Rat2 Motorsports

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  Mohammed515
4 months ago
I saved up for 3 years to buy a 2GR swap kit from Rat2. Ian (owner) honored the lower price he had quoted me even after the price of the kit went up, which I thought was decent. I was told it would take 6 months. I got about an email a month but no meaningful information about my kit. Just promises that I would get an update soon. At the 8 month mark Ian s email address was deleted and I realized that the phone number on the website is disconnected. It s now been 9 months and I ve had no updates or responses. No way of contacting Rat2 but for some reason the website is still active. No updates on any of the Rat2 social media pages since April so it seems like he may have gone out of business or something.TCS Motorsports in KY now sells 2GR swap kits for almost $2k less than Rat2 and they have parts in stock. Ty from TCS responded to my email right away saying they can ship out swap kits within 2 weeks-ish.I ve got a dispute case opened with my Credit Card company so I can hopefully get my money back but I m not confident. Over $8000 stolen and nothing I can do about it .

  Steve Sukalich
a year ago
I ordered an complete 2GR swap kit back in November of 2021 and the lead time was supposed to be 3 to 5 months. Well that was 16 months ago. I've called over 50 times and sent 10 emails over that span of time and only one call was answered and I got two emails back. The last response of either kind was back in July of this past year. At this point I might as well have been scammed out of an almost $8k engine kit...

  Kevin Shaw
4 years ago
I recently made and inquiry about a used valve cover for my car. Within no time at all, I received a friendly response with all of the information that I had requested. The following day, we agreed on price and went through with the purchase. Before the cover was even shipped, I was receiving updates on the status of my part and they even went out of their way to clean it up for me to save me time. What I would like to point out the most here is the impeccable customer service. Truly above and beyond the norm and definitely one to be rivaled. My experience with this company will forever make me a loyal customer. I advise anyone who is in need of parts or service from this business to fully support them the way that they support us!

  Gavin Welton
4 years ago
Had my SW20 2GR swapped here and could not be happier. Truly transformed the car.To address some of the other reviews here:Did it take longer than expected?Yes, estimate was about 3 weeks and I got it back after about a month and a half.Did I find any issues post swap?Also yes, but most of these were small issues that were very easily fixed and to be expected with any engine swap.While their expectation setting could be better, I went in understanding that this is a true grassroots performance shop with guys who have a true and obvious love for the Toyotas they work on. They have transformed my car into what it should have always been and provided me the professional insight needed to make sure it will stay on he road for years to come.My recommendation: Go in understanding that you are providing them a 20 - 30 year old car that could potentially have unknown problems that crop up during the process.

  Seth Harmon
4 years ago
I took my 1996 NA Miata here because it needed a cam reseal, water pump, and had a leaky radiator. I was curious as to what went into the cam reseal and the owner Ian was patient and helpful as he answered my questions! Rat2 has experience mostly with MR2 s but my friend referred me here and I m glad I went. I would call Rat2 and Ian for anything on a Miata. He even helped me get a replacement radiator from Mishimoto! Ian set expectations well, and delivered the car on time.I have read some of the nasty reviews left here, and wonder if the people who have written them have much experience owning an old car..A good example of this is that Ian mentioned that he noticed my clutch slave cylinder showing signs of wear. I declined to have that done at the time because I tend to be a cheap skate.. 2,000 miles later, the slave cylinder went out. Just because I paid to have Rat2 fix one thing on my car does not mean that everything is magically fixed, or that it s Ian s fault that the slave cylinder went out. It s an old car. Things break. If you want a perfect car for cheap, lease a Camry instead of Turbo V6 swapping a 25 year old sports car.Thank you Rat2! Will be going here again, and I am happy to recommend you guys to anyone!

  Bu Jin
4 years ago
Unfortunately Google doesn't provide me nearly enough space to give an exhaustive report of everything that went wrong dealing with Rat2. I will be reporting them to the BBB, as well as producing in depth YouTube reviews of the entire experience, so you may wish to look for those.I gave Rat2 my 91 MR2 on 5/11/19 for a 2GR swap. The swap was supposed to be completed in two months, that was the time frame I was originally given, but it wasn't done until 10/25/19. They did everything they could to get my car and my $2k deposit, and once they had them, they were utterly unresponsive to communications, and when they would respond they were always evasive about their responses, not answering questions I asked (despite always saying to let them know if I had questions), giving carefully constructed responses with the aim to not truly inform. This went on for months, and I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to get my car back.Throughout this process they repeatedly demonstrated they didn't listen to my requests, despite saying at first they'd be happy to perform the requested items, then they wouldn't, nor would they remember agreeing to do them. Repeatedly I had to insist things be done by quoting earlier emails. They responded to their every failure in any regard with no interest in taking responsibility, and with the fine crafted skill of a practiced hand which has meticulously mastered the art of dodging responsibility. It doesn't matter what you ask Rat2 to do, they will do what they want to do, not what they're asked to do or agreed to do, then when you call them out on it, they'll simply say it wasn't on the invoice. Like they are free to do anything they want, so long as its what 'they' put on the invoice. An invoice, mind you, that will keep increasing in length without notice, and without explanation, and without agreement, and without transparency, where you'll never truly understand what really happened, only that it was expensive.Basically they craft their own contract on the fly to their own wishes, and hold you responsible for paying, while shirking any obligation on their own part. Don't be fooled, they do not believe in mutual obligation, or mutual agreement, it's all one sided; what works best for them. You pay whatever they choose to bill you for, and they deliver whatever they choose to give you. (I'm actively working to produce videos detailing this for everyone, so keep an eye out.)They will promise you the moon, and then deliver you a rock. All the while your car languishes behind the house of the owner in the elements for months on end. In total it took nearly six months to get my car back (instead of two), the project cost $12.6k (instead of $9k), and what I got back was not what I asked for, a lot of the work I'm going to have to have redone, I now have electrical problems I didn't previously have, the new engine doesn't run right, and once Rat2 got their money they cut bait.

