LpBevoEvo

iTrader: (9)

My bad experience with MZM happened before I met you at the tune date. Hearing your experience just made me dislike them even more...

Whoosh

iTrader: (19)

Up to this point, I have waited patiently for you or Shaheen to "flesh out the details" of your complaints. You have both failed to do so. To get on the forum and bash someone without any substance or reason is both foolish and pointless. What can others learn from your experience? Who would be a better choice? Is there any one thing that they do well? Is your opinion based on fact or just a personality conflict. You provided nothing except sophomoric phrases and vague references. You both could do better.

As for my experience with MZM, while not without a few bumps, it has been a pleasant experience. They have handled my car with kid gloves each time they turned a wrench. It has never had to go back for some malfunction on parts they have installed. My car is what I consider pretty heavily modified and it has never failed to start each morning or left me on the road.

I doubt very many other people could make the same claim.

LpBevoEvo

iTrader: (9)

I've typed 2 lengthy responses and have had the backspace key send me back a page both times... I'll give it another try later : \

Batmann!

iTrader: (1)

...goodness. Do you mind giving me detailed information on what it was that MZM did, that made you dissatisfied with them? It looks like it would either be MZM, or Alamomotorsports(?) in San Antonio, and the last thing I want to do is open a can of worms.
Is anyone running the same Ignition setup that I mentioned earlier on (HKS DLI, Ralliart spark plug wires, Denso spark plugs)?

robertrinaustin

iTrader: (5)

I'm running Denzos and the DLI and it solved the spark squelch issue. Check some Buschur threads. I believe he had the same problem and used the DLI as well.

M00kiE

iTrader: (2)

hrm.. just out of curiosity to those with the bad experiences: When did this take place? (how long ago) seems to me that alot of bad happenings were going on there a couple of years back.. they seem to have gotten their act together over the past year and seem to be heading in the right direction now... just wondering if you guys went in during those "bad years"?

QAT-R

iTrader: (17)

Wow, I had no idea you were so interested in my situation with MZM. Please don't take this the wrong way but I vaguely remember your car and I really don't know you or your agenda.

Why are you getting so offended? If you are happy with MZM's work then more power to you .

I need to go now but I'll check back in a couple of hours with some more details.

QAT-R

iTrader: (17)

First of all, my experience with MZM was been a bit more extensive than most. Before my I took my EVO there, my friends and I were working on two projects with them a turbo'd civic si and an RX-7.

The civic si project was basically a bolt on Greddy turbo kit and they did a pretty good job with it. So then we took the RX-7 there for some BPU stuff and the tuning results were less than satisfactory but still within reason. A couple of months later the owner of the RX-7 blows his motor due to choosing one step hotter plugs which is, of course, the owner's fault. MZM told the guy that they would hook him up by lying to the 3rd party warranty adjuster and telling him the car was stock so their would be little money out of pocket. Well, after they got their check from the adjuster for close to $5k they rebuilt the motor and turned on the guy, sticking him with a bill for well over $10k. The guy had no other way out but to pay and he had to sell his car soon after. I only learned about this BS after I had started on my project with MZM. What I did know was that Mohammed always treated the guy like **** and never tuned the car properly.

So a couple of weeks after I purchased my Evo, I went to MZM to get their advice on mods. Mohammed was talking about god and how much he is blessed to be doing what he is doing and that he changed blah, blah, blah. So I let Motasim order a couple of parts which he got a very reasonable prices.

This is where the BS starts, Mohammed jumps in and says that he will hook me up with the first Power FC and tune it for a "special one time deal." I say alright and I trust him with my car. He splices the **** out of it, converts it to speed density without my consent and charges me close to $2k, which I later found out was the high price he ever charged. He then ends up charging me for tuning a other shop stuff. The car ran O.K. but was definitely not 100%. At this point I was the official MZM guinea pig. Mohammed basically learned Evo tuning through messing with my car. I was the first to trust him and he said that he was grateful and would take care of me.

A couple of months later I had a nice chunk of change and wanted more power. I went back to MZM mainly because I was frustrated with all others in Texas and I was promised better treatment. Like an idiot I went back and I was talked into a bigass T-67. They gave me a high qoute on labor and reasonable price on the kit, HKS clutch, Injectors. We negotiated, came to a deal and I left the car with them for a couple of weeks as I went on holiday. I come back and Mohammed is still "tuning" my car. I get slapped with a bill for about $4k more than the estimate and am forced to pay it to get my car back! The icing on the cake was Mohammed doing a 5k clutch dump on my brand new HKS clutch before giving me the car back.

Results: The car was running pig rich and making pitiful power with gobs of lag, with extremely bad idle, I hated my car. As if that weren't enough, I noticed a fifth gear synchro scratch after I got the car back, T-case was noticably louder and the clutch had to be replaced after just 10k miles. Everyone who knows me knows that I baby my car and never launch it.

So I have no doubt in my mind that MZM either abused my car or messed up the clutch install. I drove my car like this for months waiting for Mohammed to make good on his promise to retune my car and take a look at the clutch. Of course, this never happened and I had to spend a lot more money to reverse the damage done. Mark from TT actually had a lot to say about the state of my MZM PowerFC tune, but I promised to keep that private.

