Warning : Performance Imports/Wendt Motors Atlanta

All, Would like to issue a serious warning about this shop operated by Peter Wendt. Facts : Car goes in for maintenance last week of Jan, 2006. At the same time, a Turbo front spoiler would be mounted. This spoiler was drop shipped by MASHAW. When coming back from my business trip, the shop claims that the spoiler does not fit. No big deal, MASHAW was easy to deal with and allowed the item to be shipped back to California. I paid Peter Wendt 70$ for returning the item via FedEx. I have no words to describe what follows afterwards. When after a couple of months I still had not received my check fom Mashaw, I decided to give him a call. Claims he hasn't received anything. Back to Wendt : claims he shipped it 'a long time ago'. Will provide me with the tracking number. No issue, will call you back. Never received a call back. Every time I call the store, he claims the tracking number is at his home office or finds out another way to get off the phone ASAP. This goes on for months. May 2007 I visit him. Guy tells me straight in my face that the item was shipped a while ago and actually sounded believable. I scanned his shop and indeed did not see the item. Get on the phone again with Mashaw. Swears he hasn't received anything. I get my attorney to write a threatening letter to Peter Wendt/Performance Imports. The box with the spoiler shows up in CA 1 week later, shipment to be paid by addressee (!). By the way, MASHAW is a class act to deal with. This whole situation gave the poor guy sleepless nights. Kind of the opposite of the Atlanta individual. Anyway - wanted to warn the community. There's a supplier with questionable ethical standards amongst us. I filed complaints with both the FTC and BBB. From what I understand, several other members in the Atlanta area have had issues with Performance Imports. Be carefull when dealing with this individual.

Thanks for the heads up. Who is reputable in the Atlanta area to deal with ????

People are more prone to report negative things before posting positive things. Everyone has different experiences but my experience with Wendt Motors/ Performance Imports is a satisfying one. I had my car towed to the shop because it would not start. I drive a 1995 BMW 325is with basically no problems. But after 15 years some things are bound to go bad. They found that my ignition had gone bad and my DME relay needed replacing. Once we got the car to start, upon driving it, the engine would quickly overheat. After checking the entire cooling system it was found that my radiator, water pump and thermostat housing needed replacing. Not expecting all these things to be wrong all at once I was a little skeptical but its a 1995 and overtime parts do deteriorate. After a few days of labor, my car was starting and no longer running hot. I am satisfied with the rates I was charged to basically replace my entire cooling system. I also liked how the technician was knowledgeable as he drove a car basically like mine except its a M3 so he knew the common problems with this vehicle. He also explained to me what was wrong, what may have caused the problem and the best way to fix things. Peter, the owner, had good communication with the technicians as well as communication with myself in keeping me posted on the status of my car. I am a satisfied customer.

So no start due to bad switch caused DME relay to fry and cooling system to self destruct?? Good thing they knew how to trouble shoot and fix all of that.

Man in my opinion there is absolutely NO excuse for dishonesty in situations like this. A simple "we flat out forgot to ship it" or "we lost the part and haven't shipped it" would have settled the issue right away. Not related but a few years ago I bought wheels from a then reputable dealer active on the Audi forums. After 4 months I had to dispute the charge with Amex and get my money back. In that time they claimed the wheels were on back order, they were stuck in customs, they had shipped them, oh wait...they were at the shop and were ready to ship. There is nothing more infuriating than being told lies!

So someone signs up for Rennlist, digs up a thread from 4 years ago and uses their first and only post to defend this shop? Forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical.

Quotes source post: 8822410

Just what I was thinking... What would be the chances of that being a coincidence!? Probably sounded like a good idea for someone who thinks we're stupid here on RL

Wonder what BMW325ATL was even doing lurking on rennlist...

Quotes source post: 4611798

I recently heard from a good source that Wendt Motors is reputable.

Quotes source post: 8822624

[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://rennlist.com/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif https://rennlist.com/forums/graemlins/roflmao.gif https://rennlist.com/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Quotes source post: 4611798

Howard Wright at European Motors

Why do we care about a four year old post?

Quotes source post: 4610807

I totally want to agree with this guy. And I'm not surprised that someone else had a hard time with Peter Wendt. They officially have an F rating by the BBB. We had to file a complaint against him because he has had my fiance's Audi for almost a year now. This has been very hard on us because my fiance has had to drive an old car that keeps shutting down on him and has mechanical problems. Peter keeps claiming that he can fix it and we even met with the mechanic who claimed that he could do something but every time they promised to deliver or promised to meet us with the car they never follow through. If This were my car I would have called the police on him because he's holding property that isn't his and refuses to give it back. But my fiance is a kind person who avoids conflict but I'm fed up with it. I just want to tell our story to as many people as possible and try to hurt their business because I'm disgusted by the way that they have handled this. I finally convinced my fiance to take legal action so we'll be taking to a lawyer today. This picture is from February 20th 2019 the day that he promised to deliver the car to us by 2 p.m. we drove all the way down to Georgia from where we live in South Carolina and this is what the car look like. As if no one had been working on it for the past year and that they had just started working on it that day.

Isn't that an Audi? Uh... This is a Porsche Forum...

Quotes source post: 15656778

Yeah... it's sooooooo funny... clearly you completely missed the point of my post. I could care less what the forum is about. someone else out there had a major issue with this mechanic many years ago and I want to tell as many people as possible what a horrible mechanic this guy still is. Peter lied to us about being able to fix anything other than a Porsche. This forum post pops up on the front page of Google search results for Performance Imports so that's why I chose it. I want other people to know about this guy. If that's funny to you or if you want to berate us for no reason then fine go ahead but this post is staying here as a warning to others.