  bittingantz
a year ago
Customer service has been top notch to date. Had an issue with a part I ordered, no fault of Rat2 and they owned the issue and worked with me to find a solution. This level of service will keep customers coming back.

  Jeff Schultze
3 years ago
DO NOT RECOMMEND!!! I recently had these guys perform a gen4 swap in my sw20 mr2 and I absolutely regret giving them my business. For starters they initially told me the turn around time would be about 3 weeks. 3 weeks turned into 2 months. That was an annoying inconvenience in which they compensated me for. Fine. But when I got my car back "finished" they had not reinstalled my AC system which I very specifically asked them to do. It was a high priority item for me and they told me it wouldn't be a problem. Then the narrative changed. I asked why they didn't install it like I had asked them to and the answer was 'well it wasn't on the bid and we didn't charge you for it'. But, but, but... I asked to include the AC and you told me you would, so what gives? How are you going to make this right? 'Well it wasn't on the bid and we didn't charge you for it'... Ok going nowhere with this one. We settled that matter with them sending me the AC belt and AC compressor mounting bracket (which I have to modify and install myself now). What else, let's see here... Oh! They also returned the car to me with part of the wiring harness in disarray so I had to do a little wire management for them. Anything else go wrong? Why yes, infact there are still a few more things I have not yet addressed. They left the idle air control valve inlet completely exposed so for about 250 miles or more I was sucking raw air and dust into my new motor. There should have been a vacuum line routed to the air intake or at the very least a breather filter attached to the inlet. I brought this to their attention and to be fair they did offer to send me breather filter but at this point I already had one on order. No offer for a partial refund, mind you. Anyway, glad I caught it before catastrophic failure occurred. Nice one, guys! Next, if you look at the nice pictures on their website of other gen4 swap examples, you'll see they used a nice quality intake with a good cone filter, proper fittings and an intake tube that has the necessary inlets for aforementioned vacuum lines. Instead I got a much cheaper and simpler intake with no inlets for vacuum lines and a subpar filter. Fantastic. So we're cutting corners now at my expense. Do you care about you cars paint? I do too. Rat2 doesn't. My trunk lid had all kinds of new surface scuffs and blemishes which tells me they were not careful and probably used the lid to set things on without properly protecting the paint first. My car is black and had been recently detailed. Alright one last thing and this one's a biggie. They asked me if wanted to use my old exhaust or go for an aftermarket exhaust. I opted for the stock exhaust mainly save money since this swap is not cheap! They said OK sounds good. That was the end of the exhaust conversation. Turns out in order for the stock exhaust to mate up with the gen4 downpipe it had to be modified. Modified to the tune of 4 hours labor @ $130/hr totalling $520!!!! That's the same cost as a brand new exhaust! A brand new high performance turbo exhaust with better sound and performance! AND THEY FAILED TO MENTION THIS TO ME! SERIOUSLY! What sucks is I paid the invoice without noticing they slipped this in and when I confronted them later about it the basically told me to go fly a kite. Said I paid the invoice therefore I agreed to it. I'm still fighting that one as I write this actually. So in a nut shell, do yourself a big ol headache and heartburn saving favor and DON'T USE THESE CLOWNS. I'm convinced these other reviews are friends and/or employees. Thanks for reading!An update 6/12/2020: Within the first couple months of getting my car back I started getting heavy smoke from the exhaust. Turned out the turbo was absolutely shot. just had it rebuilt which wasn't cheap. Thanks again, Rat2...And I may as well add the discovery a few missing parts in the process of working on the car. For example: a chassis brace, the turbo brace that bolts the turbo to the block, manifold heat shield, and couple other little things. Super unprofessional and an added expense for me.

  Eight Ken
4 years ago
Dont ever think of using these guy for any kind of work.The supercharged 2gr swap they did for me was a completed nightmare.Anything that they touched on my car ended up with issues. They pushed all the responsibility when ever they could.Took a year to get my car back.Work is below standard, and you will end up checking everything they did to make sure they i didnt break or miss putting something back.You will end up paying more to fix any work that they do for you.They only got one star because google would not let me give anything less.DO NOT Give these guys your business you will absolutely regret it!

  manuel linares
2 years ago
I had a great experience ordering from them. Communication was quick and I had my order sent out within hours.

  Daniel Gilbert
2 years ago
Clowns running this circus. They can't even get parts ordered out as promised, don't leave your car here.

  M.Bilal Chaudhry
6 years ago
Top class work.They worked on my 3vzfe Aw11 mr2. Definitely going back again.

  Kevin Boettcher
6 years ago
Amazing mr2 work, custom parts and swaps. Great people as well.

  Jeff Ritter
6 years ago
Great place for your Toyota MR2 repairs or upgrades!