barrett

I'm the guy who recently posted about taking delivery of his "new" 2018 Carrera S Cabriolet last week and then--just 5 days later--being rear-ended as I was leaving a parking lot by a 22-year old woman who clearly wasn't paying attention. After getting over the shock and just damn bad luck of the thing, I now need to think about body shops. There are a number of (apparently) good body shops in Houston, but I've narrowed it down to two. One is a Porsche Approved Collision Center (which my dealer recommended) and another is one I found on my own.

So my question: how important is it (either substantively or just for paper purposes) to have a Porsche Approved shop do the work? I've searched Rennlist for this topic and have found some discussions, but not really any tangible answers.

For what it's worth, my dealer actually recommended two Porsche-Approved body shops, and I've worked with one of them in the past (on Porsches and other cars). I was personally underwhelmed by that shop. I will never take a car to them. So that tells me that, just because a place is Porsche Approved (and just because the dealer recommends it), it doesn't guarantee great results.

As for the second Porsche-Approved shop, I've worked with them once in the past, on a very minor issue with my last 911 (back in '06), and they did a good job. The problem this time around is that they don't have an opening in their schedule until August.

So I'm also looking at a place that is not Porsche-Approved, and they seem to deal in only high-end cars (a lot of Lambos, Ferraris, Astons, and McLarens in their shop). They get great reviews--better than the second Porsche-Approved shop. They can get me in sooner.

So as I'm trying to decide between Porsche-Approved shop #2 vs. non-Porsche-Approved shop that has a bunch of high end cars and great reviews, I'm not sure how to decide. Any insights or options would be welcome. Thanks in advance!

flsupraguy

Where are you located?

barrett

Houston.

I'm trying to decide between Metropolitan (which used to be the Lamborghini of Houston preferred body shop, but is now a certified shop for Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Tesla, Mini, and VW) and Royal Collision & Auto Body (which is not certified by any make, but seems to work primarily with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and Astons--I confirmed this by asking to go through the shop area myself).

flsupraguy

I'd go certified if I had the option.... I'm sure either one is fine but down the road I would feel better know I had a vehicle that was worked on by a certified place.

justabout

Is there any difference between Porsche Approved and Certified? I’ve seen both in my area.

Laszlo_Laz

Why are you considering a non-certified shop in the first place?

Every car that we have owned that had a mishap always went to a manufacturer certified shop.

Sorry about your car, but sounds like she’ll be all fixed up soon.

Norge911

Go to collision plus on Hwy 6 and Memorial, talk to owner Nick.

he does a lot of repairs for Porsche west Houston. Nick is a car enthusiast as well so let home know how particular you are about paint etc.

You can say Tor recommended you.

if you are closer to Heights you can try Metropolitan collision
good luck

Southbranch

Porsche-certified shops not only have the know-how to fix your car, they will have the needed parts. The nearest Porsche certified body shop is over 100 miles from me. When my 991.1 got smashed, the local luxury car (BMW, Mercedes, etc.) repair shop manager explained that they had a Porsche trained tech, but the shop was not Porsche-certified. This meant that Porsche would not sell them certain key parts that only certified shops can get. They could go over the car and prepare a repair estimate, but if they found that one of those key parts needed to be replaced, my car would have to be towed to a certified shop for the work. (My car was totaled and never got repaired.)

vanlieremead

Great point about parts. Go certified and insist on only OEM. In my view, it’s not about the quality but about the legality. Would you k ow, for example, how to inspect their work?

what happened to the girl by the way?

bb964

Link to locate a Porsche Approved Collision Center
https://www.porschecollisioncenter.com/


And FWIW, a related video

Tpup

I'd do a bunch of research from people who had used both and go with the best one. I'm more interested in quality than I am in a certified tag that they jumped through hoops to get; most of those hoops have nothing to do with quality. I needed something done in Portland and went to the Porsche certified shop and they sucked. When I moved to Orlando I did a ton of research and ended up at the certified shop not because they were certified but because extensive research suggested they were one of the two best in the area. I visited both and ended up at the certified one...

Quadcammer

exactly right. The certification, like most things porsche, is a total joke. I'd rather have the 60yo independent guy who cares vs. the large certified shop that assigns out minor repairs to the new guy.

Quality first, silly certifications 2nd (or never)

dflowerz

Choose certified. Shops have to jump through a lot of hoops to be certified by Porsche so you are pretty much guaranteed to get the best work. Also helps with better resale. I recently has some work done on my car at Queen City in Redmond, WA and my experience was fantastic. Very organized place and they did great work on my car. Not much help for you I know.

Quadcammer

Oh? And what evidence do you have of this other than BS porsche marketing or whatever the guy at the body shop told you?

CraigT!

And if they don't do the job correctly (whatever that is) is there any normal protocol that would need to be followed to get the attention of Porsche to the inadequacies? Is there a way to engage with Porsche outside of the Porsche dealership leadership?