If any of this is true...If it was my car it would be on a truck headed home over 11 months earlier. No-one can hold your property hostage. I don't care if it is an Isetta or a Lambo for craps sake.

Quotes source post: 15656855

You joined Rennlist only to post on this thread?

Funny that your fiance’ wasnt moved enough to post

Quotes source post: 15656855

^^ No, I didn't miss your point at all... I just thought I'd let you know that you're barking up the wrong tree. If you'd like to keep barking, go ahead - it's your time, waste it as you see fit.

Quotes source post: 15659005

^^^

Oh boy, here we go... I posted a similar type of post awhile back on a different topic and the negative responses were unbelievable. Wasn't worth the time and effort since there are many who just enjoy egging you on. Better to just let it go and let people have their own experiences.

Quotes source post: 15656778

??????????????? I know nothing about this shop, but apparently they work on Audi's and Porsches. Do you really think that, because this incident happened to be on an Audi, it couldn't happen on a Porsche? It already did. Isn't the "topic" a lot more about how this particular shop handles service than it is about what car the issue occurred on? If there was no Porsche case, then I'd agree it would be rather random to post on RL, but since there were Porsche service issues, I think most of us benefit from hearing another data point. If the complaints being made are not accurate, feel free to call them out (if you have any data to the contrary). If you don't have any issue with the claim, then just don't post -- I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people on RL who are interested in hearing about another data point.

Quotes source post: 15659005

Why the snide comment? Her post validated the OP's opinion and experiences. Unless you are tied to the shop or it's owner, what lop-sided benefit does your post possess? A lot of us have brands besides Porsche, BTW.

^^^ Snide? Lopsided benefit? Reading comprehension... I very simply pointed out that the OP was in a Porsche technical/maintenance forum - which I found to be funny/strange. Upon receiving the rather whiny reply, I stated my point and the fact that I thought they were wasting their time posting here (which has been borne out by this enlightening technical conversation)...

snide = slyly disparaging : INSINUATING If every forum post is expected to center on technical/maintenance, then two things are clear: there would be no sense of community to discuss related matters, and....you broke your own rule, twice. No harm, no foul, but those in Atlanta likely appreciate the OP and related posts.

Thanks for the heads up. Regardless of the make/model of your car, knowing about shops that lie to customers and do shoddy work is good knowledge to have. On a side note, its been clear to you for months that this is clearly a crappy shop - so continuing to leave your car there is stupid and lazy on the part of your fiance. I'd have shown up with a trailer and taken it back regardless of whether they were 'finished'. Document everything in the process with pictures and video. Then, take it to a reputable shop (or complete the work yourself) and file a claim against the original shop to cover any damage or additional work that was required due to their negligence. A word of advice, I would start to question why your fiance is so lackadaisical about the siutation. This could be a big red flashing warning light.

If somebody shows up in order to remove a car that has been touched (much less, worked on) can't the shop fabricate a bill for services, storage, etc. that forces the owner into an extortion?

Quotes source post: 15686446

Maybe, but what's the alternative? My advice is document everything and get your car the hell out of there.

Quotes source post: 15686195

+1000 It should be an unwritten rule on all forums that if you don't like a thread, or don't like an individual post, just don't post. If anyone disagrees with a post or thread, then it's open season, but if you simply don't like the post or topic, don't post. Moderators will moderate when needed, hopefully with much higher criteria than what was applied on the Audi post. Individual users trying to moderate RL content based upon their personal dislikes of thread topics or individual posts are a disservice to the community because it shuts down commentary that many others will find useful.

Quotes source post: 15686795

If GA is like AL, the shop is holding lots of cards once you turn over your car and keys to them. If things get ugly, you need to bail the car out for whatever the charges are, then seek restitution via Small Claims Court. Shop keepers don't want to waste their time going to court, so the threat of having to do so will possibly allow them to see things more clearly. Since the shop has openly lied to you, take a recorder with you and a camera when you visit the shop; try to get names of the wrenches that worked on the car, and if he won't give you an itemized repair ticket, record that conversation. The shop will need an attorney in order to file a lien, so he won't want to do that. You will probably need an attorney to write a letter telling the shop to file a lien or risk theft of property (or similar) charges. Keep things civil, because, "normal wear and tear", can increase substantially if the shop owner gets his mind set to ruffle your feathers.

Quotes source post: 15687210

I don't think a shop will need an attorney to file for a mechanic's lien. In my experience, a "sorta" detailed bill for exorbitant storage fees presented to the county clerk's office will suffice well enough to tie it up.

Google may have tripped me up, but here's something worth knowing: https://www.georgialegalaid.org/reso...ens-in-georgia Georgia has a mechanic's lien law. A lien is a charge on property for some debt for work performed. It can be made through a court when a person shows the authorization of another party (the debtor) to perform some work. Under this law, Willie's shop could keep Eric's car until he pays for the repair. Alternatively, Willie's shop could return the car and file a lien at the county courthouse. A lien would mean that Eric wouldn't have a clear title to the car and would therefore have trouble selling it. If Willie keeps the car, Eric could make a written demand that the mechanic release the car to him. The mechanic would have to do so within 10 days. If the mechanic filed a lien, he would have to seek legal action within 30 days. A court hearing would then be held, and Eric could present his side of the case. The judge would decide if Eric should pay the bill.

[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://rennlist.com/forums/images/smilies/popcorn.gif