Knightracer (and others)

are you guys saying that knightracer are cheep? mine wasnt

This is all a little off topic from when I first wanted to post on the subject, but back to KR and GVN. Im currently one of the ones paying GVN 4k for my respray, and people who say a respray should cost around £1500 are asking for trouble, I wouldnt let anyone respray my car for that no matter how good they say it was. For a proper respray, windows out etc, you will be loooking at 3k all day long. The reason Im paying another 1k ontop of that is that Im having my rear arch repaired, quite a bit of work there, side skirts blended and door panels built up to blend in with the skirts. Rear arches rolled and flaired, and a few engine bay bits that are being sprayed, although this aint being charged for. New front and rear fitted also.

 

Personally I think 4k is very competative for the amount of work going on. And the fact that GVN said they would throw in the engine bay spray work for free as I am spending 4k with them to me shows they appreciate the amount of money Im spending.

 

I have been on this board for 5/6 years now, seen many people come and go, including traders and its only been within the last year or so that I have realised who to trust and who to not throw thousands at like I have in the past, only for someoone else to have to re-do the work at a later date, due to either poor quality parts, or bad workmanship.......

 

Envy (parts)

Phoenix (mechanics/tuning)

GVN (Body work)

CW (Suspension and setup)

 

The rest of them I just watch come and go............

OK here's the deal, pretty simple really:

a) GVN - pay big $$$, good job guaranteed

b) KR - pay low $$$, good job if you're lucky

Same as everything in life; sometimes you get a good deal for cheap and other times you don't. At the end of the day it's all about risk, and the only way to weigh up that risk with KR is to assess how many good vs bad jobs they have done. Usually it's the bad ones who shout the loudest, so is there any way we can get proper data? Probably not, but a poll could pave the way

Same as everything in life; sometimes you get a good deal for cheap and other times you don't. At the end of the day it's all about risk, and the only way to weigh up that risk with KR is to assess how many good vs bad jobs they have done. Usually it's the bad ones who shout the loudest, so is there any way we can get proper data? Probably not, but a poll could pave the way

A lot of that would depend on people knowing good spray jobs from bad, similar to folk knowing good mechanical work from bad....

Some do and some dont.

A lot of that would depend on people knowing good spray jobs from bad, similar to folk knowing good mechanical work from bad....

Exactly Rob. As with TF, many of the newer members hear just don't know good work from bad. It's a difficult one to solve from a forum management POV, but I think that most of us that have been here a good while know when to spot problems. Therefore a much tougher stance on trader applications can be expected in future. This applies to existing ones as well as any future ones.

A lot of that would depend on people knowing good spray jobs from bad, similar to folk knowing good mechanical work from bad....

 

Some do and some dont.

Talking about spraying (not mechanics), if the customer is happy, then it's a good job isn't it?

To be fair though, who could spot a 'good' job on engine internals?

A lot of trust is placed in traders...

are you guys saying that knightracer are cheep? mine wasnt

Im not saying they are cheap, but would they charge near on 4k for a full respray ?

How much do they quote for a full respray.....?

It may not be cheap, but its probably cheaper, and as said before you get what you pays for, like wise pay cheap pay twice, thats why I would rather pay more now......

Talking about spraying (not mechanics), if the customer is happy, then it's a good job isn't it?

But for example, if the happy customer was to sell their car and the buyer finds a list of paint defects and points it out, the happy customer won't be happy for much longer!

We as a Supra community should help each other out hence help to avoid things like the above example.

Watch this space, I'll be posting my comments on KR as it's relevant.

YPCYPT

Only the older members will remember the contradiction of who coined that acronym!

YPCYPT

 

Only the older members will remember the contradiction of who coined that acronym!

And where is he now........

If anything he was the master at paying cheap.........

Erm, no! Are you sure we discussed Knight Racer!? I only recall the TF nightmare.

 

To be honest I've had so many phone calls and email conversions about the whole TF saga (easily over a hundred) the mentions of KR might have been forgotten...

opps, sorry thought you were refering to TF. my fault.

I have the Nic for parts and CW for suspension and setup... the rest I am working on.

i have no idea what that means

YPCYPT = you pay cheap you pay twice

i have no idea what that means

YPCYPT - You pay cheap, you pay twice, coined by the infamous Dell Trotter himself.......lovelly jubble, got a bargain you'll want here, like a S-AFC while still running 440 injectors......

Re a good bodyshop or should I say the best bodyshop, is with out doubt GVN, don't wast your money on Knight Racer. I've not heard a single good word about work they have done. Don't wanna name names, but recently 2 full respray jobs on two separate supras did not come out too well. Also a mates trial bumper was painted back in Feb, and it exploded on him coz it was not securely fasten, they did not do the admirable thing and admit liability, so he had no choice but to get it done again, else where at his own expense. It was only yesterday I was inspecting another mates Supra, who had work done a few weeks back, and he ain't happy at all!!!!

