JrodSVT
New Member
SHOFAST and FORCED FAB FYT
the guy that this happened to is a Friend of mine and i don't want to see this happen to anybody. I am sure some of you have had your run ins with Brad Hogue at Shofast performance.
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Well this is my cars story for the last year... (This is long...)
Last year the car "EVIL" was dropped off at SHOFast Performance in Cincinnati Ohio. The owner "Brad Hogue" was unable to meet me and talk about the project (mistake #1, for had I met the guy I would not have let him have the car.) I recorded the mileage at the time 74k. I made an initial payment for a Custom AX4N rebuilt with a Limited Slip Differential (Locking type). I then had made a second payment to speed along other things. In total he got about $7k.
After 6 months I said I wanted to quit the project and take it elsewhere, and he offered to have it towed to the company in Dayton Ohio "Forced Fabrications" or www.forcedfab.com to have a turbo put on the car and the engine rebuilt. The contact I had through this shop was a guy named Carson, but I did talk to a few other guys through out the time the car was there. Again I repeated mistake #1, I never met with these guys. This is a big mistake, I realize I always give everyone the benefit of the doubt, not anymore.
This company had me pay an initial payment that was more than half of the estimated total to complete the project. I was later asked to make a second payment, and I asked why? They said they needed to order pistons, rods, and other parts for the engine to go to the machine shop. So I paid up wondering where my first payment went to. (I figured towards turbo parts, since I was having a new engine built and a full exhaust system completed. I asked for a photo of my car before I sent the money, the car was dirty as ****, and they said it was on the dyno. I have the dyno sheet next to me and it dyno'd at 133.7 HP and 139.3 lb/ft. Well I guess if the gas has never been changed then that's what old gas does? Or so I thought. that's over 50HP less than when I had it dynoed just 10 months ago (previous to when they did it).
I called 3 weeks after my second payment (as this is how long it would take to get the engine back from the machine shop, or so I was told. Carson told me it looks like they are stealing parts and they didn't even order my rods. I was a little uneasy. I called back and said I want all my money back and I will be getting my car the next monday. Then I called Carson Monday, he had "quit" he said they didn't have the money to refund to me. I called up to forced fabrications and they were going to meet on the refund and get back to me.
While all this was going on I tried to contact Brad at SHOFast to see if he could have my car towed back to me or atleast to him, since I have zero connections up there and that's an 8 hour drive, in which 2 people would have to go so that both cars can be driven back. Brad said on the weekend he'll have it picked up Monday, Saturday comes around and he tells me this little story. "We went up there at 1:30AM and had to quick pick the car because some guy was trying to block it in. They were running after us after we got it, but we hit the freeway". Do I know if this story is true or not? No clue, 1:30AM on Saturday would you be at work?
I then called Forced Fab AFTER my car is out of there so they have no leverage on me, I tell them I want all my money back, they said dispute it through your credit card, and the first payment was over 120 days ago so I could not, the second payment went immediately into dispute but will take 60 days for me to get my money back, they also told me that Carson was fired, he didn't quit. I then went through 2CO.com to get my first payment back (sort of like paypal) and I got it back in 48 hours as the "vendor" did not respond.
So with my car in Brad's hands I get two calls, one from Carson "I started my own company with one other guy, and we're going to make turbo kits, and kits only, I can finish your car if you get your money back you can give it to me and we can proceed." I basically said **** no to that, not to make that mistake a third time. Then I get a call from Brad, "Hey I would really like to finish the supercharger project up, I'll do it for cost." So I thought hmm...maybe. He proceeds to tell me that he can have it done in a week and a half. I got sucked in because it was so cheap, I said if you can have it done by the weekend I am visiting then go ahead.
I find out he's still diagnosing the car to see why it was running like crap from the other place. He calls me at 12:30PM on Thursday, I am supposed to leave right after work at 5PM to go to cincy and get my SHO Transmision installed and new halfshafts, steering knuckles, sway bar bushings, 3rd cat bypass, used Y pipe. I start thinking "I wonder if he even touched the car, he said he tool the UIM off, but he sent me a picture of the car with it on" Well I call around to see if I can get ANYONE to get my car with me, luckily I found a friend that works at a bikeshop and had enough hours he could take off.
I then talked to Brad when he called about just getting my car back and he told me fine, and was upset with all of it, and he gave me the Transmission shops address (at 4PM, I thought he wasn't even going to call) he told me he would have the car towed there, and it ran horribly and he wouldn't drive it. So he gave me a quote of $400 to get it towed to Memphis 500 miles, I told him I want to see it to see if I think it needs towed.
