CODE BLUE 2

I feel like Ive been *** ended



I need to get something off my chest. If I don’t post this, then I feel I would be letting others down. This may be long, but please read and learn from my experiences.



I bought my 1979 RX7 in 2001. After owning it about a year, it was time for a new engine. I could buy a new car or to dump some money into this 79 that I really liked. So I decided to go for the gusto and fix my RX7. I had no idea where to go to get a new engine, but noticed that there was a Mazda shop called Mazda’s & More, AKA RAPID ROTARY, just down the road from my house.



There’s not enough space for me to tell you every detail of what has happened in the past two years, but here is a brief history of my experiences.



September, 2002, I decided to have Mazda’s & More do all the work with modifications for a supercharged system p/o 13b. I was charged over $10,000 for the new motor and the supercharger modifications. Included in the charges were a few other things that needed to be done besides the engine work.



October, 2002, I had to go back to Mazda’s & More because the car was still having a few problems. I was very careful breaking in this supposedly new rebuilt motor. Who wouldn’t if they spent this much money



Not more than a couple months after having all this work done, more problems started to occur. The car was dieing at stoplights and just basically ran crappy all the time. It seemed like every month I had the car in Mazda’s & More because my car wasn’t running right. I was told that the carb was out of adjustment.



Finally after having my carb adjusted several times, the car was still running crappy. I took my car to Jerry’s Little Cars to see if they could adjust my carburetor. Was I ever shocked when told that I had much bigger problems than just an adjustment on my carb. The front part of my engine was bad and the middle and back of the engine were not great but ok.



I went to Mazda’s & More to report this bad news, but I was told, “Don’t worry. It’s no big deal, TRUST ME, it’s just a broken apex seal.” I was then told that he would fix it for me cheaply. I had no idea these problems were because of the poorly rebuilt engine that they had installed. So I paid another $1,900 to fix my apex seal.



Once again, I carefully went through the break in process. The car seemed to be better after the apex seal was fixed, but “better” is a relative term. The car was still not running right with overheating problems and dieing at lights, etc. Of course Ken blamed me for this saying I was real hard on the engine, and that I blew it up. Little does Ken know, I don’t drive my car like a crazy person, but as someone who appreciates a machine like this.



I went back to Mazda’s & More, this time with the knowledge from a reliable source that bad used parts had been used in my engine from the get go. A very heated discussion happened and words were exchanged. Finally it was agreed to have a compression test on the engine done. It is no surprise that the test was not very good, plus bad oil pressure. I was offered to have another engine built. So I am breaking in my third engine in little over a year.



You would think that this long saga had ended with the installation of the third engine, but during the motor installation, an accident happened and my car was damaged. The hood of the car was dropped on my car to the floor, and chipped, dented and scratched. I had my car painted April this year therefore, the paint job was not that old, and I was told it could not matched. The car will have to be painted over again. Originally Mazda’s & More did not want to paint my car, even though it was in their shop where the damage occurred. I was given an estimate of how much it would cost Mazda’s & More to paint my car. One reason they did not want to pay for the paint job, was because Mazda’s & More does not have insurance to cover accidents or damages that occur on their premises. I shutter to think if a fire had happened while my car was in that shop. In the meantime, I called my insurance company who told me to get a couple estimates. The estimates were much higher than what Mazda’s & More was willing to pay.



It has been a fight to get my car fixed for the damage that occurred while in that shop. Mazda’s & More gave me a check which will cover part of the new paint job. However, I have to pay $200 plus tax to the paint shop for damage to my car that happened while my car was at Mazda’s & More.



This is a shorten version of all that has happened. There is much more. I totaled what I have spent in the year’s time on my car at Mazda’s & More, and it comes to $18,903.56 not including exchanged stuff under the table for work and parts. This includes my other things that I have bought for my car, except my paint.



Now you would think after spending this amount, I should have one hell of an awesome car. This car should run perfect. God, hope that this third engine is good. I have just started breaking it in, but so far, I believe the engine is finally what it should be.



If you go to Mazda’s & More, you are guaranteed to hear, “TRUST ME”. You are guaranteed to be charged a bit more than normal for work done on your car. And, believe me, you will also be guaranteed to have to come back because of problems. I have found out that my radiator fluid was drained out, and then put it back in my car, yet, I was charged for new fluid. I could say more, but why bother?



Recently I was told by a business owner if you are going to be dishonest, “DON’T GET CAUGHT”. However, with dishonesty, it will eventually catch up to you like it has caught up to Mazda’s & More.



Ken Durkey is the owner of Mazda’s & More. Odd, but for some strange reason, I like Ken as a person. His shop can do good work if he is not cutting corners. If he screws up, and you catch him, he is true with his word to fix what he screwed up. But if you don’t catch him, you will be back. Ken asked that I do not return to his shop. I am definitely honoring those wishes. Kens last words were “I hope you can sleep at night knowing that he was ripped off”. How could that be, when HE damaged my car…lol. I wonder how he sleeps at night, knowing all the people he has ripped off year, after year, after year. Please be careful if you have work done there. Thanks for listening.