They put the cheapo plastic box lights under the front bumper - totally messed up the appearance of the smooth front end I thought. I had asked them to use the vent holes in the fogs, they said they couldn't, would cause condensation, burn out bulbs, void the warranty - all kinds of reasons. Anyway, I ended up taking it to Randy, and it was a bit more work - he had to remove the front grill assembly - but I really like the smooth look, and the small lights inside the fogs looks much better in my opinion. Also, I have had problems with the lights shorting out - Randy showed me how they used connectors that water easily gets into on the exterior, he only uses those on interior work, not exterior. He replaced them and no more problems. Let me know how they do your lights, and if you are happy with it. Randy also took off my stick-on turn signal repeaters, much nicer! Need them for the SVA, but after that - bye bye!
Mine was done the same.. silly box lights under the bumper and those GHHHAYYYYY side markers.. so you say i only need those for the initial inspection and then they can come off?
Just replied over at your other posting - let me know if it makes sense. I am going to raise all kindds of grief if I have to pay for the light conversion twice, like I did last time! Five ways does it the same for everyone, assembly line, fast, cheap - not the way to treat our 'Stangs!
Yeah i was very dissapointed with 5 ways and thier customer service.. not to mention the car was dirty and has a few chips in the paint...
I'm going round and round with the AAFES rep now - I don't want 5 ways to do my light conversion, they say that I have to get it done there before UK customs will allow the car to be released. Still fighting for my right to have lights done on-base so I can get the job I want without paying twice like last time. Oh well - small price to pay to drive the best I guess. Finished paperwork for the tax assesment to sell my '05. Hope it will be about 2,000 pounds - think I can get about 19,000 (pounds) for what I have now, which will pay for my '06.
Got a call from Pass & ID yesterday - UK wants over 4,000 pounds in tax before I can sell it! I was thinking maybe 2,000 - so not going to be as good a deal as I thought - but should at least get my money back or come close. But I can't complain even if I lose some. I've had 20,000 smiles, I mean miles, and it's been worth it.
My wife's family is in London and Kent - I drive down there when bored. Also just love to get behind the wheel and cruise, only work part time, and can't stand sitting at home when I could be out letting folks admire one heck of a car! Got a lot of advice on keeping the mileage down so the resale value would be higher, but hey - I like to drive, and figure this is a car that people should see - soooooooo . . . .
Guys, just so you know, Customs cannot hang on to a car if it is not to UK spec. Someone's trying to get work for someone here. I think. There are plenty of UK operations that do a proper job of the SVA work - pick up a copy of Classic American magazine, they advertise in there. If you need to know sooner, ping a message back here - I'll be away for a couple of days, but I can hook the info out when I return. Can't you guys drive US spec/registered cars over here anymore? Do you have to get them messed with? I mean, you're not paying UK duty until you sell it, are you?
Here are the two senarios for us as far as getting out US Spec vehicles to UK Spec: 1. If you ship a used vehicle over here you can chose where you get the MOT and Light Conversion done, most people choose to do it on one of the local bases. 2. If you buy a brand new vehicle through the Overseas Military Sales Program then the vehicle has to go through Five Ways in Mildenhall for SVA. No if, ands, or buts about it. Five Ways cannot legally release a vehicle until it has a valid registration and tax disc, and you cannot get those items until the light conversion has been completed.. its a monopoly and Five Ways is the biggest rip off i have ever seen! I have no Backup lights, they my front license plate almost came off when i washed her yesterday because the bolts werent secured properly, the rear license plate is hung crooked, Emergency Brake handle is dinged up... i could go on and on... they are just a bunch of bastard kids who work there and the management and customer service is CRAP! And i am sure Txwolfy can back me up on all these points
Man that sucks! I did the electrical installation design for the Outdoor Recreation place on Lakenheath that is next door to the Vehicle shop - they always seemed to do good work, pity they can't get the work away from five ways... Good luck guys!
You are sooooo right - and I'm holding my breath. My '06 is in port, should be at five ways by the end of the week. I've already paid a visit, talked to the light guy and told him how upset I was with the job they did on my '05. He is a different guy and I will be there watching him when mine gets in. Lucky I work part time nights, so I have that luxury. And you're right about the deal - I tried everything possible to get them to release it so I could get the lights done on base without success. Worst case is after I pick it up I'll spend the little extra and get Randy at Lakenheath to tweak it for me, like last time. By the way, have a lovely '05 GT for sale!
Why do the English have "socialist" laws and rules when it comes to what cars in England should and should not have?
Go on, explain? I'm sure if I took a Euro spec car to the US I'd need to get it to comply with US construction and use regs before I could register it? Besides, it's all from Europe now - dammit, we'll be driving on the 'wrong' side of the road if they have their way...
its the same as when the MG B went on sale in the states, because of strict laws on the height off the ground a headlight has to be (dont know if this is still true today). So unless they redesigned the entire car ( not gonna happen) the couldnt sell the car in the US, so what did the smart english boffins do?? they raised the suspension by a couple of inchs! genious!! Same with the Ford focus, to sell them in the states the US has strict laws on the sie of the crumple zone at the front (not sure if its described as that but good enoutgh for on here lol)so they had to make the front and rear bumpers deeper so that they could sell them on the US market! and because of emission laws in the US (especially california) they couldnt sell the focus RS 2.0 turbo 225bhp and using a lot of tech know how from the Ford WRC team! (as a side note they had to raise the price of every focus sold in europe by a very slight margain to cover the production costs of the focus RS as they sold them for £22,000 but it cost somthing like £24,000 to make each car) right now my brain hurts im gonna go and find a nice corner curl up in a ball and die! Si :SNSign:
