Autobarn

[jase-r34]

Hey guys, just thought I'd share my story about how crap autobarn are...

It all started with me buying a set of brake pads and front discs for my corolla. Sounds simple enough right? Hahahahaha...No

They sell me a set of pads on the spot and order in the rotors, no probs... So I go in to pick them up a day or two later and take them home to fit. So I open up the pads. Wrong pads. Open up the rotors. Wrong rotors.

So off I go back up to see them and they say 'oh sorry mate' and change the pads over for me (for an extra charge of $11) and tell me they have re-ordered the correct rotors, and to pick them up the following day.

So I gave them an extra day to be safe, and on the way home from work I stop in to pick them up.

"Oh sorry mate they aren't here. Our supplier said they aren't very common and don't even stock them so it's going to be at least another few days and they will be more expensive." I laughed at him and said you've got to be kidding, front discs for a corolla aren't common? Idiot. (Didn't say the idiot part though!)

So I got my refund and left

Lol well thats my whinge for the day. I never realised how incompetent some people can be.

[chubs]

dude cant say im surprised. made the mistake of having them fit my headunit and now my boostguage light dont work. i will admit some of the guys actually working the floor instores know what they talking about and what they are doing but bout 85 % of them dont know jack sh&t

[r33cruiser]

yea mate, i ordered a greddy throttle body adapter for my plenum. my whole build was waiting on this 1 small part. and it took farking 2 months to get here!!!

some bs about not ordering it....then ordering it....then losing it.

basically, i dont shop there anymore..

[wilorichie]

I had my whinge about autobarn sometime ago

[dangerous_daveo]

Which store is that tho?

Because I have found some stores to be better than others.

[jase-r34]

Was the store at caboolture daveo.

Cruiser I'm with you now. I won't be shopping there anymore either!

At least it was only parts for my shitter and not the line lol.

[R334door]

if you need brakes, deal with a brake specialist, not autobarn.ABS brakes at kawana did mine a few years ago , and they got it right the first time and there prices were great.

[jase-r34]

if you need brakes, deal with a brake specialist, not autobarn.ABS brakes at kawana did mine a few years ago , and they got it right the first time and there prices were great.

geez! sorry mate... lol

Autobarn is closer

[RandomHero83]

I have found that Autobarn all have people who "used to own a skyline" and know sweet FA about them. I buy parts from them only when all else fails. I use the Morayfield / Caboolture store and it's pretty ordinary there is one guy who actually knows anything about imports in there the rest can't give you any advic withoutlooking at a book. and don't get me started about the pricing.... if anyone is stupid enough to pay the prices they have on the performance items they have in there you need your head checked. dollar to experiance value is a joke there best off talking to a shop that does performance upgrades and see what parts they reccomend and sourcing them from a wholesaler... requires a bit more time and research but in the end you save a bit of cash and get what you want first time.

[jase-r34]

I have found that Autobarn all have people who "used to own a skyline" and know sweet FA about them. I buy parts from them only when all else fails. I use the Morayfield / Caboolture store and it's pretty ordinary there is one guy who actually knows anything about imports in there the rest can't give you any advic withoutlooking at a book. and don't get me started about the pricing.... if anyone is stupid enough to pay the prices they have on the performance items they have in there you need your head checked. dollar to experiance value is a joke there best off talking to a shop that does performance upgrades and see what parts they reccomend and sourcing them from a wholesaler... requires a bit more time and research but in the end you save a bit of cash and get what you want first time.

I definitely agree with ya there mate. But it wasn't for my skyline, I just wanted some rotors for the corolla and thought that surely autobarn could handle that lol.

[Keeper]

got f**ked with an audio install job on a Ferrari Testerossa a while back with autobahn,

Alternator whine

f**ked the interior lighting of the car

Head unit couldnt pick up radio

Console cover couldn't close after the install

Reversing camera was installed on a 25degree angle

Left black marks on the tan leather interior.

