88ls1blazer

iTrader: (1)

interestingly enough I was just there yesterday and there is another "problem child" mustang there from Arkansas, which from what I am told was at 2-3 different big name shops in texas, and they could never sort the car out. I heard this car when it was unloaded from the transport truck and it would pop and bang just idling, within 48 hours of working on it they got it sorted out and ready for the dyno, something no texas shop could do in over 4 months time. This is why it was sent to Livernois, the owner of the car had been burned too many times, and now (like I learned) spent more money (way more being he had it transported from Texas) to get it done properly.

The tune is (dare I say) as important as everything else on the car, and more important than most things on a car, yet it's always the thing people want done cheaper in a shorter amount of time. How long did your tune take? 1 pull? 3 pulls? 10 pulls? Remember that Livernois' was born from an OEM supplier, so their methodology is going to be different when compared to a self taught "tuner". My car wasn't done in an afternoon, it wasn't done in 3, or 5 pulls, but it was done right. To me, that was worth the extra money after wasting over $800 dollars with 2 other "cheaper, faster" shops.

There must be a reason why Livernois is booked almost a month in advance for custom tunes, and 2-3 weeks for installs, this, combined with so many out of state customers, says how good they are.

flintwrench69

iTrader: (11)

I find it VERY hard to believe this guy with the Mustang couldnt find a good tuner in Texas.
Fact is a good tuner can tune a car in a fairly short time from what I have witnessed.
My car was tuned in an afternoon, probably within 12 pulls. Did I pay too much? I dont feel I did. I understand they have to pay for the dyno, tuning software, & things to keep the place going. I knew how much it was gonna be before I went there, & it was the same $445 I was quoted. Their standard fee for an LS1 dynotune. Thats at a place that tunes lots of LS cars. So tell me how you would feel if you called Livernois up & they told you $650-$1000 for that same service & you could sense they had an attitude over the phone? I have no experience with Livernois but this must be true as its been mentioned here many times. I know I wouldnt take my car there if they told me that. The part I dont get is why does the tune fee vary so much on lets say a cammed LS car?
I am sure they are lined up outside the door every day just waiting to get their $650 tune

88ls1blazer

iTrader: (1)

you clearly have never been to Livernois. why don't you go down to the shop and look at all of the out of state cars rather than talking them down saying things can't be true? especially the mustang you claim isn't there for the reasons I state. What good would it be to lie about such things? It's much more common than you think.

As far as lined up every day for their $650 tunes, well, being they have 2 dyno's that run almost all day every day, I would say yes, people do line up for their tunes...

Do you price shop your doctors before a surgery? when you want a good steak do you go to a high dollar steak house? or applebees? they both serve steak, so they must be the same. Simply stating "so and so charges this much for a tune". You do realize you are talking about paying for skillset, experience, and knowledge right?

As I stated before, it takes more than a dozen pulls for MOST combos. Livernois does OE work as well, do you think ford racing when they are coming out with a calibration for a supercharged mustang makes 10, 15, even 30 pulls on a car? try hundreds, in addition to having to do drivability as well. Dan's background is in engineering, and he calibrates similar to an OE. No PE rape, no "it's good enough" or the like.

maybe nobody cares because they haven't been burned like I have. but I am telling you, go spend your money on a cheap tune that you have issues with. then you can appreciate my view. 6 different shops couldn't figure out my car before it went to Livernois I paid for two of them out of my own pocket, 3 days later after taking it to Dan I had a car that I loved to drive, before that I had a car I would love to see burst into flames...

Also, in regards to the attitude, who did you speak with? I have never had an attitude given to me when I called (even before they knew me) maybe you caught someone on an off day? maybe it's just the way they talk? it's so hard to tell if someone has an attitude without seeing them face to face. did you call and talk to the vehicle department? parts? engine? wholesale?

LivernoisMotorsports

iTrader: (1)

Mike,

I apologize that you feel that one of our employees had a poor attitude, if you could please PM me some details I would greatly appreciate that.

Now in regards to some of the other comments. Yes, our starting tune prices run $650 and can go up from there. We do offer some discounts on these items, we discount it for installs we are performing, we discount based off of if it is our products on your vehicle, and we even have military discounts available on certain services.

While I will not go into it in great detail, it has been touched on in this thread why we feel our prices are a great value. We may not be the cheapest, but that is not our goal. Our goal is to give you the best results for your money spent. Our facility is unique in the state, if not beyond in what our capabilities are. We have a 36,000SF facility, with more than 15 hoists, a full machine shop, engine shop, 2 chassis dyno's (including one of which is AWD capable) engine dyno, 3 cnc machines, fab shop, 2 cylinder head flow benches, and a full cylinder head department.

Our work goes beyond the average "performance" level of work, we do indeed have numerous aspects that intertwine directly with Ford, GM, and Chrysler at the OE level, and the after market level as well.

I am proud to say that there is a reason we have such a strong worldwide following. We have customers across the globe, whether it be our products we manufacture, cars we build, or tunes we supply, more than likely there is a car on every continent that's performance is greatly due to our expertise.

