captainkirk

Hey everyone,

I am trying to find out what are the best service shops in the NOVA area (VA,MD,DC) - I could even push my search all the way up to Delaware. What I want to know who is good enough to service the older Porsche cars really well.

I know there is German Auto Group, and I am not keen to go there again. It is not that the service was not bad, my car oil change was done properly. It was what the manager or the main service rep did. I had a discount coupon for the service and they didn't honor it. They told me that I should have told them that I had a coupon before the service had started. Which makes no sense to me. In that way they could just raise the prices and "apply" the coupon and it would have been the same price as they wanted. Also, I had called few days ahead and gave all my info for being a first time customer, and showed up on time on the day of the appointment...and then I still had to give all the info again. I was like wtf, again (I know this is not a big issue, but I was paying attention to all the details).

Please share your thoughts and insights.

PS Bonus Question - If down the road one gets a Singer Porsche - who services them in this area?

drcollie

Not sure these guys can meet your standards of service on the front end (i..e, telling them who you are twice, etc) but they do fine work in Newington VA and have been there a long time. Stan Fox knows Porsches.

http://www.rpm-performance.com/

I had to get a new Short Block from Porsche in Germany for my 993 C4S back in 2002. It was built up at the factory and when it arrived to be installed in the car, they called me up and asked if they could PLEASE take it all apart, because they had never seen a new 993 engine before that came from the factory. I told them "you guys have fun with it". And they did. When my car was ready they said "Good thing we took it down all the way, we found a small piece of steel wool in the # 3 cylinder that would have scored the cylinder wall and could have damaged the rings". The car ran flawlessly afterwards up until the time I sold it.

captainkirk

Thanks for letting me know.

I am not that stickler for details, but with the German Auto group, when they asked me my info the 2nd time, they did not even have my name on their appointment book. The only way I got my car serviced was that I was the first one in the morning.

oolor13

Subscribing to this one. Last service at the local dealers in this area was a pain. Would like to find a high-quality indy to send my business.

stealthboy

I know of several: ASG (Auto sportsystems group), Intersport, Autobahn.

In particular, ASG services my 1986 911. Ray rebuilt my engine and transmission. All the guys there are great and know older Porsches for sure. I've been going there for ~15 years now for my Porsche needs.

shammerman

I do not know about the service department at Intersport, but I purchased my previous car from them (2011 911 4S) and had a good experience as did a friend of mine who bought a car from them as well (unbeknownst of me earlier purchase). Maybe someone in the area has some information to chime in.

Intersport in Mclean, VA

///Armin

Check out Ima Motorwerke
http://imamotorwerke.com/

Bud Taylor

I us2d intersoort a couole of times on my 928 and they did good work but $$$

13mit

Definitely check out IMA Motorwerke - they're prob the premier Porsche specialty shop in this area

NeoGeo07

I have a 2014 991. I tried ASG, IMA, and RRT racing. I also called Chapman's. They were highly recommended but Chapman does mostly air-cooled Porsches. They never even bothered calling me back. Probably too busy and don't care--at least that's the reception I got.

ASG was ok, but very slow. They are again, more of a older group and tailor more towards the air-cooled P cars. I believe Chapman used to work for them? Not sure....sorry, just not old enough to know much about the air-cooled 911s.

I have to disagree to "13mit" and "Armin" about IMA Motorwerke. The owner scammed me. First time was ok. Second time, not so much. You can read about my reviews on yelp and google. The owner lied to me, took my car home (yes, to his own home), said he was on a "test drive," then came back and told me the alignment feels "off." He took my car to another shop for alignment (later I found out he just borrowed other shop's tools) and ended up actually messing up my alignment. It was all out of whack (I have alignment sheet from RRT to prove it). The owner made a lot of promises but it was all smoke and mirrors. I learned my lesson and I won't be going back there. I don't know if the other two users have actually had any experiences with this place but I would NOT recommend them.

So if you have an air cooled 911, I'd say Chapman's or ASG. I think NoVA has good shops for air cooled old 911s, but not so much love for the current gen / water cooled 911s. Me? I took mine to RRT racing and they are great! They started as a BMW shop but now does MB and late P cars. They have their own race shop / division, they have good techs, and most importantly, they are honest. They don't make empty promises, and they get things done on time (I had to call ASG several times and beg them to finish some pillow ball joints, RRT just did it in a day).

YMMV, but I'm giving you my own experience, not just some word of mouth or rumors. Hope this helps.

13mit

NeoGeo, good to have a personal anecdote. I have not been there personally but a friend of mine has a 993 that he takes over there and has had nothing but good things to say. Thanks for letting us know your experience, I will make sure to keep an eye out if I ever have to go there for service myself

NeoGeo07

NP. This just goes to support my theory that if you have an air cooled 911 (993), you get much more support (and respect, maybe?) in NoVA than if you have a 997 or 991. It's not discrimination, it's just the air cooled ones are easier to work on. I've had shop managers lament to me that each new gen of 991 requires a new set of factory tools, and they are very expensive--prohibitive even.

But with that said, you should always look for an honest shop, and that's true regardless what service you are paying for.

captainkirk

Awesome discussion going on here.

I do wonder with these Indy Shops...do they want to make profit or not. Many start with a promise that the shop will provide excellent service, and down the road - the amount of cars increase, staff dramas kick in, and the goal of providing top notch customer service gets lost and low behold crappy things is passed to the customer. Or maybe owners lose interest in their business, and now everyday working at the shop sucks. Who knows, I am just wondering.

I have few german cars and willing to pay the premium for quality care plain and simple. I know this is not a good example, I buy Apple Phones with Apple Care b/c of the quality work is done, and yes the phone commands a premium compared to all other phones out there. I will always pay premium for customer support.

As mentioned before, I still can't believe the German auto car spend money on mailing out their ads with first time customer Discount ads, and not honoring it is beyond me.

And reading NeoGeo story - that is insane. NeoGeo did you ever post your story with pics and what not on Rennlist in full detail. That is some scary crap you went through

stealthboy

I have brought my 991 just one time to ASG, but mostly they work on my air-cooled '86 911. You are correct that in this area most shops work on the older cars. I suspect that a lot of it is because of all of the software and special tools needed for doing any work on newer cars. The Porsche dealers have a subscription to the $10K-ish Porsche laptop that does service diagnostic work. Everything is computer controlled and so hard to diagnose if no code is thrown (see: my hesitation problem in my 991).

RoscOtis

I used Autobahn in Fairfax, Va. My only hurdle was he had a thick spanish accent and it was hard for me to understand him over the phone. Once I met him in person I could communicate much better. Brought my C2S to him for a new clutch, pp and T.O. bearing. He also repaired a broken plastic coupler in my shifter. I was extremely happy with the work and I didn't think the $3,800 price tag was hateful. I also couldn't help but notice how clean the shop was ( I'm a stickler for that - clean shop = clean car) and they didn't disappoint. I'm actually getting ready to have him service my tt for a leaky fuel line. Would highly recommend him. I have talked to Intersport and have heard great things about them also but was told to break open the wallet for that service!

http://autobahnserviceinc.com/