96mogt

Here's the thing... If this guy is threatening fraud with him and his buddy knowing about it supposedly. THEY are 100% just as guilty of fraud and will be charged the same.... But this guy doesn't understand that Im guessing...

BLKZ0SIX

Just called the San Diego Police department about the supposed break in of my car while at Top Flight Corvettes...NO REPORT FOUND...what a surprise. Thieves.

Ghostfive

I was the co-pilot for BLKZ0SIX to drive his car home from San Diego. From the second he picked me up at the airport in SD I knew the car was running bad. I didn't speak up at first because I have only been in a handful of higher end built cars. I have repaired many cars over the years, been around race cars and even put a LS1 in my cousins 3rd gen Trans Am but I am no engine builder. So I chalked it up to little experience with a $17k build even though every mechanic bone in my body said it wasn't right. He is telling the truth.

The car would surge to to a few thousand RPM(and stay there for a few seconds) just stopping at red lights, then drop fast and almost die and some times actually die Trying to keep the motor running was a pain when it happened. I felt like it had a vacuum leak or something from the moment I rode in the car. When we got the Oil changed in Las Vegas the mechanic came up and told us the 02 Sensor blew out of the exhaust and I was hoping that would explain the running rough. When we got under the car, it ended up being the O2 behind the cat and after I inspected the sensor and the threads in the exhaust they appeared fine so I asked the mechanic to install it. They reported back that it was installed with no problem. The exhaust tone quieted down a bit and that told me the O2 was probably never in the exhaust from the moment I got picked up. The car ran the same, nothing changed.

The car was also very dirty from the get go. He picked me up not to long after getting the car tuned and for a high price build I would have expected it to be better. At a regular shop I understand not doing anything but at a specialty shop I expected more. I worked in small shop doing just basic repairs and we went the extra mile. Even the shop getting the oil done, that I told strictly we want nothing but an oil change, found and repaired the hanging 02 at no charge. Its the little things.

I knew some of the stuff Top Flight was telling him didn't seem to make sense but l don't tune cars and I don't build engines. So I gave them the benefit of the doubt because there is so much new tech out there every year who knows what kind of after market ECU they might have installed. The car made it to Boston. Died not to long after and I recommended he call SlowHawk. I got some parts from them for my LS1 build. They have a good reputation around here. Just looking at the pics of their shop make you wanna go there. I have heard the car run again and it is like a whole new car.

I know some people will think, I bet they beat the car, yadda yadda, but because of the way it ran, it was driven well under what it was designed/built to do as we were afraid it might not make it home at one point. We got lucky.

I'm not here to bash the shop, just to let people know the truth. The car didn't run right from TopFlight. End of story. It runs great now from Slowhawk. I'm just hoping this helps people make a better decision with their money. For most of us its our passion and what we worked for our whole life.

Just for fun here are a couple pics of the car. the road trip was still fun.

Utah
"Stay on the road forever" J. Mooney by Ghostfive, on Flickr

Zion Nation Park
zion vette by G5 Visuals, on Flickr

BLKZ0SIX

To add to that post above.

I don't believe Top flight had anything to do with my car dying in MA since it was a relay in my boost a pump.

But the ABS/TRAC SYS/SERVICE VEHICLE SOON lights straight from when I got it from Top Flight Corvette in SD is what I was more disappointed about.

Vet Interested

So I went to Top Flight web site and emailed them to see if they would respond to this thread. Here is the reply I got:

I can't believe that a bunch of clueless idiots are commenting and bashing Top Flight. If you read his post it doesn't even make sense. Beside the fact that his is lying, How did he get ripped off for $18,000.00? The engine is still in his car running fine and all the work done at my shop has not been changed except for the tune. If any of the dummies making comments knew anything about tuning, just the fact that the car now has 93 octane instead of 91 and the cooler weather conditions would give the engine 20 more HP and more torque. This is part of the reason why I don't go on the Corvette Forum. Drama queens and yahoo's believing posted ******** and are not smart enough to figure it out. Including the owner of the car. Just as a side note. Using your military status as leverage is also immature.



Wow!

BLKZ0SIX

Wow goes to show you how mature the owner is.

