Always thought Kings' Performance was a legit shop from all the publicity they have on this forum and in the S2k community. Guess every shop has their problems. I haven't ordered anything from them though.

 

The unfortunate part is that it got to the point where you made this post. As a small business owner I do everything in my power to settle the situation before it makes it this far. Even in cases where the customer was clearly in the wrong. Hopefully this gets taken care of quickly.
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I hope this doesn't look like I've jumped on an opportunity to slate the company because it isn't.Iv had quite a few run ins with Fernando over th 4-5 years I've been building the car.Ive kept the quiet out of respect for him.But when I told him last Wednesday about the engine problem the reaction I got was exactly the same as the last time I had issues with the Engine,fuel system,exhaust system and numerous other problems I've had but which ive kept to myself.

I've had enough of trying to justify myself to somebody who only seems to see everything that has gone wrong as being solely my fault,discussing it in private with him just results in mud slinging I'm my direction.

I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to have the engine rebuilt properly at my expense but I don't see why he should be able to get away with this kind of service,I don't imagine for a minute I'm the only one who has been treated like this.Because of the distance involved and the expense of moving the engine about it just makes things so much more difficult to communicate and get the problem resolved.

 

I think you have opened up people's eyes to this shop. I will never buy anything from these guys in the future. I have read your build thread and you are certainly no novice to the S2000. What they have done to you is not acceptable behavior or good business ethics.

 

This is what I tried to do mid last year. It's a horrible thing to see they are still at it.

 

link?

 

Man this thread got harsh. Here's my opinion about these shops that build bad ass race cars and prove it on the track with great times. Kings knows what they are doing without a doubt, but a lot of times shops only put forth the 100% attention to detail into their own racecars. It's also obvious that they can tune, and it's been proven, so saying that "X" shop can tune and make more power than Kings is probably false. Again, when people are busy, they rush through tunes and set some safe timing to get you out the door and onto the next project/customer. The downside to staying busy is that sometimes they go half ass on customer builds because they are busy building/modifying their own racecars cause records need to be beat.

Every shop has their mistakes (this being a big one with negligence) but I wouldn't go as far as saying they are complete crap and never to be trusted with anything. Obviously, they have come this far by being successful at something whether it be tuning or building race cars/motors. Hopefully someone mans up and helps you out with this situation.

 

I would say they are crap. Negligence is a huge factor. They aren't doing the work for free. Someones paying top dollar for them to do the work and they are just pushing it out the door so they can get another customer in to make more money, that isn't a shop I would ever want to take my car to. Just my .02

 

I totally agree and its very unfortunate. I see theses shops that go and do $100,000 builds for rich folk and they can pocket 1/3 of the bill and they put all their time and effort into that. But if youre just and average joe spending $10,000 on a budget and you mine as well be a bum on the street corner asking for spare change. Alot of shops need to be more humble and should really offer the support to the 10k customer as the would the 100k cusomer. Just my perspective as my familys business takes the same outlook and has been around for over 100 years. Its not rocket science... treat the average joe well and get a repeat customer for life. Or try to hustle him to make a few extra bucks this time but never get repeat business.

 

My problem is I have run out of options,If my tuner thinks the engine needs to come out now for a rebuild that's it.....I've got no money to throw at an engine rebuild at the moment,so the car will have to be collected and stored untill I can afford to do it.that pretty much cancelles out this year.

I spent the whole of last winter having fitted the engine making the car look good and having Geatronics paddle shifter fitted.I never factored in an engine rebuild,why would I ?it had just been rebuilt by Kings performance.I can't even afford a stock motor and the labour charges to fit it.

If they offer to rebuild this engine again what should I do?I just do not trust them and even with a promise that it will be done right this time I have no confidence in there ability to do so,after all that's what I was promised last time.

But I'm jumping the gun here,they haven't offered anything,in fact they haven't even responded to anything that's been said on here.

My options at the moment are zero untill I can get the money together for a proper rebuild.Which is a bit of a bummer really when you consider that there is way over $100.000 in that car at the moment,and all the drivetrain components are setup for serious power,in the 800 plus region.

 

Im sorry to hear about this experience. This seems like a headache and a half. As is the case unfortunately for most builds when shooting for big power. But correct me if Im wrong, you purchased a USED longblock from back in 2011??? If this was a completely new rebuilt motor purchased through them I could understand the frustration but I dont think that was the case. This was a used engine that sat for years before you did anything with it and he still stood by it and payed out of pocket for a new sleeved block, new rings, machining and shipping both ways over seas? As the owner and operator of my own Automotive repair and performance shop I can say I would never stand by something used from that many years ago like he has. Im confused as to why your upset after he did all that? As far as issues after the rebuild there are countless other factors that come into play with this aftermarket, "race car" stuff with other parts, other hands involved, tuning, normal mishaps, etc... From a shop owners standpoint I myself seldom warranty anything that wast a normal repair or replacement that wasnt directly the result of something I did.
I may seem biased, but I deal with many of the shops over here on the east coast of the USA and I can say without a doubt, Fernando and the entire team at Kings Performance is the best guys to deal with. They have always been the front runners in what the promote. Always testing and pushing the limits of everything before they offer it. What is throwing me off so much about this post is your concern and frustration with their customer service. It sounds like they has already gone above and beyond to take care of you and this post is coming of extremely negative, slandering their name. I have dealt with Fernando and the team since before Kings Performance was established back when they were CFT. Since day one Fernando dealt with me directly and he did everything in his power to help me bounce back from getting completely shafted by Ken Peak of (the former) Peakboost. Not to get off topic, but THAT is a situation to be upset and rant about on the forums. I was out $6,000 for a turbo kit and never received anything before he ran away with countless peoples parts and money. I was beyond frustrated, to the point I was ready to give up on having a "fun" car for awhile. If it wasn't for Fernando's help and advice I probably wouldn't be where I am today with a record setting S2000, and owner of my own repair and performance shop. A shop that to this day we still deal primarily with Kings Performance for our aftermarket and racing support simply because (after dealing with several other shops all up and down the east coast) their prices are great, they are the front runners in performance in all the cars they push to promote, and above all their customer service is second to none. Fernando ALWAYS goes above and beyond all expectations with customer support for myself, his customers, and even my customers that were not directly through Kings.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and of course you are free to post about what you feel is a bad experience. I'm sorry to go off on a bit of a rant, but I get a little defensive when I feel I went through a MUCH worse experience with another company and Fernando and the Kings Performance team was the light at the end of the tunnel for me. I hope you figure everything out and resolve everything. Good luck.

-Jeremy Sunkel Owner/Operator Elevated Automotive