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So I thought this would be a good time to comment on my current situation. I bit the bullet and sent in my Instrument Cluster for the LED upgrade to make the cluster brighter overall. As promised I said I would document and write a review of my experience. The results are amazing as you will see below! BUT there is one issue (read on, please). So let me start from the beginning. I spoke with the sales department at Tanin and set up my service. Very easy and they were very helpful and friendly. As I knew I was going to be out of town for the Christmas weekend, I requested to have the work done during this time. After Tanin sent me the work order, I pulled my cluster (very easy) by disconnecting the battery, removing the dressing, removing four screws, and two wire clips. I packed the cluster in bubble wrap and mailed it off to Tanin at my own charge on Dec 18th for approx $15. As my car would be unusable without a cluster, I requested Tanin to try to do an urgent repair and mail back to me. The representative specified I should have the cluster back by Dec 25th, Christmas.
I was quoted about $150 plus $17 for Spee-Dee service (which is either the fast turnaround service or fast shipping, not really sure). I did not receive the cluster until Dec 27th and thus had to Uber to and from work for 2 days (costing another unplanned $40). I immediately connected the cluster and it looked amazing! So bright! Really great! I drove the car normally over the next few days and noticed that the fuel gauge was not moving. I had driven quite a distance and my tank remained at 1/4 full. I checked the MPG range and it said LOW FUEL. I didn't understand how this was possible. I contacted Tanin to report this issue and they suggested I fill up the tank and see if the needle responds. I filled up and the gauge moved to FULL. Now I've driven about 80 miles and the needle is still at FULL. I contacted Tanin this morning and reported the new issue, and I was left a VM at lunch from a representative. She suggested that I could either open the cluster and remove the needle and replace it, or send the unit back for repair. I called tonight and left a message stating that I would prefer to mail it in rather than open it. I would hate to wreck any of the mechanisms any further. I asked them to call me early in the morning as I start work at 8am and I hope to remedy this situation. I informed them that I would prefer to mail the cluster back and hope they will pay for shipping both ways. Additionally, this means I will have to Uber to and from work again until the cluster returns. Quite frustrating. Hopefully we can try to work out something like next day delivery. However unfortunate this has been, the results are great. I hope they will stand behind their workmanship and their commitment to this site and its members. I will report back once I have any contact or response. Check out the photos and let me know what you think.
PS. I will upload more AFTER photos with the light sensor settings adjusted to be the same across the board. Believe me it is much brighter than the OEM.
Thanks for the feedback. Your cluster arrived 12/19 at 2:17pm and it was completed by the techs less than 3 hours later at 5pm. After that it was sent to the billing/shipping area.
It is very easy to remove the needle. All you need to do is pop off the front lens, and place a flat tool under the base of the needle and rotate the tool. Since the needles were all off, the needle will pop off very easily. There is no chance of damaging anything inside the cluster. Once off, gently press it back on at the interval it should be pointing at. It's that simple.
Sometimes strange things can happen during shipping. We will cover shipping it back and forth, but don't want you to have to uber around again. If that's still not enough direction we can send you a short video tomorrow of how to do this.
Thanks for the feedback. Your cluster arrived 12/19 at 2:17pm and it was completed by the techs less than 3 hours later at 5pm. After that it was sent to the billing/shipping area.
It is very easy to remove the needle. All you need to do is pop off the front lens, and place a flat tool under the base of the needle and rotate the tool. Since the needles were all off, the needle will pop off very easily. There is no chance of damaging anything inside the cluster. Once off, gently press it back on at the interval it should be pointing at. It's that simple.
Sometimes strange things can happen during shipping. We will cover shipping it back and forth, but don't want you to have to uber around again. If that's still not enough direction we can send you a short video tomorrow of how to do this.
thank you so much for your quick response. yes the video would be very helpful. I will try as you've give suggested and report back.
You know I noticed something else quite odd. I think the engine temp gauge is also tending to stay higher than normal. In the 16 years I've owned my car the temp as never read higher than dead middle after warmup. Today even on a cold start (29 degrees outside) the temp was reading higher than expected. With that in mind I would prefer to send the cluster back in with some type of rush service. I will be out of town on business next week and that would be the best time for me to mail it back in. Hopefully a two day turn around. Tanin, please let me know how to proceed. I hope we can fix these problems.
