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Several weeks later, I brought my vehicle in to have some KW coil overs by MPP installed. I enjoyed speaking with JT, who seemed to be very passionate and caring about his work. Their price for the installation, ride height adjustment to 1 inch below stock, as well as alignment was $350, around half that of a respectable suspension shop.
I confirmed that they would be able to finish in one day – drop off the day before, pick up the day after. It took them more time than they thought it would, so they needed it another day. OK, no problem – I changed my plans and made alternate transportation arrangements.
When I got the vehicle back, the ride height was very low – substantially lower than I wanted and had originally asked for. No problem, JT and his brother said – bring it back if you still want it higher after driving it for a while. I did so a few days later, and JT raised it a small amount – still lower than I had asked for. These are the values specified by Mountain Pass Performance for the “mild” drop.
After JT did not feel comfortable adjusting the ride height to manufacturer specifications, I emailed a photo of the front suspension install to the manufacturer of the coil overs to verify that the installation was properly done. They pointed out that their directions had not been followed, and that an extra rubber piece was reinstalled from the stock suspension setup that was not supposed to be there. The manufacturer was kind enough to offer to speak with JT, the mechanic who worked on the car. After some time (JT said he would call the other gentleman, who never received a phone call), the coilover manufacturer was kind enough to reach out to JT directly. They spoke for some time, but it seems as if JT did not want to take advice from “some guy in Canada”. (He later stated that he did not like that I was calling other people / mechanics to discuss his work – “I am an ASE certified mechanic!”).
After some back and forth, JT agreed to correct the installation and said to come by today (12/8/20) at 4:00 PM for the work to be done. I asked if he would be able to finish the vehicle same day, and he said he would call back at 11:00 AM to verify, which he never did. I went by the shop at 4:15 PM, thinking that he had forgotten to call me back, but would honor his 4:00 PM appointment.
After waiting in the shop for 15 minutes, JT says he cannot to the work today – “look around – I am busy today, my helpers quit” (paraphrased). At this point, things headed south, and JT offered to refund my money. His brother stepped in at this point, and said he would not do that. After some shouting back and forth, JT and his brother ask me to leave “good bye – have a nice day” is a phrase that JT likes to say. I like that phrase; I might start using it.
On initially stumbling across this place, I thought I had found a caring mechanic that I could recommend friends and family to. I now have to take my vehicle to another shop (I’m not going to cheap out this time – in some things, you get what you pay for) to have the suspension removed and properly reinstalled, as well as have the ride height adjusted to 135mm.
Hopefully JT and I just had a personality mismatch combined with consistent communication problems, and others will have better results. JT does have a lot of knowledge, and he does care about his work – he just didn’t seem to be open to the possibility that he had made a mistake.
As is usually the case, there are two sides to every story. I am sure that JT and his brother will have different memories of the events. I hoped that I could walk out today a happy customer and shake hands with JT and his brother for standing behind their work, but that’s not always how things work.
Good bye, JT – have a nice day!