Any recommendations for a good ferrari repair shop around the Bay Area? Thanks for any info
Brian Crall Ferrari Service in San Ramon is your man. Has forgotten more about Ferraris than most of us will ever know. 925 552-9700 Goes by Rifledriver here on the forum.
Call Brian Crall (Riffledriver) NOW!!! He KNOWS these cars well (among others) and will be straight-up and honest w/ you. He's in San Ramon in the East Bay, his # is 925.552.9700
Waterfront Automobili,Inc 1310 17th Street San Francisco,Ca 94107 (415)861-2223 Sal Garcia [email protected]
Brian is probably on top of the list but Dino Motors in San Mateo is also a good candidate: 1321 S Railroad Ave San Mateo, CA 94402-2124 (650) 571-0406‎
Guiseppe DiGenaro (the longest standing employee of FoSF in the service dept, I reckon) opened up his own shop in Berkeley if I'm not mistaken. Truly a gentleman and very sharp tech.
There are a lot of good guys out there. It depends on what car you have. Pre or post 355 era; North Bay, South bay or dont care?
Patrick Ottis in Berkeley did the work on the Concours winning Alfa Romeo. He has tuned my car TR for many years. No mishaps or complaints. (510) 849-3553
just found this http://sanfrancisco.kudzu.com/merchant/reviews/7760209.html Can anyone tell me what's going on?
Brian in San Ramon is really good. Also, try Juan, Grand Prix Motors in Campbell if you are in the South Bay. Kai
Wow, that sucks I didn't know that. I never dealt with them directly but a friend of mine with a 79 308 swears by them.
Wow, a definite surprise. In my dealings with Johannes he has always been professional & honest. Hes the kind of guy who Ive seen treat a $40K car owner with the same respect as a $500K car owner. Im not here defend the situation but it does seen out of character for him. It would be nice to hear the rest of the story and how it ended.
If you don't want to make the trek up to Brian, try Juan at Grand Prix Motors in Campbell. Some fchatters are using him and he restored the lime green Dino that was at the Palo Alto Concourse. Kai
I read the whole post at Kudzu and find that it smells a bit. He said nothing about the work for which he paid Dino Motors $13K. Although it's unfortunate that he lives three hours from the shop and made a trip in vain, his exasperation with Johannes sounds over the top. The customer makes himself sound rather obnoxious, and his beef is with the guy who "burned" the paint. So Johannes had a communication breakdown with the guy--it happens, yet the world does not come to an end--but to the poster it all seemed like a great cause for indignation. Johannes likes the older cars. Brian prefers to work on the newer cars. Both know their craft, are honest, and are gentlemen (from my experience). The Bay Area has some excellent mechanics, and if a Ferrari owner wants his car treated right, he should show the mechanic consideration and respect because, trust me, the good ones absolutely do not need any more business than what they already have and don't need the headache of dealing with obnoxious people. The post at Kudzu seems like a very odd anomaly WRT Dino Motors. I would discount it totally. BTW, the original poster indicates no Fcar ownership in his profile (IIRC), or maybe that was the one who linked to the Kudzu post.
For smoging your Ferrari & Maserati in San Jose, CA this shop seems really good. http://www.smogtechsj.com/HOME.html The Smog Tech owners (same as Roselli Foreign Car Repair in San Jose 408- 297-0303) always seem to have their shop full of modern Ferrari and Maserati cars as they are SD3 equipped. I don't own any F-cars, however I can speak VERY highly of both Roselli Foreign Car Repair. San Jose, Ca and of Dino motors in San Mateo, Ca (650-571-0406). Both shops have gotten me out of several "jams" with my Lancia and Alfas. Both shops always seem to have multiple F-cars in for repairs. I mainly use Roselli since I'm in the South Bay Area...the owners Robert & Ezio are very good friends of mine...they have a passion for all things Italian. IMHO both Dino Motors and Roselli's are run by true, 'old world' style craftsmen. They actually REPAIR the car/part rather than simply throw new parts at it. In other words they are not parts changers. If need be they will actually fabricate some parts on site if a new one cannot be sourced. This type of service is invaluable for me. BTW: that one negative review on Kudzu about Dino Motors/Johannes IS totally out of line from what I know of Johannes. From my personal experiences in dealing with Johannes he is a perfect gentleman. Moreover he is a true craftsman (I know that I am repeating myself) who loves his trade. Also Dino Motors does a lot of repair work for Fantasy Junction in Emeryville. CA Just my '2 cents worth'...HTH. Happy Holidays!
I'm a big fan of Great Marques in Redwood City. He has worked on a lot of very nice cars, some went to Pebble Beach, Hillsborough and Palo Alto Concours. IIRC he's had "Best in Class" before. Possibly best in show. Brilliant at diagnostics. Also, I think he's incredibly talented with Webers. I took a first place at the Virginia City Hillclimb with his tuning expertise. I know Sal at Waterfront does very nice work, and I've heard great things about Brian. I have a friend who's GT4 was serviced by Patrick Otis and it looked terrific. Will Haible is also a very talented ferrari mechanic. The good news is there are sources to get your Ferrari running tip top. I don't think any of them are inexpensive, but that too is a good thing. Everyone who's into Ferrari's has seen bargain work and painfully learns why the sweetness of low price is long forgotten while the bitterness of ------------.