My BEGI experience
03-10-2010 | 01:18 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Elite Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,203
Total Cats: 147
From: Houston, TX
My BEGI experience
I purchased a 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata (MSM) in February of 2008. Shortly after BEGI came out with their BEGI-S kit for 90-98 Miata's. I was super stoked because that was the price range I had to work with at the time. I noticed that BEGI had feelers out on their website looking for cars to test mule certain kits. I called BEGI hoping to speak to Corky about creating an S kit for the MSM. I got Stephanie on the phone and shot the idea to her. She was all excited about the idea and said they could get my car in the shop next month to put the kit on. This conversation took place in early March of 08. When asked about price she said she wasn't sure because they would have to see what the car needed but she would do it at cost as well as free install. She also said she would call me back in a couple weeks to set up a drop off date. She stated that the car would have to be at the shop for 3 weeks.
I waited all of March for a call back that never happened. I called BEGI the first week in April and Stephanie said they could get me in that week. I was left wondering why I had to call her. I dropped the car off two days later (April 3rd). She said they should have updates and pics to send me by late the next week (April 11th).
When I entered the shop I said Hi to Corky's wife who is the Secretary/Accounts Payable. She told me Stephanie was at lunch but I could hang out and wait if I wanted. I ended up running into Corky and after explaining that I was going to be Road racing the car we both decided that a GT28, stainless lines, cool air scooper, forge dv, and cold air box would be needed. Stephanie returned from lunch and the three of us discussed the project and Stephanie took me in her office to take notes on what would be done. This was honestly the most cluttered/dirtiest office I have ever seen in my life. I thought no biggie their super busy and backed up with orders, they are the best right? We also discussed using the new box she was testing in place of the FMU.
I waited until the Monday after the 11th of April to call BEGI for a status update. When I called on the 14th Corky's wife stated that Stephanie was out sick and should be back on Tuesday. I left a message. When I didn't get a call back that week I decided to just stop by that following Monday(21st), now remember this is almost at the three week date.
When I got to the shop I asked for Corky and we went out to the shop to see what the progress was. The car was sitting there with the stock turbo/mani/dp taken off and that’s it. I asked Corky what the hold up was and after talking to one of his employee's he stated they were waiting on the stainless pipe to make the downpipe. I then had a discussion with Stephanie about coating the DP, and she stated the stainless would be more than enough. I asked for a new pick up date and she stated they should have it done by May 8-9.
May - not ready
Stephanie called stating that someone wanted to buy my stock 14k mile turbo for $350 and she would deduct that amount from the bill. I sold it.
June 19th? Stephanie called stating the car was completed and it dynoed at 199whp. I asked her if the car could be tuned for more power with the new tune box that she was going to put on it and she stated that it was on the stock computer because the box wasn't ready. She also stated that when she was done testing it she would send me her mule to test on the MSM. I asked her what the bill was and the price she stated seemed on par for what cost would be plus the upgrades to the standard S Kit. She said I could pay over the phone. I declined and decided to just drop in.
Three hours later I'm at BEGI's shop and Stephanie looks flustered that I'm there. I tell her I'm there to pick up the car and she tells me that she needs to wash/detail it before I leave. I tell her that’s not necessary. She walks off stating she will be right back. 30 min later she walks back up front saying they had a couple of things to check out before I could leave. I go outside to smoke a cig and see my car is around back outside with the hood up and tools scattered all over the engine bay.
As I walk over to the car Corky walked with a tape measure and started measuring the downpipe. When I told him Stephanie called me stating it was ready he had a funny look on his face. I walked back to the front office waiting for Corky to measure the downpipe and IC piping. One of their employee’s (Tim?) pulled the car back up 45min later and said I was ready to go. I walked outside and popped the hood, the IC piping looked great. As I looked at the brake/clutch master I noticed they had heat wrap with rusty chicken wire wrapped around it. I found a wrench in the windshield wiper cubby and returned it to Tim. I asked about the air box and Stephanie stated they had to make more and she didn’t charge me for it but would call me when they made more next week. She also stated that the gauge pod would be in next week as well. I left some what disappointed. On my way home my boost gauge line melted and stuck on 8psi.
