LT1/TA

What are the experiences you guys have had,I have my own shop and I do my best to diagnosis and repair it right the first time even if it takes longer than quoted,I know I am not perfect and no one is but just throwing parts at it is just wrong when the customer is paying for it. I know a lot of us repair our cars,but even some us diy'ers need a shop for welding,transmission,exhaust,or other.
I know a lot of shops and their tech's do a good job of properly diagnosis problems and performing repairs,but I know some shop/techs just throw parts at the problem
and do not diagnosis or do not know how to diagnosis problems,they give shops and techs and bad rap.I know the shops in my area are great to work with and do a great job.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I have generally good experiences with most shops, when taking them normal unmodified cars with normal wear & tear or failure. I think most successful shops nowadays necessarily have an attitude similar to yours, at their core: anybody in a competitive business revolving directly around customer service (as opposed to, say, shipping some kind of commodity in a race-to-the-bottom-price industry) has to work that way, or the Darwin principle eliminates them pretty quick. Even dealerships for the most part have improved in this area noticeably in the last 20 - 30 years.

Now, modified cars, classics, hand-built, or otherwise not yerbasic run-of-the-mill Honda Toyota Impala Focus etc., VERY FEW shops are properly equipped to deal with those. And those that are, typically charge more for it. ALOT more usually. For that reason, and plenty of others, I avoid shops of ALL kinds as much as possible, for my vehicles that are more "special", except as you point out, for things that I absolutely cannot do myself for lack of equipment or time or whatever.

IOW the customer's choice of the kind of shop for any given kind of work, makes the most difference to the outcome. Don't take your wife's Rav4 to the speed shop for a brake job; don't take your 88 Camaro S/C LT1/T56 to Joe's Garage or Christian Brothers for electrical intermittent problems, unless you already know FOR SURE there's somebody there with the skillz your car needs. (which, there very well might be, but there's no guarantees) Choose wisely.

armos

I don't have much experience dealing with repair shops, but I'd be very hesitant to take an old 1980s GM to them for the reasons sofakingdom mentioned. My own preconception is that most modern repair shops and dealerships are really good at working on a 2010 Toyota Camry, which I know nothing about, but when it comes to a 1980s GM, those shops probably know less about the car than I do. They'll just be falling back on general knowledge, and probably annoyed to have to deal with something they aren't used to seeing every day.
I'm not sure if many shops even have the ability to read a data log from the ECM on a 1980s car. Enthusiasts can do that with a laptop and a homemade serial cable, but can they? My feeling is anything pre-OBD2 is dismissed as a dinosaur nowadays.

If I ever needed to take my car in for some reason, I'd want to go to a shop that I knew wouldn't be afraid, ignorant, incompetent, or otherwise biased against the model of car. If you own a shop and are skilled with proper troubleshooting and repair methods of some subgroup of old cars, it might be worth trying to get the word out about that specialty. Mention it in some signage perhaps. The more specifically you describe the niche, the more convincing it is.

RandyNJ

I have a 91 formula that has been nothing other than a nightmare at multiple local private shops. Would the dealer be a good choice or am I just going to get the same treatment where the car sits for months with them throwing parts at it?

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

You are very right about all that. I own a performance shop and am familiar with 80's GM only because I own and daily drive an 86 Trans Am. Any other shop - even most performance shops - would be at a huge disadvantage with these cars. Don't see enough of them anymore.

GD

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

The Dealer is the worst place you can take it. Unlikely to be anyone there that knows anything about that car. You can ask, but it's doubtful. Also they are going to be severely handicapped by the lack of factory parts and not being familiar with the aftermarket. You need to find an independent shop that is experienced with 3rd gens.

GD

GTA88

The clerk at Advance Auto, who had 2 huge discs spreading out his earlobes, and looked drugged, recommended a local mechanic specifically for corvettes, camaros and and trans ams.

I must admit, I was hesitant to use his recommendation (he even gave me the mechanic's card) due to the earlobes and the drugged look.

But I ended up going to the recommended mechanic, for a fuel pump replacement. No need for special trans am knowledge for a fuel pump, but at the time, I thought it might be some electrical issue.

The mech was $97 an hour for any car he worked on. Pretty high. And he found nickel and dime stuff to tack on to the bill. Was supposed to be $515, ended up being $580. Not surprised, and not mad about it. Kind of expect it, unfortunately.

I almost took it to my usual place, where I've taken my cars for decades, but I thought they might get flummoxed if it was anything other than the fuel pump. On the other hand, there is an old mechanic there who has definitely worked on 80's GM V8's, so maybe they would have been good too. But they are under new management now. I still drop in there now and then to get free advice, which they provide.

I guess I would take it to the decades old place if there is any future need for work, since they have the old mechanic there.

I agree that if you just take it anywhere, there's a 50/50 chance they'll just replace some expensive part, and not fix the problem.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like the guy at my Advance here in Hunstville!

1989karr

depends......most look forward, and it's getting harder to find those who can diagnose old school carb / OBD I cars...but you can't blame them.


I took my old Camry to a shop once and the CTS happen to go bad when they were doing a safety check and the check engine light came on and it woundnt start because it was flooding with gas.

They tried for half an hour to diagnose it... I went out, happen to notice the CTS cracked at the connection so I just disconnected it and drove off and changed it out at the NAPA down the road lol

Drew

iTrader: (58)

I vaguely remember taking my first Camaro to various shops... Mostly remember large invoices that took months to pay off. Remember one incident where a Quadrajet problem took two weeks and a $750 bill to remedy. Also took my beater 91 Firebird to the local 'Auto Electric' experts for a random miss that would come and go. Got it back with the same problem and a hefty bill. Took it to my friendly dirtbag wrench hurler, and had it back the next day with the problem solved. Since then, the only work I've tried to hire out has been 700R4 rebuilds (3 shops, still didn't have a working trans), and alignments. I usually hire out tire mounting and balancing, but they never see the car, just the four wheels and tires in the back of the truck.

Can't see much sense in taking a car to a shop to have work done. They're only human, aside from available tooling, experience, etc. With the internet, GM service manuals, and a healthy dose of common sense, there's not much I can't tackle on my own.

LT1/TA

I know that finding a good shop can be hard and owning a shop is hard as well.I just cant understand why a shop will work on a vehicle and charge an outrageous price and not even fix the problem.When I work on a customers vehicle I make damn sure I find the problem/problems before I replace/repair items.I know this is not going to be easy and sometimes it can be expensive,but having a comeback because the problem was not diagnosed and/or repaired correctly really bothers me.

I am not bragging or saying I am a great tech,but I think that I do a good job. When someone takes their vehicle to a shop,it should be fixed correctly or simply tell the customer that you cannot find or fix the problem and refer them to another reputable shop.