Modifying My Is 200

[Bazza]

Barrie...you and I have had a few personal conversations with regard to your issues with Prolex and you have been quite professional about it until this thread gave you the opportunity to kick back at Prolex.

yes Mike, i have and allways attempt to act in a professional way, unlike i was accused off, i make no excuses that my behavour of late could be construed as unusual, i have found this whole scenario rather sad, and suffice to say my experiences were very similar, its rather painful to see it happening

and i was almost praising dave for doing the right thing ;)

[Parthiban]

If no one minds, could I ask a slightly rookie question?

I know there's all the issues with Nico's car being LHD, but how long should a turbo conversion like this have taken? :duh:

[Mr Morse]

How long is a piece of string?

How deep is a wallet?

[MacRS200]

How long is a piece of string?

How deep is a wallet?

So how long to SC an IS300 and how deep is your wallet?

[Monster-Mat]

the turbo is sourced from the US as far as i am LED to understand, so the issue of it being lhd seem odd, especially considering that, there is no steering column to interfer with the down pipe on a lhd car, and the only thing that is "in the way" is the abs unit which sits near where the power steering pot is on the UK cars.

so technically its EASIER to fit the kit on a lhd car

[Bazza]

the turbo is sourced from the US as far as i am led to understand, so the issue of it being lhd seem odd, especially considering that, there is no steering column to interfer with the down pipe on a lhd car, and the only thing that is "in the way" is the abs unit which sits near where the power steering pot is on the UK cars.

so technically its EASIER to fit the kit on a lhd car

ROADRASH quoted :

Hmm... my friend and me installed it, but it's not that easy as it looks like on the pics.

It took about 6 hours for the oil works alone.

The intercooler working about 1 day.

Nothing really fits as it should, you have to cut, bend or screw something evrywhere and at every part.

Oh and for RHD models it's even harder because of the power steering and such.

Well, I wouldn't do that by myself if I weren't a bit experienced in such things.

Every hour you get another surprise which thing f*cks with you or what doesn't really fit without some custom work.

All in all it took about 5-6 days for us, because we don't have a professional

workshop like TDI or such.

[Rsarin]

with all due respect nico,i feel you have been naive in thinking that this would be an immediate success.A car coming from abroad to get a turbo conversion done on whatever time scale(although 6 months is fecking ages,what were you doing dave?)expecting that at some point you wont have teething problems or moans about the car in general,sooner than later in this case unfortunately.Ive had work done on my car in the past and ive had to travel stupid mileage to get it sorted,but at the end of the day it was work that i had agreed on,with no doubt in my mind that there would be some issues,ok didnt realise how many in my case but the point is,it is naive to beleive that these things will go smoothly.evidence for this is all around you,guys on here spend ages trying to get the best of their cars,they have a wealth of knowledge,time and money and still things go wrong,they also pay and seek the advice of tuners with their cars,so what im asking is did you really think dave was gonna hand you the ultimate toy and you would just get in and drive off with no probs? didnt you expect that there will always be issues with conversions of this scale?again look around at all these talented people on here modifying cars,they are forever taking parts off and moding parts and spending more money to get it right.Im not saying your'e stupid or anything like that,im just asking your point of view so that i can establish what your exact expectations were and what was promised to you.Again the time it took for the car to be done is ridiculous,so i can completely sympathise with you there,unless ofcourse you agreed for it to be there for 6 months which im sure wasnt the case.you really need to bring it back at prolex's expense. i hope it works out for you.

[NicoLoco - IS 200 Turbo]