My buddy came over to check the car out when I arrived in Corpus. We popped the hood and I showed him where the line melted. We ran over to AutoZone for some heat wrap and new line. When installing it later that day we realized the DP was mild steal, not coated, and rusty. We also noticed it had the stock DV still installed. I called Stephanie about the problems and she stated her checklist had the mild steal DP on it. When I reminded her about our conversation regarding coating the SSDP she said she would talk to Corky. She also stated that they would mail out the Forge DV that day.
My invoice was emailed after I had left the house for my surprise pick up of my car. I had paid Stephanie $1577.oo that day and that was the price after the credit for $350 for the turbo sale. What I had on my check list and thought I was getting.
GT2871 - received
Cast mani - received
Stainless SSSGDP
Stainless lines – received
IC piping for stock IC
Tune box
Air scooper
Air box
Heat shield
Forge DV
Gauge pod
I never received my Forge DV or Gauge pod in the mail. After looking over the invoice I realized Stephanie charged me full price for the kit if you minus the FPR that I didn’t need on the MSM. I sent an email to Stephanie stating why I was upset and that I was supposed to be paying cost. If I had known they were going to charge me full price minus a free install I would have done it myself rather than leave my brand new car at their shop for three months while making the payments on it. I got no response. A week later I sent it to Corky and got a prompt response stating he would talk to Stephanie and fix any issues. After no response from the email to Stephanie and two messages left I ordered the parts to fix my car myself.
At the time the S-kit was $1700 retail with the added parts of stainless dp (150 retail), upgraded turbo (200 retail), tune box replacing FPR (0), Stainless return line (40), and pillar gauge (25), forge dv (130), cold air box (160), and air scooper (120). My retail total would have been $2525.00. When she stated the total was $1820, I thought that was great. Right inline with what I was thinking. I basically got upgraded BEGI-S system for the regular price. She took the $350 out of my $1820 and I owed them $1470 plus tax.
What I actually got was at the regular BEGI-S minus the FPR plus stainless lines. I basically got hosed on the deal due to BEGI never sending the parts out that would complete what I ordered. Looking at the way the invoice is written up either Stephanie forgot about the other parts or just flat out didn’t plan on providing them. Either way since this was a demo kit at cost didn’t the price look kind of high?
Bell owes me a SSSGDP, Forge DV, FPR/tune box either or, pillar gauge, Forge DV, cold air box, air scooper. The reason that I didn’t put difference of SS vs Steel DP is due to the utter piece of crap they sent me. It was not even the pipe pictured online. It had a slip fitting installed in it to change the length as needed and had an inch thick piece of steal as a mount at the turbo to clear the wastegate. I was plagued with compressor surge the entire time I owned it due to the crappy design.
The account above is all fact, here is my opinion. Stephanie loved the idea of a MSM S kit due to the car already having most the parts needed for a turbo application they could make a little higher profit off the kit. She forgot about my appointment to drop off. She was sick the entire build and didn’t communicate the timeline to the shop guys. Due to her office being an absolute trash can when she looked for my check list she couldn’t find it but remembered S-kit plus GT28. She didn’t have the car finished when she called looking for the money and lied. When I dropped in that day to pay it still had their actual testing downpipe on the car and none of the extra parts put on. Embarrassed that she got caught in a lie she let me take the car incomplete with the wrong DP installed. This was confirmed by the **** quality and no heat coating of the DP along with Corky out their taking measurments of all the IC piping and DP. Corky is an awesome guy that makes sweet parts. I feel he would rather be in the shop than handling problems/orders. He needs someone better than Stephanie, but hey she’s family. He was very nice and was very knowledgeable about what my car needed to get on the track reliably. Stephanie is very disorganized and sick too much. She forgets prices, parts, discussions and ultimately screws customers either on purpose or accidentally.
The kit had no problems after I ordered a DV, Ebay IC, made a heatsheild, and beat that pos DP with a hammer, adjusted it, welded it, and cussed at it. The car ripped *** at 10lbs when I put the MBC on it.
BEGI? It’s been 2 years since I dropped that car off. Can I get my parts? I’ll gladly use them on another Miata in the future as I believe most of them are very high quality.
Jake in Corpus
PS I still have the invoice if you can't find it.
