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warning on the brass works radiator

just a warning about this company I had sent my radiator for my 1924 star to this company in march, they received it and gave me a price of 2000 with a new honeycomb core and repairs which I agreed to the price , fast forward 2 weeks age I checked on rad and was told it was going into paint and then shipping . I called last Monday since I hadn't hear from them still waiting for paint Monday they called and said it was ready and said my payment didn't go thru and that was because they where charging me another 1300 above what we agreed to they did do a nice job but there customer service is poor and the owner lee told me to take or leave it so be care full if you use them jeff quicksell

Where Are You From? orlando,fl

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1924 star

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

That's a pretty cheezy way to run a business! I think we need to post a note on this web page as a warning for future customers.

Where Are You From? Texarkana, TX

Do You own a car built by Durant? Several

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

I know when I've had chroming done and when I had my radiator done by "the brass works" they tell you that the price they quote is an estimate until the get the object and work on it. Both my radiator and some past chrome work came in higher than what was originally stated. The problem we run into with our era cars is that the people who can provide the services for us are bombarded by EPA restrictions, and costs of their materials going higher. They also are getting few and far between and hard to find quality craftsman that can do the work. Just like Bill Clemmer in Pennsylvania who we visited recently. He's a one man shop and one of maybe 6 left in the country that does that kind of work. I'm going through the same thing with finding an engine rebuilder that pours babbit. There just not that many left that can or will do that. Sure you can find a chrome shop in California where they will run your pieces down to Mexico to get it done, but do you trust them to bring all your parts back and what kind of job or guarantee do you have on their work. It's just the cost of restoring this era car and it isn't going to get any easier.

Where Are You From? Oviedo, Florida

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65 4 door sedan

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

Jeff, I hear you and feel the pain and frustration. Mike... point is, these places should offer honest quotes upfront, not low ball quotes to get the work in the doors. They have more than enough experience to know very closely what a job will cost and not be off by such a huge margin of error, like $1300 over and above the estimate. It would have been much wiser for them to quote $3500 and when the job was done say "hey, we came in at $3300 and saved you $200" and the customer would be happy. When we had our business, it was very easy to quote accurately with decades of experience, we did quote honest and accurately and never pulled a stunt like that. At the end of the day we had happy customers and a great reputation with repeat business that was constantly growing. It's a different world in the automotive restoration business unfortunately.

Where Are You From? Oro, Ontario

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1925 Star F Touring

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

But my issue is I talked to lee a week before when it was ready for paint and never said a word and he had the radiator in front of him its not his first day in business thanks or your support jeff

Where Are You From? orlando

Do You own a car built by Durant? yes

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

so I wanted to give an update about the brass works radiator I was called on the phone from the owner lee and was mad about the comments I wrote on yelp on how I was treated . I tried to explain to him that a phone call is all that should have been done when the price he gave went over a thousand dollars he said he cant call ever one when a problem arises and that he will just charge you for the time and that I sent him something that was almost a hundred years old and I was trying to get radiator done for free like most customers trying to pull a fast one . AS conversation proceeded he was get very mad and dint want to understand my side I don't mind paying for what they did but he has been in the business for years and should be able to give a closer price and call if something comes up , he also brought up a email I sent him and I had sent pictures and asked what he thought it might run and I said I would not hold him to a price when he didn't have radiator in hand but after being shipped to his shop again told me 2000 dollars thanks just letting club members know how he works and again he offered no apology for what happened thanks jeff

Where Are You From? orlando

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

Jeff, thanks for the update. Hopefully, nobody else will be inconvenienced by this shop.

Where Are You From? Texarkana, TX

Do You own a car built by Durant? Several

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

The problem with the people who supply what we need is that they are getting few and far between. I had my radiator done by the brassworks and it did come in a bit higher but not as much as Jeff's did. With the radiators there are what maybe 3 companies in the U.S. That repair these things to their original state and even those get their core material from a place in the U.K which is the only place in the world I believe (Or at least that is what I've been told by several radiator shops) that make the core material. EGGE is the same way and charges an arm and a leg for pistons etc but who you gonna go to? There is a company in Australia that I think Rick used which is much cheaper. Look what I'm going to have to do to get my engine rebuilt. Can't seem to find a shop in the Southeast to do Babbit work and re-do the engine. Sure there are machine shops, just no one know how to do Babbit. Chroming in the same way. Send a picture of your part for an estimate so you can budget for the work and then the bill comes in much higher depending on the prep work needed. It just ain't going to get any easier on our era cars and they move towards the 100 year old mark.

