Looking for a new (read BETTER) mechanic in the SFV

So people don't refer you to the same place again, what were the initials of this place?

 

what type of car

 

Kraig,

I am suprised to hear about MM. They have/had a good reputation.

That being said, There are not every many independants in the Valley that can/will work on Ferrari's.

Stay FAR away from KK....FAR AWAY

If you want to drive a bit, there are some independants in WLA (one is slow, the other VERY slow to finish)

If you are looking at just getting the FI checked, Any good independant BMW/MB dealer can work on it. It's the same FI they used.

Any other good A/C shop can work on the a/c system.

Be creative. Auto Galley is another option.

 

I believe Eric (lead mechanic) also owns a 400i. Good Luck.

 

I hope you find a great mechanic soon to get your 400i sorted out.

 

and a 308 QV and a 308GT4

 

and a Z06

 

I have had excellent service from the Auto Gallery and Eric is an outstanding mechanic and shows up at many Ferrari events.

 

What's with the "MM" and "KK" nonsense? What's the use of a forum like this if we can't be open and straight with each other? We should be naming names here. These shops should have to earn our business and I'm getting so sick of all the kiss-assing politics that seem to be involved in giving a business (a lot of) our hard-earned money to do their job properly just because they're in the Ferrari business. If a shop screws up, we should tell each other about it. Period. By name. If the shops don't like it – great, they can then improve their service. Look, I know that some of us may have friends who work at these places or friends who get work done at these places with no complaint, but, as long as we're not whining or filled with unrealistic expectations, we should be calling out the shops that screw us over or act like superior jerks. Also, we should call out the good shops, as long as it's not a shill.

 

I agree....

I've heard a lot of bad stories about poor or even fraudulent service. One of the 355's I long ago had PPI'd (prior to near purchase) had papers indicated the 30k-service was performed, yet the mechanic who did the PPI for me clearly could prove the engine was never taken-out/removed as original factory paint and other revealing/tell-tale signs indicated to the contrary....no way that timing-belt was changed!!

Another friend was billed for changing some belts and tensioner...it was never done and it blew-up on him. The same shop that did that work is now potentially caught for recently having done the same thing to yet another Ferrari owner....and this owner is seemingly content to just figure he was unlucky and just move on without suing or going after them. What does this tell the shop: screw people as you like, and hey....if ya get caught, 50% chance they'll just take it and walk away quietly. DUDE??????

Come on guys....we owe it to ourselves: good shops deserve praise & recognition...while bad shops deserve to burn burn BURN for their neglect, dishonesty and even fraudulent work. We as a community need to act as our own "Better Business Bureau" and use the threat of reporting as leverage for getting fair & reasonable treatment.

"Truth" is always and foremost a defense to being accussed of slander or defamation of charactor: if they screwed you, you have the right (and I dare say the obligation) to sing the facts & truth of the situation.

Are we so wealthy that we need to be bleed for services not performed or done incompetently? Are we to go quietly into the night with our broken cars sadly tucked away in our garages? Did we get where we are in lives by being chumps?.......

Shops take note: I have to work long and hard for my business to be successful and to make money. To this day I have ZERO complaints with the BBB or contractor state license board: I make my customers happy and perform good work....my reward is more referrals & success. My name is Steve R and if you do good work for me I'll sing your praises and spread the word to any and all.....BUT if you burn me or my friends, I'll torch your name on F-Chat and bring upon you a wraith of deserved ill reputation. No, It won't put you out of business...but it will hurt to some degree and over time it'll eat at you like dry-rot.

Here is our money; we only ask that you perform work in a timely professional manner and in an honest fashion. Are we asking too much? I think not.....

MM (Monaco Motors) wanted more to do my A/C then Auto Gallery...and Auto Gallery is factory Ferrari...does that make sense? Here's a solid A/C place in SFV that did an honest job on my 355 for about $115 including all services, refrigerant, leak detection, etc: name: Morgan 10217 Canoga Ave, Chatsworth 341-7312 can't recall the name, but A/C is all they do.

Somebody get me a ladder to climb off this darn soapbox, my ears are popping from the altitude!

 

Steve – thanks for getting on the bandwagon, except I want to know what shop did those things you mentioned – especially the shop that doesn't replace timing belts as contracted! It's the most annoying maintenence ritual/expense for those of us who have belt-drive-cam cars, mainly because there's always the feeling in the back of our heads that the belts would really last about 4x longer than they're supposed to... So to add massive insult to annoying injury, there's a shop that takes the money for this repair and doesn't even do it?!!! That shop should be flogged publically on this forum until they're either put out of business or the owner cleans house and makes a public apology on this site. Remember people, it's OUR money, WE are in control.

 

I didn't buy that car, only had it PPI'd....but I did call the shop that supposedly did the 30k-service and the guy told me he did change the timing belt. I don't recall the name of the shop, but it was down near Marina Del Rey...beyond that, I don't have a name.

Many shops will attempt to just "inspect" the belt...and if it looks good, they just stop there. This guy probably inspected it, figured it looked like new and ran with his deception of supposedly replacing it. I wouldn't doubt if the owner was in on it, the owner had his shady friend selling the car for him, how convienent: plausiable deniability!

Seems every problem car has a 3rd-party selling it, and every fraudulent shop has some nameless mechanic who deceived the honest/good manager into believing the work was performed, the old "opps" fallback.

 

Well said.

 

I'll jump in here and tell you that a local tech has burned me and I know of at least three FChat guys and several others that have had similar experiences. The problem is that this person regularly comes to local events and I worry about retribution and legal consequences of stating his name and business in an open forum. His business ethics are so atrocious that I wouldn't put anything past him for some type of retaliation. It’s easy to stand on a soapbox and proclaim that this information should be openly shared unless, of course, you are the one that is going to get sued in our ridiculously litigious state. I did, however, PM the details to KraigG so he won't be another victim of this bottom feeder.

 

Amen to to this thread and the rather large Ferrari horse outside of a certain's tech's house. I cannot recommend this shop to anyone here on fchat. I was actually warned by friends on this forum not to use him but by then it was to late and i already had given him a deposit. I gave him the benifit of the rumer and unfortionatly he lived up to exactly what i was warned about. Not only did he not live up to his original sales figures we had discussed over the phone but proceeded to over charge me. I even showed him what two of his competeters were going to charge and ignored me. At least Monaco and others tell you what the estimated charge will be. This tech is famous for trying to upsell his services while avoiding telling you how much he is going to charge you for the service you originally came in for. No written estimate needed at this shop, just his famous words "don't worry about".

 

So let me get this straight.....I have a Ferrari, and if I need service there are certain people I DEFINITELY don't want to take my car to....but nobody wants to name names...and so I just have to hope & prey I don't fall victim. Sheesh, this is worse then waiting for the next episode or season of LOST to start!

Just create another user-name and drop the name of the shop....the suspense & uncertainty is killing us.....

 

Eugenio is a fantastic mechanic but, if I'm not istaken he only works on on V8's

 

Yup

Erickson Auto in Ventura. Ask for Bill (805) 640-1461.

 

Here's a hint - if you see this at the front of the shop - RUN AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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