Jay Cay

I'm 45 years of age and I have owned many cars in my lifetime. And yet I still haven't found a garage that I'm happy leaving my car with. My 987CS has been my return to owning a Porsche after driving a modified 2005 MINI Cooper S for quite a while. In my MINI I ended up doing most of the work on the car myself because I didn't trust any other garage near me to work on it. I keep my cars very clean and pampered, but that doesn't mean they don't get driven properly.

But now that I'm back in a Porsche I decided to maintain the good service history the car has by getting a local Porsche specialist to do the work on my car. Unfortunately now that my Porsche has come back from the garage, I've had to spend half a day cleaning it and trying to get greasy hand and foot prints off the paintwork, mats, seats and interior panels. Surely this is not acceptable? I would have thought the very least that a garage should do is put a seat cover on and lay paper on the mats before climbing into my pride and joy with their greasy overalls ad muddy boots? Or am I expecting too much?

PelicanParts.com

I think that's a very reasonable assertion - kind of surprising that more care wasn't taken when working on your car. Where are you located? We'd be happy to recommend a shop for future maintenance.


-Dmitry

Jay Cay

Thanks. I'm in the UK though in the SE London / North Kent area.

extanker

and i will state you will never find a garage that you like........or a garage that likes you

Jay Cay

To be honest, I'm not that concerned whether they like me or not. I'm not looking for a drinking buddy, I'm looking for a garage to work on my car for a fair price whilst treating it with the same level of respect and care that I treat it with. To be fair any garage I take my car to is going to try and make money from me. They're not going to work on my car for free so whether they like me really isn't that important is it?

PelicanParts.com

Hello, I had someone reach out to our UK colleague and he suggested Paragon in East Sussex - that's the only one he knows of around your area and one that he trusts. Hope this helps!


-Dmitry

DBH

I'd suggest you join the local Porsche car club. No doubt the members will have recommendations for tried and true shops. If still in doubt, visit the shop take a look around and chat with the owner and/or techs. Keep in mind that a highly qualified/knowledgeable tech is worth his weight in gold.

rusnak

Dmitry is trying really hard.

I think that deserves recognition and respect.

PelicanParts.com

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words - just trying to help a fellow enthus!


-Dmitry

ejdoherty911

"I've had to spend half a day cleaning it and trying to get greasy hand and foot prints off the paintwork, mats, seats and interior panels. Surely this is not acceptable?"

No it's not acceptable. If anything the car should be returned cleaner than when you dropped it off. Next time before you drop off the car tell them it was returned filthy and that's not acceptable. Get them to acknowledge up front the car will be returned to you spotless.

TMc993

If I were in this situation, there wouldn't be a "next time" for me.

Fair or not, I would always suspect that if they didn't take the care to do any better than what was described in terms of keeping the car clean, there's a good chance they didn't take the care to do a very good job servicing the car.

I'd find another shop.

Turbodan

go back to mini....just kidding.
I would discuss it with the shop on the phone and see what they say. Mistakes happen and you should give them a chance to fix it. If they don't seem to care on the phone move on to the next shop and discuss it with them beforehand. You shouldn't need to but you could drop the car off with cover over the seat and mats.

Jay Cay

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have only just received email notification informing me that people had replied to this thread.

Thank you for taking the time to find a recommended garage in my area Dmitry.

Prior to allowing this garage to work on my car I did discuss my requirements for my car being treated with the same care that I treat it with, but obviously the garage say all the right things and then pay no attention once they have the work.
I recently found myself in a situation that forced me to use this garage again. I was pleasantly surprised when I picked my car up and the bill was less than they quoted me. I took the car straight home and began cleaning off the greasy foot/handprints again. Only this time I discovered that one of my front wheels has been kerbed along a third of the circumference of the wheel! No wonder they reduced the bill for no obvious reason. It was however clear that they had tried to tidy up the scrape on my wheel to make it less obvious.
To be honest, I did plan on having my wheels stripped back and powder-coated properly because it's clear they've been refurbished badly in the past by one of the mobile type refurbishers that just sands down the face of the wheel and sprays it. But to knowingly damage my car and fail to inform me about it has just stopped me from ever using this garage again. I have also ordered disposable seat covers, steering wheel covers and paper floor mats, which I will keep one of each in the car in for the next garage that ever has to work on my car.