I waited all of March for a call back that never happened. I called BEGI the first week in April and Stephanie said they could get me in that week. I was left wondering why I had to call her. I dropped the car off two days later (April 3rd). She said they should have updates and pics to send me by late the next week (April 11th).
When I entered the shop I said Hi to Corky's wife who is the Secretary/Accounts Payable. She told me Stephanie was at lunch but I could hang out and wait if I wanted. I ended up running into Corky and after explaining that I was going to be Road racing the car we both decided that a GT28, stainless lines, cool air scooper, forge dv, and cold air box would be needed. Stephanie returned from lunch and the three of us discussed the project and Stephanie took me in her office to take notes on what would be done. This was honestly the most cluttered/dirtiest office I have ever seen in my life. I thought no biggie their super busy and backed up with orders, they are the best right? We also discussed using the new box she was testing in place of the FMU.
I waited until the Monday after the 11th of April to call BEGI for a status update. When I called on the 14th Corky's wife stated that Stephanie was out sick and should be back on Tuesday. I left a message. When I didn't get a call back that week I decided to just stop by that following Monday(21st), now remember this is almost at the three week date.
When I got to the shop I asked for Corky and we went out to the shop to see what the progress was. The car was sitting there with the stock turbo/mani/dp taken off and that’s it. I asked Corky what the hold up was and after talking to one of his employee's he stated they were waiting on the stainless pipe to make the downpipe. I then had a discussion with Stephanie about coating the DP, and she stated the stainless would be more than enough. I asked for a new pick up date and she stated they should have it done by May 8-9.
May - not ready
Stephanie called stating that someone wanted to buy my stock 14k mile turbo for $350 and she would deduct that amount from the bill. I sold it.
June 19th? Stephanie called stating the car was completed and it dynoed at 199whp. I asked her if the car could be tuned for more power with the new tune box that she was going to put on it and she stated that it was on the stock computer because the box wasn't ready. She also stated that when she was done testing it she would send me her mule to test on the MSM. I asked her what the bill was and the price she stated seemed on par for what cost would be plus the upgrades to the standard S Kit. She said I could pay over the phone. I declined and decided to just drop in.
Three hours later I'm at BEGI's shop and Stephanie looks flustered that I'm there. I tell her I'm there to pick up the car and she tells me that she needs to wash/detail it before I leave. I tell her that’s not necessary. She walks off stating she will be right back. 30 min later she walks back up front saying they had a couple of things to check out before I could leave. I go outside to smoke a cig and see my car is around back outside with the hood up and tools scattered all over the engine bay.
As I walk over to the car Corky walked with a tape measure and started measuring the downpipe. When I told him Stephanie called me stating it was ready he had a funny look on his face. I walked back to the front office waiting for Corky to measure the downpipe and IC piping. One of their employee’s (Tim?) pulled the car back up 45min later and said I was ready to go. I walked outside and popped the hood, the IC piping looked great. As I looked at the brake/clutch master I noticed they had heat wrap with rusty chicken wire wrapped around it. I found a wrench in the windshield wiper cubby and returned it to Tim. I asked about the air box and Stephanie stated they had to make more and she didn’t charge me for it but would call me when they made more next week. She also stated that the gauge pod would be in next week as well. I left some what disappointed. On my way home my boost gauge line melted and stuck on 8psi.
My buddy came over to check the car out when I arrived in Corpus. We popped the hood and I showed him where the line melted. We ran over to AutoZone for some heat wrap and new line. When installing it later that day we realized the DP was mild steal, not coated, and rusty. We also noticed it had the stock DV still installed. I called Stephanie about the problems and she stated her checklist had the mild steal DP on it. When I reminded her about our conversation regarding coating the SSDP she said she would talk to Corky. She also stated that they would mail out the Forge DV that day.
My invoice was emailed after I had left the house for my surprise pick up of my car. I had paid Stephanie $1577.oo that day and that was the price after the credit for $350 for the turbo sale. What I had on my check list and thought I was getting.
