PDA

View Full Version : Poor C6 Corvette Owner


4G64T
02-05-2008, 10:34 AM
Hi everyone!

MY CAR BEFORE BEING TAKEN TO CAROLINA AUTO MASTERS
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee237/b2gcoder/carolinaautomasters/BLOWNC6.jpg


After CUSTOM BODY BY CAROLINA AUTO MASTERS
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee237/b2gcoder/carolinaautomasters/C6Wreck.jpg


Now that I have gotten your attention, I would like to share the story of my plight in getting modifications done at Carolina Auto Masters (CAM for short) in Durham, NC. In August of 2007, I purchased a pristine blown 2005 C6 Coupe. After driving it a couple of months, I decided to uprgrade my cam, add methanol injection, and have the car given a once over by JEFF CREECH who is the owner of CAM. On November 6, 2007, I drove to Durham to discuss this with Jeff, and after taking him and his crew to a local eatery, I decided to entrust him with the job. At this time, I gave him the keys and returned home. He kept me updated every couple of weeks. Finally, on November 27, Jeff contacted me and said that all of the work was completed and the car was ready for pickup. Although I was eager to get the car back, because of job responsibilities, I was unable to pick up the car until December 4, 2007. However, this was never to occur, as on November 29, Jeff contacted me and said that an employee of the shop had a "little fender bender" with my car. At this time, he said that he was in Charlotte at a track and was tuning a performance car for a race; he said he would contact me with details once he got back to Durham. The next day, he contacted me to say that the car was in poorer shape, but it could still be fixed. Subsequently, I was in contact with a large dealership body shop in Durham, and the body shop manager told me that he really did not know where to start on this car - it has about 40 to 50 thousand dollars in damage. With that said, I traveled back to Durham to assess it myself. During this time, Jeff Creech was contacted and said he would make everything right, but "...please don't post anything on any forum, as it would ruin my business." Well, I was promised everything by Jeff from making the car payment while the car info was sent to his insurance (his insurance only offered me payoff on my loan) to himself providing free labor (as long as I provide another car and buy all of the modification parts at my own expense). My only intent was to get my car back in the shape that is was prior to delivering it to Jeff Creech. Between Jeff saying "...well, I will just put a bullet in my brain.." to "...I am not a rich man and cannot provide you with another car like that...(although, he has 6 cars at my last count, including a 60 something convertible Firebird, a 2002 Z06 with a C5R racing engine, and others), I've had enough of his empty promises and hot air. To this day, I have not seen any monetary provisions from Jeff for what he and TERRY COLEY (the mechanic who wrecked my car) did to my car. Also, what is really funny is that initially Jeff denied all responsibility and said Terry took the car without his permission. After Terry said that he would provide witnesses to Jeff telling him that he could take the car for the weekend, Jeff magically changes his story.

With all of this said, I know that there are a number of you that have done business with Jeff Creech. When he was asked to why he would even think about giving someone free gratis in driving a customer's car without the owner's EXPLICIT permission, he told me that he often returns cars back to his customers with up to 500 miles put on them. I hope all of you knew this. He stated that he "..didn't want to be an a**hole" to Terry since Terry did all of the work to our car and Terry begged him to drive the car and enjoy the work that he did. I know that this is long-winded, but I hope that I can save some of you from the grief that he has put me through. By the way, Jeff's employee was also given a ticket by the NC State Trooper at the scene of the accident for "exceeding safe speed".

Here is a link to all of aftermath pictures:

http://s233.photobucket.com/albums/e...naautomasters/


vette forum link...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1924211

scutzi128
02-05-2008, 10:40 AM
**** that man can't you sue them?

4G64T
02-05-2008, 10:41 AM
not my car lol just posting, id sue the hell out of him

lownslow95
02-05-2008, 10:44 AM
damn that sucks ass

james_ls
02-05-2008, 11:41 AM
Lawwwwsssuuiiiitttt....

You made my daaaaayyyy!

NJGOAT
02-05-2008, 12:05 PM
This has been going on for a while on the Vette and LSx forums. Just so you guys understand, Jeff creech and CAM are a BIG and until this incident well respected shop. I don't really know who to compare them to in Subie land, but in the Audi world this would be comparable to AWE Tuning.

It really is a shame, but IMO the shop owner deserves everything he gets.

italianblaze
02-05-2008, 12:08 PM
Id sue him for more than just the car
all that time wasted and traveling back and forth
****KK THATTT

james_ls
02-05-2008, 12:10 PM
This has been going on for a while on the Vette and LSx forums. Just so you guys understand, Jeff creech and CAM are a BIG and until this incident well respected shop. I don't really know who to compare them to in Subie land, but in the Audi world this would be comparable to AWE Tuning.

It really is a shame, but IMO the shop owner deserves everything he gets.

It's all part of being a business with liabilities.