I stressed so hard over everything, and I hadn't seen my car in so long that I wasn't sure what to expect, or who to blame, but I sure did make up a lot of scenarios in my head on that 8 hour drive. We arrived at the transmission shop at 4:30 AM slept in the heat on leather seats for a couple hours and just sweat, the shop opens at 8:00AM, they opened about 20 minutes early because I called.
I called to see when my car would be delivered, he said before 9am. The same was true for the parts that were going on. The transmission shop took us to a restaurant to eat and **** some time, not much to do in Bethel Ohio. We got back to the transmission shop at 10AM, no Brad, no car. I saw my transmission sitting on the floor it was all ready to be put in the car, and by 12:00 the old transmission was out, and the new one was ready to go in, still no Brad. I talked to the owner, and he said they have seen a lot of SHO's because of Brad and they know there way around them (dropped my tranny in 3 hours, and had a new one installed and running in 2 and a half). He also tells me this is the last one he's doing for Brad, and he also told me the transmission that is almost finished being installed in my car isn't paid for yet, and the car isn't leaving until it is, WOW. The owner (Rick) leaves for an appointment leaving just his son and grandson in the shop.
Now I am wondering if Brad will even show up, putting me down a nice chunk of change. Well finally Brad shows up around 1:15PM, I guess it takes more time to put a car on a tow truck then it does to change out a transmission. He brings me my car, 2 new halfshafts, a broken Y-pipe, no steering knuckles, no bushings, no 3rd cat bypass, and one **** of an attitude. Brad wasn't exactly what I expected, but it all fit together after I saw him (Picture Fat Joe, meets B-Rad from Malibu's most wanted, meets, someone that has never seen any sun.) [pictures to come].
I paid about $100 more per halfshaft than Brad originally told me. I paid it because I don't ever want to see him or deal with him ever again. He was about to leave with the tow truck guy to get lunch and I told him, Brad you gotta pay for the transmission before I can get my car. He said "I do business with them I'll pay it later" with a cocky attitude, and I told him "Yea and it sounds like this will be the last time too, so I need you to pay up so I can take my car." So he gets a little irritated and goes in and talks to the guy, which is putting my halfshafts on now. I walked outside to make sure the tow truck wasn't going to take the car. Brad left after he talked with the transmission guy I stayed away from him, I wasn't in any mood to talk to him.
EVIL's battery was dead, since it just sat for so long. The Transmission shop had a battery charger the they let me use. The car started fine after a few minutes of charging. The car idled ok, but stumbled once it got rolling, I gassed up with 93 Octane and it seemed to be ok, under heavy accelleration it stumbles though, and now at idle.
There are still a few unanswered questions like:
Where are my parts that were in my trunk, Brand new Spark plugs, Spark Plug wires, Fuel injectors, Lightning MAF, who scratched the front bumper, who put 1700 Miles on the car, and was the water injection hooked up during that time?
Everyone says I should sue forced fab for the problems with my car, but I honestly couldn't tell you who did the damage to the car.
The work Brad did included, swapping out my brakes all around 13" fronts, and SHO rears installed (with the brake cables hanging about an inch from the ground, luckily I caught this before I drove it anywhere), installed an H brace and made a couple supercharger brackets.
Moral of the story:
Well I guess if you want to throw money away and get a brake job that takes 6 months, then go to Brad. If you want to put your money somewhere and have your car driven (I'm assuming on this), and stuff stolen out of it, take it to Forced Fabrications, or Carson.
All in all I learned a damn good lesson, about becareful who you trust, especially when they have your money. I got screwed out of $1000-$2000, but it could have been worse.
On a side note:
The transmission shop helped me in every way they could, and they have a lot of experience with SHO's. If anyone needs a transmission rebuild I would highly suggest this place, I know they have my SHO Transmission on hand, but if it's a regular Taurus, it takes him 2 days to pull, rebuild, and reinstall. The shop is owned by Rick Hoffman, and his son works there, and his son was there when I was there, three generations in one place.
They stand behind all their work, and they are in NO WAY affiliated with Brad Hogue, or SHOFast.
Custom Transmissions
2815 State Route 133
Bethel, Ohio 45106
(513) 734-3311
Rick Hoffman - Owner
Brian aka Kermit
Pictures of EVIL will be up tomorrow.
** Correction and clarification: I found the Bypass pipe for the SHO in the trunk of EVIL, The Y pipe (see below) was not broken, but not useable.
I purchased SHO Steering knuckles, a Y pipe, and rear disc knuckles/spindles from Brian King (Not to be confused with Bryan King) the parts that I bought from him Brad would not put on because of the condition, so I ended up getting new parts through Brad (including some steering knuckles, and bushings that I never received as stated above).**
the guy that this happened to is a Friend of mine and i don't want to see this happen to anybody. I am sure some of you have had your run ins with Brad Hogue at Shofast performance.
