# Imola Motorsports (Minnesota)



## esoxlucios (Sep 17, 2009)

What you see above is a judgment against Imola Motorsports and in my favor for $3,970.00, on March 11, 2013. It was also owner Kevin Tan's birthday (say "Happy Birthday," everyone :wave 

This was a suit I filed for conversion, negligence, breach of contract, breach of warranty, and misrepresentation, and does not include significant payments and accommodations that Imola already had made for many of the things on the list below (and, which were not part of the claims in this case). Imola was represented by counsel, and both Kevin and Jeff appeared at the hearing. 

Imola is a "performance" shop in the Twin Cities catering to exotics. They purport to specialize in Bentleys, Porsches, among others. (Reportedly, they are doing less and less Audi and VW). 

I posted about this before here. 

The short version of it is that Imola had my car —a then 10-year-old, ordinary Audi TT— for one year, two weeks, and a day, and managed to bungle just about every part of the car they touched, from the transmission, to the engine, to the clutch, to the amplifiers — you name it. Much of the car was worked on by Brian. 

Thanks to David at Nür Technik, who finished everything Imola started, my car now runs great, and I couldn't be happier. 

The longer version is that, during the 1+ year at Imola, the following [non-exhaustive list] occurred: 

• They blew up my amplifier by plugging in a 12VDC power cable into it (apparently mistaking it for a subwoofer cable). 

• They left the transmission drain plug finger loose —not once, but twice (even after being advised it was loose) — which required the transmission to be rebuilt a second time (at their expense of over $4K, and which added five months to the project) 

• Not only was one of the engine-to-transmission bolts missing and another not torqued, but also none of the engine-to-transmission alignment dowels were reinstalled by Imola. Hence, Imola reinstalled this transmission not once, but *twice* without the essential locating pins. As a result, the clutch was not centered on the flywheel, and the last 3,500 miles of driving had torn up the clutch and destroyed the throw-out bearing, and which accounted for the *absurd racket *my car was making (which Imola told me was "normal") 

• They kept the N75 valve that came with the APR kit and re-installed my old one, until I asked for an explanation 

• They lost the headlight front-leveling sensor & bracketry, my spare MAP sensor, and the engine-compartment battery 

• They forgot to reinstall the subframe cross-brace and the flywheel timing inspection cover/seal 

• They forgot to hook up the PCV breather hose (engine was sucking in unfiltered air, bypassing the air filter) 

• They delivered the car with a subframe bolt loose, an transmission bolt finger tight, and a transmission bolt missing 

• They delivered the car with numerous recurring fault codes, most of which they introduced (_e.g.,_ No. 17608 - Boost Pressure Control Valve (N249): Mechanical Malfunction)). Yet, they told me the car was error code free on delivery. In this example, they created the error by relocating the t-fitting for my turbo gauge to in-between the N249 and the vacuum reservoir. (Because the T-fitting has openings of only 1.5 or 2mm (required for the gauge), the vacuum reservoir wasn't getting enough vacuum fast enough). 

• They were stymied for an entire week, unable to figure out how to properly time the cams at zero, even after I advised them to take pictures and scribe marks or to do whatever necessary to make sure everything went back in the way it came out. They ultimately addressed this by changing my Autotech adjustable cam gear off the zero setting, but couldn't explain why this was now necessary to avoid a cam/crank correlation code (when it wasn't necessary during the 250 miles the car was driven (before the transmission debacle was discovered)). Initially, they blamed the company in California who applied the WPC treatment to the cams, accusing him of pulling and repressing the cam chain gear incorrectly. I confirmed, after I obtaining photos from Autotech of a cam sitting on their shelf, the gears had not been pulled on either cam. 

• Although I had provided a charger and extension cord, and asked them to keep the battery charged, the battery (an Optima that had only a few years use) became depleted while in their care (so, they sold me a new one). 

• Although they charged me a few extra hours of labor to photograph and document some non-standard customizations on the car, several of the car's parts (like the oil catch can and plastic fasteners for the belly pan and engine covers) were either returned to me in a box of miscellaneous parts, or simply lost 

• Because the APR kit no longer includes a downpipe for quattro TTs, they referred me to a shop in Wyoming, Minnesota, to have a downpipe fabricated. I had the car towed there, only to learn that the owner has never worked on turbos before, has no experience with downpipes whatever, has no TIG welder, and no mandrel bender. I had to tow the car at my expense to yet a third shop. 

