Auto Elite NJ Service Nightmare

mondial valeo is the first problem, sounds like you need a new car!
(kidding)

seriously you sound upset , but Vicenzo latino has serviced many high end Ferraris for me
without any problem . likewise peers of mine who collections are in a whole different
level than mine, all very happy..

i can only say after 20 years i have never heard a bad word said up to this point ,, the fact that wide world had trouble as well my say something about the situation ..

i am sure you love your Ferrari but sometimes things are not always someones fault
hopefully it drives great and you can enjoy it

ciao

 

I don't know anything about the entity named in the above post, but I 100% agree with the conclusion of ensuring that you have a trustworthy, reliable, and experienced mechanic who knows these cars. Cannot be overstated I don't think; a bit of carelessness on these cars can result in enormous bills later that doesn't occur with with other cars.

 

Interested to learn the name of the Ohio shop who did right by you, if you are willing to share.

Thanks - DM

 

wow you sent it to ohio? why not one of the dozen other shops around nyc?

ive only ever heard great things about auto elite.

 

To balance this typical "flame the shop post".
The other thing that needs to be addressed in this post is owner expectation. Mechanics are not wizards. You're not going to get a "new car" when you bring it in. You got to keep things in perspective and Ferrari owners (sorry) typically aren't good at that.
My expectation.. I could and can do a clutch job on my 360. My garage won't let me, so I send her to Karl. I a mistake is made during the repair.. is this a mistake that I would have made if I had done the repair? If yes.. then he gets a pass.

There's always one dissatisfied customer. Always. When there's many you start to wonder. Only one.. is it the shop or the owner..?

 

I'm confused by this, you can do a job, but the garage won't let you and if they make the same type of mistake you would make it's not their fault??

Why are you sending it to a professional then?? Why not just do it yourself? What is the benefit of a garage doing it if it's acceptable for them to make the same mistake you're going to?

 

Yeah, I don't get that logic. If someone used that logic on picing a surgeon, I would question their sanity.

 

The condition he stipulated is that he *is* competent to do the job, but decided to pass it on to the pro for other reasons. Being competent, if he would have made the same mistake, then the pro gets a pass. In other words, competency doesn't assume omniscience, X-ray eyes, etc.

 

what was the outcome of the legal case from three years ago? I assume it's concluded now.

 

Can you scan a PDF of your court order that backs that up?

 

Thank you. For clarifying this.

I can do the job if I want.. but I'm going to get it to my mechanic.

If he did the clutch repair and broke a part or didn't tighten a hose lets say (happened when my belts were replaced by my mechanic) I'd understand. I would have made the same mistake myself.

In the case of the leaky hose (real life example).. it was a clamp that needed to be tightened, so I took off the underbody panel and tightened it. No more drip of coolant. I still take my car to Karl and don't post bad things about him on forums. He's not perfect. Nobody is.

Just interesting that the said car was for sale earlier this year. I wonder if this is being posted after the sale...

 

Sadly the Valeo system was a bit problematic from new, so I'm not surprised that a non Factor Ferrari shop was not able to fix it well... however they should tell you that up front.

NJB are good folks.... with Ferrari's once you find a mechanic that you trust ... its as good as gold. Having been in this guys shoes my self before... your dream can turn into a nightmare very quickly with repairs.

 

I appreciate the offer however, I'm not interested in a car Valeo at all. If the system was neither problematic nor complex.. it wouldn't be in Colorado having a capacitor in the valet ECU diagnosed and fixed! If it was that simple and easy to diagnose, it could have been fixed locally. My standard for durability is if Porsche adopts the technology like they did the DCT.

Everyone likes 20/20 hindsight. If my mechanic could only find a new old stock 10 year old belt. He'd install it. What was the condition of the belt when it was removed? Can you provide a pic?

The water pump. Which seal leaked? The one on the pulley or the one at the base? Was one replaced. You stated "I advised the mechanic/owner that I wanted the car to be thoroughly serviced in response to his conservative approach method." Well. He was conservative. You can't fault him for being conservative and not replacing the pump.. and then fault him for not replacing the pump!

