Who are the Supra mechanical Gurus in the S.E of England!

[Supraguy]

Originally posted by Faye

Tha garage I use is on the A22 near East Grinstead - Woodcock Garage. Always been happy with what they've done to my Supe.

 

They used to be the garage that serviced the JIC motors. I wouldnt go and call them gurus, but definitely have Supra experience. I would recommend them for serviceing, but they have limited troubleshooting and no tuning experience.

 

When I had a tricky sensor acting up on my Auto box, they were all for sending it out to the local Toyota dealership to troubleshoot.

 

As for my recommendation, it would be JPS in Milton Keynes. I have had all my work done from servicing to APU mods. Never had a problem and Leon has always been quick to answer my questions and has corrected a few tuning requests labor free.

 

[Green Peace]

Originally posted by Supraguy

They used to be the garage that serviced the JIC motors. I wouldnt go and call them gurus, but definitely have Supra experience. I would recommend them for serviceing, but they have limited troubleshooting and no tuning experience.

 

When I had a tricky sensor acting up on my Auto box, they were all for sending it out to the local Toyota dealership to troubleshoot.

 

As for my recommendation, it would be JPS in Milton Keynes. I have had all my work done from servicing to APU mods. Never had a problem and Leon has always been quick to answer my questions and has corrected a few tuning requests labor free.

 

 

It appears we all have our own experiences depending on what we have done and with whom.

 

I do notice that some of the tuners have different levels of qaulity depending on how much you spend, this was said of a well known Tuning House 'East Of London' and I found this to be true.

 

they all have their niche, and I think the problem arises if you goto someone who is more specialised in full engine rebuilds, and mods worth more than £5k to have something like brake pads replaced or whatever.

 

Because in most cases we push the boundaries out with our engine performance, when things do go wrong, It is more scientific Developement than just simple tuning in some cases so trial and error is involved and often a bottemless pit in which to throw your hard earned cash.

 

Though it looks like the tide is changing on some shores...which is excellent news. credit where credit is due.

 

I still think we need a qaulity control system as almost all Tuning shops have extremely conflicting reports in most cases.

 

I do find that the more you spend (£5k +) the more they are likely to get things spot on. Money talks.

 

But not everyone can afford to throw a lot of dosh in a one off athletic attempt with most of us its a gradual process, we end up spending as much but it takes a little longer....we are the people who get the bad service, Pound per power!

 

so therefore don't get the same entusiastic attention and qaulity (thats putting it very mildly)

[Roy]

Originally posted by Peter Sharp

Yep, I remember his name and it is shown on the website.

 

btw, he fitted my RLTC.

 

not been back since.

 

i had the majority of my BPU+ (rltc, suspension, cams, fmic, bodywork etc etc) work done at the old Torque IC and Zac (the head mechanic there then) seemed competent enough as i have not had major problems mechanically (the current situation with the blown turbos i believe to be a separate issue altogether due to time having passed since), so maybe a lot depends on the variables simon mentioned - the amount of money you spend, luck, your own mech knowledge and how well you get along with them and not the least also - your knowledge of the market!

 

i have heard other people mention horror stories about them but then again it 'seems' you get that from most other shops (mostly coming from simon i must add! just kidding). having said that, there are also a lot of people who have used these self same tuners/garages etc and have been happy with the work done. the idea that some maybe better for certain things than others is a purely personal issue i feel. as matt said - you can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.

 

the best way for noobs to figure where to go for trusted advice and good work would be to ask some of the older hands what their experiences have been as well as what they have reliably heard. i started off on the wrong foot with my mods (my own fault) but after having listened to the likes of john, leon, matt and terry (whom i trust), i figured out the right and wrong ways and times to do certain things. people will always be willing to help - especially on this board, you just have to ask.

 

all this aside - i have never heard a truly bad word said from people in the KNOW about the likes of Matt, John, CW and Leon. my 2p.

[Supraguy]

I will badmouth CW. He lives too dern far away!!

 

Gotta budget fuel costs in just to get a suspension kit.

[Faye]

Originally posted by Supraguy

They used to be the garage that serviced the JIC motors. I wouldnt go and call them gurus, but definitely have Supra experience. I would recommend them for serviceing, but they have limited troubleshooting and no tuning experience.

 

I've never had anything tricky done on my supe, its all been servicing etc, so my opinion is slightly clouded.

