depami

A window switch you can actually repair is pretty cool. Can you find such a thing on any new car these days?

Ninespub

Greg: I own a "finer dining" restaurant. I know my customers. I greet them, I seat them, I talk to them and I care that they are there. It's not just a hello, buh bye from an 18 year old nymph (not that there's any anthing wrong with them) and I know I am a dinasaur who cares about what I do, have quality standards and will probably die doing it. At the end of the day, its not about the money, its about passion and self-satisfaction and I find that doing the mundane things like going to the market and hand-selecting the produce is somewhat theraputic; a mindless time away from the worries and concerns of the day-to-day business needs. So when you are filing those little pieces of copper for a switch, you are doing the same thing. And you are a dinasaur too because you also have passion. Not many of us left in most businesses. May we rest in peace.

depami

I beg to differ. Yes, the real joy may be in satisfying your passion, but, if there were no money in it, you wouldn't be doing it. Not for long anyway.

RFJ

So where are the people who make the switches? Maybe you need to send back a few dozen so they get the message?

fbarnhill

Greg,
Thank you for telling me how to fix that Damn window switch. I have to push the hell out of it in order for it to work. I will try longer brass shims tomorrow.

Man, I owe you dearly for all your help... Come over to NC and we can have some fun.

Calgary Ole

Sometimes it all comes down to would your Mom be proud of you for doing things right?
Those Mom/Dad voices/values are hard to ignore for most hardworking honest people.

928mac

opps, i fixed my switches this way

I love the express on both windows

NoVector

I think you missed the point... the fact that the old switches can be repaired is cool. The fact that three of Greg's new switches with a "Porsche" sticker on the bag failed is crap. Maybe it's me, but I used to associate some names with quality--Porsche being one of them. False expectation I guess...

Avar928

I thought mechanics fix the problem so it never happens again? When did they start fixing it only for it to function for a while so the customer can just come back and get charged for the same ****?

Nothing against your mechanic friend, but if all he wants to do is perform $200-300 oil changes he should save the stress of owning his own shop and work at a dealership.

Mechanics are doctors of the automobile industry. You use your experience, wisdom and knowledge to cure a problem, not just put a band-aid on it.

Greg, I respect you for what you do and the extra mile that you go. You're not taking the cheap and easy way out to making a quick buck. You're perfecting the craft, contributing to the community. If you want to charge a bit more for that, then that is what we - the community - will just have to accept to keep food on your table.

If I still lived in California, you would have another loyal customer. Shoot, sometimes I think I want to be like those Ferrari owners where you can just fly the car over to the shop to have it fixed (there's one Ferrari independent shop here built right by an air strip where they routinely load and unload Ferraris for service).

Bilal928S4

I have read this thread only superficially, but have the following take on things. There are very few mechanics left. Most of the "so called mechanics" have lowered themselves into being part swappers. They will replace one part and hope it fixes the problem. Charge the customer. If the problem is not fixed they will swap another part and tell the customer that there were multiple things wrong. Charge them again. And keep going until it is fixed.
These are not mechanics in my opinion.

Rob Edwards

Tell everyone the ABS repair story, Uncle Greg!

Avar928

This happened to one of my technicians last month. His car quit and he had it towed to PepBoys. They said it was the fuel pump and filter and was going to charge him $900 to fix it but it was actually the main relay that was bad in the end. Apparently this model tends to short during extreme heat. I'm guessing an extra $200+ for the main relay swap on top of the $900.

I had him tow the car to our parking lot and just buy the parts. I had his car running after a three day wait for shipping at the cost of $200 + towing.

17prospective buyer

This is deffinitely the age of consumerism. In college here my electrical instructor told us that starter motors are "rarely" rebuilt, same with alternators. Engine overhauls are also "rarely" done on the econoboxes of today. My mum is thinking of getting another Nissan already. She currently has a 2007 Versa that is her daily driver, i told her it's a fine car as long as it's maintained properly. I do most of the maintenance on it but parts are so expensive for the thing it's hard for her to justify it sometimes. A couple months ago it needed new struts, so she took it to a shop in Collingwood to have it done. I was expecting they would perform an alignment or at least recommend an alignment. I asked her about it and she told me the technician told her that he didn't think it was necessary. Meanwhile her tires are cupped, most likely an alignment issue that came up after the idiot replacing the struts. I told her to get an alignment whenever she buys new tires if she wants them to last any decent period of time. I also told her to make sure the techs are rebalancing the wheels when they put the new tires on, and not skipping it, since that can cause tire cupping too.

It's pretty bad that you have to supervise the tech/s working on your car to make sure it is being done correctly, and that corners are not being cut.

MGW-Fla

WOW! $900 to replace a fuel pump and filter? What was his ride, the Space Shuttle, or a 1935 Auburn?? And it was Pep Boys for Goodness Sake(usually not the highest qualified mechanics), Not a high end dealership!

Greg you have evolved into your niche & are highly qualified with your ability to work on high end cars. This includes many hats, mechanic, fabricator, craftsman, innovator/inventor.

Reminds me again of the young Brumos mechanic I mentioned the other day in another thread who made is clear to me on 2 occasions of his disdain for 928s. I can speculate of many possible reasons as to why. But I'd imagine his few years as a mechanic, factory trained to repair the newest models at a dealership, probably leaves him highly deficient of any capacity to ever be able to do what you can do. And it shows that he doesn't have the heart for the cars to care, or for the people who own them. He's just on an assembly line, instructed to bolster the bottom line as quickly as possible.

Keep on Keeping on Greg! We all appreciate what you do & your great contribution to this community. Wish you lived over this way!

GregBBRD

Email me your email address and I'll have Mary send you "spread sheets" for each job. There are a lot of variables. according to what is worn/deteriorated and if you are going to have the manifold powder coated while it is off (we now keep powder coated manifolds and valve covers in inventory to cut down on the "wait" time.)

GregBBRD@aol.com