Rpm Car Customising

[ThaiPauly]

RPM have a branch in BK, if you have never heard of them don't worry.

However if you have do you know if they are a nationwide outfit and if they have a branch in CM?

Many thanks

TP

[blade63]

RPM have a branch in BK, if you have never heard of them don't worry.

However if you have do you know if they are a nationwide outfit and if they have a branch in CM?

Many thanks

TP

Their website http://www.rpm.co.th/contact.htm shows Ramkhumheang and Thonglor locations only.

[Moonfruit]

They wash my car. I didnt know they were customisers. They certainly dont have any parts at their Thonglor location.

I do know they sell used cars, but in actual fact i believe they just act as agents for their detailing clients.

[matter]

I took my newly painted car to them 2 days after I had picked it up from its 60,000 baht respray.

When I went back to collect the car they had managed to polish off the paint from both corners of the boot!

They didn't deny it was there fault, nor did they offer any apology or any form of compensation.

Personally I would steer clear. The best place to get a safe polish is at some of the more local garages where they do it by hand.

If there is a Meguiar's near you then check them out, as some outlets do not use the power polishers!

[culicine]

If there is a Meguiar's near you then check them out, as some outlets do not use the power polishers!

Better still, polish it yourself. Meguiars is availabe at large department stores. Expensive but good stuff. I use it all the time.

[teejay]

I took my newly painted car to them 2 days after I had picked it up from its 60,000 baht respray.

When I went back to collect the car they had managed to polish off the paint from both corners of the boot!

They didn't deny it was there fault, nor did they offer any apology or any form of compensation.

Personally I would steer clear. The best place to get a safe polish is at some of the more local garages where they do it by hand.

If there is a Meguiar's near you then check them out, as some outlets do not use the power polishers!

I've been a Platinum member for 2 years at RPM Thonglor. ALthough I would never pay for their services (membership was free, job perks!), I get to wash one of 4 cars every day of the year and get 5 full waxes per year (plus 10 free movie tickets at Major every couple of months and magazines sent to my house among other little discounts at restaurants in the area).

They haven't slacked any time that I have been there, and when I've had my car buffed, it has always come out nicely (although the interior looked as if it had not been touched). Perhaps it was too quick to go buff a car that had just been resprayed 2 days earlier? I'm not sure, but if I were you, I would have asked them for some sort of compensation, bet it free washes or anything, especially if they accepted responsibility (aka "didn't deny it was there(their) fault."

Although the clientele is rather "hngeik" (ask somebody to translate that one for you, you'll get a laugh), and they tend to work over the Porsches and Ferarris a bit better than my SAABs, the service is acceptable and the atmosphere is nice... especially given it's proximity to J-ave. That said, I wouldn't pay 40k baht for the memebership if it wasn't free. Actually I usually just end up paying 60baht at PTT for an exterior wash for convenience.

To answer the OPs question, RPM is just in BKK. And regarding the customizing, they do that outside at their parts shop, not at Thonglor, but you can drop your car off at Thonglor and just tell them what you want and they will charge you an arm and a leg to do it (aka "give me the M5 bodykit for my 5-series, I'll pick it up in a week and pay you a gazillion baht over market at that time")

I once inquired about supercharging a 7-series, but they said it was around 200-250k baht for 2nd hand supercharger no guarantees, so I declined that one! But their target market is upmarket anyway, way upmarket, and if people want to throw money away it's up to them. Then again, it's also a matter of conveinience: for the premium you pay, you get the convenience of not having to go from place to place asking if they can modify your car. In other words, instead of getting ripped of at 10 different places, why not just save yourself the time and get ripped of at one place!

[teejay]

Matter, forgot to ask, how was the 60k baht re-spray shop? Did you change the color of the car or just re-do the same color? Would you recommend? I'm looking for a new shop now since the last one *^*$&^$ed up big time on one of my cars (to the point where I refused to pay). I've heard some chatter about Watthana Garage on Putthamonton Sai 4. ANybody else have a good quality paint shop to recommend? Price doesn't matter, as long as the job is done as specified.

[matter]

Teejay.

The car had been ready for a week! In this heat I think the paint should've set OK! I think the lack of attention came from it not being a Porsche!!!

The paint job is OK, but I have sent it in again as I am changing the colour. This time the engine has been rebuilt by Toon Engine Shop, and Pi Toon has arranged for it to go into the spray shop he uses. I have had it stripped down to the bare steel (again!) so it should be a good job. I am hoping it will be ready in the next week or so. I will keep you posted.

If you need any info about supercharging etc then let me know.

[teejay]

Teejay.

The car had been ready for a week! In this heat I think the paint should've set OK! I think the lack of attention came from it not being a Porsche!!!

The paint job is OK, but I have sent it in again as I am changing the colour. This time the engine has been rebuilt by Toon Engine Shop, and Pi Toon has arranged for it to go into the spray shop he uses. I have had it stripped down to the bare steel (again!) so it should be a good job. I am hoping it will be ready in the next week or so. I will keep you posted.

If you need any info about supercharging etc then let me know.

