Buyer Beware - Read this thread before buying on ebay or here

[ensteele]

Originally Posted by AlcyoneDaze

Good, Im glad all is cool. Publicly I apologize for not staying on top of things; The post office would not refund my money order for 90 days and I was in the middle of a stressful move. Lame excuses I know, but thank you again for being understanding, accepting my payment and my apology - you are a good guy and helped me out in a major jam - with your diffferential and your technical advice and assistance. Like anyone needs to be reminded, TomSVX is the best!
In the future you, and any SVX member, can expect payment FIRST, parts second. I hope that $125 helps pay some bills for your new AWD Inc. shop & see ya at Reading man!

Thanks for stepping up to the plate and taking care of this. I am glad all is well again.

[Johnybeas]

anyone know about the ebay user "sub10s" he/she has very little ebay experience hasn't been a member long, but has my much needed drivers side grey visor!!! if anyone knows who this is or if it is a network member please let me know so I can get in contact with them about the visor I so very much need. Thanks!!!

[oregondave]

Japanese Engines-based in New Jersey they sell JDM engines and trannies on EBAY.

I bought a "SVX trans" from them and it ended up being a legacy trans. Same thing happened to another person according to Tom. Even if they were SVX trannies you'd need a JDM TCU for it to work, and maybe a JDM rear diff (or more-4WS) as well. They insisted that it would work for my car and got pretty ****ty with me on the phone. However, they did give me my money back and when I filed a report on PayPal they actually let me keep the part as well (which I sold to partially cover the shipping cost). Not a total rip off, but a super big waste of time pain in the ass to AVOID!!!

[Splinter]

ChicoSVX - Has appeared to rip off a few members of the site, including myself and Oregondave

Paypal'd him $200 a month ago, said he shipped the parts ~20 days ago, nothing. No emails returned, no tracking number.

[Mike621]

Originally Posted by oregondave

Japanese Engines-based in New Jersey they sell JDM engines and trannies on EBAY.

I bought a "SVX trans" from them and it ended up being a legacy trans. Same thing happened to another person according to Tom. Even if they were SVX trannies you'd need a JDM TCU for it to work, and maybe a JDM rear diff (or more-4WS) as well. They insisted that it would work for my car and got pretty ****ty with me on the phone. However, they did give me my money back and when I filed a report on PayPal they actually let me keep the part as well (which I sold to partially cover the shipping cost). Not a total rip off, but a super big waste of time pain in the ass to AVOID!!!

I've heard of that problem before, ending up with a useless VTD trans...

However, I personally had a good experience with them overall.
Two years ago I dealt with that company in person and picked up the 4.11 Legacy transmission for Eric's 92 Ebony there. Originally we were under the impression that the trans was a 4.44, but at the $250 price and the good condition of the trans, we felt we still got a decent deal. They are in a warehouse in one of the worst areas of Paterson NJ

...but the staff was helpful and assisted in loading the trans into my SUV.

[Michael Blue]

I've had a few people call me recently regarding my trans swap. Apparently "BudFreak" is at it again. Because he is working people on this forum again, I'll update this thread so people can be careful. Mods, I will do my best to refrain from commentary and stick to the facts.

"BudFreak" is an SVX enthusiast who runs an "off the books" SVX repair/upgrade shop from his home (in Eastern Ohio, iirc). He occasionally offers pick up and delivery of you car and does a lot of different kinds of work on SVXs - some of which he won't even disclose when he does to your car (I think he believes they should remain "secret mods" or something).

I paid him thousands of dollars to do my trans swap, "add" a trans cooling system, external trans filter and a few other odds and ends to my car a couple years back. He seemed knowledgeable and was a bit cheaper than some other options here on the forums for similar work. He came and picked up the car up (while delivering another one he had worked on from the region) in the time we agreed, but that's where our troubles began.

