NW Shop Review: Performance Race Engineering (PRE) (Portland OR)

[DarrenDriven]

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Performance Race Engineering (PRE)
13339 NE Airport Way Ste 500 / Portland
503-619-0055 / preracing.com


Shop Review Rules: Limit your comments to direct experiences with
this business and please refrain from trash-talking or arguing.



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[DarrenDriven]

This place has been in business for years, probably a decade. They are mainly known for working on Subaru, although I see Nissan, Toyota and Honda vehicles in the shop all the time.

My personal experiences with them have been varied.

I found their staff to be very friendly and knowledgeable when I brought in a WRX that I was considering to purchase. It was near closing time and the shop staff crowded around the car pointing out potential issues and some good upgrades. I offered them $20 for beer or lunch for their help and they cheerfully refused it.

On the flip side, every time (3x) I have wandered into the showroom I have been largely ignored by the salesperson. It seems that he is always on the phone and does not acknowledge that he even notices you. Yesterday I went in looking for wheels and found some nice bronze Works that looked used. The sales guy (finally) told me they were new, but I could tell that tires had been mounted on them. When he looked them over he still told me they were new, but then I noticed wheel weights stuck inside the rim. He STILL claimed they were new, though. C'mon!

UPDATE 3/13/14: I didn't have many options when I purchased my Innovate supercharger, so it was either get it online or get it through PRE. Because PRE was the only Portland-area shop at the time with the capability to sell the kit and tune the car, I made the deal through them. My first couple of tunes were by Bobby, and they weren't quite right... leaving a slightly bad taste in my mouth.

BUT, Erich contacted me when he heard about my issues and offered to do a complete retune for free. Just got the car back today and I must say that I am noticing a serious attempt by the shop to treat their new customers a little better. The car runs great and I am impressed they they took the initiative to improve the relationship by making sure that their customer service is better. Thanks, PRE.

[RWD_only]

I once was looking at a turbo miata that one of the techs at PRE built and when I was able to throw it up on the lift, it was a MESS. There were fluids coming out of everywhere. The tubing was hodgepodge and the supposed 5psi he was running was actually closer to 2.

They claim big numbers on their dyno that no one can reproduce anywhere and I've met more than a handful of people who've been decidedly displeased at the reliability of their tunes.

This is a collection of my and close racing friends' experiences.

[m.box.design]

I have a friend who bought an exhaust system from PRE for his WRX. The guy working on it let the stock exhaust drop to the ground from the car while it was on the lift. It was all in a rush with little regard for the customer's car and parts.

[Neziah]

PRE has moved. I was driving down Division last night and noticed their parking lot was empty.

They are now at;
13339 NE Airport Way
Portland, OR 97230
503-619-0055

[DarrenDriven]

We need a new photo... could someone snap a shot of their shop?

[Neziah]

good idea, it is not too far from where I work, I'll try and snag one.

[PRE-Erich]

Originally Posted by RWD_only

I once was looking at a turbo miata that one of the techs at PRE built and when I was able to throw it up on the lift, it was a MESS. There were fluids coming out of everywhere. The tubing was hodgepodge and the supposed 5psi he was running was actually closer to 2.

They claim big numbers on their dyno that no one can reproduce anywhere and I've met more than a handful of people who've been decidedly displeased at the reliability of their tunes.

This is a collection of my and close racing friends' experiences.

This is the funniest review ever. That Miata is in no way a "PRE Racing" car. The car was free and everything done to it was done by us after hours one night to see how fast we could go for literally no money. Yes it was hodgepodge and that's how it was built to be. I'm sorry if your friend thought he was buying some kind of prepped race car but that simply wasn't the case. I drove it to a 12.8 at 105 at Woodburn, track times don't lie...

I challenge you to have your own experience with us and my guess is you will be more than pleased. We have been tuning and modifying these BRZ's and FR-S's since their release and have been seeing great results.

Thank you,
Erich

[PRE-Erich]

Originally Posted by DarrenDriven

This place has been in business for years, probably a decade. They are mainly known for working on Subaru, although I see Nissan, Toyota and Honda vehicles in the shop all the time.

My personal experiences with them have been varied.

I found their staff to be very friendly and knowledgeable when I brought in a WRX that I was considering to purchase. It was near closing time and the shop staff crowded around the car pointing out potential issues and some good upgrades. I offered them $20 for beer or lunch for their help and they cheerfully refused it.

On the flip side, every time (3x) I have wandered into the showroom I have been largely ignored by the salesperson. It seems that he is always on the phone and does not acknowledge that he even notices you. Yesterday I went in looking for wheels and found some nice bronze Works that looked used. The sales guy (finally) told me they were new, but I could tell that tires had been mounted on them. When he looked them over he still told me they were new, but then I noticed wheel weights stuck inside the rim. He STILL claimed they were new, though. C'mon!

