Stay Away From Shawn Ellis And Socaldiablo

[dgussin1]

This happened about 4-5 months ago. I have been keeping it to myself because I don't like to talk bad, but fuggit. He told my friend that he was gonna "kick my ass". What a ****ing loser.



Here is a little story that I have told people about Shawn Ellis of socaldiablo aka socaltuning & performance:



First off, on my 03 Cobra I purchase a KB, 60 lb injectors, a custom oil catch can from superior (man it was ugly) and an install from Shawn/superior as well as a dyno tune. When I got the car back I drove it for 3 days and it blew up. The car never felt right, it felt weaker than my non ported 2.8 eaton, but the dyno said it has 583rwhp. Shawn blamed the engine blowing on my driving and that it was my fault and that it had nothing to do with the install or the tune. He wouldn't even have my eaton reinstalled for free so I could take it to the dealer to get a new motor. I had just paid them $750 to install that blower, and they basically said to **** off. Strike 1.



Next up after I got my car fixed, I sold it. The car never felt the same again. The engine installer did something wrong and it was all screwed up.



About a month later, he blew up my friends bolt on cobra. (combatstang) Shawn told him that he had clogged cats and thats why it blew up. (yeah right) Marc still goes to him, why I dont know? He still believes that his cats were clogged and thats why his motor blew. Strike 2.



So I get another cobra, and planned to keep it stock for a few thousand miles. During that time I sold my KB since I wanted one of the new ones that doesn't spray oil. So I call Shawn up and told him I want a new KB. He tells me that it's gonna be $3200 for the KB with no bap or chip. He tells me that he can have it on monday. I agreed and told him I would come down on monday to pay him and pick up the blower. (KB is about 30 miles from him, so he just has to go pick one up.) Later that same day, my step dad calls up Shawn and tells him that he wants a KB for his v10 f350. So Shawn tells him that it'll be $3750 with a chip and BAP and he can have it for him on Monday too. So he agrees. (this was the thursday before)



On Monday, I call Shawn to confirm that he will have the blowers for us to come get them. He says that he'll have them both by 3pm.



So we head down, with cash in hand to get our blower. We get there and Shawn is no where to be found. I called him a few times and he finally called me back. He said that he was 1/2 hour away. So he arrives with the blower. We go and talk to him and he says that the f350's isn't going to be ready for another week. (OK, shit happens, right? BFD). My step dad tells him that he'll pay him now and just come to get it next week.



He goes to his truck and to give me my blower. He hands me a blower that wasn't in a box and was just sitting on the floor of his truck.(If he just got it from KB, why isn't their a box?) I look it over and it has some scratches on it and it looked like it had been mounted on a car before. Where the blower bolts to the manifold it looked as if it had been bolted down. It gave me a bad feeling in my stomach since I was 99% sure it was used. But I really didn't care, all I wanted was to get my KB and put it on my car. I just wanted something!



So I hand him mine and my stepdads money (literally $6950 cash). He counts it and pulls out a piece of paper. He starts writing. He writes "Cobra, $3799, minus $200 for chip and $100 for bap. $3499." Then he writes down "F350 $3950", and says that my stepdad is gonna need xyz for another $200. So he looks at me and says that I owe him another $300 and that my stepdad owes him another $400. I tell him that this wasn't the price we agreed upon and that I wasn't going to pay him more money. He tries to feed me some BS about how KB charged him more than they usually do and that he can't "lose money on the deal". Now we both know that he isn't paying list for these blowers. I told him that I don't have any more money, and I am not spending more money for something that looks used. My step dad basically says the same thing. He isn't paying more then he quoted him.



He basically tells me that I have 2 choices. I can leave today with the blower and pay him the rest of the money later or I can give him the blower and never deal with him again. So I walked over to my car, grabbed the blower, handed it to him, took my cash and walked away.



I wasn't about to pay more money for a blower that was used when I could get a new one cheaper on my own.



So thats my Shawn Ellis story. He blew my car up, blew a friends car up, and tried to rip me and my stepdad off. I can't believe that I was still gonna let him tune my car after he blew it up.



If you still want to use that guy after hearing this I would be surprised. I have talked to so many more people that have similar storys to mine. He is a dishonest guy that doesn't know how to tune. He doesn't even know how to set up a proper timing curve and doesn't tune the a/f through the MAF transfer function.



David

[Sleeper]

dont know him, but sorry to hear the misfortune you've dealt with... I wont ever bring my sled there.....

[kaos]

Man, I'm always hearing about him and some shit. I know people will defend him, but these stories keep on coming out. Either it's a conspiracy against him, or he's doing some weird shit. That's the only reason I wouldn't go to him, too many stories like this. Plus I've personally read how he gets on the internet and that's a big no-no. He tries to get all crazy.

