Beware of JKM in Portsmouth

[sjjhr]

Interesting and disappointing correspondence with JKM in Portsmouth. Quick summary: they fitted H&R coilovers to my b7 RS4 in January 2015. I've owned the car for just over 2 months now and having driven it properly over many road surfaces, I contacted them because the secondary ride is unacceptable. My comment to them is that the car was not set up competently, rides far too low for sensible use on UK roads and is generally unpleasant to drive. JKM's initial response is that the H&R units are only warrantied for the owner who had them fitted (so their "lifetime warranty" is basically useless), and that maybe I just can't cope with a sporty ride.

There is a difference between sporty, and competent!

I am surprised at their complete unwillingness to engage positively with £1900 of work they carried out less than 12 months ago and would recommend that people hold off using them until this is clarified.

[FaisalJ]

Are the H&R's adjustable damping units? How low to the ground are you? If you have standard wheel/tyre size, we can compare ground to wheel arch measurements.

I guess they probably set up the coilovers how the previous owner wanted them. Everyone will have different preferences.

When I got my car, I had to have the dampers set softer, and the ride raised very slightly all round, to get it how I wanted it and to deal with speed humps in my area.

[sjjhr]

Answer just received from JKM today below. Very disappointing from a garage which charged £2000 less than 12 months ago to fit H&R coilovers. They are now walking away from any constructive solution by using pathetic excuses.

RS4s are not cheap bangers and all I can do is to warn people to beware of JKM as they won't stand by their work.

The motor trade lives up to its reputation...

"Dear X,

Thank you for your email.

I have enclosed the H&R Warranty Terms and Conditions which clearly states the warranty does not extend to any products presented for warranty coverage by a person other than the purchaser (Point vii).

Aside from that, our contract of sale is with the original purchaser as named on the sale invoice, not you!

You have purchased the vehicle ‘second hand’/’sold as seen’ which means we have no contract of sale with you as the new owner.

We have no idea how many times the vehicle may of changed hands since we last saw it, or indeed if anyone has adjusted the suspension since it was last in our workshop almost a year ago.

If you would like to book the car in for it to be inspected, then we would happily take a look for you, but we are most certainly not going to provide this service free of charge for reasons stated above"

[FaisalJ]

Are the coilovers actually faulty, or is the problem how they were setup?

[MikeFish]

What are you asking them to do? Adjust them? Replace them?

I think their response is what I would have expected it to be.

[sjjhr]

My dissatisfaction is (i) that JKM were incompetent in setting them up and (ii) that despite paying proper money for supposedly good kits from a supposedly good garage, it turns out that both JKM's and H&R's "warranty" is useless.

I would have been happy JKM offered to inspect and adjust for free.

The car should never have left their Shop as it is. Fitting coilovers is a delicate art and far too many garages just dump them on and call them "sporty" whereas in fact they are badly set up by people who don't have experience. I have a number of other "interesting" cars including Integrales, 993s etc, and I have experience of many different suspensions. JKM managed to ruin one of the main attractions of the RS4.

[will1981]

Don't waste your time, they obviously did a poor job first time round so why would you want them to have another crack at it.
However they are correct in what they say regarding warranty etc.

I had coilovers installed and setup by a so called reputable company, they did a particularly bad job to the point I didn't trust them to make it right.

Give Centre Gravity a call, they are excellent and will set your car up properly.

[sjjhr]

Many thanks for the rec which I will try. To put the guarantee in perspective, you wouldn't accept it if an Audi dealer fitted replacement DRC which failed within 12 months, so I don't accept that other suspension is any different

[Surrey Sam]

Personally I think that you're being a little unfair here; perhaps that is how the previous owner wanted it?

I've seen more people fit coilovers after failed DRC who are more concerned about cost and looks. Not many are worried about setup and how the car performs as a result of fitting aftermarket alternatives.

[MikeFish]

I was about to say the same. As long as the guy paying the 2k was happy with the work then their responsibility ends unless they have done something unsafe or dangerous.

[chunky79]

I would have been happy JKM offered to inspect and adjust for free.

Tjats the bit I love

Can I ask why you haven't got the previous owner to pay for the re-adjustment? You bought the car off them right? I think the company have been very polite in their response! How about YOU adjust them to how YOU want them to be?? It's all about personal taste, you do it to how you want it, you win that way.

[PSB1]

.........may of changed hands

They deserve the quadruple on grammatical grounds alone.

[sjjhr]

By your logic, no work paid for by a previous owner would ever be warrantied. Why is JKM's work any different to a dealer fitting a replacement part which then fails?

My case remains: JKM were incompetent. If they had any pride in actually building cars which work, instead of fitting boy-racer parts masquerading as "performance" upgrades, they would help with the adjustment.

[MikeFish]

Were they incompetent or did they install it exaclty like the paying customer requested?
What makes you say they were incompetent. Many people looking at my car will say the ride is too harsh or that the suspension is too low. Doesn't mean it wasn't fitted properly, its just how I like it.

[sjjhr]

There is certainly personal "taste", but it has boundaries. Why set up a car which bounces, fidgets and has lost all of the pitch protection Audi designed in?

The car was simply badly set up by JKM, who clearly didn't care about the ride. It was not a professional job and that's what I'm concerned by.

A sensible garage would have offered to sort it, and then they'd have had a happy customer for servicing and tuning for the rest of my ownership.