ComplaintsforZ-Fever, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  07/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Its now been over a year since sending my 2006 350 Z to **** Z fever or now known as fever racing in *************. We had an agreed-upon build that he changed after keeping my car for well over six months when I was promised a two week turnaround. He ended up using Used Turbo off an old Personal car instead of what was written up in our estimate. Not only did he lie about the timeline and come up with excuse after excuse, he sent back a car blowing tons of smoke and consuming massive amounts of oil. He took another couple months to get my car back where he swapped the motor just to send it back with the same issues. He has no sense of urgency or professionalism when it comes to correcting issues after you put your trust in him and send him your hard earned money. Beware of sending him a dollar before your car is ready, and you can actually go inspect it. The term borrowed from ***** to Pay Pal comes to mind. Take a look at his other one star reviews on ****** before you ever consider sending this shop and his so-called technicians your money. Even if you take away all the other unacceptable issues I have had someone that promises you a two week turnaround and comes up with a plethora of excuses for months on end is someone that should not be in this business nor should they be trusted. The stressful process and steer clear of **** and his lies. He claims his tech on the second round of attempting to fix my vehicle, put in some oil return fittings that were not meant for my vehicle, and that is the cause of oil coming out of my turbos. He still has not sent the correct parts and when you call him, he will start talking about his own problems to try and minimize yours.

  Business response

  08/20/2024

  To the Better Business Bureau.
  
  We did provide this customer with a build. We began discussions on the matter on May 10th 2023. From that date he decided to send us his 350Z. The customer lives in **************, not *****, **. We had to help arrange to have his car picked up by a transport company to have it brought to us for the build. What we discussed was that Z-Fever was purchasing a crashed 350Z with 23k miles on it. This crashed 350Z had a used APS turbo kit on it. We were selling him the used engine along with the used turbo kit installed into his 350Z. I had purchased the vehicle from another customer of mine but we had not received the vehicle to our shop yet.
  
  We had Mr. ********* 350Z picked up from N. ******** July 6th 2023. The vehicle arrived to us on July 11th 2023.
  
  The customer stated that he was promised that the car would be done in 2 weeks. This was mentioned in our conversation but it was VERY small part of a MUCH larger conversation regarding time. He was told that Once we start working on it that it would take AT LEAST 2 WEEKS This would be a MIMIMUM amount of time and only once we started working on it. but there were several factors. 1) we were extremely busy when his 350Z finally arrived. These variables change all the time. We were not as busy when ******************** first called to discuss the build but 3 months later were had gotten much busier. (2) We still had gotten the wrecked donor car disassembled (3) We had to pull the engine and the turbo kit (4) We had to check the turbo kit from the used car (5) We had compression test the used motor to verify it would be a good running engine (6) Then we could begin the process of pulling Mr. ********* engine and performing the install.
  
  We did have a serious issue once we pulled the used turbo kit from the wrecked car. We informed ******************** that the engine tested well in the compression test. We thought it would be fine to install. However, the turbo kit had been damaged in the accident AND several of the components from the turbo KIT were no longer on the car. That particular brand (APS) was an ******************* That kit was no longer in production, those parts were no longer available AND it was an early version of the kit that used a super small turbo instead of the larger versions later made for that kit.
  
  After a long discussion I told him I had a Greddy turbo kit that only had around 6000 miles on it that was on my personal car many years ago. I had been saving it for myself another build. But I would install it onto his car for the same agreed upon price. After sending ******************** pictures of the turbos/manifolds he thought the turbos looked dirty so I agreed to send them out to be rebuilt at no additional cost to him. I sent the turbos to a company called Boost Lab who charged us roughly $1267.36 to go through them and make them like new again. We sent them out on 12/12/23 (just before Christmas) and received them back on 1/2/24 (2 weeks later).
  
  We installed the turbos, installed the motor, tuned the **** and had the vehicle finished on 1/19/24. The vehicle was picked up and shipped back to *********** on 1/30/24. (Roughly 2 weeks later).
  
  ******************** called us about 30 days later. He was very happy with how the vehicle performed but complained that the car started smoking and that it seemed to be consuming oil. I had him track the oil level for a few weeks and he verified that yes, it was losing oil when he drove it. Oil Consumption is an issue with the 350Z engines. It is a well-documented issue. Anyone can ****** this term and read ALL about it This is NOT something you can test when looking at a used engine. Especially when it has good compression. I wanted him to be happy and I was disappointed with the fact that it was smoking white smoke out the exhaust system. So, on March 14, 2024 Z-Fever paid to have the 350Z picked back up and brought back to our shop. It didnt cost ******************** a *****.
  
  The car arrived 3-4 days later. We verified that the customer was accurate, the car did seem to be burning oil. So, I ordered another Low-Mileage 350Z engine from an engine dealer in ***** and had it shipped to us in *****, **. This 30k mile engine cost us $1699.00 and $shipping was $450. In the meantime, we pulled the engine (which was still running PERFECTLY!) and removed the turbo kit. While the engine was out and the turbos we removed I wanted to have the company that originally rebuilt the turbo (Boost Lab) check their work. See, turbos can also have oil go through them and allow oil to get into the engine to be burnt if they fail. So, I sent the Greddy turbos back to Boost Lab. They again rebuilt them and charged Z-Fever an additional $1050.00 to rebuild them again. They claimed that something had gone through them and damaged the bearings. We sent the turbos to Boost lab on April 16th 2024 and received them back on May 1, 2024.
  
  We received the engine on May 14th, 2024. We again installed the turbo kit with all new gasket, new oil, new filters, new coolant, etc 100% at OUR COST and ZERO cost to ********************.
  
