Monday, March 31, 2014

Still no response from the unprofessional Steve Colletti


This is my blog about how Colletti Motorsports has lied to me, broken promises, overcharged me for parts, did bad work, and refused to pay for damages.

Below is the next email I sent him adding more detail.  I was being professional, Steve was not.  Never got another response from him. In my opinion, he knew his work was probably no good and thought once I got the car to Florida, he could just wipe his hands clean.  It appears he would rather keep his money than be professional and moral.  A true "ripper off-er."





Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Follow up email to Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti

This is my blog about how Colletti Motorsports has lied to me, broken promises, overcharged me for parts, did bad work, and refused to pay for damages.

From previous posts, I showed where I told Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti the head gaskets had gone bad.  His response to that was, "I do not warranty race engines."  Rather than looking into the situation, as a professional would do, he responded as if he didn't care.  I already posted that email of him saying this.  

I was pretty upset, after paying so much money to get my car done, that he would say this.  The next day I wrote another letter (below).  I explained to him I had concerns about him handling my car and that he knew I was going to have his worked checked over.  I did not receive a response.  The only response I have ever received (one), as I have stated before, is he does not warranty engines.

Also this email (below) is before I learned of more damages that my car has incurred from his work.









Monday, March 24, 2014

Highly Illogical

Ok, if you have been following, you know this blog is about how Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti took advantage of me.  And if you are new, now you know.  I have decided to start only writing once or twice a week from now on to see how that goes.  I am running out of things to talk about, but I still do have some more and I plan to do this for several years, or at least until Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti finally admits he messed up and reimburses me.

To this point, I have written every day and had something new to talk about.  It took me about 30 posts just to do that from all the things Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti did wrong.  I think that is quite a lot to talk about.  And I still have some more fresh material.  I will wait until the next post for that.

But, if you would like to read the previous posts, and you are intelligent and unbiased, I think it will be clear to you that I did get severely taken advantage of by this company and I hope that you do not.

What Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti did to me was not logical.




Sunday, March 23, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: A horrible company

This is my blog about how Colletti Motorsports has lied to me, broke promises, overcharged me for parts, did bad work, and refused to pay for damages.

I have finally finished evaluating Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.  I analyzed every bit of it and only found about two things he said to be true and accurate.

The next thing I will be blogging about is the events that transpired after I learned from the new mechanic that Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's work was no good.  This I will start in the next post.

I am very confidant that anyone who is unbiased and remains objective, that reads this blog and sees the proof of emails and receipts I have posted, will come to the determination that Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti was grossly negligent and is unprofessional and unethical.



Saturday, March 22, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: We like to deceive people

Yesterday I had finished evaluating the statements Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti made in his BBB response.  I had forgotten, though, that I had only evaluated the statements in his first response.  The BBB allows a second response.  He used this second response deceptively.

What happened is that I had filed complaints with both the Ohio Attorney General and the BBB simultaneously. The complaints to both entities were exactly the same. And Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's response to the Ohio Attorney General complaint and his first response to the BBB complaint were exactly the same.

The Ohio Attorney General only allows the initial complaint and a response from the business.  Therefore, after Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti submitted his response, the case was then closed, which is standard protocol. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti saw this as some sort of victory to himself because the Ohio Attorney General closed the case, which I just stated is standard protocol whether the parties work out their differences or not.  He then used this excuse as his second response to the BBB.  He said the Ohio Attorney General had closed the case and was hoping the BBB would do the same.

If you are a person that is not familiar with how the Ohio Attorney General and the BBB help resolve complaints, it would seem as if those entities closing the complaint would mean they took the side of Colletti Motorsports.  But they did not.  These entities are simply a tool to help resolve the problem and have no legal authority in this instance. Both entities also say that if the issue cannot be resolved, court action can be considered.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti was being deceptive, which is not hard to believe considering he took advantage of me.  His unprofessional and unethical behavior just keeps mounting.




Friday, March 21, 2014

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's final BBB comment

Finally, the last BBB comment by Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti is being evaluated.  I have analyzed every bit of his BBB statement to this point.  Just offhand, without looking back, I only remember about two of his statements being true.  The rest have been lies or truth twisting.  So, to finish off the BBB report, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti says this:

"In sum, we did as we were asked. We nearly rebuilt an old, but rather rare, car for him. As soon as we would finish one problem, another would be brought to our attention. However, when we did deliver the car to him, it performed as he expected. We feel as if he is merely trying to take advantage of us, and we respectfully ask that you come to the same determination that we did as we were asked."

In sum, they did not do what was asked.  They claim as soon as they would finish one problem, another would occur.  There were only two problems that caused major delays.  The transmission, which added about two weeks extra onto the time to complete the car, and the turbo.  And as I said in the post about the turbo debacle, I believe Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti ruined my turbo. And if by chance he didn't, if he would have just completed the car on time, as he repeatedly told me he would, there may not have been a problem getting a turbo then.

Next he says the car performed as promised.  I am shaking my head in disgust as I type this and think about that statement.  He promised me from the beginning, he could get 500HP out of my car.  Previous posts explain and show how he was not able to achieve this and he even stated the car will make better HP numbers with a "tuner that really knows how to dial in a Grand National." Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti did not deliver me a car that performed as promised.

His last statement explains how he thinks I am trying to take advantage of him when it is he who has taken advantage of me.  The car did not perform as expected and even had parts go bad from his work.  The entire engine has to be rebuilt again.  Rather than investigating the issue, he has taken the stance of denying his work went bad, and chosen not to refund my money.

Here is a list of facts:

1. The car was not completed on time, as was promised.
2. The car did not perform as promised.
3. The car's engine has to be rebuilt because of Colletti's Motorsports's work.
4. Gross incompetence from the ordering of parts. (bad choices and overpricing)
5. The denial that their work has gone bad.
6. The time I have went without my car.





