I'll give it to steve (from lucky star), I bought a JDM from him, hes a reasonable guy. He got his guys working on the car a whole day to check why my turbo didnt work right, and replaced the turbo twice in a day, (but not the housing).. and he didnt charge me either considering they spent an entire day.. and it still didn't work properly.. but after that he said take it to magnus to find out what the problem is, since hes not a 'turbo' specialist.

so I took my car to them. So turned out that my exhaust manifold and turbo housing was cracked. Ok, so we called Steve from lucky star to give us another exhaust manifold/housing, and got the manifold, but all the engines he had, had cracked housings, which he said he'll take care of later, Im still waiting for him to call me when he gets one in, and he said he'll put it in... Ok, thats fine and dandy.

Now at magnus, the guy working on my car, Gary I think, said that I have an oil leak as well. First he says it was comming from the timing belt area, then later when my pops goes over to talk to him, he says its just the oil seal, around the oil filter. So he puts a new seal so he was working on the oil filter assembly area... anyways, so he put it on. So FINALLY I get to pick up my car this morning.

so I pick up my car, pay them cash for all this labour, and go. On the 401, just before hwy10, when im close to work, ALL THE OIL leaks out. Im freaked, I saw the oil gauge go to 0, and the engine was about to stop, and i had a truck behind me, and losing speed. God must have been with me to get me in the shoulder.. that was one scary experience.. so eventually I get the car towed all the way back there.

As soon as I towed the car back to Magnus while its sitting outside still on the towtruck, the guys were quick to say it was some problem with the timing belt and thats where the oil came out of. They instantly suggested that its going to be a whole day of labour, and they'd look at it later, pretty much ignoring me. So im just sitting there walking around waiting for my dad to come to drive me to work now.

Also, after just paying them a whole ton of money in cash just an hour or so before, I asked the guy with a limp (sorry I dont know his name, im not trying to degrade anyone) if I could borrow $90 I was short to pay the tow truck driver, telling him I'd pay him back. That guy brushed me off saying he had no money and I had to walk all the way to a bank machine... In my head I was like.. "ok there buddy.. you have the $500 I just gave you... all you had to say was 'no'"

So Im standing outside thinking what could be the problem with my talon while waiting for my pops to show up, considering none of those guys would talk to me or look at my car, and went on their own way.. Im surprised they had the manners to allow me to use their phone. So eventually, the older gentelmen, their father I'm assuming, pulled up and was walking around, and since he saw my earlier in the morning, he asked me what i was doing there. My pops showed up at the same time too, and we both stayed there.. I told him my story, and he looked at the problem. he made the younger guy gary move out some rx7 so he could look at my car, which gary was upset at doing, and then their father found out the problem was simple.. that the oil assembly wasnt tight enough, and became lose (just the screw where the oil filter plugs onto). My guess is since the seal he put on is RIGHT THERE he didnt tighten it properly which he should have, or I dont even want to think, but concievably might have loosened it on purpose, as I hear dishonest mechanics do stuff like this. But im not a techie, and I could be totally wrong... but things didnt just seem right... And that gary guy was quick to say he had nothing to do with it... And also, one of the guys was quick to tell their father that "this is a common problem with talons" its like they wanted to tell their father something else to shift blame somewhere else, well thats how it appeared to me... Ok, so for you technical guys, is this really a common problem with our cars, does the screw that the oil filter go on to just become lose, and does the oil pour out??? I'd like to know if that guy was lying, just for my self conscious.. So their father wrenched on this screw and did it all himself.. And he put on another oil filter/oil. Im glad their father showed up and took the initiative of doing it on his own, because if he didnt, these guys would have took apart the car, billed me out of all of my tuition money, and then problably gave the car back, in god knows what condition.

Im not one to complain much, but what they said they did and what they really did is a mystery, and there are inconsistencies. First that gary guy said he put on 3 hoses or something for like $15/each. But this wasnt on this bill, what did he put on?.. They chaged tons of labour for taking out the exhaust manifold and putting on another one. I dunno how it added up to $500 or so, to take out an exhaust manifold/turbo housing, and put another exhaust manifold back on, and put on a seal around the oil filter.. I just found them dishonest. But personally, I think they should have paid the $150 towing I had to pay, since because of either their miswork, or incompetance, i had to endure...

seriously, how would you feel if you took your car to a mechanic, they said there was a problem, they did work around that area (the oil filter area), and you came close to death because of the area they were working on totally blew up oil, casued your car to stop like in the middle of the highway with a honking truck right behind you? Then after the fact when you tow your car back, they treat you with no respect? I didnt argue nor I didnt even complain to them... I just want you guys to judge for yourself.

An honest mechanic is a real mechanic. I felt these guys were dishonest and not that nice either for that fact. Honestly, Im rational, nice to people, but these guys except for their father have little etiquette. And if it wasnt for their father, I would've been our a lot more $$$ for no reason at all. I do not suggest you take your car there unless you deal with their father. On another note, could someone suggest an *honest* mechanic that knows dsms somewhere in the west end? Im never in HELL going back there again, I dont care how much of a dsm/turbo specialist they are. This is my first and last experience with magnus motorsport.

Well well... how things turn around. We all know how I feel about Magnus and their "mishaps" but we won't go there.

As for your the oil cooler nut. It does come loose on talons when loosening the filter off this is a common occurance. However being a 'specialty' dsm mechanic they should know to watch for this, as every other dsmer knows to always check to make sure that bolt isn't loose.

As for paying your tow bill, 3 times I have been involved with friends cars breaking down after taking it to a mechanic, all 3 times the mechanic has owned up to his mistake and payed the tow bill.

