Opinions please.

[jayfotos]

Ok, I went though a rough install with my SC just like my buddy here autox-racer. See his notes-

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...&threadid=4355

With my intall complete, I'm happy with it's preformance. But, there is a loose end. If you did'nt know the sc kit comes pre-assembled and is a "bolt on"...HA! After the 12 hour install @ $70 an hour I had a hefty bill(mind you, I had someother light things done as well, new pads, oil change
and new bulbs).
After a few days of driving I noticed a leak coming from the cone assembly, see this post if you missed my other thread-

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...&threadid=4381

After seeing what you guys come up with, talking to my shop guy I contacted Alpine. I sent them the photos so they can better understand the problem. We came to the conclusion that the cone assembly was not properly sealed(witch Alpine does for their pre-assembly).
In order to fix it, the cone assembley has to be taken apart, resealed and put back together.
In turn, back in the shop @ $70 an hour.

So, who's at fault?

Am I?

Should I have to pay for this or should Alpine bite the bullet and cover the cost?

I told the tech at Alpine I don't feel responsable and I don't want to dump more money into this thing for something that is clearly Alpines doing. He could'nt answer that question and I have to talk to Jon Conchie(the guy who sold it to me) on Monday.

So, what'da ya think?

Thanks- Jay

[Dallas4u]

Did you find out about a warranty before you bought it from them?

My opinion is that, if it definitely was a faulty seal from Alpine, then they should provide some sort of compensation for fixing the problem.

I would like to state that most of us did NOT have a problem with our kits, so implying that the kit not being "bolt on" isn't really fair. For the price and the amount of assembly already done I believe it is a good deal. Had it been less assembled it may have been more costly to have a shop do the work for you, even though YOU may have been able to avoid your current problems. Again, most of us didn't have these problems with our kits. ***** happens sometimes, you know?

Personally, I would say they owe you some sort of compensation for what ever happens with the leaky seal.

[Hotsauce]

According to most warranties on aftermarket parts, they are responsable only for the materials, not incidental labor. This varies from state to state by law. Sucks, but thats the way it is.

John C.

[azskyrider]

I would recommend that you first talk to the shop who installed the SC to see if they can offer some assitance in lowering their price per hour. With this information you can then plan your talks with Alpine. State who you are and the VX forum. Members here are interested in the upgrade but I am sure that their decision will ride on the customer support. Be kind and be prepared and willing to negotiate. Will they pay 100%? Expect not.

If the shop offers you a discount rate then you now have a baseline to start negotiating with Alpine. Don't tell them the new discount rate just negotiate either a labor per hour fee or a total cost fee. Hopefully they will bite for the hour fee and if you get your negotiated Lower price fee then you basically got Alpine to pay for all the fees to redo the work.

Last option is that it might be cheaper to fly a VX member to PHX than to pay for those Labor costs.

Before talking to Alpine I would also contact TONE. He might be able to help your situation and since he deals with them he might inform you what Alpine's response might be.

I hope it works out. BTW I asked you before which shop you went to. Maybe I missed the response but could you reply again?

For the rest of the members thinking about SC I would recommend going through TONE even if it is more $$. Call it a peace of mind but I doubt Alpine would have had a problem with TONE calling.


Best of luck,


P.S. Just noticed TONE's B-day today. Happy B-DAY!

[jayfotos]

I doubt the shop will offer a lower rate, it's not there fault and there is no reason why they should bend over backwards.
We narrowed down the problem, does'nt matter who fixes it as long as it gets fixed. But I don't feel I'm lyable, I already dumped a crapload of money into this thing.

I'm not saying it's a poor product, but when your spending 3k and the instructions are printouts that are missing important information along with missing and broken parts, just does'nt seem like a very perfessional company.

Remember, this is my experience I'm having that I'm passing on to you, that if anyone is looking into buying the SC might run in to and learn from this.
Thankfully, I have you guys to back me up when I (or someone) runs into these problems to help.

We'll see what happens on Monday, stay tuned.

[jayfotos]

Oops, the shop I brought it to was Apex Motorsports in Tempe.

[Dallas4u]

Yeah, contact Tone and see if he can do anything for you as well (even though you didn't go through him!)

[Capri]

I was told by the tech that the hoses and many "minor" things were missing from the instructions. They guessed that this SC fits on several variation of 3.5 L or 3.2L engine, and didn't consider the actual placement of VX's engine. There were a lot of custom work done, the biggest thing was the SC fuel line was ripped upon delivery, kinda dangerous if it was overlooked.

[jayfotos]

I don't think that Tone can do anything, we know what the problem is, it's just working out who should pay for it.

To be a little more specific on one of the few problems was the fuel line runing across to both fuel rails was cracked and leaking fuel. It could'nt be welded for it was made of galvanized metal, so the shop fabed another line.
Alpine was willing to replace the line, but it was faster just to make another one than to wait another day to get the part.

[azskyrider]

Hello Jay,

I figured it was Apex. They are well known in the NSX world here in AZ. It doesn't hurt to ask if Apex could help you out not because of any fault of theirs. They have done a lot of SC installs.

If you are just thinking about Alpine paying and that is that. Then what are you prepared to do if they say NO?

If you are prepared to "go farther" and take legal action then you might first consider what you will say and keep it brief. Then consult an attorney. I think an attorney will cost you the same if not more than the labor hours and that might not guarantee you anything.

If you are not prepared to take legal action then I would chop it up as a bad experience and a lesson learned. I feel for you but life goes on. Remember you will still need to deal with Alpine to receive any warranty work so no reason to burn bridges. It might be in your favor to keep them advised of the burden they have caused you in case of future warranty work.

For future owners I think we could all learn from your unfortunate and costly experience by buying the SC from the place that will install it. This way all the work and parts can be handled by the shop and if anything goes wrong then the shop will have to deal with the manufacturer and possible labor for carrying and installing a defected part.

Cheers,

[jayfotos]

Don't get me wrong, Alpine has been polight as so have I about any problems that has come up and I don't plan on getting ugly about it, I just want it fixed.
They were surprised as you all on all these things going wrong and never had problems like this before. But as you can see(from my first post) I'm not alone and Alpine should address this. I'm not saying they hav'nt, we still have not discussed on how to handle it, we'll see on monday.

[jayfotos]

Just got off the phone with John from Alpine(very nice guy), thse are the steps we are going to take to fix this problem.

He thinks the box has maybe been flipped up side down in shipping, causing the oil leak from the cone(at the pulley).
I mentioned the leaks coming from the seals from the bearing chamber(sent him pics as well to view), he is baffled about that.

John asked me for my first step is to clean off all the oil(using Simple Green) and see how much oil comes back. At that point we will determine if there is a problem that needs to be addressed.
I asked him, "OK, if it's still leaking....what happens?" I wanted some sort of assurance that Alpine is willing to compinsate. At that point, after cleaning off the engine and if the problem is still there, either the SC has to be replaced or pull apart the cone assembly and reseal(witch is what I think is going to happen).
We'll see, I'm off to the car wash.

[jayfotos]

Here we go, just back from the car wash and she's clean as a whisle.



I'm going to give it a few days of driving and see what we come up with, stay tuned.

Here's a pic to compare-

[AlaskaVX]

Mine is doing this as well. It's mainly leaking where yours is, just not quite as bad. But where the second set of bolts are (2nd seam) mine is also leaking.

[t2p]

I'll give you an opinion:
.
I *really* like the SC .............. and I'm jealous .........
.
A VX with a SC - that is the kinda stuff dreams are made of ......
.
'stick with it' ...... correct the small 'bugs' ......... it will work out