Where Are You From? Oviedo, Florida

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65 4 door sedan

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

We went on a tour through the Brass Works, what about 3 years back...Really nice up to date shop with all the best equipment and personel, but what would scare the hell out of me is that they are going to have a terrific overhead ...Jeff had already been quoted for a new core and aggreed to extra charges up front, what more could be left for $1,300? Overhead?

The way our chrome shop works in Yuma, AZ ...They will give you a firm quote from detailed pictures which will be a "not to exceed price", meaning that when you ship the parts to them to be chrome plated will be the same price when they are finished, however the price could actually go down (They want 50% up front) ...That is the way they operate and I have never had a problem...I will usually take my stuff in to be chromed myself so that I can barter with them but as a rule I can't get their price down all that much if any...They are reasonable and they do good work.


Where Are You From? Leavenworth, WA / Yuma, AZ

Do You own a car built by Durant? Several

Re: warning on the brass works radiator

The West Coast Chapter Toured their shop a few years ago. I've been back for two Model T radiators. A fan blade broke and ruined the first one they made. The return inlet on the second had to be modified as the cross member it sits on was bent. They reworked it and didn't charge me anything. I have been very satisfied with their work.

Building a radiator is an incredibly labor intensive process. My Star radiator is made up of hundreds of square tubes that need to be stacked together and then soldered. When I replaced mine, I had it done in England. The cost was well north of $3,300.

According to BW, it takes a year of training before someone can be expected to do a radiator on their own. The California labor market is very tight and our environmental regulations are the strictest in the nation.

Where Are You From? North of Golden Gate Bridge

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1925 Star Touring

jeff feels mistreated

Jeff - This will be the third time we have spoken on this issue. Each time you do not like the answer so you go to a new echo chamber of the internet to make your case and someone in the Durant club contacts me about it. Each time your story gets more colorful too; "take it or leave it", "he's mad" etc etc

We provide an estimate that is based on past builds. The more extreme the builds the broader the estimate range. Since there are few Durants and fewer needing radiators we have fewer data points. Your particular build provides one more data point and the estimate range will broaden. We will also see notes on your build that the tanks were scrap and required additional hours. To be absolutely clear; No one foresaw your build taking 14.42 hours or we would have told you.

You feel mistreated because we neglected to call you to re-estimate after we determined your tanks were scrap or to call you during the build that the job was taking longer than the last Durant took. I feel mistreated too. Everyone feels mistreated now.

Where Are You From? california

Do You own a car built by Durant? not yet

Re: jeff feels mistreated

For the life of me, I just don't understand why the shop didn't say whoa, this is going way over the estimate we provided, we should call the customer and discuss what we found before going any further. Take a few minutes, call the customer and he'll likely agree with your findings and say go ahead and do it. Drop a big cost surprise bomb on him and he's apt to react like a cornered dog. Who wouldn't? You just can't spring a whopping big charge on someone that was expecting it to come in close to the estimate provided.

Where Are You From? Oro, Ontario

Do You own a car built by Durant? Star F Touring

Re: jeff feels mistreated

the problem with lee is he wants people to feel bad for him if you have the radiator in front of you and you have experience in rebuilding them for years and you give a price you should stand by your quote and im not the only person you have done this to. IM not looking for anyone from club to call him just beware of how he does business and if price was a couple hundred over ok but 1000 without calling customer is poor business and you should be called on it

Do You own a car built by Durant? yes

Re: jeff feels mistreated

I absolutely agree with Jeff! If I ever need a recore job I would be prone to try Johnson's Radiators in Sydney, AU.

Where Are You From? Texarkana, TX

Do You own a car built by Durant? Several

 

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