with all due respect nico,i feel you have been naive in thinking that this would be an immediate success.A car coming from abroad to get a turbo conversion done on whatever time scale(although 6 months is fecking ages,what were you doing dave?)expecting that at some point you wont have teething problems or moans about the car in general,sooner than later in this case unfortunately.Ive had work done on my car in the past and ive had to travel stupid mileage to get it sorted,but at the end of the day it was work that i had agreed on,with no doubt in my mind that there would be some issues,ok didnt realise how many in my case but the point is,it is naive to beleive that these things will go smoothly.evidence for this is all around you,guys on here spend ages trying to get the best of their cars,they have a wealth of knowledge,time and money and still things go wrong,they also pay and seek the advice of tuners with their cars,so what im asking is did you really think dave was gonna hand you the ultimate toy and you would just get in and drive off with no probs? didnt you expect that there will always be issues with conversions of this scale?again look around at all these talented people on here modifying cars,they are forever taking parts off and moding parts and spending more money to get it right.Im not saying your'e stupid or anything like that,im just asking your point of view so that i can establish what your exact expectations were and what was promised to you.Again the time it took for the car to be done is ridiculous,so i can completely sympathise with you there,unless ofcourse you agreed for it to be there for 6 months which im sure wasnt the case.you really need to bring it back at prolex's expense. i hope it works out for you.

Oh yes, I can understand that problems will occur on modifying a car. However the time this has taken has allowed for these things to be sorted out. I belive that had I not traveled and picked the car up when I did, it would still have been in the hands of Prolex. I was told at least 3 times in 4 months that the car was booked for dyno and soon finished, but their was ALWAYS something that went wrong. With that in mind, when I was told that the car was going for the dyno for the 4th time, I booked the tickets and said that I was coming no matter what. If Dave wishes to come to Norway and pick the car up I will accept that. I might even be enclined to drive the car to the ferry, so that it can be picked up in Newcastle. I can then pick it up 7 days later on the ferry in Norway again.

[Gord]

with all due respect nico,i feel you have been naive in thinking that this would be an immediate success.A car coming from abroad to get a turbo conversion done on whatever time scale(although 6 months is fecking ages,what were you doing dave?)expecting that at some point you wont have teething problems or moans about the car in general,sooner than later in this case unfortunately.Ive had work done on my car in the past and ive had to travel stupid mileage to get it sorted,but at the end of the day it was work that i had agreed on,with no doubt in my mind that there would be some issues,ok didnt realise how many in my case but the point is,it is naive to beleive that these things will go smoothly.evidence for this is all around you,guys on here spend ages trying to get the best of their cars,they have a wealth of knowledge,time and money and still things go wrong,they also pay and seek the advice of tuners with their cars,so what im asking is did you really think dave was gonna hand you the ultimate toy and you would just get in and drive off with no probs? didnt you expect that there will always be issues with conversions of this scale?again look around at all these talented people on here modifying cars,they are forever taking parts off and moding parts and spending more money to get it right.Im not saying your'e stupid or anything like that,im just asking your point of view so that i can establish what your exact expectations were and what was promised to you.Again the time it took for the car to be done is ridiculous,so i can completely sympathise with you there,unless ofcourse you agreed for it to be there for 6 months which im sure wasnt the case.you really need to bring it back at prolex's expense. i hope it works out for you.

Raj, when you had to travel the stupid mileage, and hotel when your car was not ready, did the tuning comp pay your travel + hotel bill

[tdiplc]

Raj, when you had to travel the stupid mileage, and hotel when your car was not ready, did the tuning comp pay your travel + hotel bill

Hello Gord. I am not sure what this has to do with Nico's car or Prolex, but please let me help you out with this one. I made it clear to Raj that we had never undertaken the conversion before on an automatic transmission model and that therefore there were risks involved. When it became clear that Raj did not want to continue with this project, I offered him all of his money back without any questions asked.

By the way, I notice you have not answered my previous two questions to you. Is there any reason for that?

Thank you

[sorted vti]

so going back to what i was saying (seeing someone thought it was a fair point) the next 2 posts should be from nico and prolex.

would this be a fair thing to do then nico and prolex?

if not then why? some compromise should be made otherwise this man will not get his car done and prolex will not get there money!!!

