Complaint Review: Flemings ultimate garage

Buyer beware, I purchased a 1982 Ferrari in June 2011 from flemings and was taken for a ride. They sold me a car with a engine that required a total rebuild. Flemings stated in the ad " freshly serviced"

regarding Valerio Gennacarro's newly acquired 308 GTSi...

the dismantling of the engine block was completed last week and it revealed further serious issues with the 'health' of the motor, beyond that which we've previously discussed.

cylinders 5, 7 and 8 were all suffering from a broken top piston ring which, fortunately, did not do any irreversible damage which our hone could not undo. it is further evidence however, along with the non-factory cylinder firing rings and additional oil feeds/returns, that suggests this particular motor was once turbo charged. unfortunately, the pistons themselves (Vanolia forged) are not reusable as 4 of them, again from the 5-8 bank, have collapsed skirts (pictures attached).  when combined with the bent valves in the 5-8 cylinder head feeding the number 6 and 8 combustion chambers, the result is a motor the needs a comprehensive rebuild. furthermore, it seems impossible to my entire team that the 5-8 cylinder head was recently, according to the BCC invoice, off the block. in fact, all of the 'physical' evidence, including the obvious fact that the 5-8 valve cover was spray painted on the head in the engine bay, suggests just the opposite... and, as previously discussed, the overall quality of workmanship was very, very poor... i'll list examples to support that below ;

- the 5-8 Marelli distributor cap was cracked in two...either due to over torquing of the cap screws upon installation...or it was knowingly installed that way.

- a cracked/broken distributor rotor.

- mismatched ignition wire extensions...6 were resistor ends and 2 were not...however none should be resistor ends because the car has resistor ignition wires.

- 17 of 20 cylinder head nuts not torqued anywhere close to Factory spec on the cylinder head studs.

- sequenced camshaft saddles were not reinstalled in the correct sequence.

- mismatched hardware and hoses (metric and standard) throughout the engine and ancillary systems.

- missing washers on countless studs and bolts where washers are required.

- a fixed A/C compressor bracket that was broken due to poor installation, lack of proper shimming and, likely, resulting vibration.

- again, the fact that the 5-8 valve cover was spray painted in situation, resulting in over spray which covered the intake runners and cylinder head.

the attached pictures show, in order, the over spray, the ignition components (x2), the A/C compressor, the worn out valves and guides and lastly, the wiped out pistons.

now, as the owner of a Ferrari only service and restoration shop, i'm well positioned to appreciate the fact that not all the ills of this car are your reasonable responsibility. however, even the quickest internet search seems to reveal that your operation knew well that this car had significant engine issues immediately upon receiving it on trade. due to those obvious issues, your operation requested and received a significant amount of money from the previous owner toward the end of servicing those problems. those problems were not solved though, and frankly, is not possible that they weren't evident to BCC who, in our opinion, set incorrect valve timing before correcting it. not only had there been piston/valve interference with obvious audible ramifications, but the collapsed piston skirts should have been heard clearly by a trained 'ear'. the car had numerous uncharacteristic and obviously terminal noises and, furthermore, steps had been taken to 'right' the critical servicing mistakes in a substandard fashion.  the fact that these obvious issues were not fixed properly and simply glossed over, at Valerio's expense, unethical and unfair.

i'll reiterate, not all of the issues that this car suffers from are necessarily the responsibility of either Flemings or BCC...the wiped out pistons, severely cracked flywheel, etc. however, Valario purchased this car with the clear understanding that a substantial ($5600) service had just been performed by a capable, reputable shop. in this respect, he was completely let down...if not completely mislead...but in spite of the considerable evidence, i'll reserve that judgement in the hope the right thing is done. which would be, a refund of exactly the amount of the BCC service invoice and no less, as Valerio is facing a a complete engine rebuild which will total three times that amount.

thank you for attention in this matter,

Brett ****, President, Gran Turismo LTD.