Once he had the car, he claimed to have found several issues that the car did not seem to have when he picked it up - not the lease of which was a broken radiator. To be fair, he did bring an old radiator with a crack on the top when the car was finally returned to me (months past the agreed upon time frame), so it is possible that this was mine, but again, he has lots of SVX parts sitting around and the "only" replacement he could find was new, very expensive and - according to him - took more than 2 months to have shipped to his location...Seriously delaying the return of my car.

He also changed his "to do" list on my car several times while he had it - without my consent or permission. I was always told about the changes "after the fact".

The major change he made was regarding the trans-cooling system - which I still believe was the single reason for the trans failure in the first place. When we talked before I hired him, he said he would "add a trans cooler to the system, so that can't happen again". Once he had the car, he claimed it "already has a cooler, so [he] didn't need to do that". Keep in mind - this was my #1 issue. Now, after he was banned from this site for inflammatory comments made against me here, he has his own little forum with a thread dedicated to bashing me, where he calls me stupid for "not knowing ALL SVXs come with trans coolers".
My question is this: Not only did I never claim to be a mechanic (that's why I hired him, after all), IF this is the case (and it may be), why would he agree to add one to the car - as if it didn't have one - in the first place? Besides, if mine did come with one, and that was my concern, and he was paid to add one, why not replace the possibly faulty "factory" one while he was in there? Hundreds of dollars PAID for work he never did. (His side: He does claim he told me this and that I agreed to have him do something else instead for the same $ - But even he doesn't know what that "something else" is.)

He also mounted the trans temp GAUGE I asked for in a ridiculous spot, different than where I clearly requested it be placed before he ever agreed to do the work.

Finally, as stated, he had the car something like nearly 3 months for work that was supposed to take 2 weeks.

Now, a couple years later, not only do I have a car I'm unsure of the work on, I have been constantly leaking transmission fluid since the day he brought it back. The few times I've had someone look at the car we always find items he worked on that are finger tight and either loose or leaking. (And here I didn't realize until later that "BudFreak" meant he smoked a lot of weed...My ignorance I suppose).

All this to day; if you get an offer for some semi-cheap work from an "expert" out that way - run, don't walk, to Tom or someone else on here who actually knows (and cares about) what they're doing with your car.

Thanks, and best of luck!

~M

[Mike621]

Michael,

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I had never heard your POV of it. Initially when I met Jason, I thought he was a really standup, straightforward guy with good intentions. He purchased a 92 Teal parts car from me some years ago and I met him a few times, and conversed extensively with him over IM many times, considering him as a friend.

Unfortunately, his seeming inability to own up to certain circumstances regarding his work and integrity caused much grief on both sides, along with very unnecessary "mudslinging" between people, some of which involved myself. Very sorry to see it all turn out this way.

If you ever need any help, just ask.

-Mike

[Michael Blue]

Thanks, I appreciate that!

~M

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by Michael Blue

I've had a few people call me recently regarding my trans swap. Apparently "BudFreak" is at it again. Because he is working people on this forum again, I'll update this thread so people can be careful. Mods, I will do my best to refrain from commentary and stick to the facts.

"BudFreak" is an SVX enthusiast who runs an "off the books" SVX repair/upgrade shop from his home (in Eastern Ohio, iirc). He occasionally offers pick up and delivery of you car and does a lot of different kinds of work on SVXs - some of which he won't even disclose when he does to your car (I think he believes they should remain "secret mods" or something).

I paid him thousands of dollars to do my trans swap, "add" a trans cooling system, external trans filter and a few other odds and ends to my car a couple years back. He seemed knowledgeable and was a bit cheaper than some other options here on the forums for similar work. He came and picked up the car up (while delivering another one he had worked on from the region) in the time we agreed, but that's where our troubles began.

Once he had the car, he claimed to have found several issues that the car did not seem to have when he picked it up - not the lease of which was a broken radiator. To be fair, he did bring an old radiator with a crack on the top when the car was finally returned to me (months past the agreed upon time frame), so it is possible that this was mine, but again, he has lots of SVX parts sitting around and the "only" replacement he could find was new, very expensive and - according to him - took more than 2 months to have shipped to his location...Seriously delaying the return of my car.