-------------------------------------------------------
Well this is my cars story for the last year... (This is long...)
Last year the car "EVIL" was dropped off at SHOFast Performance in Cincinnati Ohio. The owner "Brad Hogue" was unable to meet me and talk about the project (mistake #1, for had I met the guy I would not have let him have the car.) I recorded the mileage at the time 74k. I made an initial payment for a Custom AX4N rebuilt with a Limited Slip Differential (Locking type). I then had made a second payment to speed along other things. In total he got about $7k.
After 6 months I said I wanted to quit the project and take it elsewhere, and he offered to have it towed to the company in Dayton Ohio "Forced Fabrications" or www.forcedfab.com to have a turbo put on the car and the engine rebuilt. The contact I had through this shop was a guy named Carson, but I did talk to a few other guys through out the time the car was there. Again I repeated mistake #1, I never met with these guys. This is a big mistake, I realize I always give everyone the benefit of the doubt, not anymore.
This company had me pay an initial payment that was more than half of the estimated total to complete the project. I was later asked to make a second payment, and I asked why? They said they needed to order pistons, rods, and other parts for the engine to go to the machine shop. So I paid up wondering where my first payment went to. (I figured towards turbo parts, since I was having a new engine built and a full exhaust system completed. I asked for a photo of my car before I sent the money, the car was dirty as ****, and they said it was on the dyno. I have the dyno sheet next to me and it dyno'd at 133.7 HP and 139.3 lb/ft. Well I guess if the gas has never been changed then that's what old gas does? Or so I thought. that's over 50HP less than when I had it dynoed just 10 months ago (previous to when they did it).
I called 3 weeks after my second payment (as this is how long it would take to get the engine back from the machine shop, or so I was told. Carson told me it looks like they are stealing parts and they didn't even order my rods. I was a little uneasy. I called back and said I want all my money back and I will be getting my car the next monday. Then I called Carson Monday, he had "quit" he said they didn't have the money to refund to me. I called up to forced fabrications and they were going to meet on the refund and get back to me.
While all this was going on I tried to contact Brad at SHOFast to see if he could have my car towed back to me or atleast to him, since I have zero connections up there and that's an 8 hour drive, in which 2 people would have to go so that both cars can be driven back. Brad said on the weekend he'll have it picked up Monday, Saturday comes around and he tells me this little story. "We went up there at 1:30AM and had to quick pick the car because some guy was trying to block it in. They were running after us after we got it, but we hit the freeway". Do I know if this story is true or not? No clue, 1:30AM on Saturday would you be at work?
I then called Forced Fab AFTER my car is out of there so they have no leverage on me, I tell them I want all my money back, they said dispute it through your credit card, and the first payment was over 120 days ago so I could not, the second payment went immediately into dispute but will take 60 days for me to get my money back, they also told me that Carson was fired, he didn't quit. I then went through 2CO.com to get my first payment back (sort of like paypal) and I got it back in 48 hours as the "vendor" did not respond.
So with my car in Brad's hands I get two calls, one from Carson "I started my own company with one other guy, and we're going to make turbo kits, and kits only, I can finish your car if you get your money back you can give it to me and we can proceed." I basically said **** no to that, not to make that mistake a third time. Then I get a call from Brad, "Hey I would really like to finish the supercharger project up, I'll do it for cost." So I thought hmm...maybe. He proceeds to tell me that he can have it done in a week and a half. I got sucked in because it was so cheap, I said if you can have it done by the weekend I am visiting then go ahead.
I find out he's still diagnosing the car to see why it was running like crap from the other place. He calls me at 12:30PM on Thursday, I am supposed to leave right after work at 5PM to go to cincy and get my SHO Transmision installed and new halfshafts, steering knuckles, sway bar bushings, 3rd cat bypass, used Y pipe. I start thinking "I wonder if he even touched the car, he said he tool the UIM off, but he sent me a picture of the car with it on" Well I call around to see if I can get ANYONE to get my car with me, luckily I found a friend that works at a bikeshop and had enough hours he could take off.
I then talked to Brad when he called about just getting my car back and he told me fine, and was upset with all of it, and he gave me the Transmission shops address (at 4PM, I thought he wasn't even going to call) he told me he would have the car towed there, and it ran horribly and he wouldn't drive it. So he gave me a quote of $400 to get it towed to Memphis 500 miles, I told him I want to see it to see if I think it needs towed.
