Don't Do Business With These Guys, XAT Racing Options

[JoKeRkId613]

Wow... I just got off the phone and I don't know how to feel. Lol. Someone on here had posted a link to a company that does engine swaps - xatracing.com. So I went, saw the prices for the swaps and thought they were pretty good. I mean, $6500 for a 3rd Gen 3SGTE and all the crap they include... I think that's good. So I figrue this was for a GT Celica(it doesn't specify, but common sense tells me the ST will cost a little more). So I called to find out, and while at that, I'll get different quotes(3rdGen3S, Beams, GZE, 20Vblk and 20Vslv). I talked to a guy named Bill. First I ask about the 3SGTE. He tells me the price is online, so I tell him it's an ST. He asks what engine I have. 7A. Then he tells me it's impossible because of a crossmember and the chassis(if he was on here, i'd tell him SEARCH). lol. Then I ask about the GZE and he says they can do that(duh), so I ask how much more they would charge since I have an auto(I dont wanna drive 3 hours to Tampa and then have them tell me they have to charge me a lot more). He goes 'wait, it's an auto? man, you need to get yourself a real celica!'(that mofo did not just diss my celi...). so i ask again how much the tranny swap would be and he said it's impossible to put any 5spd tranny in there(lmao). he tells me 'for real, sell your car and buy a better one.' F*ck XAT Racing cuz they don't know sh!t. maybe they do but probably only those stupid nissan engines since they've done "over 400 sr20 swaps". i guess they dont know toyota cars too well... i'm just letting ppl on here know that these guys are full of crap. if i had a manual gt, i'd buy a 3rd gen clip for what? 3000 bucks and do it myself. those firggin idots. get a real celica? HA! i have a real celica and it looks better than the crap cars on their website.

This post has been edited by JoKeRkId613: Feb 21, 2006 - 5:52 PM

[bloodrain]

lol GET A BETTER CELICA, LIKE A GT-FOUR lol just messin with you bro. I think they said that because they dont want to do the extra modifications and they dont know how.

[JoKeRkId613]

yea, i figured thats what it was. i didnt even want to argue because i know most mechanics have some girly/little kid egos/attitudes when you try to correct them or something.

[celicarus]

i'm not sure who you spoke with, but i've called that place 3-5 times - and each time the person who i spoke with was very nice and knew what he was talking about. They gave me really good service over the phone. The last time I called the guy was eating on the phone, but still curteous in his words. You probably just had bad luck and got a jack A$$. I wouldn't let one person ruin the reputation of an entire business, but if that Bill was the one working on my car than I'll give it a second thought.

[Digndoug]

Thats funny, but yeah, could have just been some dumbass.. Id say pm Dr-tweak, yeah hes much further away.. bur Im sur eworth it, and prolly cheaper.

[snapshotgt]

Joke- where did you get the name of that place?...i've been searching for a list of swap shops, but have not found one?!?

Anyway, yeah, i hate it when people are rude and not very helpful, they should not be answering the phones! LOL.

~snap

[Chanh55]

I remember seeing them on a post too... I couldn't find the original post... but here.

http://www.xatracing.com/xatservice.html

should be the same people.

[Smokeeey420]

yeah that sum bull**** !!! they can do that ****

it so hard to find good help in fla. do u know anybody good around there ???
there ain't nobody in mia??? i'll be in the 305 this weekend(Marley Fest).
i'm gonna try look. need body work and got tubo to install
i'm in west palm and there aint **** for celi here.

hahaha minez a st auto 7a also -----**** that bitch-------

[Cutrara]

Nice Username

lol smoke weed everyday

[Bigmeanbulldog55]

I went to the local performance shop and was going to ask if they had any extra intercooler piping laying around I could buy and use for a CAI. Well, the guy comes out and looks at my car and says, "Oh dang, we've got to get you a filter on there." I say, "it's in the fender," he says, "oh, well it's not getting any air in there, you've got to put it up here in the engine." Then I pointed at the front air dam and explained how that hole let air in. Then I asked if he had any piping that was 2.5 inches or so, and he asked what it had. I told him it was 3 inches. He said I shouldn't go with any smaller and my car needed that air. I laughed, got in my car and left. I've never been back. I don't think a place can be that great if they let someone like that even work there. The guy was a real idiot.

[celicaST]

i cant believe any business could have horrible service like that and remain in business. if he would of responded to me that way because i have an auto as well, i would of had a few unfriendly words for him. although im sure it was just that particular ignorant individual with that attitude, i blame the company for hiring the guy and letting him speek to customers.

haha bulldog, you think that was bad? i went to a place once and the guy who was helping me was CONVINCED that the 7g 1.8L engine was the same as my 6g 1.8L engine. ahhh man, that guy got on my nerves lol.

This post has been edited by celicaST: Feb 21, 2006 - 9:41 PM

[Dr_Tweak]

Thats funny, but yeah, could have just been some dumbass.. Id say pm Dr-tweak, yeah hes much further away.. bur Im sur eworth it, and prolly cheaper.

Actually I'm probably moving to SC, so I won't be very far away

-Doc

[Jen]

Thats funny, but yeah, could have just been some dumbass.. Id say pm Dr-tweak, yeah hes much further away.. bur Im sur eworth it, and prolly cheaper.

Actually I'm probably moving to SC, so I won't be very far away

-Doc

Which city? I may have a proposition.

And, every person I have ever talked to at XAT has been very courteous. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with them!