[Rsarin]

No they didnt gord,didnt feel they had too,if it had gone on any longer then yes i may have been in a position to demand that,but yeah as mark says,all my money was offered back to me,every penny.ill say that even though we had problems with the car,the matters were resolved as quickly and efficiently as i dictated,for which i have to be greatful.In my case mileage wasnt as much as nico and my car wasnt with them for months.The reason Prolex has to offer travel expenses is because of the amount of time the car was with them,as it is unacceptable that after this time the car is still not ready,especially as Dave knows what he's doing.I dont think Prolex are doing Nico a favour by paying for his travel,it should be the least they can do for him.My point to nico was,that there will always be problems with all projects and feel he has been slightly naive in his judgment of the situation(should have maybe considered it would take a minumum of two trips to the uk) but also he shouldnt think that prolex have done a naff job,just cos there are issues with the car,he should find out exactly what and why those issues are there and agree with dave to correct them at prolex's expense.I hope it gets sorted for both parties.

[NicoLoco - IS 200 Turbo]

No they didnt gord,didnt feel they had too,if it had gone on any longer then yes i may have been in a position to demand that,but yeah as mark says,all my money was offered back to me,every penny.ill say that even though we had problems with the car,the matters were resolved as quickly and efficiently as i dictated,for which i have to be greatful.In my case mileage wasnt as much as nico and my car wasnt with them for months.The reason Prolex has to offer travel expenses is because of the amount of time the car was with them,as it is unacceptable that after this time the car is still not ready,especially as Dave knows what he's doing.I dont think Prolex are doing Nico a favour by paying for his travel,it should be the least they can do for him.My point to nico was,that there will always be problems with all projects and feel he has been slightly naive in his judgment of the situation(should have maybe considered it would take a minumum of two trips to the uk) but also he shouldnt think that prolex have done a naff job,just cos there are issues with the car,he should find out exactly what and why those issues are there and agree with dave to correct them at prolex's expense.I hope it gets sorted for both parties.

I agree, the reason why I have been so upset is that some of the things I have complained about have first been blamed on me, ie the brakes: Dave said that I was told to bed them in, I wasn't. When his "techie" drove my car with me in it, he drove it like he stole it. He wasn't bedding in the brakes then. He also told me that it had been don. When I complained about them, I was comfronted with my driving.

[winnie]

Come to an agreement..resolve all your issues then come back and then tell your story,give praise where its due.

[Dave-Ellen]

Just a few words to say.

As ever on this thread there has been a lot of misinformed bull**** spread about.

None of you know whats been done or seen any pictures of whats been done.

Normally you'd expect the proud owner to post them. Anyone wonder why no pictures are posted ?

Everything done to this car has not been done before. I'm not sure if Nico has bothered to say what was done.

Aside from the Turbo conversion which as ever was a nightmare

The front brake rotors are specially made for this car (bigger diameter 2 part construction)

Calipers (F & R) have been refurbished

Fuel line upgrade (adapted for LHD car) all aeroquip hoses

SPA guages taken apart and remodelled with lexus logos

TRD pod upholstered in leather to match seats

OEM binnacle made to white face with lexus logos

AFR guage remodelled with lexus logos

Custom heat shield made in polished stainless steel

Prolex-UK front bumper mod (twin intakes,new mesh & grill mesh replaced)

Air intake route adapted to LHD to exit under front wheel arch.

Undertray not cut and shut but heated and moulded to allow intercooler pipes to route through to keep snow etc from engine bay

Intercooler pipes re routed to allow headlight washers to remain

A lot of the above required parts to be taken to other companies to be made/adapted. This meant we were subject to that companies lead times

On several occaisions parts sent back were not up to standard so returned and hence further delays.

That may shed some light on the reason it took so long (not that I'm saying 6 months is the norm) but an explanation that we were governed by outside forces.

Also we were promised magazine coverage so have charged a reduced labour rate. In this sort of circumstance extra time taken is normally accepted.

Also, not that its anyones business, when a family relative is taken to hospital seriously ill that takes precedence over work....if we loose a dyno slot due to that we are again at the mercy of the dyno operator for another slot............This happened twice unfortunately.

On the brakes I disagree you were told to to take it easy as 150/200 KM is not enough for the specification of discs you have. You make allegations on driving but I'm told there was little or no braking involved due to the type of road being driven on...also I'm told you said you wanted to see what the car could do hence the mildly quick drive you were taken on at 1.30 in the morning.

Anyway...........option 1 or 2 which is it going to be ?