I stressed so hard over everything, and I hadn't seen my car in so long that I wasn't sure what to expect, or who to blame, but I sure did make up a lot of scenarios in my head on that 8 hour drive. We arrived at the transmission shop at 4:30 AM slept in the heat on leather seats for a couple hours and just sweat, the shop opens at 8:00AM, they opened about 20 minutes early because I called.
I called to see when my car would be delivered, he said before 9am. The same was true for the parts that were going on. The transmission shop took us to a restaurant to eat and **** some time, not much to do in Bethel Ohio. We got back to the transmission shop at 10AM, no Brad, no car. I saw my transmission sitting on the floor it was all ready to be put in the car, and by 12:00 the old transmission was out, and the new one was ready to go in, still no Brad. I talked to the owner, and he said they have seen a lot of SHO's because of Brad and they know there way around them (dropped my tranny in 3 hours, and had a new one installed and running in 2 and a half). He also tells me this is the last one he's doing for Brad, and he also told me the transmission that is almost finished being installed in my car isn't paid for yet, and the car isn't leaving until it is, WOW. The owner (Rick) leaves for an appointment leaving just his son and grandson in the shop.
Now I am wondering if Brad will even show up, putting me down a nice chunk of change. Well finally Brad shows up around 1:15PM, I guess it takes more time to put a car on a tow truck then it does to change out a transmission. He brings me my car, 2 new halfshafts, a broken Y-pipe, no steering knuckles, no bushings, no 3rd cat bypass, and one **** of an attitude. Brad wasn't exactly what I expected, but it all fit together after I saw him (Picture Fat Joe, meets B-Rad from Malibu's most wanted, meets, someone that has never seen any sun.) [pictures to come].
I paid about $100 more per halfshaft than Brad originally told me. I paid it because I don't ever want to see him or deal with him ever again. He was about to leave with the tow truck guy to get lunch and I told him, Brad you gotta pay for the transmission before I can get my car. He said "I do business with them I'll pay it later" with a cocky attitude, and I told him "Yea and it sounds like this will be the last time too, so I need you to pay up so I can take my car." So he gets a little irritated and goes in and talks to the guy, which is putting my halfshafts on now. I walked outside to make sure the tow truck wasn't going to take the car. Brad left after he talked with the transmission guy I stayed away from him, I wasn't in any mood to talk to him.
EVIL's battery was dead, since it just sat for so long. The Transmission shop had a battery charger the they let me use. The car started fine after a few minutes of charging. The car idled ok, but stumbled once it got rolling, I gassed up with 93 Octane and it seemed to be ok, under heavy accelleration it stumbles though, and now at idle.
There are still a few unanswered questions like:
Where are my parts that were in my trunk, Brand new Spark plugs, Spark Plug wires, Fuel injectors, Lightning MAF, who scratched the front bumper, who put 1700 Miles on the car, and was the water injection hooked up during that time?
Everyone says I should sue forced fab for the problems with my car, but I honestly couldn't tell you who did the damage to the car.
The work Brad did included, swapping out my brakes all around 13" fronts, and SHO rears installed (with the brake cables hanging about an inch from the ground, luckily I caught this before I drove it anywhere), installed an H brace and made a couple supercharger brackets.
Moral of the story:
Well I guess if you want to throw money away and get a brake job that takes 6 months, then go to Brad. If you want to put your money somewhere and have your car driven (I'm assuming on this), and stuff stolen out of it, take it to Forced Fabrications, or Carson.
All in all I learned a damn good lesson, about becareful who you trust, especially when they have your money. I got screwed out of $1000-$2000, but it could have been worse.
On a side note:
The transmission shop helped me in every way they could, and they have a lot of experience with SHO's. If anyone needs a transmission rebuild I would highly suggest this place, I know they have my SHO Transmission on hand, but if it's a regular Taurus, it takes him 2 days to pull, rebuild, and reinstall. The shop is owned by Rick Hoffman, and his son works there, and his son was there when I was there, three generations in one place.
They stand behind all their work, and they are in NO WAY affiliated with Brad Hogue, or SHOFast.
Custom Transmissions
2815 State Route 133
Bethel, Ohio 45106
(513) 734-3311
Rick Hoffman - Owner
Brian aka Kermit
Pictures of EVIL will be up tomorrow.
** Correction and clarification: I found the Bypass pipe for the SHO in the trunk of EVIL, The Y pipe (see below) was not broken, but not useable.
I purchased SHO Steering knuckles, a Y pipe, and rear disc knuckles/spindles from Brian King (Not to be confused with Bryan King) the parts that I bought from him Brad would not put on because of the condition, so I ended up getting new parts through Brad (including some steering knuckles, and bushings that I never received as stated above).**
(unless he starts a kit)