Thursday, March 20, 2014

The diversion tactic

The BBB statement from Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti is almost done being picked apart.  One of his last statements is this:

"In addition, you should be aware that SOMEONE, perhaps using Mr. Olds' computer, has been engaged in questionable, if not downright illegal, conduct such as assuming my identity. I have notified the proper authorities. SOMEONE also has been sending messages under his former girlfriend's name. I have contacted her, and it is not she who has been doing this. I thus sincerely question Mr. Old's motives and veracity."

This was a tactic used to divert attention.  It has nothing to do with the subject at hand.  I feel that is all I need to say about that.  So I will make this a short entry today and end it here.




Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: We do not offer refunds for our mistakes

The BBB statement from Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti, that I have been analyzing, is almost done.  One of the last statements is that he does not warranty race engines.  I'm sure customers and potential customers would like to know that even if they drive right off the lot and the engine goes bad, that they will not be reimbursed.  Here is exactly what he had to say:

"Race engines are not warranted. This is because they are built with the specific purpose of being used harshly. They are NOT built for ordinary street applications; rather, they are intended for high performance use. And, it SHOULD go without saying (at least to reasonable people), that there is necessarily an inverse relationship between high performance use and longevity, even with a standard street engine. Moreover, we do not know what he has done with or to the car since it last left our shop in February."

As I have said in previous posts, the car went straight to the new mechanic. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti knew I was taking it to another mechanic to have his work checked out.  I completely understand that a place would not warranty engines that are intended to be used harshly.  But, shouldn't an engine at least run correctly from getting it back?  Shouldn't the head gaskets remain intact, and the camshaft and other parts as well, just from driving from one mechanic to another?  If Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti would have investigated this issue, instead of just saying "I do not warranty race engines," he would have found that everything I said was true.  But instead, he just completely ignored the situation.

The new mechanic has found that the head gaskets, camshaft, and front camshaft bearing have all gone bad.  This is with only 1200 miles on the engine.  And those 1200 were from driving it from Ohio to Florida. Since the camshaft is flat with only 1200 miles, that basically means the engine started going bad the moment Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti started up my engine after his rebuild.  Also, if he would have tuned it and put the miles on himself, like I repeatedly asked him to, the engine would have went bad at his shop.  This leads me to believe he knew the engine was bad or suspected his work would go bad.  He most likely wanted the engine to go bad while I was driving it so he could blame me and keep his money.

His last statement says he does not know what I have done to my car since it left his shop.  As I said previously, if he would have investigated the situation, like finding out the mileage and the date it arrived at the new mechanic and even talked to the new mechanic, he would have discovered all my statements were true.  But Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti decided not to.  He probably thought that since I am in another state, he can just keep his money and go on.





Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: The "unknowledgable" Steve Colletti

If you are just tuning in, this is my blog about how I got ripped off from Colletti Motorsports.  It serves two purposes.  One, I wanted to detail the events that happened for my own peace of mind.  Two is to help other consumers be aware.  While writing this, it does help me organize the events in my mind as to how they happened.  It also does upset me reliving these events in my mind though.

The last post mentioned the problems with the head gasket.  I am continuing from that.  Here is the next BBB statement from Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti:

"Now, out of the blue, he first wants $600 from me supposedly as 1/2 the cost of replacement head gaskets, which while he never claimed, at least at first he never claimed, that either has failed. Instead, he claims he was told the head gaskets are "known" to fail. We used Fel-Pro gaskets. They are well known in racing. We have used Fel-Pro gaskets in a great many applications. They are an industry standard. I dispute the assertion that we used the wrong head gaskets. The head gaskets of this engine are no more prone to failure than any other. There is some "chatter" on the internet to the effect that some manifold gaskets sometimes fail, but that is only anecdotal, and that is not what he is claiming."

I did forget to mention that the head gaskets failed.  I should have been more specific, but I was hoping a professional mechanic, as he claims to be, would either figure it out or at least contact me to understand the specifics.  Instead, I get only "I do not warranty race engines" (see email below).  This so called professional, did not care to hear anything I had to say.  He did not care to hear that the car basically went straight to the new mechanic and had been sitting there this entire time waiting to be tuned.  And then when it was tuned, they found out the head gaskets were bad.   Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti did not care and still does not care. 

I only asked him for half the cost of replacing the head gasket.  I thought I was being a really nice guy by asking only half.  I only asked for half, because it made sense.  The work went bad but Colletti Motorsports did not have the opportunity to fix it, because the car was now in Florida instead of Ohio.  Also, I would not have let them touch it anyway, but typically, the shop is at least afforded the opportunity to at least say they will fix it at their own expense.  But then who wants a shop fixing something that they didn't do right in the first place and has caused a multitude of problems?  Half the cost was a fair and reasonable offer.  Instead I get the answer that they do not warranty race engines.  You can imagine, with all the troubles I have had with this non-professional, how upsetting that was.

I told him that the gaskets he used are known to fail often in Buick Grand Nationals.  This is what my Buick Grand National specialist has told me and I have heard it before from Jack Cotton, another specialist.  His answer is that they are an industry standard and are no more prone to failure than any other.  This answer right here really shows how inept he is.  Many companies offer many fine products, but sometimes there are products that just don't work well for certain applications. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti does not admit this and this is an indication of a "lesser" mechanic.  Any good, highly professional mechanic would admit to the possibility.

side note: When my car was rebuilt by Millet's Automotive in 1999, they did not use the Fel-Pro gasket.  The Fel-Pro gasket might be fine for a stock rebuild, but it is not for a high performance rebuild.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti then states there is some "chatter" on the internet that sometimes these head gaskets fail.  If he would have done this research before installing the head gaskets, rather than after, the head gaskets would not have blown.  But he did not bother doing the research until I told him the head gaskets, that he used, had failed.  A good mechanic would have done this beforehand and also reimbursed me as well for his mistakes.  

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti then says the gaskets failing are anecdotal and that is not what I am claiming.  As I previously stated, I may not have explained myself very well, but a professional mechanic would have followed up on my statement to find out the full situation rather than saying that they do not warranty engines.

I now wonder if the head gaskets failing caused the cam to go flat and also ruin the front camshaft bearing.  The new mechanic said, when he is finished, he will write a detailed report of his findings.  It is ironic that Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti likes to blame all kinds of things on me, on why it took so long for him to finish the car.  But when time has passed with my car at the new mechanic's shop, it seems ok to use that excuse as a way of not reimbursing me.

