Ccass
have you yourself checked the fitmant on these systems as far as aligning the tips , i see you have C3 , but look at them on a C5 the quad tips do not sit straight . and i am not trying to be on anyones side . this is just my .02

oak

 

Bottom line:

The 'new' ones are 'damaged' (cut to fit).

I believe the vendor is within his rights to not accept them back.

Hard lession - but as another post indicated - place them FS here on the Forum - leave them on until sold.

As to 'treatment' by the vendor - I think he has explained that fully.

 

that wasn't my interpretation, them were his words. he did tell me you would tell me the same thing but i still told him i would like to talk to you. that is when he told me that your company was too big and you don't have time to talk to me. i wasn't debating that you would not take back the system, it was just frustrating to me that my whole conversation with mike made me feel like he was calling me a liar about the fitment issue, that is why i wanted to talk to you.

 

oh by the way chris, i do appreciate your offer on shipping and i might take you up on that. i really like the look of the system, it just aint loud enough for me. it still isn't lined up perfectly though. i'll post pics.

i never had a chance to ask you if there was anything else i can do to make it louder with your system on the car. i don't have alot of money to spend, that is why i went with a cat back system. improve sound is my only concern, not worried about performance. you said that you guys are making a louder system. can you get me more info on that. maybe i can strike a deal with you and just replace the mufflers if that's all i need to do.
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...4/IMG_0088.jpg

 

here are the pics. you can see where we cut and welded the intake pipe on the mufflers. also, alignment isn't perfect. the muffler on the right seems to sit lower than the left.

 

Installed my system last night (couldn't get to it for a few weeks) Followed instructions and everything fit up perfectly........... except the tips. When we finally thought they were perfect. I drove home, only a couple of miles, and put the car in the garage. Stopped to look at the tips about 3 times before I went in the house. Got ready to leave for work this morning and the drivers side tip is a lot higher that the passenger side!!

I'm quite sure it's just some adjusting. The sound is not as agressive as I thought it might be, but I didn't want it really loud. I think the pipes, when straight, look 1000% better than the stock tips with the chrome slip on cover. Nice workmanship, excellent looking. So far, very happy that I got in on the deal!!

Greg

 

let me start off by saying i really like my system but the one major problem that i have with it is now that it is installed and has about 2,000 miles on it the mufflers have now started to sag really bad and they hang out below the body. Im thinking that the metal that goes to the factory bushings in the back needs to be thinker or have some sort of gusset on them. I not sure what im going to do to fix the issue but now both muffler rest on the body of the rear bumper and are starting to melt it a bit. Not sure if you guys have any solutions or ideas?

 

The brackets are probably bending a little from the constant inertia of the weight of the mufflers when the car is in motion. There is another one inch area at the end of the bracket that could be welded on each side of each bracket. This extra one inch of weld will strengthen the bracket quite a bit. We're going to impliment these welds in the 1st full production run of the system.

 

ok i guess ill try and yank them out and weld them up more

 

edited - see below

 

Chris,

I'm confused. With regard to fitment problems, your 11/16 email to me stated (and I quote) "We have recently determined that the 30 pre-production systems are missing a 1” weld bead area at the end of the bracket on the top of the muffler. If you were to pull the muffler out, push the bracket flush with the muffler top on the end and extend then weld an additional 1” on each side of the bracket, the system will install higher and will not droop in the future."

Have you communicated this factory defect to ALL the CF customers who purchased those defective systems?

Do you really think it's reasonable to ask people to spend their time and money to repair a known factory defect?

I certainly hope there is a way to resolve this problem in a more customer-friendly manner. You have my contact information, both by email and phone (per my telephone message). I await your reply.

 

Keep in mind the systems were promoted as preproduction and sold at an incredibly low price. This is a cosmetic issue in a handfull of pre-production systems. And because of several owners notifying us of their concerns, we have implimented a design revision for the production systems. The mufflers aren't going to fall out of the car. They just might hang a little low. To some owners this is annoying, to others it is no big deal. We have absolutely NO problem with having owners send them back to add the welds to keep them up nice and tight if that is want you want but it is going to cost owners more money to send them back than it is to just have a local shop do the welds. If these were production units sold at full price, we'd also take care of shipping both ways, but since they are not, owners are responsible for getting them back to us and we'll be responsible for returning them. I think that is very fair. To me it makes more sense to take them locally. I didn't intend my post to say 'you bought it, you deal with it'. I'm sorry if that's the way it sounded.

