New to Boston--Good Mechanics?

[Brett Dikeman]

Side note here- with all these new Boston people, I think we need a meet-up.

At 12:31 PM -0400 9/16/04, J123fs at aol.com wrote:

>Try Brian's in needham : _http://www.briansgarage.com/_
>(http://www.briansgarage.com/)
>No affilaation, but all I know who have gone there have been pleased.

Technically that's correct.  The guy pissed me off before I even got 
the car there.

"Hi, I need a transmission swapped, ######## recommended you since 
their schedule was full"
"What kind of car?"
"1991 Audi 200 Quattro 20v turbo"
"Ok, first off, why are you dumping money into this pig?"(exact quote)
"EXCUSE me?"
"I mean, it's just a 5000, right?"
"It most certainly IS NOT."
"Well, all the running gear is the same"
"NO, almost every part of the drivetrain is different, from the 
wheels to the engine".

I've never had anyone work so hard to piss me off so fast over the 
phone, and I've spoken to some pretty eccentric mechanics.  When I 
mentioned that I wanted to make sure the TENS system was connected 
properly, I got a rude snappy answer to the effect of 
I'm-an-expert-trust-me; TENS was only on 89-91 type 44's, and this is 
the guy who claimed my car was "just a 5000"- so no kidding I asked, 
mostly as a test.  When I pointed out that the previous owner's 
mechanic had left the system disconnected, that didn't help matters. 
His expert opinion was that mechanic must not have been an Audi 
specialist (actually, they were, I know where the PO had the car 
serviced) and so on.  Two for one special on attitude- cocky AND rude.

I honestly forgot about the appointment- which I made against my 
better judgement.  Woke up that morning and thought "#@$!, I forgot 
about the appointment", and since the car was barely flat-bed-able, 
there was no way to get the car to the guy that quick.  Frankly, I 
also didn't really care that badly after the fact after his attitude 
on the phone.

Around lunchtime a nasty email from the guy arrives- he googled my 
name to get my email- bitching me out for missing the appointment.

"Brian" has the customer service skills of Stalin, and I was going to 
spare him the embarrassment of my posting details on the list, but 
hearing another lister recommend him nixed that concern.  The rumor 
mill says he's got a reputation in the SCCA, and when I discussed my 
displeasure with the shop that recommended him, they said "Yeah, 
people say that a lot about him..."  Oh, not to mention his web page 
lies about this credentials- he's 30, but claims 25 years experience 
working on VWs.  I know I didn't start working on cars until I was 
7...he must have been a real prodigy.


In short, places I HAVE and WOULD take my car(ordered by proximity 
from me, nothing more implied):

Central Service, owned+operated by Dave.  Natick center, less than 
500 feet from the commuter line stop.  Works on everything from brand 
new S600's(there's a Merc dealership up the street- says somethin, 
don't it?) to Alfas to Volvos to Porsches to Audis.  Good for general 
jobs, not my first choice for an oddball 20vt problem, for example.

Shine Racing Service in Walpole, MA.  Eli and Dick(owner) are down to 
earth, great guys- have been working on VWs and water-cooled Porsches 
since the beginning of time and they get quite a bit of Audi business 
now too  They are best known for their suspension, do chip mods on 
the side(high profit ratio) and are probably the most capable 
VW/Audi/old Porsche race prep shop around.  If given advance notice 
they will pick you up and drop you off at the Walpole commute line 
station- about 5 minutes or so away. I've recommended both listers 
and Audi club members to them and when I've checked back, 100% 
satisfaction rate.

TMTek in Londonderry, NH, right off 93- pretty close to the MA/NH 
border.  Glen Powell, former lister and 200q20v/s-car/urq owner, 
works there as does Peter Blazer(s-car owner/lister).  They do 
everything from regular maintenance to repair to performance work, 
and they don't show any preference to new or old Audis.  They were 
the first shop I've gone to that emailed me pics of some of the 
carnage from the job- including one of the clutch plate (we both 
agreed there was plenty of meat on it, and it didn't need replacing; 
the photo helped out).

Other shops I know of but have no experience with, and have not heard 
anything bad about:

Anderson Motorsports
KTR Performance(MIGHT be overpriced, think carefully with estimates from them)
The Benz Den (been around for ages, several 200q20v listers have used 
them, best known for Merc work but competent on anything German).

Brett
-- 
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/