Tough break *****.

the mike
02-05-2008, 12:28 PM
I am sorry, but you don't let employees take customer cars for anything, let alone "for the weekend".

drew
02-05-2008, 12:34 PM
wow, I know of CAM and cannot believe this story. Jeff should have done the smart thing and just got her a new car, did whatever the **** it took to keep this under the table. First, he's going to lose in court, and second, he's going to lose soooo much business and respect over this. I imagine since that post he's already lost enough business that he could have just written off the vette

xEJ20x
02-05-2008, 12:37 PM
The owner/tech/mechanic/tuner has no right to drive the car anywhere, unless it is to move/tune/park it. It is not their car to drive/race/beat on....


I read of a similiar occurance happening on ClubRX7. Guy drops his FD off at the Mazda dealership to get a new clutch put in. Dealership calls the guy to say his car is acting strange. Guy goes to picks up the car later and motor has zero compression on one of the rotors and his rear tires are worn down considerably....

Apparently some techs took the car out and were beating on it and doing burnouts....

05Accent
02-05-2008, 12:58 PM
oh wow.

~Brian~
02-05-2008, 01:51 PM
Sucks for CAM. I would be very surprised if that vette owner didn't throw a lawsuit at them. I sure as hell would.

Scapegoat
02-05-2008, 02:40 PM
aw man that sucks. the $40k settlement to pay off the car, + labor and parts to move all the mods to a new vette, is not a good enough deal.

That doesn't cover the money that already went into paying down the vette. He should have offered original offer + the difference in msrp vs $$ owed on the loan for the original vehicle + time wasted for this person to be driving around.

He's lost way more business than that difference... I understand he may not have had that money on him... but tough. you ****ed up buddy... you gotta pay.

on a side note... every time I see a C6 I keep switching back to wanting one... :(

bmatyeah
02-05-2008, 02:56 PM
I was reading somewhere that this also happened to some guys mustang cobra at a shop but i don't remember where.

mrchariybrown
02-05-2008, 06:13 PM
wow.. unethical business people like that just makes me furious. I hope his shop goes under.

ITSTOCK
02-05-2008, 06:26 PM
wow.. unethical business people like that just makes me furious. I hope his shop goes under.

...just one of the many words that fit perfectly.

:mad:

__owens__
02-05-2008, 07:23 PM
i want an update on this story ...

Rey The Great
02-05-2008, 07:38 PM
wow..that sucks.i smell a lawsuit

den9
02-05-2008, 10:01 PM
wouldnt the owners insurance pay for it? id just say buy me a new car with all the stuff already on it, im not paying for the mods you did to the wrecked car, and im gonna go spend my money somewhere else

alachua
02-07-2008, 12:25 AM
wouldnt the owners insurance pay for it?

The owner wasn't driving the car, his insurance should have to pay nothing for this. Furthermore, unless he had additional coverage, most of the modifications would not be covered, and the labor would most certainly be not.

id just say buy me a new car with all the stuff already on it, im not paying for the mods you did to the wrecked car, and im gonna go spend my money somewhere else

:roll: It doesn't quite work like that.

In all reality, the owner should have seen the damage, called his lawyer and informed the shop owner that his options were:

a.) the shop will replace his car, with a car of equal of better value, along with all modifications, and will, at the owners discretion either install all parts free of charge, or pay for another shop to install the parts

b.) pay out fair market value for car, along with all parts

c.) the employee will be reported for having stolen the car

If this has been going on as long as it has, with the owner taking it upon himself to defame the company online, it has already been handled poorly by both sides. This is hardly a rare scenario, I can think of at least a handful of similar stories from NASIOC over the years.

Word to the wise, if you plan to leave your car with a shop for an extended period of time, don't be shy about being very explicit in what the shop can and cannot do while they have your vehicle. I have done it with dealers before, as well as with the body shop that had my WRX. If there is an 'incident' involving your car, call your insurance right away to see what type of representation they will provide you with, otherwise plan on getting your own, and making it part of the settlement against the shop.

They aren't your friends, they are a business.

-Cliff

93EGY8
02-07-2008, 12:50 AM
this is rediculous, i would lose my mind. I would be in jail, no lie! good luck to that guy though, id sue that a##hole for everything he had..

Instigator1225
02-07-2008, 01:04 AM
i wouldve just said screw it and flew my lawyer down there to deal with it.... id be damned if i get screwed out of my money.


this is why it pays to do your own work....

cburwell
02-07-2008, 05:34 PM
If this has been going on as long as it has, with the owner taking it upon himself to defame the company online, it has already been handled poorly by both sides.

The owner of the car sharing the story was probably a good thing. After reading that he routinely returns cars to their owners with 500 additional miles on them, you have to wonder how many times he has done this in the past (without the end result being as bad). If the owner of the car is smart he already has a lawyer working on this. While I'm sure CAMs lawyers could spin the online post in their favor, the corvette owner did the community a service by sharing his story (and I think he should have every legal right to share his story).

dragonfly2k3
02-07-2008, 08:09 PM
Wow, so, so unethical. Allowing employees to drive a customers car, especially one with as much power as that is absolutely absurd. Not even the owner should have driven that car further than from the lot to a bay, the bay to the dyno, and back to the lot, thats it.

Roto
02-11-2008, 10:23 PM
The shop owner posted in that thread and it is now locked...