henryc0902

My family recently bought and have a jeep modified by Hauk Design, located in Chambersburg PA. Everything seems nice as first and we established a pay as we go agreement when we wired the balances to them every time they got something new fitted as we requested that they build us the ultimate off-road Wrangler. However, because we lived out of country, we were not able to check out the car and was only able to see the product after it got delivered. Furthermore, they asked for even more money for "labor" that wasn't specified when we discussed the pricing(which already included labor costs) and had already wired to them. Although these issues were disappointing, the worst experience of this purchase was when my uncle finally received his jeep. These were all the issues that were diagnosed by a car repair shop in Taiwan after only two days since taking delivery.
To begin, he was expecting to receive two sets of keys for his car, but instead he only got one set. In addition to this issue, the engine would also unexpectedly cut out while driving and sometimes would not start back up. There was also problems with the transmission as it sometimes took four to five seconds before the car would engage drive after it had been selected. The coil-over shocks behind the passengers also had collapsed, causing the car to slant to one side. The steering assist systems were not installed appropriately, causing the steering assist shocks to be damaged. The hoses for the air conditioning were not installed correctly, causing leaks to the compressor and ultimately causing it to break. The base of the track bar was not welded properly, causing the driveshaft to deform after hit the engine. The reservoir for the on board compressor was installed in an awkward position, causing the rear drive shaft to deform after it made contact with the reservoir tank unit. The Bump stock was broken. The wires around the exhaust pipes were not insulated thoroughly, causing them to melt under the heat. The Ecu unit was mounted too closely to the intake manifold, causing them to collide due to vibration from the engine, which ended up with the ecu base being sheared apart. The fuel line is too close to the exhaust pipes, making it very likely to develop a catastrophic fire hazard. Lastly, the tires and rims do not match the description; the rims that came are not the 17 inch RT231 ST Monster Cast Beadlocks.
Being extremely disappointed, I tried emailing their customer service as well as making phone calls to the owner Kenny, but to no avail as they had cut off any communication with us after the car has been delivered. I have currently submitted a complaint to the Attorney General of Pennsylvania. What additional actions can I take to make sure that this firm received the repercussions that they deserve? This defective and expensive Jeep has become a liability and is currently not running after only TWO DAYS of careful and frustrating on road use.

karls10jk

Hauk Designs/ River Raider as more of the community would recognize them, hasn't been known for that kind of thing. It would be rather unusual for them to do something like that...even if you were making payments on something sight unseen.

Do you have pictures to corroborate your claim? They've done enough builds and been around long enough (with enough notoriety) that they're unlikely to gamble their reputation on a shoddy build, there are just better ways for them to make a buck.

henryc0902

Yes in fact I do. Because of legal concerns I will not post the emails and the transactions

henryc0902

henryc0902

Evidence, here you go. I will not post the email exchanges and transaction details because of legal reasons, but the jeep is extremely defective, and these wheels certainly isn't the ones that were agreed upon.

TheDirtman

some shoddy work there. Are you sure you had the actual Hauk designs and not someone pretending to be them. I am not a fan but would expect more from them.

henryc0902

It was definitely them. We met them at the SEMA show and visited their shop personally when they started the build. It was a shame how bad that jeep was.

TrailBadger

Very unfortunate. But sometimes companies need to be made aware and held accountable of those who work in their service department as the managers simply hire Joe because he needs a job. often hiring a skilled shade tree mechanic and not a trained/authorized technician. Plus I've found that If I do not like who's working on our vehicle I would request another technician. granted the service department has and will get upset as my suggestion. I feel after viewing your images, an skilled mechanic handled your install which is unacceptable. Yet you've not disclosed the amount you paid as these types of shops tend to do as little as possible in order to profit the most.

TheDirtman

They really don't have a presence on the forums. Maybe they are on fakebook and you could make people aware of the issues there.

TrailBadger

Good Point TheDirtman Go where the masses congregate.