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.
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.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Monday, May 26, 2014
The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 13)
"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.
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.
Monday, May 19, 2014
The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 12)
The next statement from Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement:
"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.
Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti just would not finish the car no matter how many times I asked him. 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, which he has.
"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.
Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti just would not finish the car no matter how many times I asked him. 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, which he has.
Monday, May 12, 2014
The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 11)
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.
Friday, May 9, 2014
The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 10)
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.
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.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 9)
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/
"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/
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 8)
Colletti Motorsports: Further analysis of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.
"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."
Having the crankshaft machined is pretty normal though. I think, but I cannot remember for sure, Millet's Automotive 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. This is just another attempt of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti using his unprofessional and unethical behavior to try to make himself look better for the BBB.
"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."
Having the crankshaft machined is pretty normal though. I think, but I cannot remember for sure, Millet's Automotive 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.
Next he says the engine had been used harshly and repeatedly. It was not used anymore harshly or repeatedly than any other performance car on the street today. My car sits in the garage most of the time idol. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti wants to lead people to believe I am out street racing or track racing or whatever. This is just more of his unprofessional behavior.
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. This is just another attempt of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti using his unprofessional and unethical behavior to try to make himself look better for the BBB.
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