It is upsetting the new mechanic has had it so long.  But you can't expect him to rush things when he has so much business and he has to fix another mechanic's mistakes.  It is also somewhat embarrassing for me to take my car here because he told me long ago, to never have anyone that is not familiar with Buick Grand Nationals, to work on your car.  He said typically they'll barely run long enough to get it to his shop.  Wow, how true.  

side note:  I had this new mechanic check over my car when Millet's Automotive rebuilt my car.  Everything checked out fine except for the camshaft timing which was slightly off.  Millet's rebuild lasted me for 10 years.  I talked about that in another post.






Monday, March 17, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: Mechanical Ineptitude

Alright, let me see what is next in Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.

"He says he is driving straight down to Florida. We hear absolutely nothing from him until October 22, 2013. 10 months have gone by."

Well, one thing that he is right about, is that I was driving straight down to Florida.  In the last post, I showed an email, between Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti, and me that stated I was taking the car to another mechanic in Florida to have his work checked over.

He then says he hears nothing from me until October 22, 2013.  This was accurate.  One day off but close enough.  I do not dispute this.  (see email below)  The car arrived at the new mechanic shortly after arriving in Florida (January).  I had called the new mechanic up, before I even picked up the car from Ohio, to see if he could look of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's work.  I explained the entire situation to him and said I do not trust his work.

After getting my car to Florida, I call the new mechanic up and he is not able to receive the car for two more weeks.  I drive the car around town a couple of times and that was it.  I did not want to do anything harmful or reckless to my car so Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti could blame me for anything.

The new mechanic doesn't even get around to looking at my car until May, 2013.  At first everything appears to be ok.  He does some minor checking.  I asked him to install 60lb/hr injectors.  I talked about this in another post as well, where Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti charged me for 8 fuel injectors that were inferior.  I also had him do some other things as well, like tint the windows, find a spare tire and install the car jack in the trunk, and some other minor cosmetic things.  I had a full one page list of things for him to do.

More months go by and I call the new mechanic up and he says he was just about to call me.  He said he had finished the list of things to do and was tuning the car when he noticed water in the oil.  He said that Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti used head gaskets that are known to fail often in Buick Grand Nationals.  Later, after the new mechanic delves further into the engine, I learn that the camshaft and front camshaft bearing are bad as well.  This I will talk about in another post.



Sunday, March 16, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: The lies continue

I have discussed Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's lies and twisting of the truth, in his BBB statement, in former posts. Next up in the BBB statement, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti states that my girlfriend "dumps" me.  I have already discussed this unethical and unprofessional statement in another post so I will move on to the next. 

He then says he tells me the car is finished and to let him know when I can come pick up the car.  Actually the car was not finished.  On Dec 28 (see email photo below), he says he still needs to do more road tests indicating that he had not finished the car.  

He says I pick up the car on January 2.  No, it was a week later.  

He also says we road test it together.  I remember road testing the car with him only once, and it wasn't this time.  We road tested it the first time I got the car back from him.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti further states I tell him I want nothing to do with him and I will never hear from  him again.  This I know is false.  In the email below, you can read where I told Steve that as long as the car checks out with the new mechanic, we can both go on our own way.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti knew I was going to have his work checked out.  I told him this quite a few times.

These little things really don't look like much on the surface.  It is when you look at the whole scenario, that all the little lies add up and show the kind of person he is.

When I was there picking up my car for the last time, I was cordial with him and never said anything derogatory, even though I was definitely not happy with him.  I also said I was going to have it upgraded to 500HP by the new mechanic.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti originally was supposed to attain 500HP, but he did not and could not.  I was promised by Steve he could do this.  So what basically is going on here, is that I paid Steve good money to produce 500HP, which he didn't, and I was having to pay another guy to finish Steve's work.  

I was extremely unhappy with Steve, but I just wanted my car out of this unprofessional guy's hands.  I was even willing to forget all the bad things he had done if the car just would have been ok.  The car was anything but ok.  That information is still to come.





Saturday, March 15, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: Lack of integrity

Next up in the "lying list," we have this:

"We also charge the A/C (for free), make sure the cruise control works (again, for free), and in general make sure the car runs well."

As I have said in previous posts, my car is extremely well taken care of.  Everything on my car works except for the rear window defrost.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti says he charges my A/C for free and makes sure my cruise control works for free.  This statement just continues to add to his unprofessional and unethical behavior.

When I had gotten my car back the second time, I notice the A/C and the cruise control weren't working.  Like I had said, everything on my car worked before taking it to Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti, except for the rear window defrost.  This was pretty upsetting considering I just spent $8000.00 on the motor and $6000.00 on brakes, steering, and other miscellaneous items.  I had paid good money for me and my car to be "treated like family," when instead, I was treated like a chump.

Then Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti says he makes sure the car runs well, in general.  Yeah, right. He would not tune it, as I had repeatedly asked him to, and I am here now writing this blog because of his incompetence, unprofessionalism, and lack of integrity.




Friday, March 14, 2014

The turbo debacle

I have been wanting to talk about this subject for awhile now.  Here is what Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti says in his BBB statement:

"The problem turns out not to be with the engine, but instead to be a bad turbocharger. We did NOT work on the turbocharger. It was NOT part of what we were supposed to do. Olds is informed of the turbo problem, and that it should be replaced. I called around to suppliers to find what he wanted and no one had it on the shelf (in stock). As an alternative, I sent his old one to a turbo rebuilder. Instead, Olds eventually decides he is going to order his own aftermarket turbo to the "specs" he wants and orders it from Turbonetics."
"It takes 10 months for the turbo to arrive. It arrives in December, 2012."

Ok,  here we go.