[Supraguy]

Nothing wrong with that Faye. I would rather take it to them than a Toyota dealership for servicing. Its all about the experience!

[Faye]

Originally posted by Supraguy

Nothing wrong with that Faye. I would rather take it to them than a Toyota dealership for servicing. Its all about the experience!

 

My nearest toyota garage scared me when they said that I had a nice Celica !!!!

[Green Peace]

Whhops edited he he...

 

Dont worry I aint said anything bad against any con merchants he he my lips are shut just asked Roy about something hed already answered in a previous post...

 

phewww lol

[Green Peace]

Roy...soz there is one thing I'd like to add I am onto my third Supra I am by no-means new 8 years of Supras. My first being a UK spec. I have had my fair share of dealings.

 

I have nothing to gain by denouncing a company for the fun of it, If someone asks me I tell them. because I'm Honest, I dont have a criminal record and I earn my money honestly.

 

I dont give a shit, its not my money thats being spent (thank god)

 

There are a lot of frightened scared people who are so terrified to stand up for themselves .......I'm not one of them.

 

If I get appalling service or whatever I'll let the next man know, doesn't mean the same will happen to him but its my right to be able to tell it like it is!

 

2004 has been good so far been pleased with everything done so far, had probs with HID's but they are being sorted and I'm the only one whos had this prob, and the person who sold me them has actually phoned ME several times to sort it out.

 

I've had no major mechanical work done, still got the boost prob but don't trust anyone to look at it, because the last time this happened I paid for some fresh air!!!

 

Lets face it NO-ones going to slag any tuner trader off on here, they'll just keep it to themselves and then tell us all about it at the meets as they often do, thats the only way we get to find out these days.

 

Anyway....Good Luck lol

[Gaz Walker]

Originally posted by Peter Sharp

Yep, I remember his name and it is shown on the website.

 

btw, he fitted my RLTC.

 

not been back since.

 

Did anyone else find that incredibly funny, thats brilliant Peter

 

(nothing to do with Trac Art)

 

Gaz.

[Green Peace]

Originally posted by Gaz Walker

Did anyone else find that incredibly funny, thats brilliant Peter

 

(nothing to do with Trac Art)

 

Gaz.

 

:D

[Roy]

Originally posted by Green Peace

Roy...soz there is one thing I'd like to add I am onto my third Supra I am by no-means new 8 years of Supras. My first being a UK spec. I have had my fair share of dealings.

 

I have nothing to gain by denouncing a company for the fun of it, If someone asks me I tell them. because I'm Honest, I dont have a criminal record and I earn my money honestly.

 

I dont give a shit, its not my money thats being spent (thank god)

 

There are a lot of frightened scared people who are so terrified to stand up for themselves .......I'm not one of them.

 

If I get appalling service or whatever I'll let the next man know, doesn't mean the same will happen to him but its my right to be able to tell it like it is!

 

2004 has been good so far been pleased with everything done so far, had probs with HID's but they are being sorted and I'm the only one whos had this prob, and the person who sold me them has actually phoned ME several times to sort it out.

 

I've had no major mechanical work done, still got the boost prob but don't trust anyone to look at it, because the last time this happened I paid for some fresh air!!!

 

Lets face it NO-ones going to slag any tuner trader off on here, they'll just keep it to themselves and then tell us all about it at the meets as they often do, thats the only way we get to find out these days.

 

Anyway....Good Luck lol

 

 

si - pls note, am NOT having a go ! it's just that there seems to be 2 sides of the coin (at least it did the last time i checked) and just to balance out the things you have said - i just presented the other half. surely nothing wrong with doing that as you have held out for your views for a fair bit (which is obviously your right to do).

 

i do not dispute your length of ownership but i wonder if you feel if that fact alone is sufficient for going on and on. how much have you done in the way of real mechanical/power mods ? i ask this not to belittle you but to show that unless you are involved in it to some depth, all the pros and cons may not be readily apparent. i also think you have made your thoughts quite plain and straight-forward and wonder if belabouring the point would serve any real purpose anymore?

 

your gripes with certain tuning houses have been well documented (and discussed) and you have taken every opportunity to remind us of that. all i'm saying is it isn't necessary to cast doom and gloom at every opportunity especially since others have had positive experiences at these places (which i'm sure you are happy to hear about like you said).