He also changed his "to do" list on my car several times while he had it - without my consent or permission. I was always told about the changes "after the fact".

The major change he made was regarding the trans-cooling system - which I still believe was the single reason for the trans failure in the first place. When we talked before I hired him, he said he would "add a trans cooler to the system, so that can't happen again". Once he had the car, he claimed it "already has a cooler, so [he] didn't need to do that". Keep in mind - this was my #1 issue. Now, after he was banned from this site for inflammatory comments made against me here, he has his own little forum with a thread dedicated to bashing me, where he calls me stupid for "not knowing ALL SVXs come with trans coolers".
My question is this: Not only did I never claim to be a mechanic (that's why I hired him, after all), IF this is the case (and it may be), why would he agree to add one to the car - as if it didn't have one - in the first place? Besides, if mine did come with one, and that was my concern, and he was paid to add one, why not replace the possibly faulty "factory" one while he was in there? Hundreds of dollars PAID for work he never did. (His side: He does claim he told me this and that I agreed to have him do something else instead for the same $ - But even he doesn't know what that "something else" is.)

He also mounted the trans cooler I asked for in a ridiculous spot, different than where I clearly requested it be placed before he ever agreed to do the work.

Finally, as stated, he had the car something like nearly 3 months for work that was supposed to take 2 weeks.

Now, a couple years later, not only do I have a car I'm unsure of the work on, I have been constantly leaking transmission fluid since the day he brought it back. The few times I've had someone look at the car we always find items he worked on that are finger tight and either loose or leaking. (And here I didn't realize until later that "BudFreak" meant he smoked a lot of weed...My ignorance I suppose).

All this to day; if you get an offer for some semi-cheap work from an "expert" out that way - run, don't walk, to Tom or someone else on here who actually knows (and cares about) what they're doing with your car.

Thanks, and best of luck!

~M

Michael

It is apparent that the relationship between you and Budfreak has broken irretrievably and that there is now no love lost. So be it.

With all due respect we have no great wish to go over all this territory again. Because of intemperate replies and personal attacks bans were invoked, the world has moved on, and that's where we want to leave it. Done and dusted.

I realise you are being honest when you say you have no technical knowledge, so I will respond to one thing you asked; there is no way Budfreak or anyone else could replace the "factory" trans oil cooler, if faulty, because it is physically a part of the radiator. It's the bottom left corner in fact. As often as not when this is suspected of being faulty or clogged mechanics will by-pass it completely by adding an additional cooler in front of or between the rads, which then does all the work of cooling the trans oil.

As Mike says any of us will be glad to give you advice or help where we can, but unless there has been some new problems, not something that happened years ago, don't keep resurrecting old issues.

There are many more people on this Network, indeed members of both forums, who have had very good experience of Budfreak's services, and for that reason a sense of balance must apply.

Thanks for telling your side of it in a reasonable fashion, that's a big help.

Joe

[Onetrack]

Wow, thats quite the review of Budfreak -

I'll back him up a bit from the best of my knowledge to anyone reading this forum - Now I don't know him personally as I'm up in BC, about 4400 km away from him so he's never worked on my car directly - but he's assisted the mechanics here who've found him easy to work with and get along with.

I've ordered a few things from him for my car and they've arrived well packaged and prompt - he's always been courteous with me - I know I haven't posted much on this forum, but I've been on the IRC channel a bit and helped out when I can - I'm on both forums and post about as much on each - I've read this whole us vs them and it really strikes me as high school. I don't want to get involved with this, but in my opinion Budfreak knows what he's talking about, has helped me resolve any issue promptly, has given myself and the mechanics working on my car sound advice and probably saved me a good chunk of cash reccomending easy fixes over replacement of the steering pump that I needed to do.

