Where Do You Get Your Car Fixed?
 

Just cause Im in the biz, I wanted to know where people get thier work done? This isnt about major engine rebuilds or where your race car gets fixed, but where you take your daily driver to get fixed, who does your oil changes, who puts tires on it, brakes, tune up, etc etc..

I do my own fluids, tires, brakes, plugs+wires, and any repairs that aren't mission critical (like a steering rack or transmission). When I do take it somewhere I take it to a private shop, John Koches in Frenchtown NJ off of Rt 12.

I also selected Chain Stores, but only where I know people, so that may be a misleading answer.

my son does any and all work that needs to be done to my DD's and my race car. all i do i reach into my pocket for the $$$$$:mrgreen:

Whatever I can't do....or am too afraid to do, I'd farm out to a shop.

Otherwise, my hands are in it....just too costly for me when I have tools to do most any job, other than odd 'specific' tools....but then its a reason to BUY :twisted:

for my DD, the stealership just because its under warranty, but not for much longer, then i'll start doing most the work.

as for the car i usually do it all myself, minus mounting tires, the tire shop across the street does it for me.
________
Bmw sauber f1.06 history

Koches! He's a good guy, my boss uses him to service our work trucks, usually does good work, though he does get some real monkeys working for him from time to time. Hes' pretty knowledgeable too.
________
The Easy Vape

Yeah, Donna and John seem to be a pretty good team. Decent prices and good work from what I can tell.

RW in Little silver for when I am to lazy to do fluid/brake stuff.

For my own S10, if its something I can't handle I most likely would take it to this one shop down the road, who my family has known the owner for years and he does ok work. Generally we do our own work, and the rest of the family cars go to the dealerships.

jeep goes to the dealer cause it has a warranty :) the pos i call a camaro is fixed by me..

The only things I can't/won't do on my cars are AC evacuation and charges, because I don't have a vacuum pump or the AC gauges. I do pick my mechanic friend's brain occasionally, but I pretty much do all my own suspension/brake work plus oil/fluid changes on everything we own (my Monte SS and Cherokee, and wife's Liberty). I have gotten into some relatively complex stuff too; rear disc swap on my Cherokee, and a motor build for the Monte. I had help on the TPI and T5 conversions for the Monte, but it was all done here in my driveway by me and a few good buddies.

I do most of the work myself until I run into a safety situation or don't have the right tools/equipment. Then I take it to the local garage. I'll hit the chains stores for the battery/tire/rebuilt parts situations.

Why isn't the dealer and option?

James does it, or for the big stuff, it goes to the dealer. We love our dealer, very reasonable and they don't try to sell me stuff I don't need.

I do mostly everything myself, with the exception to when my truck gets hit by a motorcycle, then I usually send it out to the dealership.

LOL.

hahahahah


i do my own work......all of it...

i do everything i can, dad helps with the rest. who pays for labor?:mrgreen:

I didnt think anyone went to dealers unless it was for warranty work...

Small stuff I do myself, If I'm too lazy or can't do something I go to the shop near my hosue. They already know all my info, where i live, what I drive because they have towed my car from places several times :lol: And they do good work.

+1 for Who the hell goes to the dealer unless it's for warranty work? I still laugh at the fact that dealer quoted me almost 800 bucks for the opti replacement, that was just for the part without the installation...

Heater core was replaced by the dealer, as was the timing belt. The only warranty work that was done was the exhaust manifold that I can think of off hand...at least at this dealer.

James can do some of the simpler things...but didn't want to do the more difficult things on his own. And anything involving electrical systems he stays away from as well.

i voted for all because i have done all of those (except the last one of course, but of course i couldn't leave any unchecked). My car sees different shops for different things, here is what has happened with the camaro in the past year:

Did work on it myself with help of some friends
Had wheels mounted at a chain store
had it Tuned and heads milled at Eastside
exhaust work at Mufflex
Suspension and rear fixed at JSPerformance
Engine rebuilt at TTPerformance
oil changes and stereo done at home as well

And I'm sure you got overcharged by the dealer on parts AND labor.

Liberty Hyundai charged us $800 to replace the heater core including the part. It was $400 to replace the timing belts (including the other belts that had to be removed to get to the timing belt). The prices for parts through the dealer were very similar to what we could have bought them for online. :shrug:

It's not cheap, but compared to the cost of the part plus hassle of James having to install it and possibly messing it up or it taking days and having to rent a car for longer, it was worth it. If the dealer charged out the ass we wouldn't be going there, we'd find another shop to do the work.

Well I dunno how much Hyundai techs charge per hour, but most likely its nothing close to 60 bucks an hour, or do they? I've never been there. From my dealership experiences, they (dealers) usually charge 85 - 100 bucks an hour, seems high to me, so I go elsewhere.

I buy all the parts from summit racing, they are routinely cheaper than parts from the dealer. But hey of you are happy with the work, and you have the money than who am I to tell you where to go.