Unhappy Unique Owner:CAR SOLD

[davids2toys]

See this thread for the history. http://www.uniquecobra.com/forums/sh...ghlight=spiral.
Well, I did as I said I would do,and I sold my car. For what it's worth, I got 36,500 and it was built in 93. No real complaints about the car, I really loved it and will miss it greatly. I am already looking for a replacement. I sold the car after multiple Unique purchases and them not standing behind the products that they make and sell. To sell this car was a big decision, but I was that upset and disappointed with Unique as a company, that I just had no choice. They deserve to lose business and customers. Any business that just rests on their laurels, forgets what customer service is and no longer does the right thing, in my opinion, deserves to go out of business, and ultimately, if they continue with their attitude, that is what will happen.
I got rid of a car that I have done lots of work to and was very attached. I used to be a proud Unique owner and would say all good things about the car and the company. After the way I have been treated, I would have been a total hypocrite if I had kept it because I was no longer proud at all, I became just disgusted. It was not just one bad dealing with them, it was a few. I also always paid full price and never negotiated price them.
A few Unique owners have contacted me privately and had similar stories to share. I remember when I first bought my car 6 years ago and read a lot of good feedback about their customer service. I was very happy. I think Unique lost the passion if they ever had it. I would not know. I am convinced a lot of their clientele are afraid to speak up because they need the Weavers and to stay in their good graces, they better not speak up. I know this to be the case with two owners who told me that word for word.

So consumers, be warned!
Regards...Dave

[computerworks]

Mod Note.

Corrected link:

Spiral Flow Side Pipes

[jayscobras]

no need to get the popcorn for this one since no specifics are offered. I guess that the sour grapes will have to do. Alright all of this was corrected by Ron as I was reading. Still no need for popcorn

Jay

[computerworks]

(Hi jay...)

Mod Note #2

I corrected the link without comment to avoid a flurry of "bad link" back-and-forths.

Dave is allowed to voice his opinion as a member here.

Take note, all, that I will not permit the dispute to take legs here as a carry-over from a closed thread on the Unique Forum.

Be careful.

Thanks
Ron
ClubCobra Moderator

[Thor maine]

So let me get this straight you sold the car you love and are knocking the manufacturer because the mounting brackets for your sidepipes were off for your 20 year old custom made and custom built Unique Cobra. Even with Unique telling you they have changed a few things and you will probably have to modify the brackets????? Really??? Seriously????

[Cashburn]

I look forward to contributing to this discussion when I am not drinking.

[decooney]

Hopefully the new owner is happier with the car and Unique experience.

As a former Unique owner, I have nothing but praise for the company.

[Cashburn]

I followed the link and saw there was a death in the family, can this post be moved for a couple weeks? As a small family biz I can only hope same respect one day.

[LMH]

Now you need to build a Hurricane Dave!
Larry

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

I look forward to contributing to this discussion when I am not drinking.

Damn - I enjoy reading your posts when you have been

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

I followed the link and saw there was a death in the family,

Except this one
My condolences and best wishes to all family and friends

[mrmustang]

Perhaps buying a "kit car" is not all it's cracked up to be.

[joyridin']

Just think what would have happened had he bought a used StreetBeast.

[CowtownCobra]

I don't own a Unique but I have always admired their cars. This is also the first time I have heard a complaint about the company. Maybe a Corvette is more your style?

[PSB]

Originally Posted by Thor maine

So let me get this straight you sold the car you love and are knocking the manufacturer because the mounting brackets for your sidepipes were off for your 20 year old custom made and custom built Unique Cobra. Even with Unique telling you they have changed a few things and you will probably have to modify the brackets????? Really??? Seriously????

Ditto what he said. The "crazy misalignment " pics looked pretty easily fixable to me. It's a kit car, not a mass produced production car...


Pete

[D-CEL]

I feel like a hack just for reading this thread.....

I hear none of these guys are hacks
http://www.nationalcorvetteowners.com/forums/

I wish you good luck.....

[dallas_]

Originally Posted by davids2toys

, I did as I said I would do,and I sold my car.