OK thats almost everything. What did I learn? I put WAY TOO MUCH trust in these guys, I took them for their word and they took advantage of me. I was ignorant and I still regret it to this day. I hope the newer members can benefit from my story. Make your choice but be aware that deception is just part of the modification/tuning business.


P.S. I just have to say that Motasim and Ayman, Mohammed's two younger brothers are good people who have treated me fairly. Unfotunately, they aren't the ones calling the shots.

LpBevoEvo

iTrader: (9)

My experience was similar to Shaheens. I went to mzm to get some minor parts installed (mbc, fuel pump, and 3 guages). I was a "noob" to evo's and modding cars in general at the time, so I entrusted them with this small task. Not only did they criticise my mod choices (which were and still are evolutionm favorites), but they gave me a slightly high quote for the work. At the time I was ok with spending ~400 to get a reputable shop to install these small things for me.

I had the oil block adapter plate for the oil pressure gauge, and the guages were defi bf's (daisy chain), so little work would have to be done in wiring them.

After getting a couple odd calls and waiting an extra day I came to pick up my car and was shown a bill for $750. $750 to install a mbc, fuel pump, and hook up a boost and oil pressure gauge. I was shocked needless to say, but had no other choice but to pay this outrageous bill to get my car back.

They had set the mbc for me at 19 psi doing god knows what with my car on the street. I have no doubt that they abused the car while "setting" my boost controller.

Not only did they double the semi reasonable estimate, but they had a joy ride in my car without my permission. I basically felt like I had been robbed, and throughout the experience I was treated like garbage. They have sleasy business practices and don't deserve any of our business. The number of power fc users in our area shows how influential and misleading they can be to their customers. MZM will never touch my car or my wallet again. If you liked being jerked around, over charged, and taken advanatge of, take your business to MZM .

QAT-R

iTrader: (17)

man it really sickens me. They really do prey on noob's. I even remember the day I met Robert R in MZM, back when he just bought his Evo, and they told me to rave about the Power FC so that Robert R would get one. Same thing with Oscar and all the other guys that came in. They also never became a Power Excel certified tuner which they were telling everybody they would be soon (back in '03).

j8

iTrader: (4)

I thought I would post up a good story since the last two stories were about bad experiences. The only shop locally I personally would trust is Percision R here in San Antonio. William the shop owner, who some of you know is truely a stand up guy. I have been doing business with him since I moved into the area three years ago and have never met a more professional shop owner. He has worked on my EVO and he is now working on my SRT-4 (Should be fun when its done). He has always stood by his work and if something goes wrong he takes care of the problem. This is a rare thing to find these days, where most people are just out for a quick buck. The only other shop I trusted before is way back in San Diego, which is kind of a drive. They built my first street car a 1993 MR2 Turbo. Precision R will continue to get my money because they charge fair prices and stand by there work.

QAT-R

iTrader: (17)

Precision R has seriously bent over backwards for me on my Tranny/Tcase/Clutch work. William is a good guy and a man of his word. Its a small shop but they will appreciate your business and treat you like it.

robertrinaustin

iTrader: (5)

Ben,
I'm not sure what your problem is with the Power FC, but it is used in many of the most powerful EVOs in the world outside of the US and a few in the States as well. I don't think one needs to be misled to choose a Power FC.

I would add that my experiences with MZM have all been positive. They worked on my WRX and fixed many of the problems from other local shops (mismatched exhaust, wrongly hooked up MBC and a few other problems). They've worked on my EVO as well and I am pleased with that work. I can also add that I've never seen them abuse a car.

I'm sorry that both you and Shaheen are unhappy because your both good guys and hope we can get together again for a meet soon.

Regards,
Robert

milo

iTrader: (2)

I'll be visiting MZM for a Ecuteck flash and APS 3.5" TB exhaust system or maybe a Greddy Ti cat back system. I'm hoping for a good experience with MZM, I'll keep you guys informed

QAT-R

iTrader: (17)

Oh, I just remembered a couple of more issues:

1. After installing my tubro kit, which was a bolt-on affair, a misplaced stainless steel oil line sawed its way through my radiator! I never noticed it until it was too late and I was stranded on the highway with fluid all over the place. After towing the car to MZM, I had to source a new radiator since they were "too busy" and they charge me EVERY penny and then some including install and even fluids. This is a black and white class of installer error and they didn't stand by their work.

2. I took my friends SR20'd 240sx for a clutch job during the same period. We we picked the car up, went down howard and turned north on the highway and all I see is tons of smoke! We pull over, get towed to back to MZM, they try to blame it on a faulty clutch the minute they see the flatbed. I don't know the details but something went wrong during the install, they fixed it and CHARGED the guy an exorbitant price. All he could do was pay to get his car back.

It was all just too much to handle. The promises to change, the promises to fix, the abuse of my car (I have this first hand), the tens of thousands spent and the disappointment. As for the statement, "You get what you pay for," not really. I guess I was foolish enough to keep coming back because it was the only garage in the area.

My suggestion: the staged tuning path that many tuners provide will do wonders for your EVO. Works and Vishnu would be my top choices as far as mail-in, staged stuff. Also, Mark from TT always comes down every couple of months. If you need help on install, contact Mitsuorder or Zeus from this board, they are locals that have treated me and my car very well. The point is, don't limit yourself to MZM or any other shop for that matter.