[dgussin1]

Originally Posted by kaos

Man, I'm always hearing about him and some shit. I know people will defend him, but these stories keep on coming out. Either it's a conspiracy against him, or he's doing some weird shit. That's the only reason I wouldn't go to him, too many stories like this. Plus I've personally read how he gets on the internet and that's a big no-no. He tries to get all crazy.

he thinks he's a tough guy, but in reality he is nothing. I didn't post this shit until he came at me and actually told (Marc) Combatstang that he was going to harm me. What a joke. Loser.

[BALDSNAKE]

DG.....Got a 3 layer Nomex flame suit handy? You are gonna need it. I posted a complaint a year ago about a particular "vendor" and did not even use his name. A few of this Kool Aid gulping "vendor's" sycophants figured out that I was talking about their almighty Lord and Savior and began their attack on me so bad that the site master in here had to set them down. Their histerical bantering continued on two other sites including the "vendor's" own private site.

There is also a throttle body vendor out there that you never Never NEVER say anything but positive about or he will blast you on a personal level with everything he has.

PM me or call at work....you have the No.

[P Machy]

Well, Ntechnic did open this part of the forum so that the members can rant / vent!

Local Shops Grapevine
Praise, rant, vent, and gossip about SoCal performance shops, Ford dealerships, suppliers, etc.

So no one should jump on any one, when all any one is doing is just expressing his or her opinion but as the years come & go, i find that its almost impossible to find 1 good tuner that will make every one happy....IMHO, all of them tuners have their faults to a few and while to others they are the best around.

Not siding with any one....just saying what i have been see-ing.

[CobraGirlSVT]

He and his army of strippers are gunning for you, huh?

I wouldn't worry about it, he was probably just blowing off steam. He called out my friend Darryll once, told him he would barbeque him like a pig on a spit. Darryll is about 6'5", 300 lbs and is the kind of guy that picks fights for fun (and gets you kicked out of parties just for showing up with him, but that's ANOTHER story), so no good was going to come out of that. Eventually it all just blew over, like internet drama usually does.

I have heard horror stories about all of the local tuners to the extent that I am afraid to utilize any of them. Right now I'll just stick with the mild mods and the canned Predator tune.

But I also hear "(insert name here... Shawn, Danny, Steve) saved the day! I was having such and such problems and they went out of their way to help me out" stories as well.

So I try to keep an open mind. I guess cars are like people and tuners are like doctors, what works for one patient might kill another.

[RedfireVert]

Wow that sux...

Shawn tuned my car and I believe he did a good job. I've had good driveability and decent power for over a year since the initial tune.

However, many reliable buddies (including Marc) have had bad experiences with Shawn. Yours is not the first story.

Although Danny Swanson usually wants a lot more dough for tuning compared to Shawn...it might be worth it...and I have no allegiance to either.

Russ

[RedfireVert]

Originally Posted by CobraGirlSVT

He called out my friend Darryll once, told him he would barbeque him like a pig on a spit. Darryll is about 6'5", 300 lbs and is the kind of guy that picks fights for fun (and gets you kicked out of parties just for showing up with him, but that's ANOTHER story), so no good was going to come out of that. Eventually it all just blew over, like internet drama usually does.

I think I met Darryll...does he drive a red '94 Cobra?

I've always wondered why a shop owner would threaten violence...everyone knows where he works...

[CobraGirlSVT]

Originally Posted by RedfireVert

I think I met Darryll...does he drive a red '94 Cobra?

I've always wondered why a shop owner would threaten violence...everyone knows where he works...

Yep, that's Darryll. Very nice guy, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get on his bad side.

I should clarify that Darryll was NOT a customer of Shawn's, but rather just one of the many individuals partaking in the internet badassery that so commonly occurs in the tuner flamewar threads (although I have to give credit where it's due... the contentiousness has calmed down alot lately).

[oldmodman]

Damn! All I hear about the local tuners is that they blew up my motor or their tune ruined my day etc. Maybe I will just drive my Cobra out to the East Coast and have Herrman tune it!
And I was considering using Shawn to tune my car after the Whipple goes on it. And I bet that if I wait long enough someone will have dirt to dish on Hermann too.

[96GTS]

[03_Sonic_Blur]

Some vendors will try to make things right. Mark at MMR did that in the thread below this one. Others try to make sure you never come back. Read up, decide for yourself

[kaos]

Originally Posted by oldmodman

Damn! All I hear about the local tuners is that they blew up my motor or their tune ruined my day etc. Maybe I will just drive my Cobra out to the East Coast and have Herrman tune it!
And I was considering using Shawn to tune my car after the Whipple goes on it. And I bet that if I wait long enough someone will have dirt to dish on Hermann too.

I figure the less bad I hear about a tuner on the internet the better it is. I have never seen big flame wars about Steve or Danny, so I'm taking that as a good thing. Nothing is 100% but I would feel safer with either of those guys just because they don't have that black cloud following them. Shawn could be perfect and it's everybody else, but why take the chance.

I also agree with what 03 Sonic Blur said. Mark came through and at least explained the situation and tried to make it right. Mistakes happen and you deal with them and move on. Some don't get that.

[el rey evo]

I've never dealt with Shawn or Danny but Steve at Powertrain has been a stand-up guy...