reichart.r
New member
This post is a description of my on going experience with KO racing. In July of 2010 I purchased my 1991 All Trac Celica. The AT has approximately 95,000 miles on it. The car has had a third gen, ST205, swap performed on it also. I purchased the vehicle knowing that the turbo was bad, excessive smoke at idle, and would need to be rebuilt or replaced. I decided to purchase KO Racing’s Street Brawler GT28RS turbo kit on August 27, 2010 and sent them a payment of $2,010.15. Before making the purchase, I contacted KO racing to find out what the current lead time for the turbo kit was. I was informed that the lead time would be approximately 6 weeks. With a 6 week lead time I expected to receive the turbo kit around the 11th of October. After numerous phone calls and emails, the kit arrived via FEDEX on November 16th, approximately five weeks belated from the expected delivery date. This was a slight setback for the project, but by no means a reason to condemn KO racing as a legitimate business. Upon inspection of the turbo kit, I became aware that the Oil feed and Return adapters for the engine block were not present. I contacted KO racing and was happy with their response of quickly shipping out the missing pieces. This was another slight setback, but manageable. Once the missing pieces arrived, and I felt everything was in order to complete the project, it was time for the installation. The Installation went quite well without any major issues, which I attribute to taking my time and not rushing or being pressed for time on the installation. I felt extremely happy when my All Trac fired up, and the Excessive James Bond smoke screen was gone. My enjoyment was short lived. The following day my father and I took her for a test drive. Everything seemed fine until we returned and I was about to put her back in the garage. I notice a little amount of smoke coming from underneath the hood. At closer inspection the smoke appeared to be coming from the oil feed adapter connected to the turbo. Now mind you that the coolant adapters and oil feed and return adapters came pre-installed on the turbo. I proceeded to remove the oil feed adapter connected to the turbo and was horrified and extremely angry with what I found. The threads on the oil feed adapter AND the oil feed adapter opening were completely stripped. http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j40 ... CN1531.jpg
http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j40 ... CN1532.jpg
http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j40 ... CN1536.jpg
Now this is MAJOR! KO Racing has essential sold me $1,000 dollar paper weight. For the amount of money I spent on this turbo kit, I should not have received a defective turbo. After spending two hours trying to calm down, I contacted KO Racing and informed them about this nightmare. I was told to ship the turbo back to them, and it would be repaired. Kris also told me that I shouldn’t expect to receive a new turbo, but that they could probably repair this one. This is currently where I stand with my turbo kit and KO Racing. I honestly hope that the my issues can be resolved, and that KO racing does not turn out to be rip off artists! It is completely possible that KO Racing’s turbo supplier tried to pull a fast one on them, but at any rate they should do anything possible to correct this issue. As a paying customer, their dealings with this situation will determine whether or not I purchase from them on my future projects. If this turns out to be a $2,000 dollar slap in my face, hopefully the next guy will avoid the situation I’m in. We shall see. There will be more to come.
http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j40 ... CN1532.jpg
http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j40 ... CN1536.jpg
Now this is MAJOR! KO Racing has essential sold me $1,000 dollar paper weight. For the amount of money I spent on this turbo kit, I should not have received a defective turbo. After spending two hours trying to calm down, I contacted KO Racing and informed them about this nightmare. I was told to ship the turbo back to them, and it would be repaired. Kris also told me that I shouldn’t expect to receive a new turbo, but that they could probably repair this one. This is currently where I stand with my turbo kit and KO Racing. I honestly hope that the my issues can be resolved, and that KO racing does not turn out to be rip off artists! It is completely possible that KO Racing’s turbo supplier tried to pull a fast one on them, but at any rate they should do anything possible to correct this issue. As a paying customer, their dealings with this situation will determine whether or not I purchase from them on my future projects. If this turns out to be a $2,000 dollar slap in my face, hopefully the next guy will avoid the situation I’m in. We shall see. There will be more to come.