Arizona Hot Rod & Upholstery - Apache Junction, Arizona

Richard Schoonmaker

Took a classic Bronco in for basic check up and a few stock part replacements. Allowed his young assistant to do all the work and really screwed the truck up. I went there for classic expertise and I got an inexperienced mechanic. Engine blew less than 100 miles up the highway. Welding repair was like done like a child. Wrong fuel sending unit...still does work. $5000 wasted and everything needed redone and an expensive engine rebuild.

Rob

To be clear, a. my pics don't lie, and b. the people who own Arizona Hot Rod and Upholstery are LIARS - I won my small claims court case in Pinal County against Arizona Hot Rod, the judge ruled in MY FAVOR, I was awarded $200 plus court costs - they were ordered to pay me el pronto. This was actually unusual as the court does not usually rule in favor of the plaintiff when all the work was performed, however poorly, but the photographic evidence of non matching colors, lumpy foam, defective materials, and insanely poor sewing was overwhelming evidence in my favor. I dare these people do dispute anything I have stated. I will not allow these people to paint a different picture of what happened here, I don't care how long ago it was.

Posted 05/24/2018:

Arizona Hot Rod was supposed to upholster my entire interior in two tone - black and saddle. I was left with a two tone seat, saddle dash, saddle kick panels, and black door panels I had to buy because they didn't have the skill to re-upholster my old door panels - 3 diff color schemes. The only way I could have a matching interior from them was to have the whole interior redone in black, with new foam, not the 38 yr old foam they reused. Also the saddle vinyl they used was blatantly defective - large areas with no texture design, but they used it anyway. The stitching and seams were so poorly sewn, the two shops I took my truck to for new estimates to replace their work, described their work as 'garbage', 'amateur', and both said they would never leave anything like that leave their shop. I did not 'change my mind' about anything. They've called me a 'scammer', and a 'blackmailer' for asking for a refund due to my complete dissatisfaction, and for letting them know I was leaving them with a bad review, which by the way, is not slander as they've suggested, because unlike their responses, my review is 100% TRUE and 100% ACCURATE.

I have been notified by Google that my review and pics of their work has been viewed over 1000 times, ouch, I am most definitely having the last laugh. I've had 3 auto upholstery jobs now, this is my first complaint.

Previous Post:

This is a followup of a previous review I posted 8 months ago, I need to respond to being called a 'scammer' by Jeanie and Marty Fox. I took this problem to small claims court and won the case in Pinal County Court. I presented several photographs backing up everything I had to say about their work. I only suggested using all black upholstery to eliminate seams between the two tone color scheme, since Mrs. Fox could not sew a straight seam, and they could not handle a simple repair of my door panels so I ordered new black door panels before their work was performed. If I am a scammer I am the world's worst scammer, because even tho I won this dispute in court, I am still out over $900 for a seat so poorly upholstered, I had to have it removed and redone by someone who can sew straight. Also the dash and kick panels I paid to have re-upholstered were the saddle color and have been thrown in the trash, they did not match the new black door panels, or the two tone seat they upholstered with the 37 year old worn out foam. The new upholstery work performed by Sonny's Upholstery in Tempe is 1000 times better, the new foam is firm and straight, the seams are straight and the stitching is uniform. Sonny's Upholstery and Top Notch Upholstery were very critical of the work performed by Arizona Hot Rod & Upholstery, a few comments they made were - 'this is garbage', 'this was done by an amateur', and 'they will have to give you your money back'. When work is performed this poorly, I had to take my business elsewhere, and I am glad I did. Not only am I out over $900, I have had to put up with their story telling and name calling. I don't know these people, but you judge a business by how well they handle a problem, they should have given me a CHOICE of a refund instead of BLAMING ME and DEMANDING I return to let them do the entire job over, not a good option when WORKMANSHIP IS THE PROBLEM.

Jerald & Natasha Gould

Talk about top notch service! This family own company is an amazing and will treat you right, if you want high-quality results, you need to seek Arizona hot rod upholstery. Thank You

Chris C.

Marty got my old Suburban running again with an awesome EFI system. He did what other shops couldn't do and my truck was a hot mess with all kinds of computer and wiring issues. 3 different shops couldn't get the work done that he did in 3 weeks. I've been trying to get it running good for three years. It runs and performs better than it probably did new. I would drive my burb all over the state with confidence. Very happy! Thank you Marty for what you did. I will definitely take my other classics to him in the future.

Shawn Bell

I am giving AZ Hot Rod & Upholstery a 1 star review because of the way I was treated as a customer that spent well over $10,000 with this shop. Upon picking up my car, I found out that the Hydro boost break system that he suggested and installed was not performing properly and was interfering with not only my breaking system, but my power steering system. After expressing my concern, Marty took another look at the car because he had a couple ideas he wanted to try and he admitted he’s had problems with the last few hydro boost systems he’s done. After him telling me the problem was fixed, I then returned to pick up my car and the hydro boost and power steering was still not working properly. I had him take it for a test drive and he agreed that it was not working properly. He then suggested spending another $2500 plus and I respectfully told him that I was going to get a second opinion. He then threatened that if I took my car to any other person he would never touch it again. Not a problem. I refused to pay his additional thousand dollar (approximately) invoice in full as well, as my brakes were admittedly still not working properly. However, I did pay for everything in full to be done correctly the first time. I have it all working properly now and another shop did it correctly. I wouldn’t recommend this shop.

Response to owners comment 2/16/2024

You are incorrect in your statement that I skipped out on my final bill for parts and labor. We agreed I would pay for the parts, which I did, I did not pay for labor since no progress was made and my car was not functioning properly and honestly posed a safety concern with neither the break system or the steering system working properly or reliably. I simply stated the facts not intending on making myself look good or bad, because I’m a fair person. I wanted the facts out there.
By the way, you also rewired my vehicle as well and I’ve had to replace the battery due to the amp/sub equipment being consistently powered. I’ve removed the 100amp in line fuse by the battery and replaced the battery, but that is still a problem I have that I haven’t brought up because the classic car hardly gets driven.

James Rinehart

Great work on upholstery, custom mechanical, and fabrication.

BOB HORNER

I had custom seats creates for a rat rod and they came out great. Everyone comments on them.

When we purchased a vehicle from a different builder for my wife, we ran across several concerning issues after driving only about 100 miles. We took this vehicle to Marty and Jeanie and they made the corrections we asked for and made the vehicle fully operational with confidence to take anywhere.

We highly recommend for the quality, and patience. Very good communication and you can tell they enjoy all projects and challenges.

Bruce F BruceF

Jeannie redid the seat and passenger backrest on my Road King and it looks great. The stitching picks up the color of the metal perfectly.