We can't note if ANY of these things like the shock actuator are normal wear (were they that way BEFORE the repair was done) or due to the service. You do know that the shock actuators are known to crack and be problematic even on cars that haven't been serviced right?
Why not post the repair bill like others have done? I'm all for appropriate blame... but I've seen where people blame a problem on a mechanic when it would be broken anyway... it is 21 years old. If there aren't that many problems with a repair shop reported here.. they might be decent shop.

 

Sorry, that logic escapes me.

Taking your car to someone who does this all the time for a living - you expect the work to be done correctly without fault. We're not talking, say electrical 'gremlins' of an older Ferrari. But just the basic level of service. So not tightening a hose, or breaking a part - that's not something I'd understand, that's incompetence. It shows carelessness and lack of attention to detail. You're paying for a service, but at the end of the day, if the service isn't completed properly, that's a problem. You can accept mediocrity, but I wouldn't.

If that kind of logic were applied by the FAA and commercial airliners, there'd be a lot more planes falling out of the sky as a result.

No one is perfect - but when I take it to an 'expert', i.e. someone who does this daily for a living (and with some time in business), I expect near perfection - that's what I'm paying for. Otherwise, might as well save the money and do it myself.

 

Kind

Precisely.

And, using vsurgeon's logic; if i can do it myself without making that mistake, then the expert sure as hell better not make that mistake.

 

I know I know.. and then that screw wasn't tightened to the EXACT specification, wait.. and there's a smudge of grease on the valve cover gasket. OMG He's a professional I can't believe that the entire engine wasn't wiped down!
Oh and there's a tiny bit of dirt on the carpet. How dare he not steam clean the carpets after this! And OMG! The mechanic didn't notice that my left fender liner had a crack in it (I brought it in for an oil change) he's a professional and should have noticed this and fixed it.. I pay him enough for the oil change!
I know... no one is perfect. Except when it's "my car". Then the mechanic better restore it to better than new condition. Oh and when they do a good job to the "near perfection" I expect, I'm going to complain about how expensive the repair it. Right? I don't use the term "incompetence" often, because it seems that too many are ready to use it for the smallest reason. And I was once told, when you point a finger, there's three pointing after you.

And as far as the hose that was loose. It could have been tightened and then worked loose when I drove it the first 10 miles. Again I don't fault him at all because I actually work on my own car and I recognize that as a non-issue and something that would likely have happened when I work on my own car. And as Acemaster notes.. I know when it's NOT part of a normal repair.

 

Sorry, your examples are really bad - they're the most basic tenets you'd expect your mechanic to follow. If I bring my car in to have 3 items addressed, they should be addressed. But to find 2 NEW items to address because of carelessness (dirty carpets because he didn't put paper mats down; a scratch in my fender that wasn't there when I dropped it off likely due to carelessness of walking by and bumping car with a tool or..), you damn right I'd complain!

Half the examples you listed would be the result of carelessness. The others incompetence.

I've had 3 Ferraris over my lifetime so far, collectively drove them 100k miles. I've never had any of the examples occur and I serviced them regularly. And frankly, I can't recall bringing a car home with more issues, or having something go wrong quickly (a loose hose? Really?!?!?!).

Add in the 12 other daily drivers, plus the 300k miles I've put on those cars (I drive a lot) and the services I've had, and again, not a single issue like you describe. Do I just get the best mechanics? Am I lucky? No - I've had mechanics and their staff do what's expected of them. Nothing more, nothing less.

Never in my life has this happened - I'd suggest you find a new mechanic.

 

+1. You can't compare a loose hose to a dirty carpet. One of them shows he can't perform his job as a professional, the other just shows he had some dirt on his shoes.

I bring my cars to the pros so that these things don't happen.

vrsurgeon..FWIW this is the only topic I can remember reading that I disagree with you on