GT2871 - received
Cast mani - received
Stainless SSSGDP
Stainless lines – received
IC piping for stock IC
Tune box
Air scooper
Air box
Heat shield
Forge DV
Gauge pod
I never received my Forge DV or Gauge pod in the mail. After looking over the invoice I realized Stephanie charged me full price for the kit if you minus the FPR that I didn’t need on the MSM. I sent an email to Stephanie stating why I was upset and that I was supposed to be paying cost. If I had known they were going to charge me full price minus a free install I would have done it myself rather than leave my brand new car at their shop for three months while making the payments on it. I got no response. A week later I sent it to Corky and got a prompt response stating he would talk to Stephanie and fix any issues. After no response from the email to Stephanie and two messages left I ordered the parts to fix my car myself.
At the time the S-kit was $1700 retail with the added parts of stainless dp (150 retail), upgraded turbo (200 retail), tune box replacing FPR (0), Stainless return line (40), and pillar gauge (25), forge dv (130), cold air box (160), and air scooper (120). My retail total would have been $2525.00. When she stated the total was $1820, I thought that was great. Right inline with what I was thinking. I basically got upgraded BEGI-S system for the regular price. She took the $350 out of my $1820 and I owed them $1470 plus tax.
What I actually got was at the regular BEGI-S minus the FPR plus stainless lines. I basically got hosed on the deal due to BEGI never sending the parts out that would complete what I ordered. Looking at the way the invoice is written up either Stephanie forgot about the other parts or just flat out didn’t plan on providing them. Either way since this was a demo kit at cost didn’t the price look kind of high?
Bell owes me a SSSGDP, Forge DV, FPR/tune box either or, pillar gauge, Forge DV, cold air box, air scooper. The reason that I didn’t put difference of SS vs Steel DP is due to the utter piece of crap they sent me. It was not even the pipe pictured online. It had a slip fitting installed in it to change the length as needed and had an inch thick piece of steal as a mount at the turbo to clear the wastegate. I was plagued with compressor surge the entire time I owned it due to the crappy design.
The account above is all fact, here is my opinion. Stephanie loved the idea of a MSM S kit due to the car already having most the parts needed for a turbo application they could make a little higher profit off the kit. She forgot about my appointment to drop off. She was sick the entire build and didn’t communicate the timeline to the shop guys. Due to her office being an absolute trash can when she looked for my check list she couldn’t find it but remembered S-kit plus GT28. She didn’t have the car finished when she called looking for the money and lied. When I dropped in that day to pay it still had their actual testing downpipe on the car and none of the extra parts put on. Embarrassed that she got caught in a lie she let me take the car incomplete with the wrong DP installed. This was confirmed by the **** quality and no heat coating of the DP along with Corky out their taking measurments of all the IC piping and DP. Corky is an awesome guy that makes sweet parts. I feel he would rather be in the shop than handling problems/orders. He needs someone better than Stephanie, but hey she’s family. He was very nice and was very knowledgeable about what my car needed to get on the track reliably. Stephanie is very disorganized and sick too much. She forgets prices, parts, discussions and ultimately screws customers either on purpose or accidentally.
The kit had no problems after I ordered a DV, Ebay IC, made a heatsheild, and beat that pos DP with a hammer, adjusted it, welded it, and cussed at it. The car ripped *** at 10lbs when I put the MBC on it.
BEGI? It’s been 2 years since I dropped that car off. Can I get my parts? I’ll gladly use them on another Miata in the future as I believe most of them are very high quality.
Jake in Corpus
PS I still have the invoice if you can't find it.
Last edited by jacob300zx; 03-10-2010 at 01:56 PM. Reason: spelling
0
03-10-2010 | 01:26 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Elite Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,203
Total Cats: 147
From: Houston, TX
There is no reason this should be locked. It is an honest account of the events with peronal comments as a section of its own. I called multiple times to fix, sent emails, and waited. Whats my next step?
0
03-10-2010 | 01:53 PM
#8
Thread Starter
Elite Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,203
Total Cats: 147
From: Houston, TX
I'm not the only person that has had this happen to them. I just chose to fix the **** myself after a month of no responses. Just because I had the skills and money to fix it myself doesn't mean that I don't deserve to get what I payed for. I feel that they need more honest reviews like this to improve. At the time I was not inclined to blast it on the forums in case my problems were an isolated incident. Over the last two years I've heard 3 stories that are 99% the same as what happened to me. If they want to continue to be a respected Miata vendor they need to step up and make all of this right.
