I'm currently pursuing legal action against Harminder Dhaliwal and Silicon Valley garage for damages that occurred to my car while under their care - please read on.
I was in the market for a high performance mod (FI Interchiller + 2 gal reservoir tank (trunk, engine bay or custom fabbed)) for a Mercedes SL, and my friend referred me to Silicon Valley Garage. I spoke to Harmin, the owner, about the job - we got on the same page about the work, and after a while he provided me with a quote. It was higher than other tuning shops around, but given the praise my friend had for SVG, I gave them the thumbs and dropped off my car. I stressed that this car had 2 batteries and the one with the parasitic drain should be kept on charge, or the car should be started every day or two - no problem, Harmin said.
Weeks go by with no contact, and Harmin doesn't return a single text or phone call. He finds time to post on SVG's Instagram story every hour or two however.
I stop by the shop after a few weeks, and one of the techs said they "hadn't even started" the job, and they need to prioritize the steady stream of easy work (wrapping new cars and lowering link kits) that looks good on Instagram, because it all pays the same hourly rate. We touch base on the job again, and the techs said they were just going to do the interchiller install with no reservoir tank consideration - so the high quote Harmin gave me was only for half the job.
Another couple weeks go by and I stop by again, and another tech says "Yeah, Harmin does this to everyone" - leaving the hard jobs sit for months, and "chases the easy money". He says a Corvette just came in and Harmin told him he gets priority over me because Harmin thinks the Corvette owner is wealthy.
Another week goes by, I stop by again and they say "A Ford GT just came in and he definitely gets priority over you - we definitely aren't even starting on your car this week". I asked if I could just get by car back and go home, and they complied. The battery I stressed that needed to be charged, was dead, and after getting the car started, it was throwing all sorts of trouble codes, the driver window and convertible top were inoperable, and the AC freon was drained.
I touched base with my friend who referred me to SVG. He touched base with his friend who used to be a co-owner there but no longer is. He says "things got bad there a few months ago".
In an attempt to recoup my damages, I'm currently pursuing a case against Silicon Valley Garage LLC (entity number 202253513108), with it's agents of process and Harminder Dhaliwal listed as defendants, in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara. read more