Just call the office or use the web chat and let them know what you want to do. It will be repaired as soon as it arrives and shipped back the same day.
So I'm going to mail back my cluster tomorrow morning and then be away from the car for a few days. When I received the cluster back, I installed it immediately and did not do a great job of inspecting the work. Today when I pulled the cluster again, I saw something that me so upset and angry... Here is the direct letter I tried to send to Tanin using the webportal "contact us" page but when I click "submit" I get a new screen asking for a password and title of TAE Test, which is why I have turned to this forum. I hope to find a resolution.
"Hello,
I am sending in my cluster tomorrow for warranty work. As I have called and hopefully my issues has been noted, there was an issue with the Temperature Gauge and the Fuel needle not being accurate. Thus, I'm sending my unit back tomorrow. I also noticed, as I took pictures before mailing in the unit the first time, the face of the cluster (black background) has been scratched in multiple places. This makes me quite upset. I have viewed the photos I took before mailing in my unit the first time, and these marks were not there. I was instructed that the procedure to remove the needles required putting a flat object under the needle and leveraging it away so the needle will "pop" off [as stated above in the CL thread]. It is my impression that these scratch marks are from your tech removing the needles. This is not a great sign of quality on your part. I hope we can come to resolution to fix the accuracy of the Fuel Gauge and Temperature Gauge Needles and these unintentional scratched areas. Please see photos below. I hope to hear from you soon. "
Before 1 & 2 (no scratches as the clear plastic cluster has never been opened)
After...
So I thought this would be a good time to comment on my current situation. I bit the bullet and sent in my Instrument Cluster for the LED upgrade to make the cluster brighter overall. As promised I said I would document and write a review of my experience. The results are amazing as you will see below! BUT there is one issue (read on, please). So let me start from the beginning. I spoke with the sales department at Tanin and set up my service. Very easy and they were very helpful and friendly. As I knew I was going to be out of town for the Christmas weekend, I requested to have the work done during this time. After Tanin sent me the work order, I pulled my cluster (very easy) by disconnecting the battery, removing the dressing, removing four screws, and two wire clips. I packed the cluster in bubble wrap and mailed it off to Tanin at my own charge on Dec 18th for approx $15. As my car would be unusable without a cluster, I requested Tanin to try to do an urgent repair and mail back to me. The representative specified I should have the cluster back by Dec 25th, Christmas.
I was quoted about $150 plus $17 for Spee-Dee service (which is either the fast turnaround service or fast shipping, not really sure). I did not receive the cluster until Dec 27th and thus had to Uber to and from work for 2 days (costing another unplanned $40). I immediately connected the cluster and it looked amazing! So bright! Really great! I drove the car normally over the next few days and noticed that the fuel gauge was not moving. I had driven quite a distance and my tank remained at 1/4 full. I checked the MPG range and it said LOW FUEL. I didn't understand how this was possible. I contacted Tanin to report this issue and they suggested I fill up the tank and see if the needle responds. I filled up and the gauge moved to FULL. Now I've driven about 80 miles and the needle is still at FULL. I contacted Tanin this morning and reported the new issue, and I was left a VM at lunch from a representative. She suggested that I could either open the cluster and remove the needle and replace it, or send the unit back for repair. I called tonight and left a message stating that I would prefer to mail it in rather than open it. I would hate to wreck any of the mechanisms any further. I asked them to call me early in the morning as I start work at 8am and I hope to remedy this situation. I informed them that I would prefer to mail the cluster back and hope they will pay for shipping both ways. Additionally, this means I will have to Uber to and from work again until the cluster returns. Quite frustrating. Hopefully we can try to work out something like next day delivery. However unfortunate this has been, the results are great. I hope they will stand behind their workmanship and their commitment to this site and its members. I will report back once I have any contact or response. Check out the photos and let me know what you think.
PS. I will upload more AFTER photos with the light sensor settings adjusted to be the same across the board. Believe me it is much brighter than the OEM.
....hey Shawn.....where are the before & after pics of how the cluster looks with the new leds ? I did see the ones with the scratches marked
I guess they did not upload. Sorry I have been traveling for residency interviews. As soon as I get back I will add before and after photos. Been a long week and wanted to add finished product photos once Tanin had a chance to fix the minor issues I was having after the first service.
01-02-19, 12:33 PM
