Portland / Vancouver tech?

Have you tried Ron Tonkin in Wilsonville?

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I would also recommend Botta Moto Works in Portland. They did the engine out and some other work on my 355.

 

I would take that car to Tonkin. They are great on modern Ferraris.

 

I have not seen that at all in my dealings with Tonkin, over the past 30 years. But as they say, "your mileage may vary." For me, though, it has never been an issue.

 

I should add a word of caution-- I'm not particularly inclined to be cheap about my cars. I try to do things right on them, so I am probably a bit more tolerant than some.

 

I've been taking my 2005 F430 to RTGT for the 5 years that I've had it and have been very satisfied with their work. There has been no attempt by them to get me to fix something that doesn't need fixing. It helps that I know my car pretty well - I usually specify what I want them to do each time I take it in.

Just curious. Do you also drive the black 328 in the photo or is the license plate, which I'm not posting, just a coincidence?
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Portland is one of the worst cities in the US for Independent shop Ferrari repair.. dealer is only real choice here.

 

Yeah, When Craig closed the Jag shop during Covid-19, I lost my Ferrari trained master technician. Now it's very limited.

 

Yes, Craig retiring was unfortunate for Portland-area Ferrari owners, although just like anyone else he had his issues. Terry retired from RTGT as well, and he was a master tech also.

 

Mike @ Protek has my California he's working on, a good and knowlegdeable guy... Might want to at least give him a ring....He's on Sandy Blvd

 

Like you, I really wanted Botta to be my guys. Unlike you, I thought their Service Manager(?) was.....let's just say maybe high-end auto repair isn't his calling, and Anthony, the tech I dealt with, seemed knowledgeable and straight-up. I had driven by Botta many times in the past but only saw modern supercars out front; nothing even remotely resembling vintage so was never convinced this was the right place for an older exotic. Last Fall though, I decided to sell my '83 308 and wanted to get it freshened-up for the sale: fluid changes, a detail, and some trim and weatherstripping replacement; stuff I figured would be a good litmus test to see if I wanted them to be my "regular shop", so I scheduled an appt. Literally two days before the car was to go in, it threw its water pump belt. I figured what the Hell, it's going to the shop anyway, it's a simple job, I'll just have them replace the belt too. I arrived the morning of the appt and was encouraged to see a '79 308 waiting to be serviced, so figured that was a good omen.
Oh, how wrong I was! LoL
This could a easily turn into a post of epic proportions, but I'll stick to the lowlights:

1. They had the car a month for relatively routine work.
2. Never provided an estimate (after saying one would be provided).
3. Never made any effort to communicate with me about the car’s needs or their progress, failing to even return calls when asked to do so, and requiring me to initiate virtually all contact.
4. Failed to meet promised completion dates multiple times.
   
5. Failed to complete the requested services (no detail performed).
6. Employs a Service Manager that doesn’t know what's going on in the shop and doesn't know **** about the cars they're working on. For example, he asked if I knew my "Power Steering" Belt was damaged. 308's don't have PS.
   
7. Service Manager tried to charge me $40/qt for gear oil, doubled-down when I questioned it, and was finally corrected by my tech (correct price was $20/qt).
   
8. Ordered expensive replacement parts that were unauthorized and probably unnecessary: the A/C and Idler pulleys had melted belt residue on them (apparently) that the Service Manager said couldn’t be removed. I'd had experience with this recently when the air pump froze up and the residue was easily removed. Conveniently, the pulleys were not available for inspection.
   
9. Upon taking delivery, noticed the Parking Brake fly-off mechanism was not locking properly. It was fine when the car was brought in.
   
10. RH exterior rear view mirror was non-responsive. It was fine when brought in
    
11. Clock was inop. It was fine when brought in.
12. Was given the honor of paying $3k for the above pho curry along with the damage to my car...which was apparently provided at N/C.

​

@AAmsden - Thanks for the tip on Protek. Noodled around on their website and saw some older Euro cars so will at least have a conversation with them.
- Dave

 

Did you ever try Tonkin?

 

Hey Don,
Did I try Tonkin........in a manner of speaking, but let me explain:

And apologies in advance for the long post, but just want to set the stage for my interaction....

So I found myself driving past Tonkin with a few minutes to kill and figured I'd stop in, say Hi, and get a feel for their capabilities with respect to the older cars.

Walked into Service - this was mid-afternoon on a Wednesday - and the place was deserted except for a gentleman behind the counter I assumed was the Service Manager/Service Writer, a Concierge(?), and a beautiful 246 Dino which, according to a placard on the car, had been restored by the dealership. The conversation went something like this:

Me to the presumed Service Manager: “Hi, I recently purchased a ‘79 308, is that something you would work on?”

Service Manager (barely taking his eyes off the monitor on his desk): "We do have one Tech that works on older cars."

Service Manager to Concierge: "Go back and talk to Tech A and see what he says."

Brief intermission during which I fondle the Dino with my eyes and recall the Blu Dino Metallizzato 246 that was for sale at the Alfa Dealership I worked at back in the mid-80's for $24,999. I also tried to engage in some small talk with the Service Manager while we waited for the Concierge to return:

Me: "What do you think of the new F-80 (this was less than a week after its debut)?"

Service Manager (with head buried in monitor): "We don't see many of those here."

Me: ?!?!

Awkward silence ensues...

Concierge returns: “I talked to Tech A and he said he could only perform routine maintenance; nothing like a full restoration, major mechanical repairs, or anything like that.”

Me (thinking to myself): “Huh….so you completely restored a 246….which the 308 is an evolution of…..yet you can’t do much more than fluids on the 308?”

Service Manager (thinking to himself): Now bugger-off fella….you’re not gonna drop $10k on a tune-up or $300k on a restoration for your measly 308 and I need to get back to this very important YouTube video about the 28” wheels Kim Kardashian recently had installed on her 458 Spider.”

Me: “OK, thanks.”

Service Manager: (mumbles something unintelligible with his face buried in his monitor.)

Fini

So needless to say the reception I received said they had absolutely no interest in my car, me as a customer, or even me as a person. It was incredibly disappointing, but not surprising considering Ferrari is no longer a sports car manufacturer, but rather an Ultra-Luxury Brand. Since I am not an Ultra-Luxury kind of guy, and Tonkin's Service Manager has accurately pegged me as such, no; I won't be doing business with Tonkin.
Hopefully, that attitude towards 308/308 owners changes as the cars continue to creep up in value towards that mythical Ultra-Luxury threshold, but I doubt I’ll be around to see the day.
- Dave