Opinions on Calgary Repair Shops?
Hello, I am a new owner of a 2003 C4S, and intend to take maintenance of my car very seriously. I have done some research and the following shops indicate that they specialize in Porsche, etc. I am mostly looking for a shop to do my oil changes; annual maintenance will certainly be done by Alpine. In passing, I called South Centre and they do the LOF for $250.
I have already heard GREAT things about Alpine, and also good stuff about Riegel, but the other shops are new to me. If you are a Calgarian, your views and input would be appreciated! Alpine AutoWerks marc@alpineautowerks.com 4509 1 ST SE Calgary, Alberta T2G-2L2 Telephone: (403)-287-9114 Fax: (403)-287-9165 Two Square Auto Repair 204 40th Ave. NE Calgary, AB T2E-2M7 403.571.3650 servicedesk@germancarspecialist.com Fax: 403.571.3657 Calgary Autoworks Phone - 403.243.9661 Fax - 403.243.9603 Email - info@calgaryautoworks.com Riegel Tuning 5330 1a St SW Calgary , AB , T2H1Y5 Phone - (403) 255-6787 Fax - (403) 255-2779 Sheni’s Auto Trend 5306 - 3rd Street SE Calgary, Alberta T2H 1J8 Telephone: 403-243-3232 Fax: 403-243-3100 http://www.shenisautotrend.com |
Alpine and Riegel are Porsche specialists. Two Square and Sheni's from what I have heard are Audi and BMW oriented shops. I've been to both Alpine and Riegel and enjoy them both, currently go to Riegel with my air cooled 911.
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I dealt with Riegel this summer for a leakdown/compression and general inspection on a '97 993TT. They were spot on in terms of detail but it didn't come cheap ! The days of independents coming with a reduced shop labour rate are gone (or maybe it is just the out of control cost of living in Calgary). Just under $900 for the full inspection !!
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Had an oil change on my 87' in the fall at Riegel. Asked for (actually was offered) a quote on some other work over the winter that I was going to do, never heard back, not a peep. Nice customer service. I am sure they know their stuff but I will defenitly need to think about using them again.
Rod, |
Wht about Southcenter? are they good or like Calgary BMW
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Spender:
I've used Alpine for a couple of years, and have received excellent service. |
Consider Rob at Tunerworks as well...great guy. http://www.tunerworks.com/
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I took my 996 in to diagnose some brake noise and a front end squeek, dropped it off early and went to the mall. Received a call from the girl up front saying they found some leaks that should be addressed and I said yes fine and asked about the other issues MAINLY the front end squeek( I should add that I had just purchased the car and the front end squeeks so bad that you can hear it for blocks.) Everytime we talked I emphasized how much I NEED that squeek gone. She called back and said that there is no squeek but there are issues with my headlights, I asked her if the shop could just put in an hour for the lights but please fixed the squeek... She again tells me there is no squeek and I tell her " ya it must be in the bushings or controls arm or something" , she tells me " yyyeeah, we don't know what your taking about... this car has no bushings so we don't know what you mean." I say " whatever it is, please just fix it... im not a mechanic and not overly familiar with these cars". So when I get the call she say's " Your car is done!" I head to Reigel's shop to get a bill for work done... Which is all good and she reads me the total. I ask " what about the squeek in the front end?" She tells me that there in fact is no squeek but my car has been in a serious accident and basically I got ripped off buying this car. I realize Im getting absolutly no where and as I leave the shop shaking my head, I open the door and even the weight of my just sitting down in the car it makes enough noise squeeking for anyone in a 50 meter radius to hear clearly. I researched this problem on my own and found ( in about 2 minutes) it to be common issue with the control arm in these 996's ... Some people even refer to it as a "bushing" problem. Im not sure of this ladies credentials as a Porsche mechanic but I would never recommend this place. I was fairly disgusted driving away with my squeeking front end and shaking my head at what a bunch of total idiots must be in the back of this place! Took it home and fixed it myself following a youtube video HA! I had asked if they could advise me of a maint. plan or what I should do with a car this age, km etc to which she again went on some tangent about my headlights. I had also asked to have my rotors REPLACED if they needed it (qoute, scheduled apt etc) and she basically said after it all... "ya they will need to be replaced, we can order them in if you like"... Like wtf?!?! This was AFTER I payed my bill!! A year later and it still gets my blood boiling!!!
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I have my worst customer service experience EVER with South Center (now Porsche Center Calgary). I have a five page letter ready to send to Porsche North America. Unbelievably bad.
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I have owned Porsches for over 30 years in Calgary and these are my observations, !) Alpine are technically the best and fairest shop in in Calgary, especially for air cooled models 2) Riegel is competent but expensive. 3) Decent for the newer models and warranty work.
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Sorry to dig up an old thread but just wanted to contribute my thoughts on one of the shops mentioned.
I took my car to riegal earlier this year to get an alignment after replacing inner and outer tie-rods. Before the alignment even started I got a call from the shop (female caller) looking to upsell an oil and filter job. I said no thanks, just do what I asked. Picked the car up later that day and paid the near 300$ for the alignment ($$$). Drove the car for a couple months with a steering wheel not properly centered and poor handling before taking it for another alignment (somewhere else). Second shop told me it looked like the car had never been aligned after tie-rod replacement. Sounded about right. My feeling from first crack was that Riegal is for friends and Ferrari's. The prices are high because they don't give a **** about one-off business. I was uneasy after the upsell call but was in a tough spot. Turns out I would have been better off to trust my gut and drive the car away after the marketing call. Two thumbs down. |
Haven't had them work on my car, but I bought several parts of of Marc at Alpine, really nice guy, was a pleasure to deal with.
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I cannot recommend Riegel. They charged $28k for a complete engine rebuild that needed redone one year later.
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Sorry to dig this up again, but I was looking at Edmonton, and am now taking a look at Calgary. Info still relevant in this thread?
I have a 1999 C4 |
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