Had a shop tell me ADIOS

[larry_in_socal]

Yep.. I recently took my daughter's 2019 VW jetta to the dealer since the AC wasn't blowing cold on the passenger side, when the service advisor stopped texting on her phone, she wrote up the car and handed me the "preliminary" paperwork with a $190 service charge, mind you the car is still under warranty.. when I asked the advisor what is the $190 charge if the car is still under warranty, she said that if we (the dealership) find any "outside influence" we will need to charge you that charge, I then asked what is "outside influence" , she said that means that if there is any tampering, or critters eating at the wiring; the dealership will charge the $190 fee... no worries, the car is back, fixed and no charge.. its almost at the point that we need to video the before, in-case some savvy technician purposely causes the tampering just to meet their quotas... but at that point we operating in paranoid mode... LOL

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by larry_in_socal

[paulyg]

Specialty restoration shops are probably everyone's best bet for service. 

 

When I bottomed out my Fiat Spider, I took it to British Sports Cars in SLO, which restores everything from MGs to Rolls Royce Woodies. There was a GT40 in for a valve job. They managed to drop the crossmember, get the pan off, restore the pan (not replace), reverse the process and fill with oil for about 1K, which squares with new oil, new filter, and their shop rate (at the time), which was very competitive with other independent shops. Most importantly, the job was done flawlessly and without prejudice. 

 

I do sort of understand shops not wanting to go through the trouble of sourcing parts from the aftermarket for these cars, but let's also acknowledge that it's not as if they'd be trying to find a crank pulley for a 1938 Bugatti. I'll have to restrain myself from saying that these folks won't work on old cars out of pure laziness. However, I have to believe that any mechanic who views cars as anything but disposable would view the opportunity to unpack 50 years of misdeeds as a valuable way of learning from other's mistakes. 

 

There is definitely a business case for doing what the shop in question did, and turning down a job that doesn't fit their mold. However, there is apparently also a business case for full service and restoration shops specializing in classic cars, and it's certainly to our benefit to support the folks who have chosen that path for their business. 

 

PS: My broader opinion is that the days of the independent shop that DOESN'T specialize in classic cars are numbered. Cars as we know them are changing, and with the switch to electric powertrains comes a move away from both required service and serviceability. Every car that these shops are slamming through right now will eventually become a classic, if it doesn't fade into obscurity (not sure there are gonna be many Hemming's ads for Nissan Sentras in 2065). Scrounging for parts and having basic skills to repair rather than replace will ultimately be the only way for independent shops to survive, and this is already foundational to every classic car specialty shop. 

[joebarthlow]

18 hours ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

What sort of work did you want them to do?

Just look at the play in my left front wheel. Possible bearings. I pulled it apart and put it back together and did not see or notice anything. Before that it was my alternator. I ended up doing this myself. Took me three weeks.

[joebarthlow]

13 hours ago, Son of Marty said:

His last old time mechanic may have retired or moved on, most new mechanics have little or no experience with non electronic cars. 

Actually the owner is the main mechanic and he just finished building a 2002 hill climb car a year ago. we've chatted several times and thought we had a decent relationship. I'll give him an earfull next time it see him and let him know how unhelpful his "gatekeeper" was.

[joebarthlow]

8 hours ago, Gh356 said:

Another big factor for a lot of shops is space and time.

I believe this is the main factor. If told that, he would know how flexible and patient I would be. I don't daily drive my car and I have 4 other options to drive. I drive my 2002 2-3 times/week, but there are some events coming up and want to be is tip-top shape to make the run. I maintain my car pretty well. Some things I fix and something more complicated I take it in. I don't complain about cost and my car has been pretty good. In the last two years he refreshed my cooling system (heater valve, radiator, water pump, thermostat) and fuel system (filter, pump) with no issues. He also did brakes and replaced the starter for me three years ago. Not major stuff. All of this was painless and no surprises.

[WRKO]

22 hours ago, Mike Self said:

Along those same lines:  called a local, large, well-known window replacement company today about pricing for 8 windows at a high-end rental house I manage. 

 

I was told by the receptionist that "we will only deal with the owner in person." I explained that the owner was a doctor, lived 300+ miles away, and is not gonna drive down here just to meet with one of your salesmen; that's what he pays me to do. 

 

She said "Sorry, guess you'll have to find another company."  Think I will--after dropping the company president a note about this...and the other 30 houses I manage...

 

Ya gotta wonder...

 

mike

Furthering this tangent to the point in question of shops, I had a similar situation to the one mentioned here.  A couple of times, I have had unsolicited home contractors look to set an appointment to talk about work on my house.  They have wanted both me and my wife present, which given our current schedules is difficult.  I have firmly told these contractors, no - (putting on the manly pants) I am the decider and they only need to deal with me.   While this is a fib and my wife and I make all  large $$ decisions together, the contractors in question become insistent that they will not proceed without my wife present.   So we don't proceed.   