Chris

 

wow what a mess....

 

Two members have mufflers that sag a little. Both are in direct communication with the manufacturer with viable solutions. The only thing that makes this a mess, is comments like this.

Would the members please contact myself or Pypes directly so we can get you taken care of? Then feel free to post the conclusions back here in this post.

 

Corvette owners do tend to be whiners, it's probably why we dont' have more vendors at prices we can afford

Chris- I would like to say you make a good quality product from the twice I got to look at one in person, and you sold the first systems with the full understanding they were pre-production, sold to work out bugs with the design, for an outstanding price!

I can't imagine you're not doing everything you can to satisfy customers, and I think everyone should be more than thrilled that you're listening to customers (I've seen just this one instance where the fitment isn't perfect, and who knows why that is, one time error perhaps?) and you say you're making them 25% louder, and welding them more so they don't sag (which will fix the tip-allignment problem, from what I can tell) what more could customers ask for!?

Thanks for battling vette tax on this one, I personally appreciate the effort your putting in to make an affordable system!

Chris

To add-> I don't own this system.

 

Chris,

I DID CONTACT YOU about the problem. In fact, I've now left you two voice mail messages (as recently as yesterday) which have gone unreturned. Yet, you find the time to post on this forum, making it sound as if there are just two unreasonable whiners. This is patently false.

1. The systems were promoted as "sample" runs. No mention was made of manufacturing defects. What you said was (and I quote) "These systems differ from what will be the actual production run in that an error was made in the material used for the over the axle pipes. The system was intended to be all polished and all 304 stainless. The Tips and mufflers are polished 304 but the axle pipes are non polished 409 stainless. Because of that, we are going to offer these first 30 systems for a great price."

2. The mufflers don't just "hang a little low". The actually rest against the rear fascia. Per your email to me on 11/16, you said; "If the muffler doesn’t touch the bumper, you will be fine. But if it droops any more and touches it, it could slightly melt the plastic.. Mine is resting against the rear fascia, which is what I told you in my email.

It is an incredibly bad business practice to sell a defective item, then require the customer to either pay for repairs or pay for shipping exchanges. Yet, that's how you've chosen to run your business. Corvette Forum members need to know this information before they decide to purchase Pypes products.

The idea that customers should expect to pay to repair manufacturing defects merely because the system was inexpensive is absolutely ridiculous. I tried to work with you on this problem, but you refuse to respond to my messages. Evidently, you are under the mistaken impression that you can make me and this problem go away by ignoring it. I don't take kindly to getting screwed.

My advice to other Corvette owners is simple: Avoid doing business with Pypes. They sell a very poor quality product. They also leave you out in the cold when it comes to customer service. Any members considering a Pypes purchase, please feel free to PM me. I'll give you my telephone number. Take the time to speak with me, then make your own determination as to whether I'm a professional, reasonable person; or just some whiner.

 

Here's what they look like when the begin to (in Chris's words) "sag a little".
I wonder how much the rear fascia will cost to repair/replace when it "melts a little"!

 

Sounds like you guys volunteered to be guinea pigs.

 

We agreed to purchase systems which were discounted because they utilized a non-polished stainless steel on the axle section. I most definitely did NOT agree to purchase a system with a factory defect that will cause damage to the rear fascia of my Corvette.

 

Jeff, I commonly personally answer e-mails much quicker than voice mails. Otherwise I have to hand it off to one of the employees and this is my way of trying to stay personally involved with these type of issues. So I'm going to again ignore you by posting again in this public topic and hope you go away.

When your brand new $30-$50k GM, Ford or Chrysler vehicle gets recalled for a manufacturer's defect, do they come pick up your car and bring it back to you fixed? Do they reimburse you for your time and fuel to drop it off? Should we boycott all the major car manufacturer's because they don't?

Again, send them back and we will fix them and return them at no charge.