Pertplus

As some of you know, since late 2010 I have taken my current/former cars (2010 C63 AMG, 2012 CLS63 AMG, 2013 M3 and 2013 M5) to ACG Automotive (formerly Automotive Connoisseur Group) to have various modifications done. I have spent a lot of money with them. And for the most part, there were no problems with modifications I ordered through and had installed by ACG. As a whole, ACG is a company made up of honest, pleasant and well-intentioned individuals. But in those 3 years of doing business with ACG, there has been one consistent issue that, with the latest one I unearthed today, has brought me to a point where my patience has fully deteriorated and now I feel it is incumbent on me to write a post to warn individuals who are considering ACG to install modifications on their car. All of these mistakes/errors/problems were previously brought to the attention of ACG, and to their credit they handled it for the most part. This post is not about calling anyone a crook or liar, because that isn’t what ACG is. But what I have found is another thing ACG isn’t: meticulous. And this isn’t about me wanting everything to be perfect…this is about carefully installing products and making sure that when the newly modified car returns to the customer, there are no problems due to carelessness or oversight. I don’t expect anyone to be perfect, but when one problem follows another which follows another, it becomes inexcusable – despite a litany of apologies and credits/refunds/make-goods.

The history of issues:
- 2011: HRE wheels mounted and balanced on my C63 after my newly painted calipers arrived. The lugs on one of my rear wheels wasn’t tightened, as I was driving down the freeway to my house on the 805/163 South …I noticed major vibration. As I drove back up to ACG to see what the problem was, I started to see lugs fly off my car. (ACG credited me for my calipers)

- 2011: While I was waiting for my calipers to be painted, my car was at ACG overnight. The HRE wheels were stood up overnight, and by the morning one of them had fallen on their face. (ACG had the wheels refinished)

- 2012: I got a quote to have silver piping throughout my C63’s upholstery and door panels. I agreed to the quote and paid for the install and labor. I was in Alabama taking a deposition while the installation process was occurring. I then get a call that the seats had been re-done but that the company ACG brought my car to for the upholstery couldn’t do the door panels (even though I my quote included the door panels); and that if I wanted the door panels to be done they would have to take it to another shop and it would probably cost about $2000 extra. I was told that the reason they did the seats first is because they wanted to get the car back to me ASAP and didn’t realize until after that the upholstery shop could not do the doors as originally planned. I decided not to have the door panels re-done and expressed my frustration that I didn’t want my car completed fast, but rather completed correctly.

- 2012: ACG installs HRE P43SCs on my CLS63. They did not test drive the car before giving it back to me. When I get it back, on my drive downtown to my house, it is clear the car is rubbing on the front. The shop had already closed, but because I just gone out to dinner with them and the techs, I gave the techs $100 each as a Xmas present if they would take the car back that night and readjust the suspension; which they did. Nonetheless, I was told by ACG that they gave me the car back originally without testing it because they knew I was waiting a while for them to go pick up the wheels and install them, they didn’t want me to wait any longer. Again, I repeated the now repetitive mantra that I always want my car back with modifications installed correctly (and tested) instead of quickly.

- 2012: ACG installs a Brabus exhaust for my CLS63. They return the car to me. One of the sides of the exhaust is clearly uneven. I was told that it might have just been the angle I was looking at them from. I then sent the picture to Brabus and right away they said that one side was higher than it should have been. My stereo installer noticed it too. I brought the car back to have ACG realign the exhaust.

- 2013: I order a second set of HREs for my CLS63. I was quoted a price and gave ACG a 50% deposit. A week goes by and I eventually get a call that the pricing structure for HRE retailers had changed and the price of my wheels were now going to go up by over $1000. Now, the pricing structure change occurred about a month prior – but apparently the entire shop was not aware until the day after I placed the order. But that means there was still a week that went by that the entire shop knew the price of my wheels went up over $1000 but no one told me. I told ACG to cancel my order and since then I have never ordered another new set of wheels from them.

