Caveman

Hi Guys,


Autostrasse - Porsche servicing garage - I've had excellent experiences with them. They are based in Coggeshall, Essex, and advertise in 911 World. I would trust anything that they say They are especially good with the more mature 911 and have some good self-made tools to deal with thorny issues like separating oil pipes from thermostats so that you do not need to replace all the pipes.

Clark and Carter - Restoration/crash repairs - I've used them twice and they do excellent work. They love 911s and will take very good care of all cars. Based in Braintree, Essex, and advertised in 911 World. Steve Clarke will go the extra mile for you.

Gert Carnewal - we all know Gert and I can vouch for his hard won reputation.

JZ Machtech - Porsche servicing garage - Very professional and good service; quite trustworthy. Large for an independent so they are not quite so personal as some garages. Maybe now that I've got a 993 I just don't need to visit garages so often!

Has anyone else got different ideas about the above or want to add some?

Cheers,

David

Taffy

Just wanna add a little, heard good reports about the others, no major horror stories here - except on a rebuild of my supersport gearbox yonks ago..

Used Gert a number of times, spot on, first class service but pick a good day for the exchange rates

Not sure of others experiences, just want to add something about Paragon - always had good work, polite service and a track day to boot..
Oh yeah, Tech9, got my TechArt bits there- a good friendly knowledgeable sales service (obviously) but wasn't too chuffed with the guys putting the bits on, whats that word, arrogant maybe it was a bad day, dunno.

Well thats me, any others out there??

Rgds.

Wikkid911

I was going to keep quiet on this but im not happy with Tech-9. I think I just got in the way of their racing. I went there and paid £1800, yes £1800 for them to rectify an oil leak, THAT I STILL HAD when they had finished the job. TOSSERS!
I hate to burn bridges and all that but NEVER AGAIN will i pay for them to eat steak pies or whatever it was they were doing when they should have been fixing my car.

There, sorry it was so blunt but BOY am I pissed with them. over 1 year later.

tonytaylor

Was my feelings exactly.

John Boggiano

Tech9 is my 'current' workshop.

They are very handy for me as they are so close. The people I know there seem OK and I trust them, but...

It always irks slightly that, in addition to funding peoples' wages and the overheads of the place, as a customer, I am also financing a chunk of the racing.

Oh and, yes, that racing does relegate the customer to second place. I once fell out with them (long time ago) over this and they simply couldn't/wouldn't see why I was offended by it.

JohnM

I've been very pleased with work done by Pete Tognola at Tognola Engineering, especially alignment. He's in Datchet, Berks, 01753 545053.

Also had good service from G-Force Motorsport in Aylesbury, Alan Wright is the man to talk to there on 01296 434084 (Alan also organises a couple of Porsche autojumbles each year).

On the OPC front Lancaster Cambridge have serviced my car for the last 50k miles and always done a good job. Also get good discounts on parts bought from them, usually 15 - 25%.

C2MED

Autobann/PCT combo did my brakes for me a while ago, seemed to have done a good job. About to take the car there for a service. Anybody tried them?

tonytaylor

Hartech serviced my 944S2 for 3yrs and were excellant and cheap throughout. Barry Hart is a clever bloke who the experts ask for info on 924/944/968 `s. Recommended
9M (ninemeister/9330 motorsport) have done loads of work/mods to my 964 without any problems after. Very friendly and helpful in lending parts etc to keep me going. Highly competitive labour rates and no rip off parts prices. Colin has encyclopedic knowledge of 964`s. Robin is good for alignments as well. Sometimes a bit of a wait though ( new ramps coming soon may help )

Surj-993C2S

hey - I just found this place (thats all I need, somewhere else to spend time at work when should be working!!

Anyway, my tuppence:

Porsche Colchester - brilliant: they dont adhere to the OPC ethic of 'dont repair - replace' and they have only done essential work, putting off jobs that can wait. Andrew Welsh is the man to speak to there.

Porsche Cambridge (this is the long one!) - cant believe they're part of the same group as Colchester (and I've told Colchester that on many occasion!). Went there first almost 3 years ago, accompanying a mate who wanted to test drive a 996. Put my name down as interest for any 993's they might get. The sales guy was a - never heard anything from them about that.
A year later, my brother wants to buy a 996 C4 Cab - so we go to Cambridge again (thinking that maybe I was just unlucky the last time) - my brother's arranged a test drive. We get there, they dont have a car for us to test drive - the guy has no interest in my brother who WANTS TO BUY A CAR NOW and he almost spits in disgust when I mention that I'm still interested in a 993. Fast forward to December 2002 and I have my 993 but no locking wheel nuts so I go to Cambridge as its nearest place I know of on a Saturday morning. get there at 12.30 - hang around - no one gives a toss. Ask the nice lady at reception who seems totally peeed off that I had the audacity to ask for help. "Service is closed - sorry". Short and sweet answer - I walked out thanking her so much for her help. I have never and will never have any dealings with them again

Anyway - Gert - totally fabulous. Great guy, great deals and great stuff.

