Studio RSR review 0/5 stars BEWARE

[todd20]

Didn't want to write this review but my car till today still has issues and parts missing off it...

My BMW M4 was sent to Studio RSR for diagnostic and repairs late 2021. I had worked with Studio RSR in the past once and had a good experience but unfortunately this time it was an absolute nightmare to say the least.

-Let me start off by saying communication with these guys is almost non-existent. They will give you so many false updates and lies. Once they run of out lies to tell you they will just leave your message on "read".

-They try to upsell you every single opportunity they get.

-They will do ANYTHING to avoid paying you your money back, like altering their invoices by giving you some credit to cover the fact that you have to pay tax twice. I even caught the owner changing my old invoices and making it look like I short paid them OVER A YEAR AGO then asking me to pay for it again. The look on his face was absolutely priceless when I showed him all the text, bank statement, email and receipts.

-Robert AKA the owner is the definition of a scam artist. He acts like he's your friend and he's trying to help you but in reality he's just milking you of all your money. When I told him I wanted to take my car back and take it to the shop that was building the engine directly he told me he would give me a better deal because of the labor costs. So he put a -$800 credit on my invoice. The same invoice he cleverly taxed me twice on $13,073.27. Also the same invoice where he put less than what I actually paid him. Paid $13,000 he put $12,469.13. At some point in all this Robert told me I am lucky he isn't charging me storage fee for holding on to my car. This was because I would call for an update every week and they would LIE and say next week so I would call them every single week till they got the job done.

-The main mechanic here left and the current mechanics are not as experienced. My car literally had a ground wire connecting to my exhaust instead of the transmission.... There was over $1000 worth of parts missing off my car that I called them for multiple times and never got back. Until today my car still has electrical issues because it obviously wasn't assembled correctly.

Here are the timestamps of each and every major update I got. All of these are backed up by texts, invoices, emails. Pay attention to the dates and how they take WEEKS to just do a simple task. Also know that there was a bunch of BS and lies in between these updates I didn't include to try to keep it short and simple.

12/27/2021
Dropped off car at Studio RSR.

1/5/2022
The car's head needs to be rebuilt. Invoice 3975. $4992.11

1/13
Head taken off and sent to Lang racing. Was told it will take 2-3 months.

4/14
Head arrived at Studio RSR.

5/26
After many false updates and lies Studio RSR finally decided to put head back on the car over a month later and noticed the crank hub bolt was glued into the crankshaft by a different shop that installed it previously. Will have to send the engine to Lang Racing to be rebuilt and upgrade internals.

5/27
Got a quote from Lang Racing for $10,657.85 for the engine rebuild invoice 5615. Studio RSR said they would take the engine out and ship it to Lang Racing themselves. Meaning I would pay the labor of taking it off and putting it on to Studio RSR.

6/2
Got a quote from Studio RSR for $14,860.48. Invoice 3701. Needed a deposit of $12.332.85. Over 80% of the money required upfront. This includes the quote from Lang Racing and Studio RSR’s labor.

6/3
Dropped off the deposit of $13,000 Cash to Richard at Studio RSR and didn’t get back any change. I told them that Lang Racing needed the $5000 deposit from them to order the engine parts and put us in line for the job. Lang Racing said the wait time would be about 4 months after the deposit was placed.

6/14
Lang Racing had made a mistake on some parts in their invoice and had got me a new quote of $13,341.09. Let Studio RSR know.

6/24
After waiting weeks for Studio RSR to place my engines deposit to Lang Racing I came to a realization that they didn't care too much about my time so I placed it myself to put my engine in line before the wait got any longer ($5000). Lang invoice 5615. Studio RSR is required to pay me back my $5000 deposit since they will now be paying Lang Racing $5000 less.

7/1
After almost 1 month since paying my deposit to Studio RSR, they finally took the engine out of the car.

7/19
After waiting over 2 weeks they shipped the engine out to Lang Racing. I have heard just about every lie from these guys at this point. The distance between these shops is about 30 miles. No reason whatsoever it should take over 2 weeks to ship an engine. I would've gladly done this myself in an hour but they decided to do it and charge me for it as well.

7/22
Lang Racing notified me that the cylinder walls in my engine were rusted. This is due to my car being left outside and uncovered while the head was off for months. Battery also dead because it was left uncharged. This battery cost is about $2000 new. Look at picture for reference of the cylinder wall.

9/6
Asked Studio RSR how much they would charge to install new turbos since my old ones were already off the car. I was told me there would be no charge.

10/28
Lang Racing notified me that the engine is done and Studio RSR needs to pay them and take the engine soon. Lang Racing also notified me that Studio RSR had lost some of the engine parts so Lang Racing ordered them and charged me. Lang Racing said I can get refunded if Studio RSR sends those parts back when they find it. ($290.48).