Just a quick tour of the shop today will showcase cars from numerous states, including (of course) Michigan, but also Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Texas, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Illinois, Tennessee. Also cars from Canada are in shop as well.

We take a great amount of pride in the work we do, we relentlessly pursue to make things better, we never stop improving ourselves. Even to this day we still try to improve our cylinder head offerings, short block offerings, and other components.

We realize not everyone is willing to pay what we charge, and while many of you may find that odd that we are more expensive than some, we are indeed booked numerous weeks in advance at any given time throughout the year. At one point over the summer we were booked 5-6 weeks in advance, even with how large the shop is.

I will venture a guess and say we build/tune more LS powered cars than anyone in the Midwest, if not beyond. At any given time we have at least one magazine shoot transpiring, and are always on the leading edge of technology, developing performance parts for engines that aren't even on the market yet in some cases.

I feel that many of the pictures below speak for them selves, and do show some insight into why we are more costly than some other local shops.

MawneeC5

iTrader: (12)

^ WOW!! The things I could do with all that room and equipment to tinker with........

98Z28CobraKiller

iTrader: (17)

Guys, this is simple supply and demand. A shop that is reputable and has built a great name for themselves can "afford" to charge more. If you have more work than time, then you raise the price until it evens out. Why charge $500 when you can charge $700 and still have them lined up out the door? That said, a good tune is a good tune. Paying more for a tune doesn't make it better. So what you are paying for is peace of mind.

flintwrench69

iTrader: (11)

No I havent. Its a nice clean looking shop from the pics though.
I didnt say you were lying, I said its hard to believe the guy HAD to ship his car up here like Livernois is the only shop thats capable of getting it straight. Especially how big Texas is & how many tuning shops there are there, thats all. Good to hear they got it fixed though.
Usually yes, you do get what you pay for BUT not always. Steakhouse? I was just in Vegas & had steak at 2 different places. Had a $55 filet mignon at one place, & a $17 NY strip at another. Turns out that the $17 one was all around better. Do you think just because you paid $1k for a dynotune does that make it better than the one I got for $450? It must, you paid more it has to be better.
I am sure when they bring in a totally new setup like a new boosted mustang I wont argue it might take more time tuning than something much more common like a H/C LS car that they have seen numerous times before.

What would you consider a CHEAP tune? What would the price be?
I cant blame ya, if my car had been to that many shops I wouldnt be too happy either. How much did they charge ya for the tune?
I have already said I have no experience at all with Livernois. Do I think their tuning fees are high? Yes. Thats just my opinion though. Or is it?

I can understand that. If they are in that much demand then more power to them.
I totally agree.

cjmatt

iTrader: (4)

Oddly enough, you prob wont be able to get a $450 tune from Vector much longer...word on the street up here in Detroit is that theyre selling everything off

BLKHAWK1

iTrader: (30)

Vector motorsports isnt going anywhere. I should know.

deelong4002

iTrader: (8)

Livernois is expensive, but i guess you get what you pay for.

I did an LS6 intake install for a guy with a 2000 Corvette, and they wanted something like $500 to install the intake. I thought this was a bit ridiculous, seeing as i did it in two hours with hand tools in his driveway.

My thought on livernois is: they work on big dollar, high HP cars for the most part, they probably dont want to mess around with the Head/Cam/Intake type cars so they keep their prices a bit high.

For me, it just made no sense to get my car tuned by them, seeing as how it doesnt have much done to it yet, but if you have a $6,000 block, you are going to want the best, and i would have to think that Livernois is certainly up there in that realm.

tals7

no vector is not selling off anything.it is still as it was.i should know also.as of 530pm wed(when i left there)it was alive and well.

cjmatt

iTrader: (4)

then why did their fab guy have to find a new job? why do multiple detroit area shops say that Kirk was asking them to buy it? Why did everyone scramble to get their cars out this week before they became property of the estate?

BLKHAWK1

iTrader: (30)

Vector motorsports is still open, just making some changes.

cjmatt

iTrader: (4)

haha are you and the dyno the ones left?

BLKHAWK1

iTrader: (30)

Actually there's six of us here now, we're expanding look out!

tals7

dont know where you got your info?.the fab guy(greg)did NOT HAVE TO find a new job,he made his move awhile ago,it was something that he could not pass up so i dont blame him,he is a good guy .as for the "property of the e state" thats got me confused?.vector is the same as always but as blk 1 stated things are going to get better!.if you dont believe stop by and see for yourself.either way kirk is not completely gone.hope this helps to clear it up .

ZYA_LTR

If you knew where Greg went to work, and knew Greg, then you would understand that it was an offer he couldn't refuse...essentially his dream job.

tals7

^^^^^^yes well said.

demarco313

Yes they are very expensive. My friend took his 98 z28 up there and all he wanted was a cam install and dynotune and they start claiming all this and all that was wrong with his car. He then later ook it somewhere else and none of that stuff was wrong that Livernois claimed. Its not hard at all for a shop to say something false and make something up about something being wrong with a car to get more money... Not saying they did or that they do this but like i said my friend took his car somewhere else and those problems didnt exist.

cjmatt

iTrader: (4)

saw this on another forum