[Adie]

Dyno Sheet Lets see those figures :winky:

[Dave-Ellen]

Dyno Sheet Lets see those figures :winky:

Sending it to Nico with his brakes and CD with build pics on.............

His car so only right its his to post.

They do exist................and show 255 bhp...............actually made 259.5 once but went for most consistent figure

Got an interesting one with yours,darrens and Nicos all on together

:winky:

makes intersting reading

[NicoLoco - IS 200 Turbo]

No doubt a lot of stuff has been done. Are you sure the brakes have a bigger diameter? I have some problems understanding some of your arguments here, Dave. Did you know that if a delay has been brought upon you due to problems it is commen curtosy to contact the customer and give him a full report on the situation with a new estimated delivery-date? I would have done so. Will be option 2, as you probably can't pick the car up here and I can't go anywhere.

Dave, I will admit that I have been rather rude and taken things far on the forum, seeming like I don't want to reason. I want to reason, however I have yet to see an apologie from you guys. All I have seen are accusations and delivery of fault. It is hard for me to just take it sitting down.

[Tony-Bones]

In business sometimes it's correct, even an advantage to say "sorry, something's gone wrong". No company has a perfect record we all know that. It's the way we deal with the customers complaint that really matters!

This thread will go on to eternity since the options offered does not satisfy the customer/ complaint.. It would be wise to submit closure to this topic however costly, unless corporate suicide is part of the future marketing?

[Dave-Ellen]

No doubt a lot of stuff has been done. Are you sure the brakes have a bigger diameter? I have some problems understanding some of your arguments here, Dave. Did you know that if a delay has been brought upon you due to problems it is commen curtosy to contact the customer and give him a full report on the situation with a new estimated delivery-date? I would have done so. Will be option 2, as you probably can't pick the car up here and I can't go anywhere.

Dave, I will admit that I have been rather rude and taken things far on the forum, seeming like I don't want to reason. I want to reason, however I have yet to see an apologie from you guys. All I have seen are accusations and delivery of fault. It is hard for me to just take it sitting down.

Nico,

You have been told of the problems during the build and again when with me while waiting for the car so it this should not be news to you. You may recall the number of times you were contacted by phone with explanations on progress ...each time saying you were happy with the explanation.

On apology. You will get one if and when its due. I've lost count of the number of times I've apologised for the delay to you and once again remind you of the items put on your car for no charge to reflect this.

You took the car without allowing it to be road tested for us to make sure everything was working correctly. IMHO this is the root cause of the "problem"s.

You have also failed to let us know what the fault code was (if any) so we can diagnose whats going on with the TRC/ECU light. This you were asked to provide as soon as the "fault" occured.

If its option 2 then email me confirmation and send the binnacle back. Personally, as you live 300 metres from the docks the ferry leaves from, I cant see why you cant come over on a weekend ferry as you will be back the next day. This would let us go through the car properly.........fit the extra silencer you now want...re-map, do the paint blah blah. We would arrange for you to be back the following weekend so no holiday required.

@ Tony - There are times when no matter what you do the customer will not be happy. This seems to be one of them. I've taken the view,knowing the full story, that options 1 or 2 is the best I will do. On commercial suicide ________since this episode I've had 1 firm order for a Rotrex supercharged IS200 (done one so far....lovely bit of kit lots more BHP than the TTE) another tenative order from a LOCer for Rotrex conversion, a commision for a forced induction kit (s/c or t/c) for a 2006 Nissan G35 Infinity Coupe so work is hardly drying up :winky:

[NicoLoco - IS 200 Turbo]

The ferry 300 meters from me goes to Denmark, if you can pick the car there I will be happy! :) Nah, It is 8 hours to drive through Norway to get to the ferry that takes the car to Newcastle. Are the brakes bigger in diameter?

Dave, you might think that you have done enough to please me - but I was scared to tell you how upset I was thinking that you would cause further delays. I have been in a tight spot, and if you could please step out of Prolex for one second in your thoughts and have a look at it from my POV you might perhaps see how this has been for me. You know the story, just look at it from my side.

