mikymu

I learn to work on cars in high school because I can't stand seeing my parents getting rip off at various auto repair shop. Unfortunately this practice continues now days even in highly reputable shops and many with great racing pedigrees. It continues to amaze me the price difference from shop to shop and how often people get rip off for simple projects. For example, I was quoted on labor cost for a tranny removal for LSD repair any where from $1800 to $3000 and CV boot replacement from $150 to $300. Labor rate can be any where from $65 to $200 per hour.

I look high and low and finally found Jay at Jarvas Autosports to service my Cup car. last week they replace my broken CV boot, clean and repack CV joint, bleed clutch, fiber optic scope the clutch to check life, fix my brake bias cable, corner balance, fix reverse cable on sequential, nut and bolt the Cup car. I was prepare for at least 8 hours labor but my bill came in at 4.25 hours at $80 per hour or $340 total! Another shop quoted $300 just for CV boot replacement!?

Many motorsports shops charge extortionately rate due to their racing heritage. The more race they win the more they charge. Some even resort to dishonest practice such as using old parts or over charge. Jay's shop was full of trophies from various race wins working as crew chiefs he is running out of room to hang it and his hourly rate was $80.

We need to have a system where members on this forum can post their feedback on various shops such as the one seen on google or amazon as follow:

XYZ Motorsports
3.5 out of 5 stars (depends on number of forum member feedback)
Pro: Great service, honest and clean
Cons: Bit pricey and not open on weekend

Motorsports shop can use this rating system as means of feedback to improve their business and forum members can be better guided with their service selection. We can have categories such as body/paint, general repair, alignment, tires/wheel, brakes, motorsports/racing etc. and have west coast, central and east coast sections along with Europe and Asia locations.

What do you guys think? I will volunteer to collected the data through PM or post reply. Other car forums have similar thread with very good recommendations.

ukrbmw

That is a great idea! Probably best to split it up by region and have folks chime in. If nothing else it would help smaller shops get better exposure if they are providing quality service at a good rate.

ATL Fahrer

I'm in and will be happy to provide data!

fc-racer

I'd be happy to provide feedback on two fantastic shops in Canada: EU Autowerks (www.euautowerks.com) in Ontario and Weissach Performance in B.C. (www.weissach.com). I've used both shops since 1996 and have always had a great experience at a reasonable price; more importantly, both companies are run by real enthusiasts.

jbigelow

Great idea Mike!!!!

mikymu

Great guys. Looks like there are interest to get something going. Will wait for more feedback and ideas before I start an official shop rating thread with something like this:

Regions (Noth America, Canada, South America, Europe, Asia etc)
Cataglories (race shops, paint/body, interior, clear bra, general repair, tires, wheels, dealers ... etc)

Shop ratings:

XYZ motorsports
web link
Stars rating (0 to 5)
Pros
Cons
Shop direct feedback (this gives the shop a chance to answer concerns and improve)
summary (subjective summary)
Feedback post (will list all the feedback by post# or PM ... perhaps pdf files and update as needed)

Glock Guru

I like the idea too. Also by region; Country, state, city, ect. or area of country. I would also say only members can post and must have a minimum of say 25 posts prior to avoid "right out the box" flame wars. Also an opportunity for the "Shop" to fix the problem and make it right. Post positive and negative feedback.

-Troy

mikymu

Very good suggestions Troy. I think we need to to filter the rating system to some degree to avoid flame war etc. I post the same suggestion on 6speed and immediately some guy join the forum this month with 5 post counts start to attack my idea. Guess, we won't be bring our car to his shop lol

I thought of this idea to help forum member guide our service and mod decision which can save everyone alot of fraustration, time and money. Honest and highly regarded shops will continue to enjoy healthy relationship with their customers and it is also a chance to show case smaller mom and pop store with great service philosophy

Glock Guru

Don't get me wrong, I like a flame war as much as the next guy. If a shop does not step up and do the right thing after being given an opportunity to do so, gloves are off. However if the shop gets in front of the problem and states there policies (good or bad) so be it. Now you know for next time, take it or leave it.

