DDonovan

This thread is all about sharing your experiences, good or bad, as they pertain to your car. It could be service, car lots, other drivers, road trips..., whatever.

DDonovan

I will go first. First off let me say that this event happened over 2 months ago. I really didn't want to give this bad review to the business in question because at the start they were great and easy to work with. It went sour quickly though. I was so desperate to say something good about this shop as we all need shops to help us from time to time with our mods and regular servicing. That is the reason for the delay. I tried to work this out with them and they just stopped responding so here it is...,

Company: Progressive Auto Repair & Maintenance
Location: 422 Burnside Road East, Victoria, BC

I purchased a set of Blitz gauges for my car as well as the a-pillar for them. I purchased these from a gold member of S2Ki. The gauges were Exhaust and Oil temp. I know I don't need them so save it, it was impulse and they look good and are functional.

I took the gauges and harness and a-pillar to Progressive Auto Repair as they were suggested to me to be a good place to go for this type of work. They agreed to do the install and quoted me about 4 hours.

I dropped the car off at 8:00am the next day to have the work done. 6 hours later they call me and tell me that the gauges and a-pillar are in but they are not hooked up to the manifold or oil yet that they need to order some sensors and that the harness that I had received was crap and as such they threw it away and rebuilt a new one. They assured me the installation was going to look like OEM and that I could bring the car back the next day to finish off the car. Should take another 2 hours. I questioned the 2 hours but took their word for it.

Next day I drop the car off at 8:00am again and I get a call around noon stating that the gauges don't work. Both of them are shot. They said specifically that they attempted to hook them up to the computer but it was the wrong voltage and they were not registering properly. They 'tested' them by applying heat to the sensors and they were way off or not registering at all. They said to come and get the car and that the mechanic wanted to try something in the morning so could I please bring it back then.

Next day I bring the car back and nope the gauges don't work and they right away say that they probably never worked based on how badly the harness was built. I questioned the person I purchased them from and I fully believe based on our conversations and his status here that these gauges were working and working with that harness. Progressive tells me, and I quote "our technician makes $80K per year and we believe him before we believe the person you purchased these gauges from", and they promptly presented me with a bill for over $700.00. What did I get for that $700.00? I got two gauges that light up really nicely but do not function what so ever. I asked them if there was anyway we could work this out so I'm not paying so much and getting nothing and they said sorry that they already took off $100.00. I then, in an attempt to redeem them, said if I purchase new gauges will you finish the installation since you obviously have already done all the work you would just need to re-wire. They said they would but they were not willing to give me any discount or do it for free. They estimated another 2 hours to finish the installation.

I ended up purchasing some new gauges from GlowShift and asked 5252 Motorsports to install them for me. The instructions on the gauges stated it was a 2-3 hour installation. Chris had it done for me in 3 hours right on. As well Progressive wanted to tap into my oil pan for the oil pressure sensor (ya drill in and tap some threads and screw it in)..., Chris mentioned that there was an adapter that goes between the engine and the oil filter that can host all the sensors you would require for oil (temp, pressure) and you don't have to tap into the oil pan. I purchased the part for $29.00 and Chris installed it for free.

Funny thing about all of this is when I picked up the car from Chris (5252 Motorsports - the old Zensport), I was a bit upset because I had to reset all my stereo settings. While I was doing this though I suddenly realized that I never had to do that when Progressive worked on my car..., that is because "THEY NEVER DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY", the first step in the instructions for any electrical installation.

I have heard people on here say that 5252 Motorsports are not licensed mechanics. Well Progressive does have licensed mechanics that apparently make over 80K per year..., I will stick with 5252 Motorsports thank you very much. Installation ended up costing me under $300.00 and no tapping into my oil pan.

When the new gauges arrived I called Progressive and sent an email asking them if they would complete what they started. I emailed twice actually. Todate I have not recieved any phone calls, emails or anything from Progressive. They have completely turned thier backs to the entire situtation.

So in summary good for you 5252 Motorsports and shame on you Progressive Auto Repair. I wouldn't take a tricycle to you for work. If you're really paying your tech 80K then you're getting ripped of just like I did! In my opinion these people have no clue as to what they are doing.