0
03-10-2010 | 02:11 PM
#9
Ibtl <- spaceholder for future comments
That was awesome.
Jake,
You're certainly not the only one that's had problems, and I've wished, for their sake, that their handling of these situations would improve.
My situation was much less trivial, and eventually rectified (for the most part), but was very similar in the way of excuses, delays, and having to eventually harrass them to get things done.
Corky is awesome. He has a knack for great engineering design, and is an excellent fabricator. He also trains his guys pretty well, and they stay busy in the shop. I think they've stuck around this long solely due to great parts.
Also, many people are like you, and once halfway into a project, will do or pay whatever to see that it gets finished. You don't really have another option besides taking everything off, shipping it back and asking for a full refund, and at that you're back to a stock car you didn't get to enjoy for months.
Some people take great pride in their work, while others will do whatever they can get away with, and then proclaim/defend their few bright spots to no end while making excuses for their foresights and failures.
Thanks for the review, it's good to educate others, and allow them to decide who they want to do business with.
Damon
That was awesome.
Jake,
You're certainly not the only one that's had problems, and I've wished, for their sake, that their handling of these situations would improve.
My situation was much less trivial, and eventually rectified (for the most part), but was very similar in the way of excuses, delays, and having to eventually harrass them to get things done.
Corky is awesome. He has a knack for great engineering design, and is an excellent fabricator. He also trains his guys pretty well, and they stay busy in the shop. I think they've stuck around this long solely due to great parts.
Also, many people are like you, and once halfway into a project, will do or pay whatever to see that it gets finished. You don't really have another option besides taking everything off, shipping it back and asking for a full refund, and at that you're back to a stock car you didn't get to enjoy for months.
Some people take great pride in their work, while others will do whatever they can get away with, and then proclaim/defend their few bright spots to no end while making excuses for their foresights and failures.
Thanks for the review, it's good to educate others, and allow them to decide who they want to do business with.
Damon
0
Or go baller and get the v-band setup like the big dawgs run hur.
03-10-2010 | 02:15 PM
#11
Thread Starter
Elite Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,203
Total Cats: 147
From: Houston, TX
Car was sold in March of 09
0
03-10-2010 | 02:16 PM
#12
n/m, yeah I read that in the locked thread. Not sure what I would do, but I know I would be ******* pissed about it. How much $ do you have tied up in these invisible parts? How long ago shouldn't matter, they should make things right to save their reputation. I know after seeing some of the horror stories if I ever do decide to actually do a turbo build, I will try to not use any of their parts.
0
03-10-2010 | 02:32 PM
#13
Thread Starter
Elite Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,203
Total Cats: 147
From: Houston, TX
Forge DV $130.00
FPR $230.00
SSSGDP $460.00
Air Scooper $160.00
Cold Airbox $190.00
Gauge Pod $25.00
Total $1195 if you count them all at retail off their website with todays prices. Honestly their cost would be way way cheaper than that. I really don't want some of that stuff anymore as it doesn't apply to my current track miata. If Stephanie responds I have a fair deal in mind. I'm not expecting cash back but a parts credit for that amount would be acceptable.
FPR $230.00
SSSGDP $460.00
Air Scooper $160.00
Cold Airbox $190.00
Gauge Pod $25.00
Total $1195 if you count them all at retail off their website with todays prices. Honestly their cost would be way way cheaper than that. I really don't want some of that stuff anymore as it doesn't apply to my current track miata. If Stephanie responds I have a fair deal in mind. I'm not expecting cash back but a parts credit for that amount would be acceptable.
0
03-10-2010 | 02:41 PM
#14
Forge DV $130.00
FPR $230.00
SSSGDP $460.00
Air Scooper $160.00
Cold Airbox $190.00
Gauge Pod $25.00
Total $1195 if you count them all at retail off their website with todays prices. Honestly their cost would be way way cheaper than that. I really don't want some of that stuff anymore as it doesn't apply to my current track miata. If Stephanie responds I have a fair deal in mind. I'm not expecting cash back but a parts credit for that amount would be acceptable.
