Average time period spent in Auto shop

Over the years I have found that the best mechanics and paint & body guys are slow. But, I'd rather wait a little longer to get the job done than get a quicky bad job.

 

Depending on parts availability it can take a while. Ferrari and Lamborghini are typically slow to deliver as they do not have a large parts warehouse stateside and therefore, everything has to come from Italy. I have waited more than a month for parts from Lambo or Ferrari that have to be shipped from overseas. Lambo is getting better at this but Ferrari is still a little elusive on the older cars. I was Service Director for Motorcars International in Springfield, Mo. and we have restored a lot of older vehicles, and I would have to agree with parkerfe, you sometimes have to wait for good results. Good shops are usually backed up for a reason, they have great mechanics and everyone who knows that wants them to do the work.

 

My idiot mechanic would take 2-3 weeks on my Lotus. That was for a water pump (engine out), and then headers which needed some fabrication to mount. The water pump time was okay, but over 2 weeks for headers? Oh, and new front suspension (tie rods, shocks, springs). That was 2 weeks too. That was the only job he did where I didn't have to take the car back at least twice due to mistakes.

I replaced my own master cylinder a year or so back. 5 hours total. He'd have taken 2 weeks and billed me 15 hours. And it's worked perfectly since. Outside of an engine rebuild I can't see any mechanic touching my car again.

Ken

 

Do it yourself it's fun and rewarding, a sense of accomplishment and a gain of knowledge that few others are aware of.

 

We do supply parts for anybody. For all those do it yourselfers (is that a word??) we will be happy to supply parts and even technical assistance.

 

Ok.

Here comes my semi annual "why not use the dealer if possible?" pitch.

Algar Ferrari has my car in and out on schedule, EVERY TIME!! first, I talk to the lead mechanic, we decide when to do the work, establish that it will take a day or a week, or three months, and then in she goes.

In return I get a mechanic who has been trained by the factory, has worked on a dozen or more of my type car (246GT), and I get it back on schedule.

There have been several threads on independent and/or slow mechanics. I've used independents on my Brit cars, and my Porsches in the past (with varying levels of success), but with the Ferrari, I've stuck with the dealer, and it's worked out great.

No dealer relatively nearby? Then I guess you may be stuck with an independent. BUt, if the work is routine maintenance, get him to order the parts first, have him call you when they are in, then drop off the car, at least that eliminates the parts excuse.

Mechanic slow as molasses? Why reward him with more work? Ask here, I bet there's another mechanic within a reasonable distance you could try instead.

And finally, if it's gonna take a month anyway, why not flatbed it to wherever the best work can be done, and then pick it up when it's finished?

(Disclaimer - I don't work for Algar, as most of you guys know, but I am a big fan of the work they do.)

Dave

 

If you can't or won't do your own work then you need to make sure that the place you take it has the parts or orders the parts before you take the car in. Depending on the service they should know what parts you need. If they won't order the parts (offer to pay for them up front) then ask them for a list and you order the parts. Also unless you have a rare car or a discontinued part you should be able to get it somewhere in the world within 5 days. Remember if the dealer nees to order parts from Europe they usually wait until they have a large order then they place it so there is no special handling and it takes 3-4 weeks. If they don't have the parts then don't give them the car.

 

If my guy was better than he was....or just even better than I am, he would have had a lot more of my money. I forgive myself my own mistakes, but not the stupid ones my pro made. I just want the car fixed right.

So if you have an independent that knows what he's doing, great. If your dealer is the only one you can find that does great work, fine. If you have neither, then you are forced to do it yourself, like I do. (With a lot of help I might add!) I just want the car on the road!

Ken

 

When I lived in Burlington, NJ I went way out of the way to go to Algar. The guys there (Mark, Tony) are great. I would drop the car off, discuss the issues with them, take the train into Philly and another into NJ. Well worth it.

Now in Florida, there is an independent (Tim Stanford) who I trust over the Dealer. They are both about the same distance from me (1 hour), but I only want Tim working on my car. To be fair, I never went to the dealer and have had no negative experiences with them. But even with my Toyota, I prefer a competent independent over a dealer.

In my experiences with dealers, they charge based on what the "booK" says...i.e. if replacing a water pump takes the dealer 4 hours, but the book says it should take 6 hours, the dealer charges for 6.

 

If you have a 308 and it has been in over a month, he is just not working on it. Other jobs are moving in and out in front of it that take less time and are quick profit for them. For a 308 it is NOT a parts availability issue either. You can have everything you need to for that job in a couple of days depending on where you live.

 

I have an idependant do work on my car as well. They are slow, mainly because he's the only guy there, and works on everything that comes in, but he does a lot of extra work on the car, and doesn't charge me for it. I get a free detail, he'll check the alignment, and tune it up, and he won't charge me.

He also will only charge me for the time it takes him to complete the job. Not for the time the book tells him he should take.

 

I take the 308 to Tonkin Gran Turismo. Had all carbs rebuilt, synched, distributors rebuilt, and a couple other things that I don't remember offhand. Took over a month. Apparently a few of their mechanics were on vacation or sick. Then their ancient dwell meter broke down which extended the stay. Took it back about two weeks after I got it out of the shop since I was getting horrible mileage (about 6 miles to the gallon). Took them two days. When I bought the car, I had the dealer do a ton of work on it before I gave them a check. Work took almost two months. I agree with Dr. Tommy Cosgrove, if it's taking that long, it's just not being worked on. The mechanic at the dealer kept ordering parts from italiancarparts.com I believe, waiting a week for them to show up, THEN he'd realize that he needed something else, place another order, wait a week, etc.

The upside is that after all this work, the car runs better than when it was new : )