- 2013: I went up to LA to have my stock wheels removed from my F10 M5 and install my HRE Flow forms. At this point the only shop that has taken the wheels off my car since I leased it was ACG to install my H&R Springs. Before we even had the Flow Forms installed, both I and my wheel shop noticed a giant scratch on my front driver’s side caliper. Now, if that scratch was on my caliper before ACG installed my springs and they noticed it, I know they would have notified me about it so I would be sure not to assign blame to them. And how do I know it wasn’t my new wheel shop that did it? Because ACG took the stock wheel locks out of my car and placed it into a bag filled with my stock components. So after driving up to LA to have the stock wheels removed, I realized that I did not have the stock wheel locks in the car; and had to drive all the way back to San Diego to find them in the bag of stock components ACG had put in my trunk a couple weeks prior. Why would anyone take a wheel lock key from inside a car and put it in a bag with other components for the customer to possibly take it out of the car? Thus, while I cannot say with 100% certainty that ACG scratched my caliper…prior experience overwhelmingly leads me to that conclusion.

- 2013: I noticed the ride quality of my M5 had started to suffer. So I ordered KWV3s and had them installed by MRF Engineering in Lake Forrest. He noticed that there was fluid leaking all over my rear H&R springs (that had about 4k miles on them and never ones did I hit anything hard enough to bend any of my wheels, let alone dislodge "seals" from my springs/struts) and that the seal over the strut had broken. He also noticed that the prior installer – ACG – left a rag/microfiber in my car’s shock tower. When I talked to ACG about it and asked the process they followed in installing the H&R’s, I was told that their techs used prior experience on other cars (they had done two other F10 M5s prior to mine) and a “DIY” post from the Bimmerpost forum as a partial guide. This was disturbing to say the least.


- Today: I have the rear diffuser of my E92 M3 removed. Not only are there pieces broken and mutilated from when ACG originally installed it and then tried to have it fit better on my rear bumper…but now there is a scratch that will not come off and cannot be properly touched up (I have already been in contact with my body shop). Can I live with the scratch? Yes? Should I have to? I think it’s pretty clear what the answer is.

Now some of you may say, if ACG had these mess-ups, why would you keep going back? Well, because ACG always apologized and offered to (and sometimes did) resolve them, the answer is I just kept chalking these mishaps to the old “well nobody’s perfect” maxim. Also, as I wrote previously, ACG has always been honest and this is not about being overcharged, waiting on refunds, etc. This is about a shop that – at least in my extensive experience – has not taken extensive care with all of their customers’ cars. I don’t write on behalf of anyone but myself, but after spending probably close to $100k with them over the past 3 years, I feel like my experiences cannot be attributed to fluke accidents or Murphy’s Law.
Some of you may ask, well if they apologized and offered to resolve or did resolve these issues, why write this post? The answer is simple. Would you go to a doctor simply because he/she seemed cool and are the type of person you would go have a beer with? Would you hire an attorney because they were big sports fans like you or liked the same music? I would hope the answer would be “no” to all of these questions. Well, despite my personal affinity for the people at ACG, that does not mean the quality of their work/customer service is excellent. Nobody is perfect, but I felt it was time that as someone who extensively mods my own cars, to alert others that are thinking of doing the same and potentially bring their car(s) to ACG.
I stand behind everything I write here and provided the details of my past experiences so as to demonstrate that I am not some disgruntled customer who is being unreasonable. What I am is a car enthusiast that doesn’t want to see fellow enthusiasts experience the negative issues/problems I did when taking my cars to ACG.

Some of the recent pics from my M3/M5 "experiences":

carcommander

When you had your first problem you should of reconsidered. It's why in seldom mod my cars. I am picky and attention to detail is hard to find.

abiazis

Workmanship in today's world isn't what it used to be as you have found out. What you have described is becoming more the norm these days unfortunately……you really should have found another shop after the third time of a problem……….which you are doing now, so good luck with the next shop…..stuff does happen and you will probably experience the same shortfalls to your expectations………

SteveL1

Sadly, our fast food society has changed the general publics expectations for quality and service. Few are willing to pay for that 15-30 minutes of time that it takes to do the job right. Everyone shops on line to save a few bucks and then *****es when they can't get a brick and mortar store to help them with a problem. Everybody wants everything yesterday and is willing to sacrifice some quality for speed and lower costs.

It will be harder and harder to find a shop that will go above and beyond your expectations, unless you are very clear up front what those expectations are and offer to pay extra for it. I believe that there are shops out there that can provide what you are looking for but you have to remember that you are not the norm so it will take some searching to find them. At least you live in an area that has some options. Try finding any shop in the Mid West that even knows what an HRE wheel is let alone one that has installed more than a hand full of sets. I don't know of a single shop within a 100 miles that would have a clue how to mod an AMG car.