• They sold me an APR front-mount intercooler. It doesn't fit the Audi TT without having to remove the washer nozzles (they claimed). I was told (by Sam) that Brian tried to install it with the brackets backward, and I have nothing to indicate that they ever tried to install it according to APR's instructions. I had to pay another shop to fabricate intercooler piping and modify the front aluminum bumper support to get it to fit. 

• The first time I took the car home (before the transmission leak was discovered), I stopped at Tires Plus for an alignment check (I have a lifetime alignment contract there, so it doesn't cost any extra). They found that one front tire had 27 Lbs, and the other had 40. And, although Imola was supposed to have realigned the car (after removing the subframe), TiresPlus found that the toe was off significantly. 

• An Imola employee admitted (by e-mail) what I had long suspected, which was that because my car became a warranty project, it was at the bottom of the priority list. Because techs are paid by the job (some kind of hourly/commission rate), whenever a new-money project came in the door, my car would wait (sometimes days at a time). 

• After removed and reinstalled the cams, an oil leak suddenly appeared from the VVT (which they had to remove in order to do the cam job). The VVT was a brand-new OEM part that Issam sold me, and which was part of the cylinder head rebuild done at HeadWerks, and was delivered to Imola as part of the long block assembly. Although it didn't leak during the 250 miles put on the car before the transmission leak was discovered, Imola claimed that it is simply a defective part (my responsibility), and that their work on the camshafts is purely coincidental. 

• When I proposed the idea of taking the car to a different shop for a second opinion regarding the VVT leak, Imola tried to get me to sign a document stating that they want nothing further to do with me, in exchange for release of the car and in exchange for the previously-agreed-to compensation of $75 per week for loss of the use of the car while the transmission was being rebuilt a second time, and for compensation for the blown amplifier. 

• For six out of the twelve months they had the car, Imola left one of the windows down. The amount of shop dust and grime that accumulated was absurd. The whole interior had to be detailed. 

• After leaving it there for a year, the car had three (3) new dings on it that weren't there before. 

• Upon delivery, the car made a number of "worrisome" noises from the front end when going over bumps that it didn't used to make when I delivered the car in June, 2011. Another loose subframe bolt? I don't know -- I asked them to check it out. (They didn't). 

• Regarding the transmission, they didn't know that the shop that made the downpipe and discovered the transmission leak drained the fluid and measured it: 12 ounces of black fluid. Imola told me, however, that it was closer to two quarts. This was a misrepresentation -- when confronted with the truth, they admitted that their answer was based on adding the fluid that came out of the transmission with that which came out of the transfer case (a separate resevoir). 

• While working on the car, I've so far found approximately ten (10) missing fasteners for the belly pan, driver's side front wheel liner. 

• Several vacuum lines (the 3mm variety) were clamped on not with the VAG one-time clamps (Auveco/Oetiker rolled-edge hose clamps), not with small worm-gear claims, but with zip-ties. 

• Imola decided that one of the timing belt cover clips could not co-exist with the APR turbo-intlet-pipe. So, they yanked it off, leaving only one clip to hold the plastic cover on. Fortunately, I have a spare cover, removed a clip therefrom, grinded off some excess metal from the tab that was rubbing against the TIP, and reinstalled it. (I guess Imola doesn't have a grinder in their shop, or their techs are just lazy). 

• I have two horns installed. One of them is difficult (tight) to get at the connection wires. So, apparently, the Imola tech decided not to bother trying. I discovered and fixed it. 

• The Imola tech installed the extension cord for the N75 valve (supplied by APR) to dangle back by the turbo. Needless to say, it melted. 