Thanks matter... i know i've seen Toon stickers on cars around town... always thought it was a funny name... but if the man does a good job, please do tell me. I need a complete respray change of color, stripped down to the steel (again, like you) for the 2nd time, and i need to get it right... it's a classic saab turbo though, so i'm a bit worried about their ability to figure out how to remove panels, etc.... these swedish cars are not very easy to take apart (last paint shop broke my brake light (the 3rd one in the back windshield) probably thought no problem, couple hundred baht to fix -- total bill for one light: 15K baht.

THey also broke the front windshield when putting it back in after painting. cost: 20K baht. And when my mechanic and I installed the new windshield (3 weeks wait from Sweden) we found that they didn't even respray any area around the windshield (so why remove it?!) anyway, i don't want to rant about it again... just keep me updated on your progress. If you don't mind me asking, what make of car are you re-spraying? Have they done your particular model before?

edit: oh and yes RPM is quite biased i would say based on what car you drive and the service they give it thereafter.... shouldn't be that way but it is... quite off-putting if you ask me.

Edited September 13, 2007 by teejay

[matter]

Teejay.

The car had been ready for a week! In this heat I think the paint should've set OK! I think the lack of attention came from it not being a Porsche!!!

The paint job is OK, but I have sent it in again as I am changing the colour. This time the engine has been rebuilt by Toon Engine Shop, and Pi Toon has arranged for it to go into the spray shop he uses. I have had it stripped down to the bare steel (again!) so it should be a good job. I am hoping it will be ready in the next week or so. I will keep you posted.

If you need any info about supercharging etc then let me know.

Thanks matter... i know I've seen Toon stickers on cars around town... always thought it was a funny name... but if the man does a good job, please do tell me. I need a complete respray change of color, stripped down to the steel (again, like you) for the 2nd time, and i need to get it right... it's a classic saab turbo though, so i'm a bit worried about their ability to figure out how to remove panels, etc.... these swedish cars are not very easy to take apart (last paint shop broke my brake light (the 3rd one in the back windshield) probably thought no problem, couple hundred baht to fix -- total bill for one light: 15K baht.

THey also broke the front windshield when putting it back in after painting. cost: 20K baht. And when my mechanic and I installed the new windshield (3 weeks wait from Sweden) we found that they didn't even respray any area around the windshield (so why remove it?!) anyway, i don't want to rant about it again... just keep me updated on your progress. If you don't mind me asking, what make of car are you re-spraying? Have they done your particular model before?

edit: oh and yes RPM is quite biased i would say based on what car you drive and the service they give it thereafter.... shouldn't be that way but it is... quite off-putting if you ask me.

Toon is the guy who does all the Supra, Skyline, Evo, S15 engines. You can find a lot of his builds in the winning cars at the drag track.

I am doing a Toyota Corolla KE70 that I have rebuilt from scratch once before, I wont even mention how much I have spent on it! Given the length of time these cars have been around for I assume they must have sprayed one before!

My Subaru is gonna be done by a place on Onnut that you might want to try (NVD Autosport). They have done a fair amount of bodykit work on my Subaru and Cefiro before and it has always been very good.

They have alot of experience with insurance/crash repair work for BMW/Benz. Please note that I have not yet had a total respray done by them yet, but I should have done within the next 6 weeks or so. I might also have them fit a UK made widebody kit to my car which requires cutting out the steel in the rear fender area. So if they get that right they will be my shop of choice for the rest of time!!!

[raybkk]

Teejay.

The car had been ready for a week! In this heat I think the paint should've set OK! I think the lack of attention came from it not being a Porsche!!!

The paint job is OK, but I have sent it in again as I am changing the colour. This time the engine has been rebuilt by Toon Engine Shop, and Pi Toon has arranged for it to go into the spray shop he uses. I have had it stripped down to the bare steel (again!) so it should be a good job. I am hoping it will be ready in the next week or so. I will keep you posted.

If you need any info about supercharging etc then let me know.

Thanks matter... i know i've seen Toon stickers on cars around town... always thought it was a funny name... but if the man does a good job, please do tell me. I need a complete respray change of color, stripped down to the steel (again, like you) for the 2nd time, and i need to get it right... it's a classic saab turbo though, so i'm a bit worried about their ability to figure out how to remove panels, etc.... these swedish cars are not very easy to take apart (last paint shop broke my brake light (the 3rd one in the back windshield) probably thought no problem, couple hundred baht to fix -- total bill for one light: 15K baht.

THey also broke the front windshield when putting it back in after painting. cost: 20K baht. And when my mechanic and I installed the new windshield (3 weeks wait from Sweden) we found that they didn't even respray any area around the windshield (so why remove it?!) anyway, i don't want to rant about it again... just keep me updated on your progress. If you don't mind me asking, what make of car are you re-spraying? Have they done your particular model before?

edit: oh and yes RPM is quite biased i would say based on what car you drive and the service they give it thereafter.... shouldn't be that way but it is... quite off-putting if you ask me.

I suggest you let saab take care of it! They have a huge shop where they do repaints. Had mine in there a few years ago.

[madjbs]

Just for the record. If anyone has a BMW and doesn’t like the prices of the BMW dealers then I recommend you take your car to KW BMW on Thong Lor soi 20. They are an independent service centre for BMW cars and have a separate paint and body work shop. The manager speaks really good English as well which is a big plus.