Stripped it out and did it again from scratch myself

[grigor]

if you need brakes, deal with a brake specialist, not autobarn.ABS brakes at kawana did mine a few years ago , and they got it right the first time and there prices were great.

+1 for these guys, but not all ABS shops though.

He got discs/pads for the Aristo where others hadn't a clue, and all were in stock, that was the amazing bit.

They simply know their stuff and deliver for bugger all extra too.

[ZENNON]

I don't pay shops to work on my cars - rather do it myself

I normally buy all my fluids from there - never had a problem

even get discounts as he knows us by now (good mate of mine has spent quite a bit there over the years)

[666DAN]

They remind me of Bunnings, when both stores started out they had people that knew their shit as they were trying to draw customers with experience. Now they've got market share they hire any dumbass and customer service has gone through the floor.

[omy-33]

there is one guy who actually knows anything about imports in there the rest can't give you any advic withoutlooking at a book.

yea i found that 2, i go in an talk 2 him a fair bit, he seams 2 kno enough,

or maybe just enough 2 bullshit me. lol

nah he's pretty good

[Burgies]

might as well add my autobarn story. I know nothing about audio installs, so i had them do it, very clean job and sounds great, was worried going there at first but i has happy when it was all finished. I drove from there to pick up my gf and when i got home i noticed the eng temp was about 7c hotter then usual, and there was a loud hiss coming from the engine bay, i took it back to them and the guy just stared at it for a while. He then said, 'think ive done something there'. He sent me to a aircon/elect specialist down the road. Long story shortish, they cracked an aircon pipe when tapping into the battery for the amp, and they are now paying for a new part, regas and labour totalling around $400 to fix their mistake.

[R33_Dude]

I work with another hated group - Supercheap Auto in between uni and working on cars.

I shop there myself because a) I get a discount and b) I order my own parts. After several run ins with Autobarn I refuse to go to them anymore or recommend them to customers. We get all sorts of stories ranging from huge price rip-offs to botched installs to one guy who went to them for a battery for his new SLK only to have it explode under the bonnet, coating everything in acid.

The problem is in auto retail is that anyone can front up with a bit of knowledge and try and get a job. So then you have to find out who really knows their stuff, and then the problem then is sorting the shifts so that someone who knows what they are talking about are on all the time. There's only so many people out there who want to work in a place like that as well who actually know their stuff.

Down here in Hobart we are pretty lucky, one of our blokes works as a mechanic for Performance Auto (mercs, audi, bmw, alfa), and several others really know their imports. I grew up with V8's, drag cars, hot rods, and imports.

The upside though of places like this is that parts are generally cheap, and relatively easy to get a hold of.

With regards to your corolla, if its before 1986 parts are getting really hard to get a hold of. Properly hard. I had to tell a bloke that the brake pads for his ET Pulsar were going to take three weeks to rock up, and its not us - its the suppliers scrambling for parts. The retailer cops the blame for the slow turn around.

Well that's my rant done.

[jase-r34]

With regards to your corolla, if its before 1986 parts are getting really hard to get a hold of. Properly hard. I had to tell a bloke that the brake pads for his ET Pulsar were going to take three weeks to rock up, and its not us - its the suppliers scrambling for parts. The retailer cops the blame for the slow turn around.

Well that's my rant done.

Nah mate, it's a 97 AE101. Very common and parts have always been readily available to me. Some much less common than brake components...

Thanks for all the input guys

[Col-GTSX]

pay penuts and you get monkeys...

in saying that you cant label all autobarn franchise's as the same...

[dangerous_daveo]

Yeah, I've always found the Browns Plains store really helpful. If they don't know they have always been pretty honest with me.

Other than one bloke in car audio. But I only go to Northfield Moorooka now anyway...

And to the guy with the Tezza... What in gods name were you thinking even driving anywhere near a suburb that has an Autobarn!!!