Mo-S2K

A great experience to share with you..... I recently returned from a Pacific Northwest S2000 trip (with the other site) to Yellowstone National Park. 8 S2k's participated, one from Calgary, myself from the Vancouver area, and the rest from the Seattle area. We drove from Northern Washington State, through Idaho, Montana, and then south into Wyoming. The round-trip was approx. 4000 miles of joyful driving, and I've now realized that the S2K seats are absolutely incredible for long distance travel! If you haven't been on a driving holiday with a convoy of like cars and enthusiasts, you really should consider doing this. It is such a fun way of taking a vacation. The trip itself was wonderfully planned by Ray (The Mangonel of s2kca), and besides a lot of driving in my favourite car, the new friends I gained, the new places I saw, and the knowledge I gained about the S2K were unreal. Not to mention the quality time I spent with my new friends. I got to meet Dave (repiv of s2kca, and formerly xviper of s2ki) and realized that his knowledge of our car is unrivaled - he shares it when asked, and is always ready to lend a hand with anything at all. The only downside to all this was that my laptop "coughed up blood" the morning after my return, and I'm struggling to recover all my HD video from the trip! I've been at it for 2 weeks, and I think I will be able to get about 90% of the video back. But, no way yet to process the video or get stills from it. Time for a new laptop I guess.

I enjoyed it so much that I'm planning to go to S2K Days in Sep 2011, in Keystone South Dakota - hopefully I can persuade Ray to plan a Mt.Baker/GlacierPark/Badlands trip just prior to the event.

esstwothousand

Just got my soft-top completely replaced at Campus Honda under warranty

Service there is awesome and the Service Manager, Craig, knows his stuff!

I've had everything else done here (front lip, rear wing, side strakes, oil changes)

Jacq

Good plug for Progressive Auto Repair. First, I like to thank Dave for suggesting I go there, of course he made the suggestion before his incident with them, and I didn’t read his post until just now (sorry to hear about your situation). Over the phone, staff was very friendly and professional, and in person as well. Monday, I dropped my car off to get the HID lights replaced and I didn’t realize the company I purchased them from (online) shipped the wrong ones! So when I got a call from Progressive to say the bulbs didn’t fit, I had no choice but have them supply them for me. When I arrived to pickup my car, Troy explained that he didn’t charge me full retail for the bulbs (over $200 each) seeing as I already purchased a set. To return the ones I bought, I have to send them UPS insured, and pay a 20% restocking fee, and after examining and approving the product return if they don’t break in shipping. I was surprised and very grateful for their generosity. A dealership definitely wouldn’t have taken that extra step. In today’s day and age, “service” and “customers” are next to non-existent in customer service and. So, when I have a good experience I’m happy to brag about it. This may seem insignificant but to me, it was important to share.

esstwothousand

just to let you know... you can get a good set of HID's for $100 a pair.

Zeus2k

Did campus actually replace it? It was my understanding that they send them to one of the upholstery shops in town. Maybe cause it was under warranty they cant do that.

How long did it take? I'm going to have to replace mine soon.

esstwothousand

^

Hey,

yea they replaced the entire thing shipped from a Honda warehouse to i think it was Tommy's Upholstery or something like that.
they found that my old top had been previously replaced and wasn't installed properly

It took about 6 hours. It was in the shop overnight.

DDonovan

Just got my front 'downforce' lip installed by C1. They squeezed me in and did an excellent job.

esstwothousand

I also got my Downforce carbon lip splitter done a while back at C-1 Collision on Rock Bay. Good guys. They also did an awesome job fixing my driver's side door after a truck backed into it.

On the other hand,

My splitter was damaged between the time I left it at Campus Honda for servicing and picking it up. They say it was there when I brought it in. That I believe not to be true. I take very good car of my car and would know if I had damaged it. The impact areas of the splitter could not have been done by street driving. Most likely due to some sort of lift.

I don't have proof though. I didn't take pictures of the car right before. Lesson learnt.

Also Campus Honda mislead me and sold me a ex-race car a while back. A 2006 NFR with a hardtop from the states. Apparently all the mechanics had known about the true condition of the car. From what I have been told, the car had been boosted and heavily modified and converted back to stock before I had a look at it. I didn't know much about s2000's back then so couldn't really tell.

Service guys at Campus Honda have been really good to me since buying my 08 NFR from Nanaimo Honda. Until the lip splitter incident.... so dunno...