FPR $230.00
SSSGDP $460.00
Air Scooper $160.00
Cold Airbox $190.00
Gauge Pod $25.00
Total $1195 if you count them all at retail off their website with todays prices. Honestly their cost would be way way cheaper than that. I really don't want some of that stuff anymore as it doesn't apply to my current track miata. If Stephanie responds I have a fair deal in mind. I'm not expecting cash back but a parts credit for that amount would be acceptable.
0
03-10-2010 | 02:53 PM
#15
Thread Starter
Elite Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,203
Total Cats: 147
From: Houston, TX
Negative, as I was driving from CC to San Antonio she emailed the invoice. When I got to the shop I paid the amount and left. In all reality I should have left the car there until it was finished as agreed, but it had been 3 months and I wanted my new car back. Half of the parts weren't noticed missing until back in town. I even think I left a down payment of 3-400 hundred when I left the car. Since I can't find the receipt and thats vague I'm not adding it.
Last edited by jacob300zx; 03-10-2010 at 02:56 PM. Reason: spelling
0
03-10-2010 | 02:59 PM
#16
That is one shitty shop, worst ever!
I hate shops like that when they think they got you by the *****, that is why I prefer to make the build myself even if it looks half ghetto, f:>,.K em!
Oh man, when I read "he had a funny look on his face", one smile I cannot stand from mechanics, especially if the car is torn apart. It happened to me once with a mech, went to the shop and towed it half done with a rope with a friend's car. Turned out so that you know, the car was only missing a connector for the IC piping, the car was raced during the night. The **** mechanics were having a blast while I was waiting for it to be completed, I bet those mechanics of yours did a few boosted joy rides wih your Miata.
I hate shops like that when they think they got you by the *****, that is why I prefer to make the build myself even if it looks half ghetto, f:>,.K em!
Oh man, when I read "he had a funny look on his face", one smile I cannot stand from mechanics, especially if the car is torn apart. It happened to me once with a mech, went to the shop and towed it half done with a rope with a friend's car. Turned out so that you know, the car was only missing a connector for the IC piping, the car was raced during the night. The **** mechanics were having a blast while I was waiting for it to be completed, I bet those mechanics of yours did a few boosted joy rides wih your Miata.
0
03-10-2010 | 03:03 PM
#17
That is one shitty shop, worst ever!
I hate shops like that when they think they got you by the *****, that is why I prefer to make the build myself even if it looks half ghetto, f:>,.K em!
Oh man, when I read "he had a funny look on his face", one smile I cannot stand from mechanics, especially if the car is torn apart. It happened to me once with a mech, went to the shop and towed it half done with a rope with a friend's car. Turned out so that you know, the car was only missing a connector for the IC piping, the car was raced during the night. The **** mechanics were having a blast while I was waiting for it to be completed, I bet those mechanics of yours did a few boosted joy rides wih your Miata.
I hate shops like that when they think they got you by the *****, that is why I prefer to make the build myself even if it looks half ghetto, f:>,.K em!
Oh man, when I read "he had a funny look on his face", one smile I cannot stand from mechanics, especially if the car is torn apart. It happened to me once with a mech, went to the shop and towed it half done with a rope with a friend's car. Turned out so that you know, the car was only missing a connector for the IC piping, the car was raced during the night. The **** mechanics were having a blast while I was waiting for it to be completed, I bet those mechanics of yours did a few boosted joy rides wih your Miata.
0
03-10-2010 | 03:10 PM
#18
Thread Starter
Elite Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,203
Total Cats: 147
From: Houston, TX
Lets not turn this into a BEGI hate thread and get it locked. I'm looking for resolution not payback. If you have a serious comment or personal experience feel free to post.
0
03-10-2010 | 03:13 PM
#19
I had some issues with my Shanghai-S kit, I was missing some random fittings, including an oil feed adapter which I still havent been able to find (what I have now works but has a slow leak).
And of course there is the insane boost creep issue, which will hopefully be fixed soon when I install my spacer. I havent been able to go full throttle for over 6 months D:
And of course there is the insane boost creep issue, which will hopefully be fixed soon when I install my spacer. I havent been able to go full throttle for over 6 months D:
0
