Who do you let work on your car?

[Talus1]

So I was in the Crappy Tire in Waterdown this morning buying trailer parts and I spotted something very red in the service bay. Turned out to be a Ferrari 360 Modena. Not sure what it was in for, but it was parked on a lift, though the lift was all the way down.

For those of you that don't know, Canadian Tire is a venerable Canadian institution, dating back over 90 years. These days it is basically a big box store selling a combination of name brand, "Mastercraft" house brand and knock off products, still including tires.

This got me thinking about what kind of Ferrari owner gets their servicing done at a big box store. I'll admit to having minor and/or emergency servicing done at Crappy Tire over the years, mostly when I was an impecunious student. I sure wouldn't take a Ferrari there, assuming I would/could ever own one. I wouldn't take my BRZ there either.

What about you and your cars?

[dem00n]

It's a 360 Modena, their worthless since that Doug owned one.

[GhostRai]

Originally Posted by dem00n

It's a 360 Modena, their worthless since that Doug owned one.

Doug owned one? Well that's $20,000 off.
You took it to Canadian Tire? Well that's $5,000 off.
It gets worse MPG than my Prius? Well that's $35,000 off.
It's not a 458 Italia? Well that's that then.

[f0rge]

depends what it's there for. nail in the tire? sure why not.

[IBill4You]

I kind of willfully restricted access to Performance shops in my area. You see where I live the most trustworthy shops are out in the country, but as such they may not be so kind to a modified import. I've been specifically told by my friends father, a machinist that 'I don't work on Jap bikes." This is a cultural problem with my area. A specific demographic seems content to stay in these small town areas, usually undereducated and impressionable by other townsfolk. If you own a domestic there are fantastic shops here without a doubt.
The economy where I live was I itially resistant to the economic downturn, but as such has not experienced much of the economic progress made over the rest of the country. Thus laborers skilled or not are still hungry. As a white collar worker (doesn't matter if I was blue collar most of my life while I put myself through school because education is a threat to those without it apparently) dealerships especially will attempt to assume I have no car knowledge and try to overcharge etc.
I quickly learned that all Performance shops aren't the same. I received generous pricing at the first place, but quickly realized that a screwdriver was used to pry against a painted surface to remove one of my side markers causing damage.
I looked around more and decided that traveling a little less than 2 hours to Pure Automotive Performance was my next best option. During my first visit there were literally 4 or 5 86s in the parking lot. Phew they'll know how to deal with the side markers lol. They are my shop now. Nobody but them touches my car if the work is beyond my comfort zone or if I'm too busy to do the work. Brady actually knows a lot about these cars specifically, and everyone there is always really welcoming. All my tuning, trans, motor, and fueling upgrades will be done there because I know it's already second nature to them, whereas some of the other Performance shops can't even understand not to pry against a finished/painted surface enough to cause damage to the metal and paint. That's really pretty basic tenent of working on anything in any industry. With Pure Automotive Performance in Millersville, MD I know I don't need to worry because they've already done anything I can bring to them with these cars. I just recently found another boosted 86 owner locally who literally just had his FRS trailered all the way down there. Also, I've reached out and made contact with a local tow guy who just started his own tow company (Anteitam Towing), who literally shows up personally and charges half the price of the other major players, so even if I am stranded, then I'll call him and have him take me somewhere reputable. I'll approach my insurance company for reimbursement myself. Having lived off of tips at one point in my life it's important to me to remember that if you receive excellent service at a reasonable price, then you should be tipping. Your tow driver, your mechanic, or contractors that come into your home for work. Whether they need the money or not doesn't matter. You should be tipping and you should seek to support newer local businesses, which may not be expecting to turn a profit for a couple years.

[NWFRS]

Toyota.

[Special_K]

I have a different guy for each type of work that would need to be done for my car.

My tires/alignment are done by a gent who's been doing it for 30+ years and treats each car likes it's his own. Will fix minor problems without needing to be asked, and would rather charge fair price for fair work than gouge anyone.

The body shop I go to is run by a guy in my town who most people think is an asshole. His shop is in a sketchy area and it's not much of a looker. But if you can get passed his shitty attitude and start up some quick-on-the-draw banter with him, he'll take your car in and work absolute magic on paneling and in the paint-booth. Also, since he hates "the man" he'll gouge the shit out of the insurance companies and pass the savings on to you.

My performance shop is a bit of a drive, but they specialize in Subaru and will happily spend hours talking cars and showing off their different projects. You won't find a single impact wrench in the whole shop because everything is tightened exactly to spec.

For me, it's less about the shop itself and more about whomever it is that is directly working on my car. If any of those guys moved to a new shop, myself and many others would for sure follow. Who knows, maybe the Canadian Tire you're talking about is a shitty place in general to get work done, but if they have just one amazing mechanic that you can build a relationship with it makes going there worth it.

[strat61caster]

Crackerjack team of my father, me, myself, and I.

There is a local alignment shop I like but due to how much I'm tweaking the alignment I'll be trying out doing that on my own as well.

[Ultramaroon]

If I had a rack, I'd do the alignment myself. Other than that I do it all. 100%.


edit: Hah! Just like @strat61caster.

[rice_classic]

Other race car drivers, because they've stripped enough bolts of their own that I can trust them.

[Tcoat]

Ohhhh the egos are strong on this thread.
There can be some really good mechanics at Canadian Tire, the dealership or a run down shack and there can be some crack head bumbling losers at the Ferrari and Lambo centers.
I did my own work for decades but no longer have the desire, space or equipment to do so. I have zero issue trusting my car to a guy that went to school for 3+ years and then worked his way up through several years of apprenticeship no matter where he works. I do of course check the finished job closely and request all the removed parts though.

[roddy]

For warranty work, I go to the dealer. Everything else, I do myself.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Ohhhh the egos are strong on this thread.

I don't see it. Where?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I don't see it. Where?

True not fair. Pissy and was reading more into the posts than was there. Still pissy but sorry guys I was wrong (So far). The "I can fix a car better than anybody and all mechanics are stupid" crowd should be showing up any time now.