1.  The car had been running with the turbo, that went bad, for years with no problems and no indication of it going bad was ever detected by me.  Since Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's work has gone bad on me, there is a very high chance they did something wrong to ruin that turbo.  But as I am a logical person, I will admit there is the possibility that the turbo going bad was coincidental.  But again, since their work has gone bad and they refuse to admit it, there is a high degree of possibility they did something wrong.

side note: I had to tell Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti what to look for when the car was smoking.  I told them to check the downpipe for oil traces which would indicate a turbo failure. That is what they checked last, after my suggestion, because they did not know what they were doing, apparently.

2.  Let's say that the turbo going bad was coincidental.  The new turbo did take a long time to arrive which I will explain soon, but Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti doesn't seem to realize if he would have completed the car on time (approximately a year sooner from the turbo problem) there might have not been any problems getting a turbo then.  The turbo suppliers may have had them in stock.  But since Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti did not finish the car on time, as promised, we will never know.  And the car/turbo delay problem still can be related to his incompetence. I will never know for sure if Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti caused my turbo to go bad or not.  But if he did, and I do believe he did, that is just more money this incompetent shop has caused me.

When the original turbo was determined to be bad, he apparently cannot find a new turbo and has my turbo sent away to be checked out.  It takes 1-2 months for this to happen and then he finally gets an answer and gives me a cost to fix it.  The cost of fixing the turbo was only slightly less than buying a new one of the same quality.  My thoughts were I can just buy a new turbo and it should arrive quicker than the time it would take having the old one rebuilt.  And since my car is being totally rebuilt, why not even get a better turbo?

So I ordered a turbo from Turbonetics.  I was told the turbo would arrive in just a couple of weeks.  Well, apparently, Turbonetics was having some problems getting the impeller.  It ends up taking 4.5 months for the turbo to arrive.  So not only was I dealing with Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti not doing things right and taking too long, now Turbonetics was giving me excuses.  The 4.5 month wait wasn't directly Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's fault.  But as I explained earlier, it was indirectly his fault.  If the car would have been completed on time, as I was assured it would be, then there may have been plenty of turbos in stock at that time.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti says I ordered one to the "specs" I wanted.  It was not about that at all.  As I said, I thought ordering a new one, rather than having the old one rebuilt, would be quicker and better.  And I was repeatedly assured by a Turbonetics representative the turbo was on its way.  Kind of like how Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti assured me of many things that ended up not being true.

Next he says it takes 10 months for the turbo to arrive.  This was his twisting of facts to make himself look better.  More unprofessional behavior from him.  The new turbo took 4.5 months to arrive but he adds in the time the original turbo was out at a shop being checked and the time it took for him to figure out what was wrong with the car. (see side note above).

side note: In my BBB response, I incorrectly stated it took them 5 months to install the turbo (it took 3 months).

He then says the turbo arrives in December.  The turbo arrived the second week of October.  On October 29 he sends me an email saying the turbo was installed and they had some fabricating to do.  So again, we have Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti trying to make himself sound better in his BBB statement.  From the turbo arriving at their shop and me picking up the car in January, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had 3 months to install the turbo, put miles on the car, and tune it.  And we know from past posts, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti would not put miles on the car and tune it as I had asked him to do SEVERAL times.

I can understand being human and erring.  But if you have read every post, you can see how his lies and twisting of the truth have become frequent with him.  If this is the type of person he is, then it is not hard to imagine he is an incompetent mechanic who is only looking out for his own wallet.  What it comes down to is that the skill required to do my car was above his expertise, but he just wanted the business and said he could do the job.  He will now not admit or pay for the damages and time he has cost me.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti is highly illogical.




Thursday, March 13, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: Honda Tech Forum

I do like to change the subtopics here and there to keep myself more interested.  Today I will mention Honda Tech.

I notice when you do a search for Colletti Motorsports, forums will come up.  I decided to post my problem with Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers") on all the forums I saw that show up.  At first I put very little information and included my link.  I received some upset responses but later I realized I did look like a spammer and that was my mistake.  I then went back and added more details and apologized to those that were offended by my post.  One forum banned me and Honda Tech gave me a warning.  I apologized to the moderator at Honda Tech and explained my situation and he was very understanding.  I thought that was really very considerate of him.

Today, I noticed one of the threads had been removed at Honda Tech.  It was a thread that the subtopic had been a question asking if Colletti Motorsports was still in business.  I had been talking to a Honda enthusiast on there and he had heard bad things about Colletti Motorsports as well, at least for more skilled tasks such as rebuilds.  In the last post I was able to place, I asked him what exactly he had heard.  I went on today to see if he had responded and like I said, the thread is no longer there.  I was told it had been moved so I searched for it and it did not come up, but another thread I had posted on did.

I can infer a few things about the thread being missing:

1. The moderator (a different one than I mentioned above) felt the conversation was off topic and removed it.

2. The moderator was biased toward Colletti Motorsports and removed it.

3. Colletti Motorsports influenced Honda Tech to remove it.

Considering I posted on another Honda Tech topic and the thread was closed rather than removed, I have come to the conclusion that either the moderator is biased or Colletti Motorsports influenced its removal.  Either way, someone does not want people to see the conversation or else it would not have been removed.





Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Continued analysis of the BBB statement 2

"Months go by, and we do not hear from him. Because of this, we believe all is well and in the event all is not well, he will bring the car back in the spring when the engine is broken in. Around the middle of February, 2012 he complains of the smoke getting worse and he is making all kinds of threats. I tell him he is blindsiding me with his attitude and assure him if it is something we did I will take care of it. I ask him to please bring the car in and we will have a look. His answer is it's too much trouble for him to drop it off and he doesn't want to deal with this anymore and appoints his girlfriend, K****** B******, his liaison to me."

Ok, first of all, if you have read previous posts, I had asked Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti to please put the miles on himself and finish the car, which he just would not do, even though I asked him MULTIPLE times.

He says months go by.  I believe it was only one month, but I can't be for sure since I can't make sense of the dates Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti wrote on the receipts (receipts show 10 months passing before he even receives my car).  But assuming he wrote the mileage down correctly, only 166 miles passed since getting it back the second time and then him receiving it the third time.

side note: I do see now where he gets the 10 months he claims in his BBB statement.  I had wondered where he came up with this number.  The turbo took 4.5 months to arrive but he is including other time into that.  I will explain this in much detail on another post.  I do want to thoroughly go over the turbo situation.