 

U have been warned!!

just outa curiousity whos trial rear was it that exploded.

I had to repair a replica couple of years back out of my own pocket because i supplied it and the bodyshop passed the buck when it came off. All water under the bridge but abit of an arse when i was questioning my workmanship when it was more likely to be poor fitting

i have no idea what that means

It's a very famous phrase from a few years ago that still holds true today. You Pay Cheap You Pay Twice

I've seen these jokers like TF, KR, Max-GT, Miami-GT, Future motorsports, etc come and go in the last few years. Now I know a little about these cars these guys are as a clear as day, but unfortunately many people don't take notice of the advice provided. TBH - if someone doesn't listen to advice provided then my general attitude is f*ck them. I've done this time and again and been ignored on most occasions. Every member has since had serious issues and now apologised for ignoring the advice... All I can say to future customers is to listen to the advice of those who've been here for years, not the newbies/fanbois that have no real knowledge of car mechanics

apologies wayne just read your other post about the lack of brackets supporting the trial rear bumper

just outa curiousity whos trial rear was it that exploded.

I had to repair a replica couple of years back out of my own pocket because i supplied it and the bodyshop passed the buck when it came off. All water under the bridge but abit of an arse when i was questioning my workmanship when it was more likely to be poor fitting

That very issue was mentioned somewhere in this thread.......but it was fitted by KR, so if you supplied them a rear and they passed the buck onto you then I would imagine its the same.......but the post in this thread said that the guy whos car it was told to basically fook off by KR, so doesnt sound like they rectified it.

If anyone wishes to read my experience in full with KR then please read the quoted post from KR’s trader renewal thread below.

In my opinion KR simply just don’t know anything about bodywork/spraying. On a few occasions they said the work they’d done was perfect yet I was pointing out a list of defects.

Why is it that they keep deciding to re-spray a panel/bumper for free, sometimes when the customer hasn’t asked for it? It’s cos they cock it up or don’t know what they are doing at all!

If you ‘get what you pay for’ then I’ll give you a list of bodyshops that are cheaper than KR but do a better job!

I could have very easily sued the pants off them. Firstly for very poor workmanship, secondly for leaving my car in a dangerous state as they removed the rear crash bar without my knowledge or permission. They made this admission on a PM, which I still have. In hindsight I wish I had taken them to court.

It was only when I threatened to take them to court that they admitted it was their fault that the bumper flew off! HOWEVER THEY CHARGED £150 STILL TO SORT IT OUT! I was desperate to sort it out as I was going to sell the car then, so I had to succumb to their unfair demand. Even then they were late with the work and I lost my buyer. Why haven’t the members who support KR questioned this, as it was totally unfair and unreasonable? This was their reply in their renewal thread:

“I appreciate your comments and I’m sorry if you still feel unhappy with the work. Like our first offer, we will re-do it free of charge until you are happy and that was exactly what we did the 1st time. We only asked if you were willing to contribute towards some costs the 2nd, as having your car in quick meant delaying my pre-booked customers, as you couldn’t wait for the next available slot, where we offered to replace the bumper and re-done it for free. However, I will not go any further with it here as I believe our deal was settled at the time.”

Whether they had to delay another customer or not, they f**ked up my car, the car had become not road worthy as there was no rear bumper because they did not fit it properly and it ripped off….any DECENT bodyshop/garage would have given my car number one prority and not tell me to come in 3 months time! And certainly not charge another £150 for their own f*ck up! A decent trader would have compensated for my financial loss in wasted train tickets and I had to pay for a new number plate and light.

They re-did my car 3 times, costing me money in wasted journeys to their premises only to find the car isn’t still right. I was so angry that I never returned again and had to sort the car out my self (It still had paint defects).

So guys, wake up, KR are just another Turbofit! Nice guys when they want to be but nothing else.

Unfortunately it’s a NO from me. The following is a long read so I apologise.

 

I had a Trial rear bumper supplied, fitted and painted by Knight-Racer last year. When I came to pick up the car after two weeks I was disappointed by the spray/fitting work.

 

· Overlapping of silver paint on the black diffuser part

· Visible bonding adhesive where the sides meet the rear quarter which had bubbled when the bumper had been baked

· Visible dust particles in the lacquer on the rear quarter which had been sprayed after the rear quarter was accidentally chipped by KR with a tool

· Scratches on the bootlid, which had been recently re-sprayed so was spotless.

