Expensive lessons?

[Tim73454]

I was wondering if I was the only one who had learned a hard expensive lesson on vett repairs. In august of last year I took my 73 to a dealer in Arlington on I-20 to have noise checked out in the rear. $1200.00 later I got it back with new Spindle bearings, wheel seals and u-joints. I have driven it about 800 miles since then and it is now in a vette shop getting all new trailing arms at a cost of about $2400.00!!!!! I always thought that the dealers were the best place to have a car fixed. I guees I was wrong!!!! I also had the brakes checked and they told me they were fine. New SS brakes job $1200.00

Lesson learned: priceless


Tim

P.S. I think I have found a great vette shop if anyone needs one.

 

[c4ever]

Sad but true Tim. I have found that a local skilled shop far outperforms dealers not to mention the customer satisfaction side of it and cost. I take all my vehicles to local specialists when necessary and I've yet to be burned.
Good luck in the future.


Carlo

 

[Yoda]

Vette Mechanic...

Tim,

Don't know how far you are from Dallas, but I have an ole buddy there that is a sharp vette mechanic, and does a little work on his own.. he's none other than stingray6974 (Mike) watch for him around here, he makes an occasional appearance and likes to visit the "Solid Axle Lounge"
Another good friend "BLACKDOG" sent him his Q-Jet and had it rebuilt.. all the way from Kalifornia to Texas. Look him up next time you need some work and see what ya think.

Looks like you're ready to roll to Bowling Green "SharkFest" this Labor Day Weekend :dance

 

[jbonifas]

Tim,
Even if a small guy doesn't know all about a vette, I would much rather work with him and build him some experience than take it to a dealer. Probably most of us have had some bad experiences and spent some $$. Bud is the man. I will look up stingray6974 if I need some help. I only live 3 hrs away in Lousiana. See ya in BG.
Jeff

 

[Stingray6974]

Tim,
You are not the only person to have gone thru this. Basically I determined there are three types of shops.
Dealership: they rotate mechanics much like advertising execs. Move out the old and experienced and replace them with young go-getters. Not much experience with 20+ yr old sharks. Not to mention their labor rates.
Independent shops: I don't know of any mechanics that want to work on a vette. Once again due to age and lack of experience. No "easy money" can be made working on them. It's hard to trust the person working on your car when he is the younger. Lack of experience = more $$$ from you.
Specialty Vette shops: They definitely want to work on your vette. And they are more than willing to charge you for it. No discounts here.
These are of course my personal opinions and there are always a few exceptions. I have been a mechanic (not a "tech", I work for a living) for 27 years. The 68-82 sharks being my favorite car to work on.
I can, and have, done everything from routine maintanence to complete restoration. The prices for repairs such as yours are outragous and commonplace. Brakes, rear suspension and rear ends being the most overpriced. I find nothing hard about this type of repair. For several years now I have been doing private repairs for anyone wanting high quality work at a decent price. And thanks to Bud (Rare81) I've started doing it by mail.

Mike

 

[Tim73454]

The guy i'm using now in San Antonio does know vettes. His work is great and his rates are REAL good. The work he is doing now on the rear-end was $2000 in parts (new "complete" trailing arms) and $440 labor. The original work at the dealership was $400 parts and $800 labor. I think I got more for my $440 than I did for my $800!!!!

Mike, I'm only 25 miles south of Dallas. If I need anything in the future I will contact you.

I will be ready for SHarkfest and do plan on being there unless something comes up... Where is the best place to stay. Will there be any problems with parking cars at night.


Tim73454

 

[Yoda]

Tim,

I am to hear you are planning to attend "SharkFest" click on this link "SHARKFEST" for all the scoop..

I'll add you to the CAC listing too.. you won't believe the fun you are going to have :dance :J

BudD

 

[Hijinx]

Tim,
I live out in Carrollton, just north of Dallas. There is a shop over here that does great work, and backs it. They are not cheap, but I have yet to find a good Vette mechanic that is really cheap and would be wary of any who are. Your gonna spend a cool $2000 minimum on replacement of your T-arms. I am about to have over $2000 worth of work done on my brake system (replacing everything, hard lines included). Major work on these old Vettes tends to be expensive. I have a '73 as well and have gone through the suspension, now the brakes and will soon replace the T-Arms, stub axles and drive shaft. I have lots of rust under mine that is causing problems. I am actually looking at replacing my T-Arms with Gulstrand's 5 link or something similar. That will cost $2000 - $3000, but I'll have what I want. I can tell you that the almost $3000 I put in the suspension was well worth it.

Good luck. Give me a holler if you want to meet up sometime and compare notes.

 

[Tim73454]

Hijinx, yes when I get mine back I would love to compare notes. I think the shop you are talking about is the same one that told me the tank sticker only contianed information about the tank (where it was made and how much it held).

I did get under mine while it was on the rack and I'm glad to say there is NO RUST!!! It also has about 90% of the original paint on it. I love California!!!

 

[Tom73]

The dealers are good for new cars, but with old cars like ours it is a lost art as far as dealers are concerned. They don't even teach the mechanics about carbs anymore, only electronic fuel injection.

Best to go with a mechanic that you trust. Problem is in finding one.

tom...

 

[Tim73454]

Tom, the shop I'm using now is on the north side of San Antonio. Next time you need something done go talk to them and look at the work they do. I drove down for a visit before I took the car down and it was worth the trip. I was told by a vette dealer in Dallas that they send all of their work to them because of the quality. Not a bad indorsement for a dealer to send work 6 hours away when there are local shops they could use. Plus they made the 'Corvette Fever" 100 repair shops you can trust issue for January 2002.

If you want the phone number or address let me know..


Tim73454