2706's Maiden Voyage. DMC Midwest to Upstate NY.

[David T]

It is a challenge for the DMC franchises (or any shop for that matter) to service a car hundreds of miles away. Once you get out of their local area how can they fix it? That is why it is so important for them to do it right the first time. Driving the car and "shaking it down" to work out any bugs or mistakes is so important. Even if you had the car shipped, these problems would have likely occurred, just near your home. DMC FL's explanation about a recent opening and a bad tech doesn't wash either, doesn't anyone check anything there? Bottom line, there are no excuses for shoddy work ever. That said it is inevitable things will go wrong, it IS a 30 year old car and they didn't rebuild the car so even if they got everything right, things they didn't touch will fail. Expect other things to happen but over time it should happen less and less if you keep up with the car. Sounds like you know what you are doing and should be OK but don't be surprised to find more things.

[DMCFL Tony]

It is a challenge for the DMC franchises (or any shop for that matter) to service a car hundreds of miles away. Once you get out of their local area how can they fix it? That is why it is so important for them to do it right the first time. Driving the car and "shaking it down" to work out any bugs or mistakes is so important. Even if you had the car shipped, these problems would have likely occurred, just near your home. DMC FL's explanation about a recent opening and a bad tech doesn't wash either, doesn't anyone check anything there? Bottom line, there are no excuses for shoddy work ever. That said it is inevitable things will go wrong, it IS a 30 year old car and they didn't rebuild the car so even if they got everything right, things they didn't touch will fail. Expect other things to happen but over time it should happen less and less if you keep up with the car. Sounds like you know what you are doing and should be OK but don't be surprised to find more things.

David,

With all due respect, you do not know the details.

We had a short time frame because the customer was moving out of the area.

I would never give a incomplete car to someone and call it done.

We test and shake down all cars before delivery given the time to do so.

This was an unfortunate situation that DMC worked together to make it right.


Tony

[opethmike]

it IS a 30 year old car

Wow, they built DeLoreans in 1987?!?!

[Lwanmtr]

Wow, they built DeLoreans in 1987?!?!

Yep, the '87 Delorean had a 3.2 l turbo charged V6, electronic instrument cluster and all wheel drive

[David T]

You're right, we never hear all of the details. I am sure you did what you could to make it right but it is never as good as doing it right the first time. With all due respect, this is not the first instance of a customer not being happy with the work performed by your shop. If the time frame was too short to do a proper job maybe you shouldn't have done it. If the tech you had was not qualified maybe he shouldn't have been working on it or he should have been better supervised. I also understand all too often customers have overly optimistic expectations. Just because you "go over" a car doesn't mean it will perform flawlessly on a long trip right out of the shop. Obviously there was a disconnect between what the customer wanted and what he got. Hindsight being 20/20 I am sure things could have turned out better. As for age, I should have said 30+ year old cars, but Mike just wants to make sure everything is accurate (he never makes mistakes). Even after the car went through DMC Midwest's shop the car still had "issues". At least in this case the customer was able to help himself enough to get home. This points out something, he could have been better prepared. If he had a list of all of the people along the way that he could have called for help things might have gone smoother. Owners helping other owners is not uncommon. My recommendation to all new owners is to plan to trailer the car or have it transported till you have enough confidence that the car can handle a long trip. Getting towed, unplanned, in the middle of nowhere is going to cost you way more than if you had the car transported all the way in the first place. As for this particular customer, it sounds like DMC did the right thing and tried to make it right, the customer sounds happy with the way it turned out.

[opethmike]

You're right, we never hear all of the details. I am sure you did what you could to make it right but it is never as good as doing it right the first time. With all due respect, this is not the first instance of a customer not being happy with the work performed by your shop. If the time frame was too short to do a proper job maybe you shouldn't have done it. If the tech you had was not qualified maybe he shouldn't have been working on it or he should have been better supervised. I also understand all too often customers have overly optimistic expectations. Just because you "go over" a car doesn't mean it will perform flawlessly on a long trip right out of the shop. Obviously there was a disconnect between what the customer wanted and what he got. Hindsight being 20/20 I am sure things could have turned out better. As for age, I should have said 30+ year old cars, but Mike just wants to make sure everything is accurate (he never makes mistakes). Even after the car went through DMC Midwest's shop the car still had "issues". At least in this case the customer was able to help himself enough to get home. This points out something, he could have been better prepared. If he had a list of all of the people along the way that he could have called for help things might have gone smoother. Owners helping other owners is not uncommon. My recommendation to all new owners is to plan to trailer the car or have it transported till you have enough confidence that the car can handle a long trip. Getting towed, unplanned, in the middle of nowhere is going to cost you way more than if you had the car transported all the way in the first place. As for this particular customer, it sounds like DMC did the right thing and tried to make it right, the customer sounds happy with the way it turned out.

You are correct, I am perfect.

[Michael]

You are correct, I am perfect.

LOL...love it when one of DT's "Vegas length" posts get summed up with less than 10 words.

[opethmike]

LOL...love it when one of DT's "Vegas length" posts get summed up with less than 10 words.

Does this mean I can have a hug?

[Michael]

Does this mean I can have a hug?

[opethmike]

Woohoo!