Type911 - have got stuff sent in the post from them before - no problem.

JZ - only been there once - they seem alright. They dont like Robins RSRs tho!!

C2MED

Did they say why they don't like the RSR?

Surj-993C2S

Yeah - "hollowed out tin can" I think Steve called it!! Its his opinion and he's entitled to it I still like the guy and respect him for being honest about his feelings towards it.

Riccardo

Gosh, I have a long list so I shall be brief:

service:
JZM - Very good, effective service, not too pricey but keep an eye out that they don't get carried away and you're landed with an (unexpected) £2.5 bill! Jonas very friendly, Steve less so, make sure you get confirmations of your Saturday appointments as I had a couple of issues with these. The place to get engine rebuilds etc.

GT1 - Very friendly small garage, they love Porsches and will easily chat with you for ages. Better value than JZM on generally most items and highly commended by a number of 964 owners.

Chelsea Carrera - Seemed very friendly and keen, only used them once but would trust them for normal servicing etc but maybe not for major work. Being in Fulham they're a bit expensive but still not too bad compared to others in that area.

Jaz Porsche - Not so impressed with the customer care (I saw them crash a 3.2 into a 993, the muppets) but seemed to know their stuff. Have a mate who takes his 993GT2 there so can't be that bad!

9Meister - Only know Colin via email, he seems a top guy who is genuinely into his 911s and is willing to spend his time to help for free. Takes a big slant towards performance tuning and his motto must be 'Motec or die'!. Would go there if I lived in the North.

Tognola - Met him once at a track day in his 993 RS CS, thus clearly another enthusiast of the marque, no idea how his shop works though.

sales:
Oakhills - Not reccommended, Daniel was pushy and didn't instill that trust you'd expect from someone selling you a Porsche. Cars suspiciously shiny, didn't let me test drive, no service receipts available. They offer a 1yr warranty bet thats useless though.

Portiacraft - Also not reccommended, went there twice and the owner didn't even bother getting the keys to open the boot of a 968 cab I was looking at. Doubt they'd be more scruplous once they sold you a car and you need a new engine after 4 weeks!

parts:
Bert Gear - Has many many original parts in stock, trustworthy and quick reliable service. A man of few words but reccommended.

Euro Car Parts - Ok for simple things like lights, batteries, wipers etc, good service if you go there in person.

Tito

Hi,

Heres my 2 euros worth...

OPC HR Owen Staples Corner - friendly, but did not seem to know there stuff. There was more than one occasion when I had to tell them what was wrong after consulting Rennlist. I think they have had a change of staff since then - but I have not had enough confidence in them to go back - I did not want newbies learning on my car. And they did the Saturday parts dept thing to me to - not good PR - C$$"### !

OPC HR Owen Hatfield - part of the same group - seem alittle more together. Did my wiring harness and a service. Wasn't too chuffed when a bit of the heat ducting iunder neath came off following the service - but they fixed this ( a clip ) with out making a fuss. The service manager seems to be enthusiastic about Porsche.

GT1 I have good things to say about them , others have not ( Rob where are you?). They serviced my car and it felt sorted afterward. They did my alignment and for the first time the handling was spot on ( the alignment had been done 2x prior to this by HR Owen Staples corner - with out sorting it and they were not keen to try to fix it). GT1 love Porsches and it comes across. I would continue to use there services but getting there and back by pubic transport is painful. Handy if you live in Surrey.

I have used JZ to re gas my aircon - they dispelled the myth that 993 does not do air well I was satisfied. BTW HR Owen had re gassed the air con 2x prior with no noticable effect. Jonas seems enthusiastic about Porsche. But the place seems too big and wants to be a pseudo OPC - their ad campaign if anything puts me off - we all know that servicing etc costs an arm and a kidney or two - pretending that it wont - does not instill trust but to be fair I have not used them for this - but I doubt that they will be significantly cheaper - if they were I would wonder why?

Tyres - I thoroughly recommend Wembly Hill Tyres - 0208 459 6191. Macus is/was a Porsche nut. I paid £700 for a set of S02a all in fitted. Apparently he supplies tyres to most of the OPC in the area (his words). Interesting I got the number from OPC staples Corner ( I was in a rush once) who were happily charging me well over double - but they did do the fitting themselves !!?

Costco do Michelin tyres at a good price with fitting but I have not used them. You do need to give them time to get the tyre in though.

euro car parts do bits and pieces - recently changed my window switch and fuel relay - parts seemed genuine.

Hope this helps.

Tito.

emilios

I' ve so far dealt with TYPE 911 who offers a trully fast service, knowledgeable, friently efficient. The same goes with Specialist Cars of Malton - superb!

Caveman

JZ Machtech gave me a set of cores so that I could get RSRs and they said the same thing about them sounding like empty cans (Steve). However, they did admit that they sounded better than most of the other exhausts that they had heard (e.g. TechArt) but obviously thought that their Roock exhausts were better (if a little pricier!).

I've just done a feature shoot for 911 World which gives a mention to the RSRs. Fame at last!

Cheers,

David