Synergy Motorsports---BAD EXPERIENCE, DON'T TRUST!!!

[axnhose]

Just thought I would let everybody know about my experience with Rick at Synergy Motorsports in Livermore, CA. I had $17+K worth of work done at his shop to my 2013 ZL1. After his mods and 500 miles of clutch break in, I took the car to the track for the first time. 3/4 of the way down the track (900 feet), the car would not shift into 4th gear, so I coasted through the lights at an 11.30/110mph. After getting back to the pits, I realized that the clutch was making a ticking noise when the clutch pedal was not engaged. Once the pedal was pushed to the floor, the sound went away. The car shifted through the gears, but I decided to call it quits and let Rick figure it out (I trailered the car to the track, as it was slicked down). I did have his shop install a Centerforce dual disc clutch setup and one of his custom billet aluminum slave cylinders. He recommended this as the car made close to 800rwhp, and he said the factory clutch would never hold up. It was $2600.00 just for the clutch and slave cylinder, and of course his labor.

I called Rick the next day, told him the news, and he said since he was moving his shop from San Jose to Livermore, he didn't want any new jobs. I thought to myself "how odd" that my car in NOT a new job, but an old job that had an issue he needs to look at, and hopefully repair. He assured me that he would take care of my car once he finished his move. I called him several months later, and his response was "I'm still moving", and to call him in another month. Mind you, the car was at the track on April 10th, and this was in September, 5 MONTHS LATER!!! I called, emailed, and left messages for the next month, and finally on October 1st, Rick said he does not want to work on my car, and refuses to do any future work on my car.

One would think that $17K worth of mods would count towards at least looking at my car, let alone fix my car. His response on October 1st was "since the car broke on the drag strip, no parts are warrantied or guaranteed". I did exactly what he instructed me to do (drive 500 miles to break in the clutch (the car/engine had 400 miles on it since new)). It is also up to him to warranty the parts, and he could if he wanted to. One thing I did fail to mention was that before all the mods were preformed, I was promised that Rick would always be there for me, helping me with the car, and whatever future mods I would want. I also told Rick that I would make this arrangement with him and also make a commitment with his shop to transform my car into a car that I had always wanted, but also a car that would survive all the punishment I could dish out, as long as he would be there and "have my back". He not only declined to fix my car, but has not even LOOKED at my car. Its been 6 months and my car has not moved. Actually, I did move it last weekend just to rotate the tires, and the clutch pedal totally failed, sending the clutch pedal to the floor, and it would not disengage the drive train with the car moving in reverse. I had to jamb on the brakes and kill the ignition to keep the car from going all the way down the driveway. His custom "in house" slave cylinder has failed, and he has declined to repair his own fabricated part!!

I bought the car new for $60K, not as a daily driver, but as a car that I could take to the track, and pass on to my kids later in life (It was a car I would NEVER sell). Now with another $17K done in mods, the car has been sitting for 6 months and the relationship I was hoping to build with a shop is now gone because of what he says "I complained about where my money was going, and what he was doing with my car" and "we didnt tune that car after the clutch was broken in". I found another thing interesting, is that once the clutch was installed at his shop, he suggested that I leave the car with him, and he would put 500 miles on it, driving the car to and from his house to "seat" in the clutch, and then retune the car with the clutch broken in. I declined with his offer.

So, if you have read my entire post, and have made it to where we are at now, DO NOT TRUST Rick at Synergy Motorsports in Livermore, CA, Formerly of San Jose, CA. I am now stuck with a car with tons of mods, and I will have to look for another shop to build a rapport with, and hopefully repair my car!!

[axnhose]

Just thought I would let everybody know about my experience with Rick at Synergy Motorsports in Livermore, CA. I had $17+K worth of work done at his shop, and after 500 miles of engine and clutch break in, I took the car to the track for the first time after all the mods. 3/4 of the way down the track, the car would not shift into 4th gear, so I coasted through the lights at an 11.30/110mph. After getting back to the pits, I realized that the clutch was making a ticking noise when the clutch pedal was not engaged. Once the pedal was pushed to the floor, the sound went away. The car shifted through the gears, but I decided to call it quits and let Rick figure it out. I did have his shop install a Centerforce dual disc clutch setup and one of his custom billet aluminum slave cylinders. He recommended this as the car made close to 800rwhp, and he said the factory clutch would never hold up. It was $2600.00 just for the clutch and slave cylinder, and of course his labor.

I called Rick the next day, told him the news, and he said since he was moving his shop from San Jose to Livermore, he didn't want any new jobs. I thought to myself that my car in NOT a new job, but an old job that had an issue. He assured me that he would take car of my car once he finished his move. I called him several months later, and his response was he was still "I'm moving", and to call him in another month. Mind you, the car was at the track on April 10th, and this was in September, 5 MONTHS LATER!!! I called, emailed, and left messages for the next month, and finally on October 1st, Rick said he does not want to work on my car, and refuses to do any future work on my car.

One would think that $17K worth of mods would count towards at least looking at my car, let alone fix my car. His response on October 1st was since the car broke on the drag strip, no parts are warrantied or guaranteed. I did exactly what he instructed me to do (drive 500 miles to break in the clutch (the car/engine had 400 miles on it since new)). It is also up to him to warranty the parts, and he could if he wanted to. One thing I did fail to mention was that before all the mods were preformed, I was promised that Rick would always be there for me, helping me with the car, and whatever future mods I would want. I also told Rick that I would make this arrangement with him and also make a commitment with his shop to transform my car into a car that I had always wanted, but also a car that would survive all the punishment I could dish out, as long as he would be there and "have my back"

I bought the car new for $60K, not as a daily driver, but as a car that I could take to the track, and pass on to my kids later in life (It was a car I would NEVER sell). Now with another $17K done in mods, the car has been sitting for 6 months and the relationship I was hoping to build with a shop is now gone because of what he says "I complained about where my money was going, and what he was doing with my car" and "we didnt tune that car after the clutch was broken in". I found another thing interesting, is that once the clutch was installed at his shop, he suggested that I leave the car with him, and he would put 500 miles on it, driving the car to and from his house to "seat" in the clutch, and then retune the car with the clutch broken in. I declined with his offer.