[Tony-Bones]

No doubt a lot of stuff has been done. Are you sure the brakes have a bigger diameter? I have some problems understanding some of your arguments here, Dave. Did you know that if a delay has been brought upon you due to problems it is commen curtosy to contact the customer and give him a full report on the situation with a new estimated delivery-date? I would have done so. Will be option 2, as you probably can't pick the car up here and I can't go anywhere.

Dave, I will admit that I have been rather rude and taken things far on the forum, seeming like I don't want to reason. I want to reason, however I have yet to see an apologie from you guys. All I have seen are accusations and delivery of fault. It is hard for me to just take it sitting down.

Nico,

You have been told of the problems during the build and again when with me while waiting for the car so it this should not be news to you. You may recall the number of times you were contacted by phone with explanations on progress ...each time saying you were happy with the explanation.

On apology. You will get one if and when its due. I've lost count of the number of times I've apologised for the delay to you and once again remind you of the items put on your car for no charge to reflect this.

You took the car without allowing it to be road tested for us to make sure everything was working correctly. IMHO this is the root cause of the "problem"s.

You have also failed to let us know what the fault code was (if any) so we can diagnose whats going on with the TRC/ECU light. This you were asked to provide as soon as the "fault" occured.

If its option 2 then email me confirmation and send the binnacle back. Personally, as you live 300 metres from the docks the ferry leaves from, I cant see why you cant come over on a weekend ferry as you will be back the next day. This would let us go through the car properly.........fit the extra silencer you now want...re-map, do the paint blah blah. We would arrange for you to be back the following weekend so no holiday required.

@ Tony - There are times when no matter what you do the customer will not be happy. This seems to be one of them. I've taken the view,knowing the full story, that options 1 or 2 is the best I will do. On commercial suicide ________since this episode I've had 1 firm order for a Rotrex supercharged IS200 (done one so far....lovely bit of kit lots more BHP than the TTE) another tenative order from a LOCer for Rotrex conversion, a commision for a forced induction kit (s/c or t/c) for a 2006 Nissan G35 Infinity Coupe so work is hardly drying up :winky:

@ Tony - There are times when no matter what you do the customer will not be happy. This seems to be one of them.

Dave you cannot believe that statement! Please regret the acquisition that Nico is a problem customer never satisfied! ... For once be honest and say "We fcuked up" and address the visible complaint honorably then removing it from the public gaze. Surly closure to this endless damaging thread that you won't win until Nico is happy is priceless to Prolex!... I defend you saying things can and do go wrong and i strongly suggest you deal with it like a gentleman.....

[tdiplc]

Was asking Raj if tuner (YOU) offered to pay costs, for further work to correct work done, to give Nico some insite to prolex offer.

Hello Gord,

I think that if you could swap your "Prolex Minister For Propoganda" hat, for "Genuinely Concerned for LOC'ers" hat, I would like to think that you would agree that if Nico was offered a full refund (all parts and all labour), like TDi did for Raj, then that would be a very good thing. In Raj's case, he Gentlemanly accepted to bear some of the costs because we were honest from the outset in that we had never undertaken this conversion on his model before. If Raj had asked us to refund him for all of his costs (fuel, travelling ec etc) we would have done so because whatever the cost - it would have been considerably more cost effective than losing our credibility and honour.

If Nico was told from the outset that his conversion had never been done before and that it was experimental, then it is fair that Nico should bear some of the costs. If Nico wasn't told this, then he has every right to be very unhappy and be due a full refund (if that's what he wants).

If you can tell me the cost of fuel return line, then we can move on as i dont know your price now.

The issue is what Nico paid for the fuel line upgrade, not what anyone else may or may not charge. Nico can then decide whether he has been given advice that is in his best interest, when he compares the published prices of the better alternative of larger injectors. I suspect that he paid a lot more for the fuel line upgrade than he would have done for the injectors. Perhaps someone can answer this?

Now can you answer my Q about Mr skippy's car, re bhp when you did the turbo work ?

I answered you in my post of 7th December at 12.31pm

[Monster-Mat]

SO BACK TO NICOS CAR

any more posts, not relating to Nicos car Mods will deleat.....end off

[aido]

Can you please put some pics up fella?

It will be good to see exactly what has been performed on the car!

How does she feel to drive?