Reliable Independents (Indys) in Houston and Surroundings

Hello Fella Texans - I am trying to initiate this thread to compile a list of Indys in Greater Houston Area so new owners like myself can have some options when service is needed.

If you can chime in with shop name, address, possibly a contact and YOUR experience with them - I will appreciate it.

I am a 10 Cali owner that is looking for annual service currently. FoH (Ferrrari of Houston) has quoted $3590 for oil change, spark plugs, belts, gearbox oil, steering flush etc - they are going by 2-year service interval method, not by what service manual states. I currently have 12,400 miles. Last service done at FoH was at 10,800 miles but at least 1.5 years ago by previous owner.

At this point, I only know of SC Service on star Ln, behind nxcess (Cliff). I have bought some exotics from them when they used to sell cars years ago. but its a well-known indy with lambo's and F-Cars in bay all the time. I will call him and ask prices for services that FoH is quoting me for. However, I live in Sugar Land and they are all a bit far.

I still need to bring my Cali for Airbag recall to FoH.

 

Sphere Motorsports www.spheremotorsports.com 9014 Rutland Road, Houston 77055 832-277-7062

Mark Darragh is the owner and he has a wealth of knowledge covering several makes including most Italian brands. Louis is the shop manager and both of them make you feel at home. They recently moved locations--address above is the new place. Sphere did the PPI on my vehicle in 2014 and to date has done most of the major work that I didn't feel like doing. Prices are competitive with the other Indy shops as far as I know and they don't try to sell you anything unnecessary either. They may offer a suggestion or recommendation based on their experience and knowledge which in some cases, results in a cost savings too. He has a very good reputation on the board from what I can tell. I live in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area and I wouldn't even hesitate to drive the two hours to have Mark work on my car.

I brought it in last year for the annual and Mark called me and told me he would recommend brake pads. The labor charge was minimal since they were flushing the brakes anyway so I basically paid for the pads. On the way home, I stopped in Baytown for lunch which is about an hour from the house. As I did, I heard a funny noise, a rattle from the front. I looked the car over but didn't find anything wrong. Everything seemed to be okay, steering, brakes, alignment, etc. When I got home, I did a more in depth look. What I found out was one of the pins that holds the pads in had worked it's way out of the caliper causing the pads to move around. I called Mark and told him what had happened and asked him if he had any caliper pins. I was perfectly willing to drive to Houston with my other vehicle to get the parts, but Mark would hear of it. First, he first asked me if I was safe and if I made it home. Secondly, because it was already late in the day, he said first thing in the morning, he would have a tech at my door if that was okay. Otherwise, he would send someone tonight. At 7am, I got a phone call asking for specific directions and within 30 minutes, he was the tech that worked on my car was in the garage. The front end was already in the air and wheels pulled from my inspection yesterday. Even though I had the tools available for the tech, he brought his own--including a jack. The tech explained that sometimes the locking clips break when inserting them. He replaced the missing pin, and inspected the remaining on all four wheels, not just the front. Round trip from my house to Sphere is 4 hours and when you add the time the tech was here and gas, etc. you could say 5 hours out of a 8 hour day was spent on me. That is service.

 

They're no longer with Alra?

 

No, they moved around the end of October I believe. Haven't been able to run over there to see the new shop, but there are some pics on their FB page

 

my ferrari is at spheres new location. i have been a long time customer of mark's. i have always had great service.

on the other hand, i had a bad experience with sports car service once and once was enough for me.

 

Not Houston, but I have always been impressed with the quality of work and price of "Ferrari Steve" at Prova Motori in San Antonio. You can PM me for his phone number (I don't know how happy he would be to find his phone number online). He has worked on my 360 Spider for four years now (brakes, belts, electric cut off switch replacement, headlight restoration, convertible top issues, etc.).

 

The website says the address is 9014 Ruland Rd, which is correct?

 

Good question.....could be a typo....since u2fast has or had his car there, maybe he can confirm if it's Ruland or Rutland.

Letter I have from Mark shows Ruland but typos......

 

Its Ruland. Just off of Campbell rd and one block south of Long Point. The shop is still getting the office built out etc. My 355 is currently in for belt service. I visit often. I will be stopping by later this week. barry

 

Its a very inspirational place to visit. When things aren't going well for me financially,a walk through there gives me a fresh dose of motivation.

 

for proximity reasons, i have taken cars to driver's source, and cannot say enough good things about them.
steve ott is really a gem. good team overall. i can highly recommend them.