• Brought the car in to Tires Plus for a tire rotation about a week after I took possession of the car (the second time). When the tech tried to start the car, it was pouring gasoline out on the pavement. A few weeks later, after filling up with gas again, I brought the car to Full Blown Motorsports for a couple of dyno pulls. After it was finished, the car was inexplicably leaking a substantial amount of gas again. Turns out, there's a VAG specialist there, Chuck. After describing the problem, including a persistent EVAP small leak error code (No. 16826) I had been dealing with for the last couple of weeks, he asked if the fuel pump had been replaced. I explained that Imola pulled the pump and tried to install the pump that came with the APR kit, only to discover that it wasn't the right pump for the Quattro. APR had told them the OE pump would be fine, so they put it all back together. Apparently, they were in such a great hurry, they didn't put the gasket back properly. About 1.5 inches of the gasket was folded over (not round). Consequently, there was a puddle of gas on top of the fuel tank just under my rear seat.​


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## Krissrock (Sep 10, 2005)

holy ****


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## PLAYED TT (Oct 17, 2010)

Krissrock said:


> holy ****


 My thought exactlyopcorn:


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## Audiguy84 (Nov 14, 2006)

Dude I'm happy you were able to sue them and WIN..... I took a HUGE loss when a shop blew up my engine... found out the shop was broke and AZ limits on small claims is 2500.. and then BMW step came in and said we want you to go to our headquarters in NJ.... so needless to say I'm out my engine....


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

Whoa... glad David got it figured out fir you! Hopefully MNAudi wont hate on you for it! As 75% of the members are Imola fan boys! 

Can't wait to see the beast though!!


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## esoxlucios (Sep 17, 2009)

Tempes_TT said:


> Whoa... glad David got it figured out fir you! Hopefully MNAudi wont hate on you for it! As 75% of the members are Imola fan boys!


 Yes, I am scorned by MNAudi, and have been consequently banned from their über cool forum :screwy: (over the objection of some of the more sensible members). 

And I feel really awful about that, because all I have now are the unlearned, novice, and pedestrian peeps on Vortex (like ChickenMan, CincyTT, Max, and all of you reading this) to provide company and information of dubious providence. 

I'm seeing a therapist. We're making progress, and I think we're gonna get through this. 

___________________ 

_disclosure: the views expressed here are solely my own. I have received no compensation for this post. To avoid confusion, I respectfully point out this post employs rhetorical devices, including hyperbole and sarcasm. Further, I currently have no positions —either long or short— in any of the companies mentioned, and I do not intend to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours._


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## PLAYED TT (Oct 17, 2010)

esoxlucios said:


> I'm seeing a therapist. We're making progress, and I think we're gonna get through this.


 Lmao


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## Tempes_TT (Oct 24, 2010)

esoxlucios said:


> Yes, I am scorned by MNAudi, and have been consequently banned from their über cool forum :screwy: (over the objection of some of the more sensible members).
> 
> And I feel really awful about that, because all I have now are the unlearned, novice, and pedestrian peeps on Vortex (like ChickenMan, CincyTT, Max, and all of you reading this) to provide company and information of dubious providence.
> 
> I'm seeing a therapist. We're making progress, and I think we're gonna get through this.


 Uber for sure. :laugh: 

MNAudi gets real childish, real quick some times. Some are quick to get their panties in a bunch, and some do it just because everyone else did too. Its very 'political' at times, in the sense that if so and so starts to get a rise out of people or causes a negative effect on the gen pop, they make so and so disappear pretty quickly whether you were 110% right about the topic or had a point... so, sorry to hear about that. Theres still a handful of us though that dont fall into that category 

In any case, Im glad things are finally sorted out and in your favour. Thats why I really like David and his shop, They'll at least take care of you and your car and make an effort to get to know you, for you, and not your wallet. (at least thats been my personal experience) 

Not sure if youre being serious about the therapist or not, but if you are, glad to hear theres progress being made :thumbup:


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## esoxlucios (Sep 17, 2009)

Tempes_TT said:


> Not sure if youre being serious about the therapist or not, but if you are, glad to hear theres progress being made :thumbup:


 I have edited that particular post to avoid any possible confusion.


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## 1.8 skeet skeet (Aug 11, 2004)

WTF I'm glad you got that worked out! :thumbup:


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

esoxlucios said:


> Yes, I am scorned by MNAudi, and have been consequently banned from their über cool forum :screwy: (over the objection of some of the more sensible members).
> 
> And I feel really awful about that, because all I have now are the unlearned, novice, and pedestrian peeps on Vortex (like ChickenMan, CincyTT, Max, and all of you reading this) to provide company and information of dubious providence.
> 
> ...


 LMFAO! This post made my day! I'm really glad you came out on top with this whole ordeal. :thumbup::thumbup: 

(Can you share the contact of your therapist, I'm in need of one).


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## esoxlucios (Sep 17, 2009)




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