Bottom line is, if you want to spend a whole WHACK of dough and get the same service any joe schmo mechanic would give you then by all means Magnus rocks the spot for ya.

Im sure however if Marco worked on your car personally he would have tightened the nut (im being serious here) He does know his talons, however he can't run the whole show all at once. So no disrespect to my brotha Marco in this post.

A lot of people seem to keep it to themselves when having bad experiences about Magnus. I have heard a number of horror stories. But as Marco has already stated "you do something good 5 people hear about it, you do something bad the whole world hears about it"

Well it seems that half the world has told me something bad so does that mean I should tell the other half about it? Im glad you did Farrukh!

[]DEACE!

God damnit!!!!!!!!!!! I thought Magnus was the place to go for our cars!!?? I was planning on going down there this fall to get some work done. Where the hell should I go now??

Why drive to Toronto when you have Tapp Auto right there in Ottawa?

Ok, thanks for the replies. I guess when he took out the oil filter to put on the seal, he didnt tighten the nut.

So now with certainty I can say its their fault. I think if Marco is honest as some vouch for him, he will reply to this and offer my $150 for towing back.

Last time I heard a story like this was on an anti Canadian Tire website,, Pretty sad when you hear of an Expert DSM Shop can't do a simple oil change.

OK, I will chime in for only one purpose (because I am a moderator of THIS forum.)

The only thing I find disturbing about your post
Farrukh is the fact the before you have even spoken to the owner of the business in question, you post here. I think before you accuse ANY business of anything bad you should at least settle it with the owner. If after that you are still not satisfied/comfortable with the resolve, then post it.

Keep it civil and it will stay open. And please keep us updated on the outcome.

No other shop would have tightened that nut, either. Have you SEEN that "nut"?? It's actually a stud. When you take the filter off, it's in the direction that loosens the stud.

I honestly doubt any other shop would have picked up the tab for this as well. They didn't install that "stud" so, is it up to them to ensure it's torqued properly?

Seems to me the mitsu engineers are to blame on this one.

Granted, a "DSM" shop should know about this, but I'm not sure that makes them responsible for it. You don't put your best guys on oil filter changes, and sometimes those guys don't know all the tricks yet.

[The above is my 2 cents.. (possibly less)]

Steve (from Lucky Star) is a really nice guy.. mention my name to him and get a good discount

Chris is way too busy to do some of the work I need done. His business has grown like crazy this past year so he is booked like crazy. Plus, I like Toronto.

Yeah, I suppose if I were having an oil change, but I wasnt. Why would I go to a performance shop specialist to have an oil change? When my pops talked to the guy, he said there was an oil leak from that area and that it was the seal on the filter.. so he worked on that area of the car.

Well you could be right, it can be all a coincidence. But the simple facts are that they did something to that area of the car, opened that assembly, put on that seal, did whatever else, and that area of the car nearly cost me my life.

I find it HARD to believe that it was mere coincidence that after them touching that area of the car, causing all my oil to leak on hwy401 like that was just a 'common' occurence. I think most people would agree.

But who am I to say?

I would have preffered a phone call before this post here, But I can understand your pissed.

I heard of this when I came in this afternoon, My father was very angry. And I interoggated everybody in my shop on what exactly happened. Of course nobody wants to own up to it, they don't want to lose their job. Its a rather unfortunate incident, but it is a common occurence among DSM's. I have seen it many times before. They loosen from vibration.

I don't suggest you blame Steve for not lending you the money for the tow truck cause when I'm not here my dad handles the money. But I do appreciate knowing what goes on here when I'm not around. I know mechanics that work for me will never, and never have, ever admitted the blame because I charge their ass when they frack up. In this situation I can't really judge because it is well documented in the DSM world that this happens quite often.

At any rate, I would like a phone call from you tommorow. I can do something about the towtruck bill and I'd like to give the car a personal inspection for my own piece of mind. I'm also forwarding a hardcopy of this to my mechanics for disciplinary measures.

I was following this thread which for different reasons interested me, I was waiting for Marco's responce and I must TRUELY say that had the best possible reply. A perfect "crisis managment"(it wasn't a crisis, the word is that!). Or even better than that handling a "bad" case which he didn't cause.

Anyhow, I hope the issue gets resolved peacefully as it appears to be.

Amin

I must say, very professional of Marco to reply to this thread and the way he has handled it. Props to you Marco, and I'll hopefully be seeing you this fall or next spring.

Haha

Even I am impressed. No swearing, cursing or name calling. Good stuff!

Keep us updated.

Yeah I agree, Im sorry.. i didnt mean to defame anyone, I was just really pissed, and thought talking to them would get me nowhere. I mean I dont like arguing with people, when its not worth it, cause $150 is not really much to complain about... I really did appreciate what Marco's father did and how he dealt with it... I found him respectable.

So I'll give Marco a shout sometime tomorrow.. then keep everyone posted on the outcome.

I find that talking to ppl about issues that involve them or their business in this matter is very helpful. Having dealt with Marco and his father (who's one of the coolest dads I met) I can honestly say that they are both nice guys. Don't however expect someone to be nice to you if you call and start swearing, calling them names or anything of that matter. So the lesson here, always be nice and polite, it's like with cops, you want them to lower your ticket on the spot, don't start swearing at them, or be rude, that won't work.

As far as worksmanship, I never knew about that problem, the guy that changed the seal prolly didn't know, sh!t and if he did and didn't check??? sh!t happens, it's an accident, just look at the ubb, in the past year I've read like 10 stories on people forgetting to put the Oil Drain plug back in, so let's not all go hardcore on Magnus for that...

Seems to me, this one's done...

If either of you want it unlocked, let me know.