Paul Vaughn
()
Date: August 08, 2014 11:31PM
My experience: paid $800 to get rust cut out and repaired on frame and four tires moved to a new set of wheels and installed on car. A little pricey I guess, but I wanted the thing to pass inspection and the frame was the last thing I needed to pass inspection. For good measure, they sent me to a good place. I never met Tom or Bubba, barely know they exist (I hear about their show, but have no idea where or when it airs). I dealt primarily with Rob, and saw a couple other folks working there the couple times I showed up. One of my wheels wasn't holding air (I got em used at Carlisle for $75 altogether) and had them fix it. charged me a little bit of nothing (like $30 or something) and said if it leaks again within a year, they'll take care of it. It just started leaking again last week, so I'm gunna try to take it back. I liked Rob, some of the other guys seemed like the typical mechanic demographic: kinda run-down lookin. That doesn't bother me a ton, but it didn't look like a group of guys who were passionate about their trade. Regardless, I had a good experience with Rob and despite the fact that their credit card machine seemed to be down about every time I went in there, they seemed pretty transparent about what they were charging me for. Maybe it's cause I gave the impression that I knew stuff about cars (because I do most of my own work, but have no experience with welding or painting, and don't have the tools to mount tires to wheels) or perhaps that I'm on a tight budget (I'm only 23 and hadn't yet graduated when I brought it in back in March). I don't know, I give the place a 75/100 I guess. I wouldn't give any other place any better really. They all charge more than it would cost to do yourself, they all markup materials (not that I needed materials) and frankly if you're expecting them to do something you're not comfortable with doing yourself, then you're risking them not doing it to the level of perfection or precision that you're looking for in your vehicle.
I would consider myself satisfied, I'll be more satisfied if when I ask about fixing the wheel that they'll honor their claim of a putting the wheel work under warranty (since receipts are basically the equivalent of a fast food receipt, with even less description, and it was only a verbal promise). My hopes is that if Rob can really be the one to run the place, he could probably turn around the place's appalling image. I haven't seen anything forthright to concern me, and I'd like to think I'm a pretty perceptive guy, but this is pretty much the first location of anything anywhere that I actually feel unnerved by the number of reviews. I can't tell who's lying or who's telling the truth, and whether all the negativity is coming from just one customer, or multiple, or if it's a combination of a customer and ex-employee, I don't know. It's crazy complex, and since I got into old cars on my own, I don't know anyone personally who has ever known anything about the place other than there's a bunch of old cars parked out front. But this is the demographic of people who calls them "cool cars," whereas I'd refer to the majority of those sitting out there as either husks, or cars in need of urgent medical attention.
I do wish all of this negativity when speaking about the place cleared up so I could just know the facts. 1 star on Yelp with 15 of the 19 reviews hidden due to low-ratings of the reviews themselves... it's terribly fishy and it's apparent that at least one person has a shit ton of time to be working so hard to attack this place, regardless of whether it's warranted or not.