 

as for the comment of some scared people, i am also sure you would agree that this is becoming far, far less of an issue these days with most members airing their thoughts, ideas and beliefs openly and genially - thereby dispelling this myth of a scared bunch of people who dare not open their mouths for fear of ridicule. while i agree with your comment of your not gaining from slagging people off - being negative about everything is also pointless. instead - why don't you list out a set of places that you HAVE been to and have been HAPPY with the service ?? this would help those 'uncertain' individuals far more i'm sure.

 

as for people not slagging off tuners on here, well aside from your rather enthusiastic posting that is, i hardly think that is true. it may not take place on the 'public' forum but people do exchange views on here via other means. in addition, if they do not wish to name names, then that is also their prerogative as it is yours to mention ALL the problems you have faced in great detail.

 

last but not least - i am very glad that your year thus far has proved to be a good, enjpyable and useful one and hopefully will continue to be that way for a long time to come. i trust you will take my comments in the spirit that they are offered and also realise that i am not slagging off your views but merely showing that a different viewpoint may also exist. thank you.

[GESIT]

You could always got to Paul Whiffin at http://www.whifbitz.co.uk

 

I have had all my stuff done from him and have never had an issue.

 

He gets the thumbs up from me:thumbs:

 

Oh, and he is in Enfield London.

 

Good luck mate

 

G

[Nick]

I asked a while ago if it would be possible to have a section for tuners/garages and someone suggested a simple score chart for each tuner with points out of 10 for quality of work, customer service etc etc. Nothing came of it but I still think it's a very good idea, that way people can see at a glance peoples opinions of a tuner without involving possible slanderous comments.

 

As far as mecahnical guru's in the SE go my advice is take the trip north to Chris Wilson.

[Paul]

Roy, Bloody top post mate

 

My thoughts exactly ! We have all had ' a not so perfect' experience from tuners etc, BTW mine was from an inexperienced Toyota dealer so DON'T assume they know what they are doing!

 

Green, mine and your experiences with a certain tuner are opposite but believe me, you can't force your views of a bad experience on others and try to influence their decision i using them if a majority disagree.

Oh, I'm no whimp, if someone cocks up big time then I'll let people know in a constructive manner and I'm sure your not the only 'Hero' who will speak out, many of us will if warranted.

 

Thanks for listening.

Paul

[Green Peace]

Roy. that was a top post I agree a lot with what you are saying.

 

I had a lot of mods at TDI, and some minor ones at JPS. but not on the scale of Jason, and it seems he is well happy with everything that has been done, and it does look very good, I'm happy for him too that everything has gone well for him.

 

Its nice to know Leon has done such a top qaulity job on both his and your car Roy.

 

Paul I think thats very ambitious when you mention Majority, Have you carried out a survey?

 

You should come to a Meet sometime and meet the other Supra owners we don't bite he he.

 

I still stick behind the idea to have a safegaurd for people if you see my earlier posts, it would benefit the Tuning companies in a way too if it was set up right and everyone would get a clean slate.

 

Everybody fooks up, but it depends on the degree of how they fook up and what they do to put it right.

 

Suckin up dosn't work I should know I tried that, been there done that....dosn't work....and if someone has an underlying predujice against you for some reason!! no suckin up in the world will make them do things right for you...know what I'm saying!

 

People Power!!!

 

Where is it on here?

[roboldham]

Originally posted by Paul

if someone cocks up big time then I'll let people know in a constructive manner and I'm sure your not the only 'Hero' who will speak out, many of us will if warranted.

 

In a nutshell, that's the people power we see on here.

 

I personally dont think it would be constructive to have a log of the "best and worst" Supra tuners - there are just too few of them, and should a tuner have a bad couple of months then who is going to go back and re-rank when he starts getting it right etc. etc.

 

Any member of the public can search this board for mentions of tuners - the more mentions the better that tuner is likely to be - apart from the (relatively rare) cock ups that should be posted about responsibly and professionally.

 

R

[CJ]

Good shout Rob!

 

I run a fairly large printing company and my staff endeavour to give a first rate service but, like everyone else, we do occasionally cock up. When this happens we try to put things right but cannot always succeed.

 

I am sure that if there was a web site that allowed those disgrunteled customers the opportunity to rank us after one of those rare occurances, it would show us as being incompetent and give a false impression of our true capabilities.

