Kdouglas89
Proven Member
- 436
- 11
- Jul 8, 2013
-
Davenport,
Iowa
If you are in the Clarksville / Nashville area, beware of this guy "Thomas Lewis" and his shop.
I read the first thread about Thomas before I went there, but I was hoping it was just a bad experience. I had an oil pump sprocket break, and I had my car towed to him to inspect the damage. I pretty much knew the engine was toast, and I wanted someone knowledgeable to give me opinions on my situation. Right off the bat he said I needed a whole new motor. I asked him about rebuilding mine, because my block still might be good, and just replace the head. He pretty much told me he didn't have the time to rebuild the motor, and he would just do a motor swap. Being this was my DD, I needed a car pretty quick. He then advised me to order a motor from one of his 3 dealers "JDM motor". He said it would cost around $1500.00 for the long block. This seem't pretty steep. I told him I would look around first. I found a guy on this website selling a motor, so I purchased it, and had it shipped to the shop. I received a call a few days later from thomas stating there were metal shavings in the oil pan. I came by, and indeed there was. I needed my car up and running, so I paid him $1700.00 dollars for a motor that was supposed to be less than 35k miles, and a 30-day warranty as long as it had oil, coolant, and wasn't overheating. I paid him cash same day. After a week I called, and Thomas stated he just received the motor, and a week later they had it installed. I paid another $1000.00 for install.
Thomas was supposed to install DSM link, and a new ECU I provided him with when I received the car. He stated one of his guys screwed up the socket portion, and he would have the ECU done within the next day. He said until I get DSM link in, baby the car and watch gauges. I did just this. It took thomas about a week to finally say he had socketed the ecu, and another 2 days to install my WB with the ECU. I picked up the car, and realized thomas swapped plug wires, but did not invert CAS in link. I had driven home like that. I called thomas and asked, and he continued to argue with me that you didn't have to. My car ran like s*** the whole way, and dsmlink states with 95 ecu YOU HAVE TO. He kept trying to argue it. By the time I got home, the car was smoking white. I immediately called thomas. Thomas said the smoke was because I hadnt tuned in my injectors yet. This didnt make any sense, because it would be black or dark grey. I mentioned it, and like always, wanted to argue. He said to bring the car back, and stated I must have been "hot rodding" the car around. I told him my work schedule being 0630-1800 M-F prevents me from easily getting my car there. I garaged the car for a week, and began to try and trouble shoot the issue myself. DSMlink was reading temps of access of 230. I purchased a block tested, and it read that I had a blown head gasket.
I called thomas monday morning, and after about 6 attempts, he picked up. I told him the situation, and he pretty much told me to screw off. Apparently the warranty starts the day of purchase. THE DAY OF PURCHASE hahahaha. It took a week to get the motor, and a week and a half for him to install. whattttttttttt? I put 328 miles on the motor since I have had it. Thomas told me to change oil after 1000 miles, so reset my odometer. I asked Thomas the name of the company that the motor was purchased from, so I could talk to them about the warranty. He would not give me the name, or the number. He then hung up on me. For all I know, he could have pulled the bad motor from him garage. Me being in the military, I bought it to the attention of our consumer services. He barely let the lady speak, and kept rambling on and on like he usually does. He pretty much told her tuning my car voided the engine warranty to begin with. "He tuned it before it left his shop, and I had not touched it since".
Thomas has been reported to the BBB, and he is currently being investigated by Fort Campbell. I have an appointment with Jag "Military lawyers" on the 29th. Even if I say forget it, and replace the gasket myself, consumer services said he would more than likely be black listed from post. "Military personal will be restricted from his shop".
To say it blunt, Thomas is a moron.
He does very shotty work, and has no time to do anything.
Please beware of this scam artist.
I read the first thread about Thomas before I went there, but I was hoping it was just a bad experience. I had an oil pump sprocket break, and I had my car towed to him to inspect the damage. I pretty much knew the engine was toast, and I wanted someone knowledgeable to give me opinions on my situation. Right off the bat he said I needed a whole new motor. I asked him about rebuilding mine, because my block still might be good, and just replace the head. He pretty much told me he didn't have the time to rebuild the motor, and he would just do a motor swap. Being this was my DD, I needed a car pretty quick. He then advised me to order a motor from one of his 3 dealers "JDM motor". He said it would cost around $1500.00 for the long block. This seem't pretty steep. I told him I would look around first. I found a guy on this website selling a motor, so I purchased it, and had it shipped to the shop. I received a call a few days later from thomas stating there were metal shavings in the oil pan. I came by, and indeed there was. I needed my car up and running, so I paid him $1700.00 dollars for a motor that was supposed to be less than 35k miles, and a 30-day warranty as long as it had oil, coolant, and wasn't overheating. I paid him cash same day. After a week I called, and Thomas stated he just received the motor, and a week later they had it installed. I paid another $1000.00 for install.
Thomas was supposed to install DSM link, and a new ECU I provided him with when I received the car. He stated one of his guys screwed up the socket portion, and he would have the ECU done within the next day. He said until I get DSM link in, baby the car and watch gauges. I did just this. It took thomas about a week to finally say he had socketed the ecu, and another 2 days to install my WB with the ECU. I picked up the car, and realized thomas swapped plug wires, but did not invert CAS in link. I had driven home like that. I called thomas and asked, and he continued to argue with me that you didn't have to. My car ran like s*** the whole way, and dsmlink states with 95 ecu YOU HAVE TO. He kept trying to argue it. By the time I got home, the car was smoking white. I immediately called thomas. Thomas said the smoke was because I hadnt tuned in my injectors yet. This didnt make any sense, because it would be black or dark grey. I mentioned it, and like always, wanted to argue. He said to bring the car back, and stated I must have been "hot rodding" the car around. I told him my work schedule being 0630-1800 M-F prevents me from easily getting my car there. I garaged the car for a week, and began to try and trouble shoot the issue myself. DSMlink was reading temps of access of 230. I purchased a block tested, and it read that I had a blown head gasket.
I called thomas monday morning, and after about 6 attempts, he picked up. I told him the situation, and he pretty much told me to screw off. Apparently the warranty starts the day of purchase. THE DAY OF PURCHASE hahahaha. It took a week to get the motor, and a week and a half for him to install. whattttttttttt? I put 328 miles on the motor since I have had it. Thomas told me to change oil after 1000 miles, so reset my odometer. I asked Thomas the name of the company that the motor was purchased from, so I could talk to them about the warranty. He would not give me the name, or the number. He then hung up on me. For all I know, he could have pulled the bad motor from him garage. Me being in the military, I bought it to the attention of our consumer services. He barely let the lady speak, and kept rambling on and on like he usually does. He pretty much told her tuning my car voided the engine warranty to begin with. "He tuned it before it left his shop, and I had not touched it since".
Thomas has been reported to the BBB, and he is currently being investigated by Fort Campbell. I have an appointment with Jag "Military lawyers" on the 29th. Even if I say forget it, and replace the gasket myself, consumer services said he would more than likely be black listed from post. "Military personal will be restricted from his shop".
To say it blunt, Thomas is a moron.
He does very shotty work, and has no time to do anything.
Please beware of this scam artist.
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