10/31
Went to drop off my new turbos to Studio RSR. They have yet to pay for the engine to Lang Racing. Studio RSR also claimed that they never lost those parts and that Lang Racing probably lost it and tried to blame them. Robert the owner of Studio RSR didn't seem too happy to hear that I paid Lang Racing the $5000 deposit out of my pocket and insisted that I still have to pay Studio RSR the full amount and get my deposit back from Lang Racing. This made no sense to me at the moment because why would I have to pay Studio RSR to pay Lang Racing then go back to Lang Racing and get my $5000 back. Robert from Studio RSR finally agreed to take off the $5000 from his invoice 4423, but not by changing the actual amount on his invoice. He put a credit for $5000 instead. Robert didn't think I would catch what he did to the invoice, he thought he was clever here by charging me tax on the invoice 5616 from Lang Racing $13,073.27. If you look at the invoice 5615 from Lang Racing you can clearly see the price breakdown and the $13,073.27 was including tax already. Robert put that $5000 as credit instead of changing it to $8073.27 so he can charge me more tax on something that is already taxed. He also changed my $13,000 payment I had made months ago and made it to $12,469.13. Which is what I was supposed to pay him in total. He is trying to make it so he doesn't pay me back what I overpaid him. From being taxed twice, losing my parts and my leftover money, Studio RSR owes me $1,867.21. I decided not to tell them just yet here because I fear they will just claim other things are "broken" just to avoid paying me my money back.

11/14
After weeks of more lies and false updates. Studio RSR finally made an attempt to get the engine. Paid the balance of $8073.27.

11/17
Studio RSR said I needed to get a new battery or fix mine. I told them I would take it and fix it.

11/18
Picked up battery. Car is still outside completely untouched and uncovered for months rain or shine.

11/22
Battery repaired. Studio RSR notified me not to bring the battery for another week since they won't be working next week because of Thanksgiving.

12/1
Studio RSR said the car is on the lift and the engine is in already and to bring the battery. Engine is in but not fully assembled.

12/2
Dropped off the battery at Studio RSR and noticed the turbos installed are not the new ones I bought. I told them and they said they would change it for me by next week

12/8
Asked Studio RSR for an update and received more lies. Was told that everything was in but the flywheel. It had some “one time use only bolts” that they needed to order but had trouble doing so because the company that makes them wasn't reaching back out to them. I have spoken to that company in the past via email and know that they will reply in a day or two, so I offered to contact them instead, but of course this problem was already taken care of they said. Next week my car should be ready they mentioned.

12/15
Called for an update again. Was told all the parts are in and I can expect to have the car next week.

12/21
Texted the sales advisor I’ve been in contact with for the whole process for an update but I was left on “read” for hours. I texted him again a few hours later asking for an update on the car and again nothing. Called in to Studio RSR and the owner Robert answered and told me to wait for another week. Reason being they are short staffed and are very busy. I don't understand why my car isn’t being prioritized considering it's been there for almost one year now. I let him know I’m done at this point and they have till the end of this year to finish or I will be forced to take this somewhere else to finish it. Robert said “okay”. I relayed the message to my sales advisor who left me on “read” again. Customer service is absolutely non-existent to Studio RSR. Who leaves their customers on “read”?

12/27
Robert called and told me the car will be ready soon but they needed the stock intake for my car because the current one wouldn't fit with my new turbos. Took the part in and saw that they were almost done just had to run diagnostics with the engine.

12/28
Went back to Studio RSR to see them finish but the mechanic had some issues with the battery. We used a battery from a different car to finish the diagnostics but my car kept failing due to valvetronic issues. Robert said this would likely be the valvetronic motor so we ordered a new one. I told Robert about my credit of about $600 dollars because his current invoice was showing $12,469.13 when I paid him $13,000. He decided to go on to my old invoice from 2021 and try to tell me I never paid him $550 for the work they did almost two years ago so my credit went towards that. I took out my phone and showed him my bank statements that clearly proved him wrong. I actually over paid him by $50 at $600. Then he tries to pull a fast one again and tell me I never paid for the “spark plugs”. I was never told about paying for spark plugs because he never had it on his invoice. He just added that as an extra cost to try to charge me more again. But luckily I had all my texts and invoices from 2 years ago and proved him wrong yet again. My text clearly showed his employee telling me how much I had to pay him and what I paid him for. Robert was now speechless and had nothing more to add now he can’t try to trick me so he was forced to give me that $600 credit. Later this day Robert called me to tell me that my car still isn't running and I needed new parts. Told him I will be towing my car out to a different shop. I have zero trust in this shop and Robert after he tried scamming me multiple times.

01/05
Towed to a different shop that fixed my car. Still have a few electricals issues because of Studio RSR.


Robert AKA Toby still owes me money for that tax scam he did. I told about it and he said he would give me "credit". What kind of moron would even go back to this shop after this shit show?

I still have every single text, email, receipts, pictures and invoices from these guys if anyone has any doubt in what I'm saying here.

The picture of my car is how it looked when I towed it.. It didnt drive (misfiring). Most of the front end missing. Paint ruined. Interior ruined from rain going on door panals.

[Suds]

Damn, you are getting screwed, it has to hurt!
I am not sure how you resolve this, but it sounds like they are good at dropping the ball and making excuses.

[todd20]

Originally Posted by Suds

Damn, you are getting screwed, it has to hurt!
I am not sure how you resolve this, but it sounds like they are good at dropping the ball and making excuses.

I can easily give this to a lawyer and sue this clown but its cool... I just hope everyone can see this before they take their cars to him. I can recommend you guys to a much better shop not too far from there I personally take my car to its in Irvine

[Peter Griffin]

Originally Posted by todd20

I can easily give this to a lawyer and sue this clown but its cool... I just hope everyone can see this before they take their cars to him. I can recommend you guys to a much better shop not too far from there I personally take my car to its in Irvine

Sounds about right. Look at their crap looking roll bar.