 

I would much prefer to take a word of mouth reccomendation and not have to rely on the BBS to tell me who has done what and when.

 

Of course, just MHO.

[Gough]

Originally posted by Nick

I asked a while ago if it would be possible to have a section for tuners/garages and someone suggested a simple score chart for each tuner with points out of 10 for quality of work, customer service etc etc. Nothing came of it but I still think it's a very good idea, that way people can see at a glance peoples opinions of a tuner without involving possible slanderous comments.

 

As far as mecahnical guru's in the SE go my advice is take the trip north to Chris Wilson.

 

I reckon this is a great idea, especially for clueless newbies like me My supra arrives in just over a month and its hard to know where to take the car for servicing and tuning what with people's differing opinions. Some sort of chart/table, in which members views can be illustrated all together would be of great help to everyone.

 

Joe

[dangerous brain]

My tuppence worth

 

Ebays rating system with feedback seems to work well. Badmouthing from people with zero feedback from anywhere will be taken with the pinch of salt required. Good retailers or workers should get a lot of positive feedback and crap ones will obviously not. Obviously it will only work if evryone that buys or sells summat or uses a service places feedback. It is also a double edged sword cos if you are a shite customer that could also be reflected.

 

 

But back on the initial subject sort of. After I finish my engine transplant I need to get my motor tuned up proper which I assume will entail some rolling road time as I am changing ECU's etc. I am located in Bournemouth so need a quality tuner somewhere near me ANY IDEAS ALL?

[Sharpie]

Originally posted by Nick

As far as mecahnical guru's in the SE go, my advice is take the trip north to Chris Wilson.

 

CW get's my vote too

 

Well worth the trip, all things considered.

[Green Peace]

The last couple of posts are spot on.

 

The point I was trying to make on earlier posts was to have a Mediator Person who would approach a Tuner on behalf of the board this way it wouldn't get to badmouthing at meets.

 

Badmouthing at meets and events can be very damaging for a company especially if the peron who is badmouthing is exagerating the situation to an extent that would put a future customer off using someones services.

 

It would be nice to have a technacally minded person who could contact the tuner on our behalf and transcribe exactley where things have gone wrong and if its a case of misunderstanding as it very often is, he can then put it to you in plain english.

 

Also if the Mediator feels you have been unfairly treated he can badger the Tuner to put things right. A lot of it is misunderstanding though and the Tuning companies sometimes are not good at explaining things to none Techies.

 

Only in the VERY worst scenarios would a company be removed from a LIST.

 

Its not easy pleasing everyone I am sure and there are UNFAIR Customers as well as traders.

 

But in most cases I'm sure its a lack of understanding on both sides of the coin.

 

This pressure Valve or buffer system would eleviate bad mouthing and a lot of bad service.

 

So if a Trader or a tuner or whatever is fairly competant why would they be worried because at the end of the day it would benefit them too, and safegaurd their livlihoods too.

 

It would safe gaurd against future frauds and rogues too.

 

Everyone gets a clean slate again, and the clock is set to zero...it can only be a good thing for everyone.

[roboldham]

This sounds more like a sensible approach if we decide we need any sort of listings - does need time and effort of a technically competent person who doesnt mind the stress of having to contact tuners etc.

 

May even be good for the board (and soon Club) - in that is strengthens our "brand" and people have to be answerable to a small degree at least.

 

R

[Roy]

i fear that most of the technically proficient people on here are rather busy individuals themselves so if we do decide to go ahead with simon's idea - either find someone that has the time and sufficient tech knowledge not to get too lost OR await a kind soul from the super techs who would be willing to put aside a little time on weekdays and more on weekends to sort out potential hiccups ? my 2p .....

[Guest Tracart]

Hello Mat,

 

Cheers for the reminder of the dreaded Torque i.c but thats all it is a reminder!! Yes Torque I.C is no longer in existance... Admitedly the same property is now in use and re-badged as Trac-Art but thats where the similarities end!! Trac - Art is under new management with expanding workshop and mail order facilities...

Any budding Supra enthusiasts want to give me a call at any time my website is http://www.trac-art.com, tel: 01233 63 63 93

 

Much regards

 

Thanks Zeca

 

P.S Hello envy i hope Mr Lewis's Supra is up to expectations, any queries on the build or problems you may come accross don't hesitate to contact us happy to assist in any way.