So, if you have read my entire post, and have made it to where we are at now, DO NOT TRUST Rick at Synergy Motorsports in Livermore, CA, Formerly of San Jose, CA.

[Bigtime53]

Well I do not know how long he was in buisness before you took your car to him. I take that he is open and that is why you said not to take your car to him. If this is the way he works it will not be to long he will move again after the people in that area find out his bad buisness practices. About another person to work on your car.I know he is a ways from you but ship your car to ADM in dallas and andy will take care of you. You will not have any problems when your car leaves his shop,it will be fixed right.

[jessrayo]

So sorry to hear about all of this. I have wondered about your car several times because I remember us talking about what clutch to put in it. Plus it seemed that your car was going to be a clear contender for the fastest manual ZL1 in the quarter. I don't know who you can talk to in California, there has been some talk about ADM opening a shop somewhere on the west coast and you would be in great hands if they worked on your car. Best of luck to you bro.

[TripleBlkZL1]

Take it to Ryne at Cunningham Motorsports and your problem is solved. Sorry to hear about this.

[Blu Ray]

Is he the only one to ever work on the car? if so please list all of the Mods completed by his shop, and other shops if so...there seems to be a missing piece to this puzzle

[Garrett Custom]

I would start with Better Business Bureau and file a complaint there first. It doesn't sound like a big deal but when he needs a business loan the banks always look at BBB for complaints and to make sure the loan will be repaid. You could also pursue legal recourse not sure how California does it. Double check your paperwork and see if anything in there says no warranty for racing.

If you were closer to Pensacola I'd fix it for you.

Just my 2 cents and good luck.

[DrkPhx]

Sorry to hear about the ordeal. I PM'd Rick on here with a few questions and he was helpful. There is a shop in Nor Cal that is popular with the CTS-V guys you might want to look in to. Though I'm no where near your hp level; I'm sticking with the stock clutch even after the original one goes out. It seems a lot of the V guys have problems with aftermarket clutches as well.

[christianchevell]

a verbal contract is a hard thing to prove, yet receipts of his work done may sway a judge to prove that he had a heavy hand in what ever went wrong with your car even if you were on a track it was purpose built just for that and a small claims court filing may make someone change their mind! Here they arbitrate, and if and only if at a impasse do they go ahead with the court case, I have had to sue people more than once for their lack of honor, and twice settled out of court for what I wanted, the other time I carried a cylinder head into court with me and won also. When you have honor do not be afraid to stand up for what you know is right, others can see it, and judge it and also I hope you saved the emails and printed them out. Good luck

[axnhose]

Is he the only one to ever work on the car? if so please list all of the Mods completed by his shop, and other shops if so...there seems to be a missing piece to this puzzle

Yes, he is the only person/shop to do ANY work on my car. The car only had 380 miles on its clock when it went to his shop, and has just over 900 now.

Mods are

Custom cam
Trick Flow Heads
American Racing 1 3/4 stainless headers, 3" exhaust, stock mufflers
Blower and crank pulleys
Injectors
Roto Fab CAI
Ported blower and intake
Custom tune

Centerforce Dyad dual disc clutch assembly
Synergy Motorsports custom slave cylinder
Stock T.O. bearing

That is one of the biggest issues I had with Rick, is that he did not give me a detailed receipt of what he actually did. If I did any bugging, it was to get a written report of what he did, and the parts he used.

Be careful of him. He is a PINA (pain in the ---) to get a message to him, and if you do get him on the phone, he is even worse. Then, I guess if you wont let him test drive your car for 500 miles to "seat" the clutch, you get put on his "BAD" list.

[CanadianZL1#992]

Originally Posted by DrkPhx

Sorry to hear about the ordeal. I PM'd Rick on here with a few questions and he was helpful. There is a shop in Nor Cal that is popular with the CTS-V guys you might want to look in to. Though I'm no where near your hp level; I'm sticking with the stock clutch even after the original one goes out. It seems a lot of the V guys have problems with aftermarket clutches as well.

I'm on the fence myself. My engine will be coming out this winter. I'm 3 years now on the stock clutch. Only 6000 miles but quite abit of drag strip racing. Sorry to hear about your troubles OP, hope you get it sorted out

[garyw]

i was with you until the end, why didnt you retune it like he said? wondering why you declined the break in offer.

but, you car, your right to chose whatever on it.

[axnhose]

i was with you until the end, why didnt you retune it like he said? wondering why you declined the break in offer.

but, you car, your right to chose whatever on it.


Really, let him drive my car for several weeks to "seat" the clutch, then have him retune it?? Maybe your OK in trusting another guy you don't know, to drive, and HOPE he takes car of, your $70K car. But NOT me!! What happens if there is an accident with him in my/upir car, what then?? You going to be OK with a car that has now had some repair work done?? NOT ME!!

I will be the one to drive the car for the first 1000 miles, and then the first 10,000 miles, if it ever makes it that high.

[garyw]

Well, either way, sounds like he should have stood behind his work etc.
I would use your time on google, yelp and other online review mediums to show your bad experience. You spent a hell of a lot of money and he dumped u. Thats bad business.