Next he says I'm making all kinds of threats.  I will admit, I was extremely upset at this point.  I had asked him to put the miles on himself, which he could have done in one day on the dyno, but refused to do it.  Why?  Why did he keep refusing to finish the car?  As I said before, I believe he knew his work was no good, and wanted it to go bad in my possession.  I did threaten to sue him.  He isn't specific on his statement about that, but that is all the threat was.  And since I was just fed up with him at this point, I did ask my girlfriend at the time to please handle the situation because I just couldn't put up with Steve's incompetence anymore.  I did not want to be angry and upset.

So please realize, this is now the third time the car is going back to his shop.  And I had asked him numerous times to please put the miles on himself and finish the car.  Like I said, I was pretty upset.  At this point it was around one year and the car was still not completed.  I did pretty much tell him to come and get the car himself.  I was angry and I feel it was warranted that he get it.  I believe him paying for the tow was his responsibility.

I like his statement that if something is wrong, he assures me he will take care of it.  That statement is laughable.  If that were true, I would not be writing this now.



Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Continued analysis of the BBB statement

I plan to address all aspects of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.

Next we have this:

"On August 15, 2011 the car is, we believe, finished. Olds picks up the car. There is some smoke on cold start up. Bill and I tell him to put some miles on the new engine and let the rings seat (we suggest 500 miles)."

So, as you can see, they still tell me to put miles on the vehicle, when I had asked them to please put the miles on the car and finish it properly.  So not only was I unhappy getting it back the first time when it was not finished, but now I was getting it back a second time unfinished.  I had asked them, specifically, to put the miles on themselves and finish the car this second time it was there (when I was getting steering and brake upgrades).  Bringing my car back to them to have the brakes and steering upgraded was only half the reason I brought my car back.  They other half was so they would  finally finish the car while it was there (put miles on it and tune it).  I do not drive the car in the winter, and winter was approaching, so how would I put those miles on it?  Anyway, if I remember correctly, I was told 1000 miles.  I may be wrong on this, but I am pretty sure I remember being told to put 1000 miles on it before they would tune it.

Also, after getting it back, the air conditioner and cruise control was not working.  I will talk about that in a later post and how Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti tried to spin this issue to make himself sound like a good guy.  Very unethical what he did.  Stay tuned for that post.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti just would not finish the car.  And I strongly believe he knew or was afraid his work was no good and he was hoping the car would go bad while I had it and not him, so he could just blame me.




Monday, March 10, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: We treat you and your car like chumps

I am actually willing to say a couple good things today that Colletti Motorsports managed to get somewhat right.  Let's look at the next thing Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti said in his BBB statement.

"One of our mechanics, Bill, drives the car and says it has no brakes and the suspension is shot. John (Olds) talks with Bill and he agrees the car needs more work. We convert the brake system to a "Hydrovac," and rebuild the entire system. We also repair and upgrade the suspension and steering. We install extra gages for boost pressure, water temperature, oil pressure, and fuel pressure and install a custom shifter."

The brakes had not acted right for awhile and I wasn't happy with them.  So I do agree with Bill saying the brakes weren't right.  As far as the suspension, it just needed new shocks.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti makes it seem like the coil springs and a-arms and whatnot were all bad, but what else would we expect by now from a lying thief?

They did convert the brake system and added shocks and some new steering parts to make the steering "tighter."  This I was pretty much happy with.  Except that Bill forget to install something with the steering, which he showed me one day and I forget what it was offhand.  I had paid good money to get these new steering parts which had "tighter" tolerances and more durable seals/cushions.  Bill said he was not going to "go back in" to install this part.  So I assume he never did install that part that was designed to be much better than the OEM.  I should have said something but Bill was my friend and I just didn't.

I was happy with the shifter installation, I will say.

But I do want to talk about this time, my car was there, a little further.  When I had gotten the car back the first time, it was not tuned and Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti wanted me to put miles on it to "seat the rings" before he tuned it (he never did tune it, by the way).  I did not understand why he never put the miles on himself so he could just tune it and totally finish the car.  Since summer was practically over (end of July), and I had lost out on the time that I really wanted the car back (which remember was promised to be done at the beginning of March), I took the car back to get these extra items done (brakes, shocks, and steering).  I told Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti to put the miles on it while it was there, so the engine would finally be done.  I wanted the car back fully tuned and finished with around 500HP which was promised to me.  He said ok but never did it.  

I had written several emails asking Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti to please put the miles on it himself and finish the car.  He just never did.  I think he was afraid that his work was no good and the motor would blow, and that is why he never finished it.  He was hoping it would blow up while I had it and he could just blame me, which he has.

Also, somewhat luckily for Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti, I upgraded the operating system on my computer and lost a lot of my emails I had saved where I had asked Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti to please finish and tune my car.  I had, I would say, at least 3 emails asking him this.  But if it ever came down to it, I can take my computer into a computer specialist and have the emails recovered to prove I am not lying.  



Sunday, March 9, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: The disappointment

So I was out driving today to get a coffee.  I see two Porsches and then that reminded me of all the other nice cars I see around here in Florida.  That in turn reminds me of my car and the big disappointment and resentment I have toward Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.

I took my car to be fixed by this corrupt lying person and I didn't get it back until 2 years later.  It was supposed to be done in less than 3.5 months, per his assurances.

I am living in Florida now and I could be driving my car.  But no, it is still not done.  Because the new mechanic has to fix Colletti Motorsports's mistakes.  And since the new mechanic is very professional, and his services are sought after, all over the country, he is extremely busy.  So combine being busy with having to fix another guy's mistakes, and you have an even bigger delay in getting your car back.  But this all falls back to the original problem, which is Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.  And not only do I have to have the entire engine rebuilt from the original bad work, I have to pay again to have it rebuilt.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti will not pay for it.  So unprofessional.





Saturday, March 8, 2014

More lies and twisting from Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti

Next Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti goes on to talk about the transmission in my Buick Grand National. He says the transmission is no good and I knew about it.