After reading that thread I think you made the right choice.

[davids2toys]

To All,
Really not looking for a popcorn event here at all. I am entitled to my opinion and of course everybody else is to. I learned my lesson, sold my problem and now moving on.
The name of this thread is consumer watch and that is all I am doing,. I shared my experience and if I can save someone else the same heartache, that is the point of the whole thing isn't it?
I really don't want a carryover of the thread from the Unique forum at all. I put the link there to give the history rather than have to re-explain everything all over again.
Regarding some of the comments. you may want to re-read the thread. No custom install at all.
1. stock motor mounts, stock locations
2. frame threaded holes are from Unique.
3. side-pipes are are made in a jig from Unique?
4. Followed Unique's instruction to the letter and they knew exactly what year car they were building for.
5. 20 year old car, so what, what is your point?

I could have accepted the brackets having to be bent up or down and tweaked a bit for angles. Unique even told me to put them on before jet coating because I would probably have to elongate the holes a little to match up to the holes in the frame. That is all fine and that is what I expected, what I got was nothing like that at all. The brackets were way beyond tweaking or elongating, they were totally mislocated. They needed total rework to relocate, modify and reweld. I do not weld so where does that leave me? If you can't build the part as promised, then why not just sell it as a kit for a lower price and let the customer have the brackets located to the pipes as they fall on the car and then have them welded at the perfect location. I will post pics of the finished product after rework. Actually there is an ad on the forum with Pics.
This is the link:
http://www.uniquecobra.com/forums/sh...Flow-sidepipes


This also was not the first time I have had this type of problem with them, my rear shocks upgrade purchase was pretty much the same thing. The letter I had to right to get them to do the right thing was totally uncalled for and ridiculous! So this was just the straw that broke the camels back for me.
I never said the Unique car was junk as some are implying. I know there are some really bad kits out there and that is not what I am saying about Unique's car at all. My complaint is not with the car, it is with the manufacturer!
I am most probably going to buy a ERA next. I have heard nothing but great things about them and one of the things I have heard consistently is when they have a problem they correct it it with the customer and do the right thing. That fact all by itself is worth the loftier price of an ERA car.
A note about me. I have been building helicopters for 34 years. I am a licensed A&P mechanic and for the last 6 of the 34 years I have been a Technical Instructor for the company I work for.
I have owned many classic and hot rod cars and bikes. This would also include 3 Corvettes 1960, 1964, and 1965. I am also not young and not rich.
I will say, this was my first replica kit car, hey, maybe I am expecting to much!!!
In closing, the owners that have agreed with me and have had similar experiences with Unique have PMed me and I have spoke with them at length on the phone. It is not only me who feels as I do. In fact, I heard some other stories that were really interesting. I decided to sell the car rather than have to continue dealing with them. Others are stuck with their cars for various reasons and have to continue to deal with Unique so they can't post for fear of being blackballed...very understandable, but as long as the Unique customers put up with it, Unique will continue to have the attitude and do the things they do!
I am putting this behind me and look forward to my next car
Dave
PS: There is no spell checker so sorry about any typos. Is there a way to turn on the spell checker?

[olddog]

Originally Posted by davids2toys

Is there a way to turn on the spell checker?

I believe it is a function of the web browser you use. I switched to Google Chrome. It has spell checker. I think it uses the spell checker in my Word program, but I'm not sure about that.

[decooney]

Originally Posted by davids2toys

To All,
Really not looking for a popcorn event here at all. I am entitled to my opinion and of course everybody else is to. I learned my lesson, sold my problem and now moving on.
The name of this thread is consumer watch and that is all I am doing,. I shared my experience and if I can save someone else the same heartache, that is the point of the whole thing isn't it?
I really don't want a carryover of the thread from the Unique forum at all. I put the link there to give the history rather than have to re-explain everything all over again.
Regarding some of the comments. you may want to re-read the thread. No custom install at all.
1. stock motor mounts, stock locations
2. frame threaded holes are from Unique.
3. side-pipes are are made in a jig from Unique?
4. Followed Unique's instruction to the letter and they knew exactly what year car they were building for.
5. 20 year old car, so what, what is your point?

