Harmony Jim

I just had to respond to some of the comments of Goofballdeluxe in regards to his comments about Callas Rennsport in Torrance, Ca. Tony and his crew are an amazingly well trained and dedicated bunch of guys. The facility is clean enough to eat off the floors, the entire bunch of them is as friendly as you could ever hope for, and they will work with you in regards to price if you state that funds are limited. I had only a set amount of money available for my LN Engineering bearing retrofit, and Tony and Tom bent over backwards to work with me and stay within my budget. Once inside the clutch area, we discovered my 7,000 mile old clutch disc was completely worn out (previous owner lived in San Fran); they didn't insist I replace the flywheel and pressure plate, but simply installed a new disc at a reasonable price after inspection of said components revealed all was well. Try that at your Porsche dealer!! My point here is that Callas is maybe not the very cheapest shop you can find, but for God's sake, we are talking Porsches here, not Toyotas. I want people who are the best available, who are well trained and motivated, who have all the correct tools and factory manuals, and finally who have a real racing background. Quit being so damn cheap, step up to the top rung and employ the right people to do the job properly. That old saying that the satisfaction of a cheap price is far outweighed by the peace of mind of paying a little more for quality came from a wise man!!

goofballdeluxe

It says a lot that you care whether a mechanic's floors are clean enough to eat of off. It tells me your priorities may be a little skewed. My car goes to be worked on, not for me to have a gourmet meal on the floor.

If you took the time to actually read my posts, I said nothing about taking my car to a Porsche dealer. Hooked On Phonics is good I hear.

You further degrade your argument by insisting that Tony Callas is the best available, as if he's the only one in town who is. Yes, he is ONE of the best, but there are others in Los Angeles who are equally competent, and priced much less.

As for cheap, maybe you could pony up the $30 or so for a membership, Captain Tightwad.

Thanks for playing

mgianzero

Guys, let's not be unprofessional here. We are all on an equal playing field. We all have the right to post to Rennlist and if we choose to become members, then that is at our discretion. I know that when I joined rennlist, I took a bit of time of reading and posting before I decided to become a member.

Porsches are expensive cars on all aspects ... the purchase, the parts, and the service. Once we become "very" familiar with our cars, we can try and either shop around for "better deals" or try to do some of the work ourselves. To be honest, an oil service, minor tune-up is not that difficult to do if you wish to either save money or want to enjoy performing the work ourselves. I know I do quite a bit of work myself.

I know that Tony is very receptive to our needs as Porsche owners. Sometimes I use him for advice and to look over things, and for the larger projects I have him do it all at his shop. His is a very reasonable guy. Please realize that whether he performs a 10 minute job or a 3-4 hour job, it is his knowledge and expertise you are paying for. Not only has he accumulated a wealth of knowledge over the years as a Porsche mechanic, but he continually educates both himself and all of his employees. I was impressed to hear from some of his workers that Tony continually attends and teaches classes in Porsche/BMW service. He also sends his employees to courses in order to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies. This takes time and money to do. So many other shops do not do any of this.

Goofballdeluxe, have you ever tried using Callas Rennsport for any of your Porsche car needs? I can understand rennlisters wanting to share bad experiences or warning us of shops to stay away from. But here's a shop that has a fantastic reputation and I don't believe you see why Tony charges what he does for his work.

You can go to a local shop for an oil change or the like, but when you need a top end rebuild on your 993, Tony does the most thorough job I've ever witnessed.

Quadcammer

I don't get the hostility at goofball here.

All he's saying is that there are other good air cooled porsche mechanics in that area that are less expensive.

Although you may not have heard of them, they may be as good or better than tony.

The world is big enough for a whole bunch of good shops folks.

goofballdeluxe

As I've said so many times over and over again in this thread, I think Mr. Callas is one of the best 993 mechanics out there. I also feel that one of the major assets to a board like Rennlist is to share information that benefits us all.

If someone, say, found a Porsche part for $145, and I found that same Porsche part for $100, I would imagine that might be useful information for most everyone, and no one would call me cheap, take offense or feel obligated to rush to defend the person selling the same part for more.

And yet, that's my experience with Callas in a nutshell. To answer your question, yes, I TRIED to use Callas for a clutch job a few years ago. I still have his quote to me. Although I think my usual mechanics are great, I was curious to see how competitive their rates on an expensive clutch job stacked up against some other shops in the area that have great reputations. So, I got quotes from many of the other "best" places in town, including Callas, TRE and a few others here in the greater Los Angeles area. I got six quotes in all if I recall correctly.

Again, Mr. Callas is an exceptional mechanic with a well deserved first class reputation. His labor quote to me back a few years ago was $145/hr. My usual mechanic, who is every bit as competent as Mr. Callas at doing a clutch job, and who wound up doing the job, charged at that time $100/hr. On a 15 hour clutch job (which was Mr. Callas quote for time), that right there is nearly a $700 difference on labor alone. Also, on Mr. Callas' parts quote, myself, or my mechanic were able to source parts for less than the prices Mr. Callas was charging on several items.

I don't know an exact amount that I saved buy using my regular mechanic vs. Callas Rennsport, but let's say it was an even $1000. Not an insubstantial amount for the same competent job. Should I even add that my clutch job was done perfectly and has never given me a problem?

All this said, as I've also said before ad nauseum, I still would go to Callas in a heartbeat if I had a major job, such as an engine rebuild, where hiring someone of Mr. Callas' caliber could make a real difference. Personally, I could justify the premium price one would get for his experience in such a case. That said, paying a premium for his ample gifts for something like an oil change would make little sense.

Yes, Mr. Callas is a great mechanic. Yes, Mr. Callas seems like a nice person to me. Yes, Mr. Callas is selfless with his time during those tech sessions he runs. Obviously he can afford to be. All I'm saying is, for me, he charges about $1000 more for the same quality work on a clutch job I could get elsewhere a few years ago, is all. That's it.

I have no qualms letting my Rennlist brothers and sisters know they can get the same quality work for less. Information is power, right? I'm not trying to harm Mr. Callas or his business. As my original post on this thread said, Tony Callas is one of the best 993 mechanics out there. I just wish his prices weren't so much higher than everyone else's in L.A.

mgianzero

There's no hostility here either. I guess it's just the way you read into the what's being said in a forum type medium.

I was merely supporting what Harmony Jim said and I was adding my own story.

Your points are well taken goofballdeluxe. It's always wise to do your research before agreeing to a service agreement. And sometimes that even leads to some savings. Great.