      Seems to me that this is a strange strategy.   Is their intention dubious - to hard or soft sell to the wife?  Or is it to have all stakeholders at the table at one time?  Either way, it comes across to me as scummy and I am glad to see them go.

[jgerock]

1 hour ago, WRKO said:

Furthering this tangent to the point in question of shops, I had a similar situation to the one mentioned here.  A couple of times, I have had unsolicited home contractors look to set an appointment to talk about work on my house.  They have wanted both me and my wife present, which given our current schedules is difficult.  I have firmly told these contractors, no - (putting on the manly pants) I am the decider and they only need to deal with me.   While this is a fib and my wife and I make all  large $$ decisions together, the contractors in question become insistent that they will not proceed without my wife present.   So we don't proceed.   

      Seems to me that this is a strange strategy.   Is their intention dubious - to hard or soft sell to the wife?  Or is it to have all stakeholders at the table at one time?  Either way, it comes across to me as scummy and I am glad to see them go.

This happened to me when a replacement window company wanted to provide an estimate.  The free estimate took up almost 3 hours of our time and he scribbled some figures on a scrap piece of paper that he didn’t give to us.  We tried getting him out of the house but he was very persistent. I called the company and complained about their practices.

[Oldtimerfahrer]

My gripe is more around not finding contractor's or handyman types that want to do a smaller project...either build a new house or just too small to bother. Trying to get someone to replace the gutters and flashing on my father's roof in New York is a drama...only interested in doing the whole roof....

Andrew

[TobyB]

I would also posit that we're pretty spoiled- 

as much as I bitch about BMW not really having a 'mobile tradition'

it's pretty easy to get most 2002 parts relative to, say

Datsun parts.  Which are pretty much unobtanium.

Volvo parts of the era are easy to find- IF you read Swedish,

and know which suppliers in Sweden to order from.

Saab- similarly.   Although, there are parts that cannot be found.  Oopsie, gotcha.

Old Fiat?  I have absolutely no idea, and wouldn't commit to

working on one for exactly that reason.  Peugeot, the same.

Mercedes?  I'd ask Dale first.

And so on...

 

So unless someone has a specialist (i.e. devotes a large part of their

free time) knowledge, like Patrick at Midnight,

just finding  the rear wheel cylinder for a Datsun roadster can take hours.

Even though Moss Motors will sell it to you for $16 as a Triumph part...

(yup, the Volvo 122 uses that same cylinder.  All 3 look different, but are

the same dimensions)

 

So it's not that it's a bad business decision to put labor into the random old

car repair, it's that it's untenable to BILL for all the hours trying to 

solve problems that used to be a phone call and an afternoon delivery away.

 

Because you don't want to pay $750 to have your $ 16 Datsun rear wheel cylinder

changed, BUT the shop may have $500 into the labor of finding the 3 parts they need.

 

t

 

[Gordon]

I found a shop here in Colorado Springs that primarily deals with E30/E36's and they look forward to me bringing my tii to their shop.  The owner appreciates the historical legacy of BMW's and loves working on the "simplicity" of my tii.  He is unfamiliar with a tii so I bring my blue book with the car when it goes to the shop.

[tech71]

On 9/8/2022 at 9:24 PM, joebarthlow said:

Glad I had a few options in Eugene.

I'm curious about other options you are considering?

[tech71]

On 9/8/2022 at 9:24 PM, joebarthlow said:

Glad I had a few options in Eugene.

I'm curious about other options you are considering?

Sure do miss Dave Lumbra.

[larry_in_socal]

when I was  a kid out of high school, I had a 62 convertible bug (sold it years ago.. another story). I upgraded it to disk brakes and went to bleed them, couldn't build up pressure.. so I ended up taking it to one of the local v-dub specialty shops to fix it.. this was back in the late '80s, early 90's... WAY before the internet.... the mechanic fixed it alright, after $180 bucks.. that was lots of money back then, the main issue was because I had the right caliper on the left side and vise versa, so the bleeder screws were at the bottom. That is $408 in today's prices.. just to swap calipers... I would say that I was suckered back them.. and I told myself...never again I said!!!! So for me I learn all that I can and do the work myself.

[birdhouse]

1 hour ago, tech71 said:

I'm curious about other options you are considering?

Sure do miss Dave Lumbra.

Agreed.  His shop was definitely the type of place that we're seeing less and less of--and frankly, exactly the high-knowledge, easy going gems that this thread is nostalgic for.  Bonus?  On visits, there was plenty of time to talk car problems, as the family loved checking in with the donkey that lived on the property.  (...was it "Thunder?")  

Dave's passing was all too sudden.  RIP.

 

I've always wondered what happened to his "parts collection." 
 

Edited September 10, 2022 by birdhouse

[tech71]

20 minutes ago, larry_in_socal said:

So for me I learn all that I can and do the work myself.

Yeah, but that gets old sometimes, or maybe its me getting old but would be nice to have a go to guy sometimes