  We completed the install on /about June 5th. After this we drove the 350Z around a few times. When we 1st started the engine after installing the new engine/turbos there was, again, a great deal of smoke coming from the exhaust system. This is something WE are extremely used to here at Z-Fever because we replace a LOT of engines. Often times, when engines blow up, they send oil through the exhaust system and that oil get soaked into the fiberglass packing of the mufflers and it coats the inner piping of the exhaust. In our experience, the smoke slowly dissipates over time and within a few days it pretty much goes away. In this case, it did get less and less as we drove it.
  
  At the same time, ******************** was EXTREMELY demanding and going through a very difficult time. He had lost his dog and was sending us messages daily wanting his car back ASAP. He was getting more and more angry. I told him that I thought it would be OK but it needed a few more days to see if the light smoke would stop 100%. He said he was tired of waiting and needed his car back so he could enjoy it while it was still summer. So, we arranged to have the car shipped back to him. Again, we paid for the shipping cost back to ************
  
  When the car arrived in *********** there was an issue with the transport company. The transported pulled the car off and caught one of the intercooler pipes on his trailer. The car started but would not accelerate. Again, at this point ******************** was VERY angry, very rude, and very unprofessional using very foul language and name-calling.  He called several times using curse words. I hung up and calmly asked him to call back when he could be professional. Later that day we spoke regarding the drivability. I assured him that I had, personally, driven the car and that it made almost 400-wheel horsepower and ran perfectly! I suggested that something MUST have happened during the transport. I explained that the car was now in N. ******** and I could not fix the issue and suggested he check the front intercooler piping. I was correct, one of the pipes was pulled from a couple. He reinstalled the pipe and tightened the clamp back. After which the car ran perfectly again.
  
  A few weeks later I received text messages from ******************** while I was on vacation and out of the country. On top of that it was around 5am in the country I was in. I did respond to the text, I told him I was out of the country. He didnt care and demanded that I address his concerns right then. I asked him to call the business phones during business hours to discuss with my employee. Again, he was not happy with this response. As a small business owner, I try very hard to separate from my business while on vacation. Vacations are for my personal time, not my work time. I have been in business for 35 years. I am allowed to have personal time away from work.
  
  When I returned to work, I contacted ******************** via email. We have since installed the 350Z engine that we THOUGHT was consuming oil into another car that I own. That engine runs great and does not smoke and it does not consume oil. I did a lot of research and shared this with ********************. I found several posts online from Greddy turbo kit owners complaining that their cars smoked with the  Greddy turbo return fittings which are banjo bolts. I suggested to him that We as in He replace the Greddy return fittings with a straight fitting for each side. I shared with him that I would have to order these and mail them to him. WE did not have them in stock. Since the car is now in *******************, he cant simply swing by Z-Fever in *****, **. He would have to get involved himself in order to solve the issue. He refused to take the fittings off and send them to me (see, I needed to verify the actually thread size and pitch). He demanded that I just send them so he could replace them. I researched online for the correct thread pitch but found a few different people quoting a few different sizes. I ordered a couple and sent them to the customer a few days ago. I have not heard back from him as of yet.
  
  This customer thinks we are dishonest but here, in this case, we have gone out of our way and incurred all the expenses to try to remedy the situation. It has cost us over $5000 in parts and at least $2800 in labor which is half of what the customer paid.
  And you should notice that at no point does ha say that the car doesnt run correctly or that it is not fast as heck! Because it is fast! It does make 400whp. It doesnt make any weird noises. The motor isnt blown. The turbos do spool properly, the clutch hooks up, and the transmission shifts great!. The car is tuned properly without issues.
  
  If the customer lived close by he could have and would have simply stopped by and we would have addressed the issue quickly.
  
  At this point though, I have done everything I can do until he installs these fittings.
  
  I have included the invoices for the turbo rebuilds and the original invoice showing that the customer purchased a USED engine and a USED turbo kit. Z-Fever does not usually warranty ANY used engines when boosted but in this case we did and we paid 100% for it, including transport costs of over $1000.
  
  Let me know if you have any further questions I can answer.
  
  We can be reached at ************
  
  Best Regards,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had a motor sent to Doug M, fever racing (formerly zfever), in June. We stayed in contact while I waited for my motor to be built. Finally in November he told me that he had it back from machine shop and that he would be working on it and that I would have it by Dec 17th. So as December came and went I have been trying to contact Doug and the shop through email and calls to no avail. I haven't heard from Doug since November 24th. With no idea if or when I will be getting my motor back with all services rendered.

  Business response

  02/01/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/01/13) */ tell him to call the business phone #.... if he does not have it then here it is again. ************ Otherwise... his motor has been at the machine shop that provides our machining services. The owner of that shop got diagnosed with cancer. He started going through chemo and has suffered greatly. The business has been extremely slow at getting engine machining done. They also had some turn-over as a result. They recently sold the business to a new outfit who is making changes and getting caught up. I have picked up YOUR engine last week. I will get it assembled and shipped as soon as I can. And lastly, just because you sent "An Email" does not mean that you are NOT ABLE to get a response from us. Sometimes it is just a simple human error where we plan to get back to you, we contact the machine shop at that moment we get your email. We leave a message with them requesting an update. Then, They don't get back to us. We get busy doing 1 of the 1000 other things we are doing on a daily basis and we forget to follow up. We do have literally 97 other customer's cars here and 25 other customer's engines and 100 other customer's Ebay sales that need to get shipped, etc... No need to file a BBB claim! pick up your phone and call! We usually answer the phone. Unless we can't hear it because we have a loud car on the dyno getting tuned. Which happens about 5 hours each day!

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