I didn't use my military status as a leverage. The only thing I have mentioned about the military is that Lawton jr threatened my veterans benefit and schooling and the fact that I was stationed in SD and had been a customer since then.

I like how they ignored the condition of my car exterior and interior and my sub woofers in their e-mail.

dapopa9

Wow that place sounds like a joke. Glad u got everything straightened out elsewhere. Thanks for the heads up so us other SD vette owners don't make the same mistake and take our cars their

Vet Interested

I will stay away from them for sure!

One final note:
I did contact Top Flight one last time (I promise) and asked about the fact that the car was broken into and the subs were stolen. The reply I received is as follows.
"What about it? I am not responsible for theft when the car sits outside. Every car at the shop has to have insurance or the responsibility is that of the owner. 4 other cars got broken into also. Those customers know that I am not responsible. Our shop is very busy and only 5,000 square feet. The customers are told that if we have no room, their car has to sit outside. I don't need anybodies sub-woofers. I have been in business for over 40 years. I can buy my own speakers.

Read his post. If the people reading that can't figure out this guy is not telling the truth, they are idiots and I don't need their business.

Go to Top Flight Corvette on Face-book and see how clean the car was when he picked the car up. There is a video of the car on the dyno on the day it left. How can you drive to Vegas from San Diego and the car run fine and right after you have the oil changed there, the engine service light comes on for the 02 sensor. His original invoice was for almost $12,000.00 and then later he keep adding things he wanted and then approved the bill for $15,000.00 and then added more things he wanted and never complained when he picked up the car. He is also under investigation for fraud by the insurance company. He lied about what happened because I saw his previous post on the forum about the engine losing oil pressure and he says nothing about hitting a dip and losing oil pressure. I build Corvette's with big power and hit dips in the roads here at over a 100+ mph and never lose oil pressure. The pictures from the insurance shows no damage under his car after his claim. I also reported him to his previous C.O. at the Sub Base, because this happen while he was still in the military. They are following everything he says and want to be informed as the investigation is being processed. He may also lose his funding for school if they find him guilty of fraud and they are going to file charges against him for slander against my company and there is a possibility he may have some huge problems.

I followed him on his whole trip back to Boston and he kept sending me post on Face-book telling me how great the car ran. He met some people in Vegas and raced the car on the street against their cars and all the pics he took along the way with not 1 complaint. When he left, he was told that car would have to be re-tuned in Boston because of the 93 octane and the weather. He says the car had to be re-tuned and made 20 more hp. Well no ****, just the 93 octane would of done that.

After he started his ********, he deleted me from his Face-book page because he knew I would expose him and all the things he said.

I will comment on the forum when I have time. If you are in the military, I hope you don't lower yourself to his level.

Thanks,"

96mogt

I'm a clueless idiot I guess. I wish I picked up 20hp from 91 to 93 when I had it done before. This guy is a loser and his builds show it. Stay away from this shop... From a clueless idiot bwahaha....

Vet Interested

ttt

American Heritage

If your in the Los Angeles area give us a try:

American Heritage Performance
310-326-2399
http://www.americanheritageperformance.com/
Google "American Heritage Performance" for our reviews. We do great/amazing work and place great emphasis and value on Integrity.

OP, glad you found a good shop.

strand rider

In california, one thing you have to insist on is a written estimate before any work, as required by law. A good shop will give you the legal paperwork, as the normal way to run this type of business , any changes to the original signed repair estimate must be approved.

BLKZ0SIX

"What about it? I am not responsible for theft when the car sits outside. Every car at the shop has to have insurance or the responsibility is that of the owner. 4 other cars got broken into also. Those customers know that I am not responsible. Our shop is very busy and only 5,000 square feet. The customers are told that if we have no room, their car has to sit outside. I don't need anybodies sub-woofers. I have been in business for over 40 years. I can buy my own speakers.

I did not know nor was I informed of this policy until after the fact

Read his post. If the people reading that can't figure out this guy is not telling the truth, they are idiots and I don't need their business.


Go to Top Flight Corvette on Face-book and see how clean the car was when he picked the car up. There is a video of the car on the dyno on the day it left. How can you drive to Vegas from San Diego and the car run fine and right after you have the oil changed there, the engine service light comes on for the 02 sensor.