This post has been edited by Jen: Feb 22, 2006 - 12:53 AM

[Dr_Tweak]

Beaufort. Not far from you, actually.

-Doc

[BBoYRuGGeD]

wow that guy dissed u hardcore! i'd be pissed also since my car was an ST auto.

bboy

[celica47]

yeah i drove by XAT racing a couple times, never been in there though. Yeah as far i was concerned they always had a good rep. And i think but iam not sure but for them to covert a Auto to a manual it was like $500-600 if you provide the tranny. Not sure though. Bro if i was you try calling again, if you do bring it to tampa hit me up.

[easternpiro1]

i called those guys once. they told me it would be like 7k and that i would be better off buying a new 6g with a manual tranny as well. i didnt like the suggestion because it made no sense to buy a new car for 7k then put a swap in it for another 7k, but he wasnt being a bunghole.

[Jeremy1210]

Man, that sucks. I called the local tuner shop by me and they were very helpful with what they could and couldn't do. They would do any suspsension mods I wanted and other interior things, but as far as engines, they were honest and said that they don't have much experience and really didn't want to mess up an enigne/ car they don't usually work on. I think it was nice of them to say that.

[Dr_Tweak]

Converting a Celica from auto to manual during an engine swap only takes me a couple extra hours, it's NO big deal.

-Doc

[celica47]

yeah i seriously think he was talking to a Dumb ARSE....i might call them later and post what i get.

[frosty]

Holy crap that would tick me off! (especially if it was my biz and an employe said that...SMACK!)
I can see the guy being lazy and saying they can't do the swap but to dis the car, that's a no-no even if it's that crappiest car in the world.

[Bigmeanbulldog55]

haha bulldog, you think that was bad? i went to a place once and the guy who was helping me was CONVINCED that the 7g 1.8L engine was the same as my 6g 1.8L engine. ahhh man, that guy got on my nerves lol.

I was talking to the guy about the intake, and said, "It's just an Econo motor, and it'll never be anything that great. But I just like to mess with it." He said, "I've seen these things outrun Supra's at the track. It can be fast." I asked, "With this motor? Against a 2gz turbo Supra?" He say, "Hey, with that motor." That was almost as bad as the guy at a different performance shop trying to tell me my car Supra. Man, West Virgania has some really bad performance shops.

[axelrduvirage]

since this is general discussion land , let me tell you a funny one about dissing our Celicas. went to a bodyshop not long ago and the guy was a real arse. he kept reffering to my celi as one of "those korean cars that everybody has". when i told him it was a gen 6 Toyota Celica GT (one of three i've seen in the region) he said "whatever, it's just another car to me". Needless to say that although he beat the best estimate by almost 500$ i would never get the work done there. i have never been this touchy about my cars before. is it the styling? is it the uniqueness?

[celica3sgte]

I've had quite a bit of work done at XAT. I know the guy you talked to. They've always had someone goofball in there just to answer phone calls. He's no mechanic and doesn't know anything. Give them a call back and ask for Casey. He's one of the owners but also takes a lot of calls. They dyno'd my car, connected my 3" stainless steel downpipe to my existing exhaust, and tuned my AFC. They have a few amazing mechanics there. They have done more sr20 swaps than 3s swaps, but they know their stuff. They even know what mounts you will need for the 3s swap b/c one of their mechanics has a 3s swap in his 5th gen. They'll also setup an mr2 tranny for FWD at a good price. I got an mr2 tranny, inner shafts, FWD setup, and mounts for $700. Good luck finding that price somewhere else. +1 for XAT

This post has been edited by celica3sgte: Feb 23, 2006 - 9:01 AM

[celica47]

thats what i thought.

[BBoYRuGGeD]

They'll also setup an mr2 tranny for FWD at a good price. I got an mr2 tranny, inner shafts, FWD setup, and mounts for $700. Good luck finding that price somewhere else. +1 for XAT

so they'll find the tranny, convert it to fwd setup, give the inner shafts and mounts all for $700? wow thats a good price...maybe i should give 'em a call. do you know if they'll ship this combo?

bboy

[celica3sgte]

They might ship I don't know. Just call them and ask if they have any mr2 trannies laying around. If not would you be able to get me one.

[WannabeGT4]

Are you guys talking about the E153 or the S54?
If it's an E153 that's not a bad deal especially if it is a newer one with LSD.
If you're talking about the S54 you got screwed.

[BBoYRuGGeD]

pretty sure we're talking about the e153 w/o the lsd (cuz that'd be more expensive)

bboy

This post has been edited by BBoYRuGGeD: Feb 23, 2006 - 5:10 PM

[kbprice]

XAT has a pretty good rep here in Tampa. Sorry you got to talk to the 1 dumbass that works there. There is a guy here in St Petersburg also, Central Florida Performance, the owners name is Sean. Here is his website. Central Florida Performance

[WannabeGT4]

pretty sure we're talking about the e153 w/o the lsd (cuz that'd be more expensive)

bboy

I sure hope so, but I never saw any mention of the trans coming from a Turbo MR2 since it's the one with the E153. The NA MR2 is equipped with the S54.

[soulshadow]

Guys stay away from OsakaJDm they really suck and sell incomplete engines.

My friend bought his 1jZ from there and they sent him an Auto ECU, engine, and a M/T without the slave cylinder, flywheel, and clutch. They quoted "we have a M/T 1jz available complete" <-----completly false, it wasn't even an M/T engine, it was an A/T engine with a M/T tranny and everything else was still A/T. The throttle Position sensor was broken, and there were other parts that needed to be replaced badly.