"We called Olds and he says, "I knew something was wrong with it but I forgot to tell you.""

This is just another one of his lies and twisting of the truth.  I did not know the transmission was bad. The transmission that was in it, was almost new but it was having trouble in Reverse. But it still did move in Reverse.  After Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti told me the transmission was acting up, I did remember that. I told him that I did remember that Reverse was not working properly but it seemed ok in Drive and the rest of the gears.  I am not a transmission expert, but sometimes one gear can go out in an automatic transmission and the rest are fine.  I believed that Reverse may have been bad, but Drive was ok, and that was ok with me at that moment in time.  But it did make sense to put in a new transmission that worked properly since I was spending so much money to have the motor done right, which it wasn't thanks to  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.

On a side note, don't buy a TCI transmission.  I had two TCI transmissions in my car and both went bad in less than 1000 miles.

I do not remember how Lonnie Diers was suggested to me for getting a transmission, but I decided to go with him and get it done myself, since at this point, I did not trust Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.  So I take the car down myself and get a new transmission put in.  All seems fine, then later is starts leaking transmission fluid.  I ended up having to take it back down again and found out it just needed a retainer on a particular seal.  Lonnie explained to me that the retainer is not needed in almost every case. This just happened to be a rare example of when the retainer was needed.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti likes to use this incident of an example of delays but it only delayed the work by maybe two weeks at the most.   And I strongly believe, if I would have let Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti deal with the transmission, it would have taken him at least a month and I would have gotten an inferior product, based on the experiences I was having with him.   Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had his own guy that he suggested.  I am glad I did not go with Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's choice.

Once my car got to KDK Performance and Kevin finally had a chance to look at it, I was told that the transmission cooler, that Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers") had installed, was not working as it should. The fan was not running because the power had not been hooked up.  Another example of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's shoddy work.  I just hope he did not ruin the transmission from his ineptness like he did the motor.  It seems to be ok, luckily.

Here are two incidences of Lonnie Diers work showing up in GM High Tech Performance Magazine.

http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/events/0901gmhtp_2008_buick_gs_nationals_in_beach_bend_raceway_park/photo_11.html

http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/features/0307gmht_1987_buick_regal_street_sleeper/




Friday, March 7, 2014

Further analysis of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.

Colletti Motorsports: Further analysis of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.

"However, it was a long road to get this 20+ year-old car to that level. The engine was completely disassembled. When we sent to block out to a reputable machine shop, we were told that the block was so worn that the cylinders would have to be "bored out" 60 thousandths over (the maximum an engine can usually be enlarged). Of course, this also meant trying to find .060" "over" forged pistons. Because this was such an unusual requirement, they had to be made; such are not ordinarily carried in stock. The crankshaft had to be machined .030" under. This was a "performance" engine (of sorts) originally from the factory. It had been used harshly and repeatedly. Little besides the block, heads, and crankshaft could be reused."

As you can see from the first sentence, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti calls my car 20+ years old, and says it was a long road to get to the goal.  My car is old, but as I have said before, it is an extremely well taken care of car.  It is in as good of condition as many newer cars on the road today. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti was trying to coax readers into believing my car was old and broken down and he had such a difficult task.  I just shake my head when I read that. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti is just so unprofessional and unethical, it sickens me.  The first time snow ever has touched my vehicle, since I have owned it, was in  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's possession.  The steel rims, I had on it at the time, had very tiny rust spots I kept at bay with regular cleaning.   Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had my vehicle so long (and had it outside), that the rust spots tripled or quadrupled in size.

Next he says he sent my block to be bored out.  As I have said previously in another post, Millet's Automotive had already done that back in 1999.  I am even willing to give Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti the benefit of the doubt and say maybe this was an error on his part. But he should have researched his facts first before writing lies in his BBB statement.  If it was an error on his part stating he had my block bored out, then it still shows how inept he is.  I believe he just wanted to use the piston excuse as a way of explaining why it took him 7 months to have the engine rebuilt and installed.  He probably assumed I didn't know that the block had already been bored out.  This guy is just highly unprofessional and/or lacking the intelligence to figure out logistics efficiently and/or just a pure "snake."

The engine did need larger pistons, but as I have said previously, Millet's Automotive bored out the engine, got pistons, and rebuilt the entire engine in 3 weeks.  If Millet's Automotive could get the pistons, why couldn't Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti?  Well, because I am sure he has a dedicated supplier that he gets "kickbacks" and incentives from.  He is more worried about getting his "cut" or family vacations from his supplier, than he is taking care of his customers.

And this next statement he said, is just purely laughable.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti says getting the engine bored out is "such an unusual requirement."  Anyone reading this right now that is a car enthusiast is laughing as well.

Having the crankshaft machined is pretty normal though.  I think, but I cannot remember for sure, Millet's machined the crankshaft as well as the block.  But since I do not remember for sure, I cannot speak of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's account on this one, because I simply do not recall and I do not lie, unlike Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.

And as car enthusiasts know as well, typically all that we use from rebuild to rebuild is the block, heads, and crankshaft.  And a lot of times the connecting rods and push rods, depending on the situation.  I will not go into detail on that because there is no need to.  Car lovers and hobbyists know what is going on here.


Thursday, March 6, 2014

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's unethical conduct

Colletti Motorsports:  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's unethical conduct.

Let's look at another lie Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti told the BBB and then also spun it to try to make it look advantageous to him, showing his unethical business conduct.

"We ultimately achieved 340.86 HP and 405 ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheels (that is, AFTER the power has been transmitted through an automatic transmission and the remainder of the powertrain) as measured by a dynamometer. This means we achieved the goal."

This is an outright lie.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had dyno-ed my car and sent me a horsepower chart showing 285HP was the maximum they achieved.  [Remember, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had assured me that he could get around 500HP, and from the last post we learned that 400-500 HP is not too difficult in the hands someone that knows these cars.]  In an email I sent him (image below), I told him the 285 horsepower seemed low.  He basically said a Grand National mechanic can tune it but he can't.  This means he never should have accepted the job in the first place.  And, to me, it shows he was just greedy for money.