Disclaimer: I have never actually purchased any product or service from them.

Thank you for the review, I can say that since we have moved to our new location one of our key focuses has been customer acknowledgement. Unfortunately we receive an extremely high volume of phone calls for general vehicle questions and support but we are still trying to be more attentive to our in store customers. We have an additional person answering phones now which has helped considerably.

As for those wheels, I think I know the set you are referring to and yes they are new, yes they have had tires mounted to them, then dismounted when they didn't fit on the car. They have zero miles on the wheels and only 2 of the 4 in the set had been touched. Anyways, come by and talk to me if you ever have any issues and I will help you out!

Thanks,
Erich

[PRE-Erich]

Originally Posted by indesign

I have a friend who bought an exhaust system from PRE for his WRX. The guy working on it let the stock exhaust drop to the ground from the car while it was on the lift. It was all in a rush with little regard for the customer's car and parts.

I know of the technician who you are speaking of and they no longer work for us. We have the upmost regard for the customers car and parts and when someone who works for us doesn't, they are removed. You can ask any of our BRZ/FR-S customers how we treat their vehicles when they are here. Being enthusiasts ourselves we know these are more than just cars, they mean the world to our customers. Our current crew is very passionate about what they do if for some reason we damage some thing (yes accidents do happen) we always take care of you 100%.

Thank you,
Erich

[NickFRS]

Originally Posted by PRE-Erich

I know of the technician who you are speaking of and they no longer work for us. We have the upmost regard for the customers car and parts and when someone who works for us doesn't, they are removed. You can ask any of our BRZ/FR-S customers how we treat their vehicles when they are here. Being enthusiasts ourselves we know these are more than just cars, they mean the world to our customers. Our current crew is very passionate about what they do if for some reason we damage some thing (yes accidents do happen) we always take care of you 100%.

Thank you,
Erich

I can vouche for this. On my 2011 STi a "former" employee messed up on my turbo inlet. Needless to say Pre took care of me 100% in getting my STi back on the road. One night at PIR after hours my injectors blew in my sti also. Bobby showed up at the shop after hours to help me out and put the car in the shop to be worked on in the morning... Love these guys. One of the only shops i'll take my cars to.

[BRZPDX]

My first experience there was not so pleasant either, but I am glad they are taking action to change the "customer support" portion of their business. As a small business owner my self, taking the time to reach out to customers means a lot to me.

I don't expect a car mechanic shop/tuner shop to be like Starbucks, but customer acknowledgement is important imo. Its kind of unfair when Perrin has a cute girl that works there, and Jeff or Chris will almost always come out to passionately just talk about cars, which we make a connection. At PRE, I sometimes feel "dis-connected" with the employees.

Please don't take this as bashing PRE, I still love my tune there and everything that they've done to my car is beyond satisfactory. I've had 2 alignments with camber adjustment in the front, and a BRZedit tune done. Maybe this "customer service" gripe is just me getting old, and if I was a young kid, I probably won't care as long as my car gets the right treatment. They are a group of true professionals, and feed backs like this will only improve their business standards.

[stockysnail]

I had a similar experience as BRZPDX my first time out. It's been getting better ever since so keep it up. The work done to my car has always been well done so no question on the mechanic side of things. I've made PRE my go to place for having work done to my car that I can't do myself, so like I just said, keep up the good work. I hope they have more BBQ parties too with big discounts.

[PRE-Erich]

Originally Posted by BRZPDX

My first experience there was not so pleasant either, but I am glad they are taking action to change the "customer support" portion of their business. As a small business owner my self, taking the time to reach out to customers means a lot to me.

I don't expect a car mechanic shop/tuner shop to be like Starbucks, but customer acknowledgement is important imo. Its kind of unfair when Perrin has a cute girl that works there, and Jeff or Chris will almost always come out to passionately just talk about cars, which we make a connection. At PRE, I sometimes feel "dis-connected" with the employees.

Please don't take this as bashing PRE, I still love my tune there and everything that they've done to my car is beyond satisfactory. I've had 2 alignments with camber adjustment in the front, and a BRZedit tune done. Maybe this "customer service" gripe is just me getting old, and if I was a young kid, I probably won't care as long as my car gets the right treatment. They are a group of true professionals, and feed backs like this will only improve their business standards.

It's kind of funny, we spend so much time on the phone answering questions for our non-paying or future customers that the actual paying customers often end up at the end of the line. Like I said, it's something we're working on but we too are a small business so we can't just pay some cute girl to sit at the front desk and greet customers while the drones do their thing in the back room. We're all specialized and have a passion for the projects we take on.