I could have accepted the brackets having to be bent up or down and tweaked a bit for angles. Unique even told me to put them on before jet coating because I would probably have to elongate the holes a little to match up to the holes in the frame. That is all fine and that is what I expected, what I got was nothing like that at all. The brackets were way beyond tweaking or elongating, they were totally mislocated. They needed total rework to relocate, modify and reweld. I do not weld so where does that leave me? If you can't build the part as promised, then why not just sell it as a kit for a lower price and let the customer have the brackets located to the pipes as they fall on the car and then have them welded at the perfect location. I will post pics of the finished product after rework. Actually there is an ad on the forum with Pics.
This is the link:
Spial Flow sidepipes


This also was not the first time I have had this type of problem with them, my rear shocks upgrade purchase was pretty much the same thing. The letter I had to right to get them to do the right thing was totally uncalled for and ridiculous! So this was just the straw that broke the camels back for me.
I never said the Unique car was junk as some are implying. I know there are some really bad kits out there and that is not what I am saying about Unique's car at all. My complaint is not with the car, it is with the manufacturer!
I am most probably going to buy a ERA next. I have heard nothing but great things about them and one of the things I have heard consistently is when they have a problem they correct it it with the customer and do the right thing. That fact all by itself is worth the loftier price of an ERA car.
A note about me. I have been building helicopters for 34 years. I am a licensed A&P mechanic and for the last 6 of the 34 years I have been a Technical Instructor for the company I work for.
I have owned many classic and hot rod cars and bikes. This would also include 3 Corvettes 1960, 1964, and 1965. I am also not young and not rich.
I will say, this was my first replica kit car, hey, maybe I am expecting to much!!!
In closing, the owners that have agreed with me and have had similar experiences with Unique have PMed me and I have spoke with them at length on the phone. It is not only me who feels as I do. In fact, I heard some other stories that were really interesting. I decided to sell the car rather than have to continue dealing with them. Others are stuck with their cars for various reasons and have to continue to deal with Unique so they can't post for fear of being blackballed...very understandable, but as long as the Unique customers put up with it, Unique will continue to have the attitude and do the things they do!
I am putting this behind me and look forward to my next car
Dave
PS: There is no spell checker so sorry about any typos. Is there a way to turn on the spell checker?

As a long time member of this forum, I'm going to stand up for Unique on this one a bit, and ask for you as the poster to consider taking some of the accountability as an owner of a hand made custom car, making changes or upgrades yourself. i.e sometimes shi$$ happens. Yes, it is very possible that you are expecting too much from Unique. As other's have stated, these are not high volume manufactured cars. These are hand made cars with generations of changes - sometimes there are mistakes and tracking all the changes is not always a perfect process. In some cases the parts are made by a 3rd party supplier and resold by Unique too, and its easy to see how things can occur. Previously "owning" and "building" custom cars are two completely different levels of experience. I'd venture to say now If you had truly built custom cars prior to your Unique experience, all of your mounting points and measurements would have been measured an communicated up front with Unique and determined before you bought the parts. And, most of us who've experienced these kind of setbacks do enough of this kind of stuff regularly to just make it work and move on. You are not doing yourself or the new owner of your car any favors by making this post about Unique. Hats off to Unique for still being in business after all of these years. It probably is a good thing you sold your Unique. I would not recommend an ERA for you either. I don't want to see this same kind of post after you sell the ERA. ERA is a hand built car too, and there is always some variability from one generation to the next, just like Unique. Seriously, given your posts and rants about Unique and your experience, you might want to consider a Superformance since its already built for you. You could then just "own" it vs. trying to figure out how to upgrade or build it yourself. Everyone who builds these cars today understands everything you posted and can clearly see the gaps on both sides of the situation. Good Luck.


Re: Spell checker - You can create your post on your computer locally on a word processor tool (MS Word for example) or text editor, spell check it there, then cut-n-paste your text into your post if you need spell checker.