 

KR should have spotted the above. KR agreed to rectify the issues so I had to leave without the car and about £25 down, as I had to get another train ticket. I came back the following week and the issues were rectified, except for a 4-inch mark in one of the rear quarters where the paint hadn’t blended properly.

The bumper sides were semi-blended for free – However I did not ask for it to be semi blended as I had concerns that in a light rear bump the blend may crack.

Albert offered to re-do the quarter panel again but I declined as it wasn’t too bad and I didn’t want to fork out another £25 for train tickets. Again this should have been spotted and rectified by KR before I picked it up.

 

At the end I was happy, as eventually the work was OK but then….

 

A few months ago the rear part of the bumper decided to rip off!:

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=99640

 

KR were taking no blame but offering to replace it for £399 inc. fitting and spraying. I thought this was totally unfair, as I hadn’t done anything to make it rip off! The large ripped off piece had no localised damage, it was clearly wind drag, there were multiple stress cracks on the inside and where the blend was on the quarter panels. KR weren’t even willing to inspect it. This put a halt to the sale of my car as I had a buyer from Sweden who was willing to pay good money.

I had an oil change done at Phoenix where Mark said there were clearly no additional brackets used to support the underside. I passed this information onto KR and again, no change of heart from them. We agreed that I would take it down to KR to check it out. Another popular trader from this site also confirmed no brackets had been used.

When I got to KR I pleaded with Joe that I was more than happy to jack the car up for him so he can take a look underneath – He refused. Things were getting heated between us. Joe/KR was still not taking blame. My friend (he is a member here too) was stepping in to calm down both Joe and I (I was forced to go past the point of being calm and reasonable as that hadn’t worked with KR). In the end I had to leave by telling Joe that I have no option but to take them to court.

 

I also found out that the rear bumper crash bar had to be taken off to fit the trial rear bumper but KR never informed me about this. This makes the car more dangerous by not having anything to protect the fuel tank. Sure my front crash bar has been removed by another trader for the FMIC but I was told about that and I took on the risks from that.

 

Later that evening I received a PM from Albert/KR and finally they accepted that no brackets had been used. They offered to replace the bumper free but I would have to wait a few months, as they were busy! Surely you give priority to a customer in this situation especially as it was their fault that the bumper had come off! I had a missing bumper and a buyer waiting for my car so I was getting desperate to sort this out.

Albert cheekily offered to bring the repair date forward but I had to pay £150!!!!!!! He said this was to cover some of their costs – But this was no fault of mines! Don’t forget I was desperate to have the bumper replaced! I had no option but to reluctantly agree so as to get this sorted out ASAP. Albert said they may be able to have it all sorted out in 1 week or they may need to take another extra week. In the end it took just over 2 weeks to have the bumper replaced and it cost me £150, £25 for more train tickets and £15 for new number plate as the old one came off and disappeared when the bumper ripped off. Thankfully a member here gave me a free number plate lighting unit, which also had broken with the rear bumper ripping off.

When I came to pick up the car, Joe was telling me how well a job they had done and that I would be really pleased. I found grit in the paint on the rear quarter and a hair/fibre embedded in the lacquer! At this point I was totally p!ssed off and just drove my damn car out of there (after paying £150). The car had not been mopped and I found about 4 whitish marks on the painted areas. After about 3 goes with T-Cut that’s OK now. On all occasions that the car was being worked on, the car was never cleaned and covered in filler dust on the outside, inside and engine bay (I guess the TS bonnet didn’t help).

 

I lost the sale of my car as understandably the buyer was getting p!ssed off and pulled out.

 

I was extremely upset by the whole affair. I’m disappointed that KR failed to spot the poor workmanship on 3 occasions and I spotted them, not even being in the trade!

 

I understand people/traders make mistakes and you should give them a chance to rectify. But KR dealt with this badly and unfairly. And KR never made an apology over the whole thing!

If

So guys, wake up, KR are just another Turbofit! Nice guys when they want to be but nothing else.

The KR Groupies will be upset with that comment but I have to agree with Ro on this one, as a consequence of my experiences of them with the supply of my Trial.

The worst thing is that I even sent them positive feedback as I didn't want to rock the forum boat as KR were all the rage at the time - what a fecking fool I was but at least I'm coming clean now:yes:

Nice guys until it went wrong and then they weren't interested!!

i would'nt trust them to wash my car, never mind spray it, piss poor

i would'nt trust them to wash my car, never mind spray it, piss poor

Lol, if anyone can't be bothered to read my rather long post above, Rich has summed up KR nicely!

Mys due for collection from KR, next week after a full respray. I will post up pics etc etc. Im happy with the service ive so far recieved and the car looks good so far in the pictures.

This thread concerns me slightly i admit, but so far im pleased with what ive seen.

Simon

Why has KnightRacer not commented on this thread?? Or have I missed it?