Good luck with your search.

alx

Lol...you lost me at the very beginning where the wheel lugs fell off ...

You went there again after that episode?

Pertplus

Yeah that's where I fell for the "I swear I tightened them" line because up to that point my interactions had been pretty smooth. And then as things happened I got frustrated but tried to brush it off and not overreact. I kept falling for the apologies and the fact that there are limited shops to do business with in SD and figured that I shop that didn't overcharge me or act dishonestly would allow me to overlook the "at the time" occasional messups. And should I have stopped going to them earlier? Absolutely? Do I reap what I sow for not? Yes! But this is my way to make amends to the karma gods and hopefully forewarn at least one person enough that they think twice or wholeheartedly avoid ACG altogether!

ttboost

Yeesh..what a story....I promise I won't go there....

Thericker

+1

Thericker

In previous S-Class front drivers side wheel was barely holding on not 1 mile from tire shop on surface streets etc.. If I would've hit frwy good chance serious or fatal accident would've ensued Even though it was caught in 1 mile of driving it ruined the wheel as remaining 3 lug nuts were so loose they destroyed the lug holes on the wheel etc

Never did business w/them again.. This type of service shouldn't be expected/tolerated from ANY shop let alone a premier MB aftermarket perf outfit

cal1

I hope the OP finds a competent shop. I have struggled to find such a shop as well. It is amazing that simple tasks like making certain lugs are properly tightened is overlooked. I had an HE installed on my SL and the shop forgot to tighten the hose clamps. I wasn't lucky enough to get a drip drip warning. It was instead a catastrophic failure with pressure blowing the loose hose completely off a fitting while I was on the freeway. The only good news was that I was driving and quickly got the little beast shutdown. If my wife would have taken the SL the day the hose blew off, I am quite sure it would have cost an entire motor. The shop that did the work said there is no way they could have made such a mistake.

pjdough

I try to understand the best I can what the repair issue is, then research the hell out of it. My Indie, who I trust, is always open to my comments and suggestions. By reading blogs such as this I often find issues having similar effects - my Indie always considers what I say. He's experienced and good enough to know he can't know all the answers. He's screwed up twice in 5 years, no damage to the car nor ones that risked my safety - he looked at the car and apologized immediately, then corrected the issue w/out further expense to me.
We all make mistakes - the key is being able to throw the BS flag when necessary and walk. Remember, it's business and they must earn your $s.
Excuses are for losers...

Pertplus

I have definitely learned my lesson not to be blinded/swayed by apologies when it comes to situations like this. Incompetency is incompetency and can't be patched up like a bandaid.

Noir230

I know this is an old thread, but I wish I had found it before going to ACG earlier this month.

Emily@ACGautomotive

Hi there,

It sounds like you were not happy with your recent visit to our shop. I know this original post was old, and I personally did not work at ACG at the time, so I cannot speak for any past work. However, if you visited us earlier this month and you were unhappy with the service you receive we would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Thank you,

ACG Automotive

SL63Noir

Your story could be beneficial to others such as myself to hear about. I live in San Diego and have thought about having ACG perform some modifications to my cars. I would also be curious to see if they made it right and if so, how they did so. The worry here is that there is a potential long pattern of 'mistakes' that seem inexcusable.

Emily, is ACG under the same ownership and management since 2013?

Thank you.

Emily@ACGautomotive

ACG has the same owner, James.

I think the most important policy we have in place at the shop now is ensuring all four wheels are torqued properly, we have a technician torque them in front of the shop for a second time before the customer drives away. I think having lugs go flying and a wheel fall off is everyone's nightmare, so we are meticulous with this procedure.

I'm not sure exactly what happened with each of these unfortunate occurrences, that was before my time at ACG. That being said, I can only speak on what I know, and we try to complete each project that comes in the shop as perfect as we can, and when the road gets bumpy...try to downshift and accelerate through instead of slamming on the brakes.

Hopefully that little metaphor expresses how I myself would try to handle a situation if something were to go wrong while we have a client's car in for service...I'd try my best to make things right.