Anyways, I dont really post here much but I do lurk - I don't post much on the other forum either, not for a lack of commitment, just for a lack of time.

Take it what you will - as he hasn't actually touched my car, but my dealings with him so far have been honest and spot on.

[oregondave]

Originally Posted by Splinter

ChicoSVX - Has appeared to rip off a few members of the site, including myself and Oregondave

Paypal'd him $200 a month ago, said he shipped the parts ~20 days ago, nothing. No emails returned, no tracking number.

ditto! Avoid chicosvx!!!

[Michael Blue]

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

Michael...I realise you are being honest when you say you have no technical knowledge, so I will respond to one thing you asked; there is no way Budfreak or anyone else could replace the "factory" trans oil cooler, if faulty, because it is physically a part of the radiator. It's the bottom left corner in fact. As often as not when this is suspected of being faulty or clogged mechanics will by-pass it completely by adding an additional cooler in front of or between the rads, which then does all the work of cooling the trans oil.

Didn't know that, even after all of this. That fact makes it even more suspicious the 3 different versions of what he was going to do (or had done) to my car. Apparently the radiator replacement then should have handled this issue. That makes 4 different variations I've been given (with the 3 different stories Jason told me).

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

...Thanks for telling your side of it in a reasonable fashion, that's a big help.

Joe

Thanks Joe. It is not my intention to dig up the past or to cause problems for anyone on this forum; only to remove the necessity for multiple people to PM/email me asking for my impressions of his past work. I did my best to be completely unemotional and factual in my account.

Thanks!

~M

[y2daniel1981]

Originally Posted by Michael Blue

Didn't know that, even after all of this. That fact makes it even more suspicious the 3 different versions of what he was going to do (or had done) to my car. Apparently the radiator replacement then should have handled this issue. That makes 4 different variations I've been given (with the 3 different stories Jason told me).


Thanks Joe. It is not my intention to dig up the past or to cause problems for anyone on this forum; only to remove the necessity for multiple people to PM/email me asking for my impressions of his past work. I did my best to be completely unemotional and factual in my account.

Thanks!

~M

I'm not defending budfreak here, but I just want some clarification on something. You say
""The major change he made was regarding the trans-cooling system - which I still believe was the single reason for the trans failure in the first place. When we talked before I hired him, he said he would "add a trans cooler to the system, so that can't happen again". Once he had the car, he claimed it "already has a cooler, so [he] didn't need to do that". Keep in mind - this was my #1 issue. Now, after he was banned from this site for inflammatory comments made against me here, he has his own little forum with a thread dedicated to bashing me, where he calls me stupid for "not knowing ALL SVXs come with trans coolers".
My question is this: Not only did I never claim to be a mechanic (that's why I hired him, after all), IF this is the case (and it may be), why would he agree to add one to the car - as if it didn't have one - in the first place? Besides, if mine did come with one, and that was my concern, and he was paid to add one, why not replace the possibly faulty "factory" one while he was in there? Hundreds of dollars PAID for work he never did. (His side: He does claim he told me this and that I agreed to have him do something else instead for the same $ - But even he doesn't know what that "something else" is.)"

But then you go on to say ""He also mounted the trans cooler I asked for in a ridiculous spot, different than where I clearly requested it be placed before he ever agreed to do the work."

So which is it? Did he or did he not add one? You're making contradicting statements there buddy.

[Michael Blue]

Hey, "Buddy".

He mounted the GAUGE in a ridiculous spot.
Typo. I'm human.

Call me "buddy" again...Please.

~M

[y2daniel1981]

Originally Posted by Michael Blue

Hey, "Buddy".

He mounted the GAUGE in a ridiculous spot.
Typo. I'm human.

Call me "buddy" again...Please.

~M

Where did you ever mention a gauge friend? (EDIT: I see you added it now) I'm not saying what you said isn't true, guy, just trying to weed out any typos or incorrect information for future people before dealing with him, buddy. And as long as it isn't vulgar don't worry about what I call you, it means nothing.