Now to his unethical behavior.   Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti said he had reached the horsepower goal.  He used the excuse that he reached the goal at the flywheel instead of the rear wheels (which is still a lie anyway from the dyno chart).  When I came to Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti, I told him I wanted around 500HP and he said he could do it.  He knew it was Rear Wheel Horsepower that I was talking about.  Everyone that is a car enthusiast knows what I am talking about as well.  When we talk of horsepower ratings, it is at the rear wheel and not the flywheel.  When we speak of flywheel horsepower, we will specifically state that, otherwise it is implied it is Rear Wheel Horsepower.  Even cars sold today, have horsepower ratings at the rear wheel and not the flywheel. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti is not only unprofessional, he is unethical.

This is an email conversation between me and Steve.  Notice the date.  It was also approximately one month before I came to Ohio to pick up my car after Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had it at his shop for over 2 years and was not able to tune it or finish it properly like he promised me he could.



Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: the company that doesn't care

Here is another great Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers") quote from their BBB statement.  

"Mr. Olds was, to put it politely, a very difficult customer. He acquired an old 1987 Buick Grand National which barely ran, and wanted it made into, essentially, a race car. Our shop builds and races race cars, and we have been doing so for over 30 years. On November 9, 2010, the car arrives, barely running and knocking. We tell John he needs his motor rebuilt he gives his OK. He wanted us to build a "race-style" motor. This included, among other things, forged pistons, performance camshaft, bigger injectors, and other modifications. It is very important to note that this is a V-6 engine, not a V-8."

Apparently, a "difficult" customer to them is one who expects the owner to keep his word and be professional.  Also you would expect that if a company messed up your car, they would pay for their mistakes.  I received broken promises, unprofessional work, and no reimbursement from their shoddy work.  This makes me a "difficult" customer and continues to adds to their unprofessional behavior.

In their BBB statement, they say I acquired an old 1987 Buick Grand National.  I have owned this car since around 1998 and it is very well taken care of.  The first time snow has ever touched the paint of my vehicle, since I have owned it, was in their possession.  This, to me, shows they never even listened to what I had to say.  They did not care about getting to know their customer.  All they wanted was my money. 

They also say, I wanted a "race-style motor."  I am not sure what exactly what they mean by this, but Grand Nationals are known for being fast and being daily drivers.  This is one feature that makes them unique among other cars.  This was not supposed to be a race car.  If they did not know this, it is just one more thing they did not care about knowing.

Moreover, they say it is very important to know that my car was a V-6 and not a V-8, insinuating it is hard to get high horsepower out of a V-6.  For them to say this just proves how unqualified they were to work on my car.  Here is a quote from GM High Tech Performance Magazine: "Anybody who is familiar with these cars knows that 400-500 horsepower is not too difficult."  Once again, this shows how unqualified Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers") was to work on my car.  Another thing the magazine says, is that Grand Nationals will often "blow" up shortly after an unqualified and inexperienced mechanic works on them. I have not found that quote yet, but I will surely reference it when I do.  Steve (the "ripper-offer") Colletti, was not able to understand the engineering behind a motor designed in the 1980's.

Yet even with this quote from GM High Tech Performance Magazine, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti still continues to claim he did a good job, denies his work went bad and still continues to deny me reimbursement.



Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Steve Colletti's unprofessional BBB comment

"I contact him (Kristen has by now dumped him)."  

This is a direct quote from Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's response in his Better Business Bureau statement.  He is talking about me and my girlfriend at the time.  Can you believe how unprofessional and unethical you would have to be to write something like this?  Not only is it inappropriate, it is not true.  I broke up with her and I had to contact the police to have her stop contacting me. I had told her several times to never contact me again, but she never listened.  It finally took police action.  Kristen lies quite a bit, and that is one reason, among many, she is not my girlfriend anymore.  To me, it is just another nail in the coffin of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti not checking his facts and not researching information properly.  Apparently, it seems, you can tell Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti anything and he'll believe it blindly.

To shed more light on the subject, Kristen knows about the trouble I have had with Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.  One time, when we were still talking/texting, we were texting about how bad he was.  She said "Steve just doesn't get it."  I asked her if she would write a bad review about him for me.  She said she would and we both have the texts on our phones to prove this and the earlier quote I mentioned.  A few days go by and she has not written the review.  I asked her why.  She said she did not want to get in the middle of this problem.  I had said to her that I was tired of all her lies and that if she did not write this review for me, as she said she would, I did not want to speak with her anymore.  She did not write the review, and out of revenge to me for contacting the police on her, she wrote a good review about this horrible shop.

This is just one of the things, out of many, that Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti said that was highly unprofessional and unethical in his Better Business Bureau statement.  I will talk about the many others in detail soon.

                                       




Monday, March 3, 2014

Mechanical versus electrical gauges

I had two small gauges that were custom fit to my Grand National.  One was a water temperature gauge, the other was an oil pressure gauge.  Both were electrical.  For some reason, I do not remember why, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti suggested that he replace those gauges with larger gauges and have them be mechanical instead of electrical.  Myself, I really saw no reason to do this, but he was supposed to be the professional and I assumed he had a good reason for doing this so I agreed with his suggestion.  One of the reasons that he said mechanical was better, was because you did not need electricity to run the gauge.  I could understand his point but it only takes a flip of a switch to use an electrical gauge.

When I see the new gauges installed, they are in a two cluster gauge panel and just sitting where my old gauges were with nothing but gravity and the wires to it, holding it in place, basically.  It was not mounted and not custom fitted like the previous gauge cluster.  I was completely appalled by the lack of concern in the manner it was just sitting there.  I just could not believe this company would do something like that.  Their motto is "we treat you and your car like family."  I would not have put the gauges in this way.  It looked completely amateur.