-Troy

mikymu

That is very true. Nothing gets me more work up than dishonest shops. I have no problem if a tech make a mistake as long as they own up to it. One of my local shop cross the battery charger and burn my Cup car wires, He told me what happended and had everything fixed. That did not bother me a bit since he was honest and fix the problem ... we all make mistakes. Flame wars can often turn ugly and will hurt more than help a shop rating system posted by establish forum members. Yes, we need to list the good and the bad but some how do it in a constructive way.

ChrisF

Love the idea. Would the collected data for an individual vendor be cumulative or multiples (i.e. a single average review or many)? I ask because I'm curious how a situation like the one that played out on these pages recently with a major Socal tuning shop would be handled relative to this system. Thank you for volunteering too!

spare tire

I would like to say a few nice words about shops with high prices. I just came home from a PCA Club race weekend at Road America and wandered back to the track at 11:00 pm from Siebkins bar. There at one of the garages sat a 06 cup car with it's hood up and half inside but the car outside in the rain. The mechanic was standing in the front trunk on a towel so as to not scratch the tub and it also soaked up the water off of the windshield. He didn't start the job earlier because it was a fuel pump problem and back at his shop in Madison there was lots of new pumps and parts as most get yanked when new for fuel cells set ups. It wasn't a super difficult job buit it took time to drain the cell of fuel, pull out the pump, and then investigate why ist wasn't working correctly. The box of fuel pumps was full of parts and the nipples and wiring to them seems to change every couple of years so there is no way to carry all the spare parts for all the model years. By 12:30 a.m. it was back together and he dumped a jug of fuel back in and went for a test drive around the paddock. then he parked the car back under the customer's tent, locked up the garage and went home or back to the hotel @ 1:00. All so the customer could race the next day. As I have camped at the track many years, I have seen guys working late fixing cars, sometimes the owner of the shop and sometimes an employee. Such a system as reviewing shop "quality of service" could inflate costs to us and the shop with the best PR person wins rather than the shop with the most ability or integrity. The work done often cannot be seen on the repair bill.

mikymu

Hey Chris

Here is what I propose. Each shop will get their own thread when you click on the XYZ motorsports on the master shop rating thread to collect feedback from forum members. You can look at it as a tweet or facebook page on rennlist for the shop involved. Each post under XYZ motorsports will give forum members an opportunity to share their experience be it good, neutral or bad with a final star rating. I will subscribe to each post and tally up the star counts and update the master list from time to time. This will not only promote involvement of various shop with customer service and will bring more traffic to rennlist and possibly more sponsors. We do need to emphasize that the rating system is for rennlist member's benefit and feedback will only be counted if the posting member meet certain requirement such as being on the forum for 1 month with at least 30 posts to weed out unwanted "hackers". Shops and vendor has to abide by rennlist rules which again will encourage more sponsorship if they want to be involve with customer feedback. Flame wars will be discouraged and feedback from members involved in heated arguments will not be counted since it will not be unbiased. We do encourage members to exhaust all means to resolved issues with shops and vendors before posting angry threads ... which some times can not be avoided.

What do you think?

Yes, this will be the perfect feedback for a shop and I would imagine a 5/5 star rating

ChrisF

I think that's all good. I have some more ideas but will mull them over and post tonight. I think the min post count should be mandatory and be higher as I have seen A LOT of fanboi bolstering on this and other forums. Personally, I find that type of behavior reprehensible.

On another forum I used to be involved in, vendors would have to pay to be sponsors and as a benefit they got their own sub forum for reviews, comments, specials, etc. Worked pretty well but the only problem is that the moderators then overprotected them from criticism. There's a balance to be found when those being criticized are paying customers.

mikymu

Agree. I will work hard to make sure the rating system function in ways to avoid angry negative flame wars and be fair to everyone involved be it sponsor shops or not. The rating system is mainly for forum member's benefit and I can see how great shops can really thrive in this environment. It is much like a news company where the integrity of the "news" has to protected even if AT&T or PG&E happen to pay $1.5 million to run a 15 seconds commercial.