Engine service light never came on. Stop making things up and puttinf words in my mouth Lawton. The O2 was just hanging off the pipe. I will post pics of the car on the day I got it when I get home from work. You can't tell how dirty it is until you look close because its Millenium Yellow. However you can look at my black paint on the hood and see how dirty it really was.


His original invoice was for almost $12,000.00 and then later he keep adding things he wanted and then approved the bill for $15,000.00 and then added more things he wanted and never complained when he picked up the car.
Once again stop lying Lawton, I did not approve of such thing. You kept saying you don't have the final price when I bugged you for weeks. Finally on FB and on the phone you said around $15k. I never signed anything for this. I asked if we could work something else because this price was not what I was expectating to which you said of course like a good shop would do

He is also under investigation for fraud by the insurance company. He lied about what happened because I saw his previous post on the forum about the engine losing oil pressure and he says nothing about hitting a dip and losing oil pressure. I build Corvette's with big power and hit dips in the roads here at over a 100+ mph and never lose oil pressure. The pictures from the insurance shows no damage under his car after his claim. I also reported him to his previous C.O. at the Sub Base, because this happen while he was still in the military. They are following everything he says and want to be informed as the investigation is being processed. He may also lose his funding for school if they find him guilty of fraud and they are going to file charges against him for slander against my company and there is a possibility he may have some huge problems.
Oh is that so, why haven't any of these groups contacted me? BTW my old commanding officer isn't even in San Diego anymore but nice try to lie

I followed him on his whole trip back to Boston and he kept sending me post on Face-book telling me how great the car ran. He met some people in Vegas and raced the car on the street against their cars and all the pics he took along the way with not 1 complaint. When he left, he was told that car would have to be re-tuned in Boston because of the 93 octane and the weather. He says the car had to be re-tuned and made 20 more hp. Well no ****, just the 93 octane would of done that.
I told your son the one who tuned my car about the drops and spikes in rpms at stops and after WOT. I'm sorry you do not understand this and how it affects driving the car. You and your son kept telling me the PCM is learning. You even said 2500+ miles isn't enough for the car to learn

After he started his ********, he deleted me from his Face-book page because he knew I would expose him and all the things he said.
I blocked you because your son kept blowing my phone up. When I did answer the phone call. All he did was threaten me and calling me a liar and dumb and etc. I did not want to deal with it on FB so consider it a preventative action.

I will comment on the forum when I have time. If you are in the military, I hope you don't lower yourself to his level.

Thanks,


I posted my experience. I didn't bash the shop and say BEWARE OF TOP FLIGHT or DON'T GO TO TOP FLIGHT.

Why doesn't Lawton have anything to say about him lying to my face about the police report? There was nothing about break ins at their shop when I called the SDPD to look for my report.

I think I have hit all the points. I will update later.

Edit:
Please stop bringing up the military and trying to make me look like I am using the military as a crutch. Look at the Yelp reviews of your shop and BBB complaints. Awfully familiar to this thread.

Idle

Well, being from Slowhawk I'll tell you my side.

The owner(Eric) is very easy to deal with. Car came in not running. We narrowed it to a blown fuse for the boost a pump. While driving it around the shop we knew it just needed the tune corrected. Ran like it had a 250+ cam in it.
Eric came in and picked it up. We told him it should be tuned. Being that he really doesn't know much about cars he was thinking a tune is a tune.

After he drove it a bit and told me his issue's I assured we could get it better. That we did by just starting with a stock file and tune it in the way we do. That's about all out involvement with this situation.

I'll just say Eric is a very nice guy and easy going.

SDVette

Sadly, this mirrors my experience with Top Flight. The dollar values were much smaller, but I too got no written estimate, long delays with no feedback, and a huge surprise when I eventually picked up the car (My C5 in for a leaky fuel injector). This was 5-6 years ago and obviously I have never been back.

Always - Always - insist on a written estimate. The California law should protect you from this sort of scam. ANd never pay a bill that is more than 10% more than the written estimate you have agreed to.

OP: Thank you for your service.