I did not complain about this though, it was earlier on before the multiple mistakes started piling up. What I decided to do is buy a new 4 cluster gauge panel that was made to be custom mounted in the dash on the passenger side.  Not only did this gauge panel work for the new gauges, it would be in a secure mounted spot.  It also accommodated 2 more gauges to monitor your vehicle.  So I ordered the gauge panel and two more gauges.  Since Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had touted using mechanical gauges instead of electrical, I bought a mechanical fuel pressure gauge along with a turbo gauge.  When he gets the gauges, he said they had a problem installing the mechanical fuel pressure gauge and that I should have bought an electrical fuel pressure gauge instead.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti did not want fuel coming into the vehicle for the fuel pressure gauge.  The mechanical fuel gauge required some modifications to prevent fuel from going past the firewall.  This was actually a good decision, but he never should have said mechanical gauges were better in the first place.  Electrical gauges are actually far superior.  I have a degree in Engineering Physics, so half of my classes were electrical engineering.  Electrical gauges measure electrons and you essentially get an instant reading and also it is far more accurate than a mechanical gauge.  Mechanical gauges typically rely on the expansion of mercury (for water temperature, anyway).  The mercury has to expand and then this basically creates pressure which gives you a signal.  It takes time for the heat of the water in the motor to expand the mercury and create pressure.  It does not take long, but it takes much longer than readings from electrical gauges.  The only advantage of a mechanical gauge is that you do not need power to run it.

So right now I have mechanical gauges in my car, when I never should have listened to his suggestion in the first place.  Like I said earlier, I thought he was a professional and had good reasons for doing this.  But as his mistakes kept piling up, I realized how unprofessional he was and I never should have listened to him or even brought my car here for that matter.

The first picture is not my GN, but is a picture of a custom gauge panel like the one that I used to have in my car.

The second picture is of the custom made 4 gauge panel designed to go in the passenger side dash that I now have in my car.

The third picture is not my GN, but a picture of what the 4 gauge panel looks like installed.





Sunday, March 2, 2014

The offset crankshaft that stumped Steve Colletti

Ok, so back to the crankshaft.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had called me in to talk to me about my car sometime around the beginning of February (remember, the car was promised to be done at the beginning of March).  He showed me the crankshaft.  He pointed out that the crankshaft was not like standard crankshafts.  I saw what he was talking about and I had never seen one either.  Even though I owned a Grand National, I was not aware that it has the type of crankshaft it does.  My father was a mechanic and taught me about cars.  I am no expert, just a hobbyist, but I know enough about cars to tell this was definitely something different.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti explained that the way the crankshaft was, it would probably not hold up to the kind of stress that high horsepower would put on it.  He had printed out an article where someone had replaced their Grand National's offset crankshaft with a standard one.  This would require changing the firing order as well.  As I said before, once you change the unique motor of the Grand National, it is essentially not a Grand National anymore.  My first instinct was to get my car out of there because I feared my car was not going to be done right (and it turned out to be true).  But I gave him the benefit of the doubt and I remembered Millet's Automotive rebuilt my motor in 3 weeks time and it lasted for 10 years.  It would also be even more difficult now to ship the car to Florida to have KDK rebuild it instead of Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers") since the motor was now out and tore apart.  I told Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti that I wanted to look into this matter of the crankshaft.

I did some research and found that the Buick Grand National's offset crankshaft has a fluid channel that gives the crankshaft added strength to make up for its offset design and holds up to quite a lot of stress.  I told Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti what I had found out and told him to not change the crankshaft and firing order, but to rebuild it using the original crankshaft.  In my opinion, you are a very poor mechanic and have a very bad business if your customer has to find out what to do and find information for you. As I said earlier though, I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he could still successfully rebuild my motor, but I was very nervous about it.  And this is when I really started documenting everything that happened so if the car did "blow" up, I would have proof of everything.










Saturday, March 1, 2014

Colletti Motorsports: The wrong decision.

Before returning to the crankshaft issue, I wanted to further explain why I chose Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers").

My first choice, in having the engine rebuilt in my 1987 Buick Grand National, was KDK Performance in Orlando, FL. They are the ones who are currently fixing Colletti Motorsports's work. Also while living in Florida, when I was in the Navy, and later in South Carolina, this is the only place I let service my car.  KDK serviced it from approximately 1998-2003. I was living in Ohio at the time of considering the rebuild (I am now living in Florida) and I would have had to ship the car to Florida because it was not running and drivable.  I knew KDK would be expensive and also the shipping would be expensive.

My second choice was Millet's Automotive (aka Millet's Engines) in Piqua, OH.  They had rebuilt the motor in my Buick when I was on leave from the Navy in 1999, as I have said previously.  I knew if I took it to Millet's, It would be there for a long time.  They did my car in 3 weeks before, but that was a special circumstance and I did not have any special circumstances this time.  When I was on leave from the Navy, they promised me the car would be done in 3 weeks and they were true to their word, unlike Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers").  I knew from previous times, I had gone to Millet's, they were always busy. I would have weighed Millet's more heavily, had I known that they have a dyno now.  When my engine was first done by them, they did not have the dyno. I should have looked into that. If I would have, and chose Millet's, I would not be writing this now but instead enjoying my car.

...  On a side note, Millet's bored out my motor .060 over.  Steve Colletti had said in his Better Business Bureau response, that he had my engine bored out. This was either an outright lie he was hoping I would not catch, or he forgot and decided to write it anyway.  He is either a liar in one circumstance or incompetent from not checking his facts in the other.  Either way, it just adds to his bad character.  In my BBB response, I had said Millet's had rebuilt the engine in approximately 2001. It was 1999, as you can see in the receipt below.  Steve also used the excuse of saying my engine was bored out and had to get special pistons as why my car took so long to be done.  And, once again, Millet's had no problem getting the pistons and completely rebuilding the engine in 3 weeks.

The third choice was Colletti Motorsports.  Obviously the wrong choice.  I already wrote about this before but I will state some things once again.  Steve had given me his word the car would be done around the beginning of March.  They also had a dyno there and I thought they could really get some great horsepower out of it, which they didn't of course.

After getting my car back from Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers"), I took it straight to KDK Performance.  There they found the head gaskets were blown, the camshaft was flat, and the front camshaft bearing was bad.  I will go into detail about that in another post.