You be the judge....Maryland area repair shop

[unvinrougesvp]

Just off the phone with Tif's in Annapolis - have not had such a laugh in some time. Quoted me 8 hours to perform a leak-down and compression test on a 993 I am considering to buy, then got snotty when I questioned it - real professional. All this for only $880....

Then called a local Porsche dealer who quoted me 3 hours for the same job and another indy referred to me by Hunt Valley Porsche who wanted 2 hours. Both are in-line with similar tests I have had performed elsewhere, including on my Ferrari Boxer with twice the cylinders.

I usually don't post this sort of thing, but it simply amazes me how some shops, competent they may be, can take advantage of unsuspecting owners willing to bend over and open their wallet. I am fortunate enough to do most of my own work, however I don't have the equipment for a leak-down test, therefore must be subjected to this when looking to diagnose the condition of a motor.

[msk1986911]

I've had nothing but good experience with Tif's. Your best bet, if you are in or near Annapolis, is to drop by and actually meet the guy. The free advice he gave was outstanding...he really knows these cars. Could it be that they provided a worse case scenario? Whenever I've called or stopped by, they look to be very busy. I don't know that many Porsche owners would go back if he wasn't good and reasonable. Ralph's in Owings Mills is also a good shop.

[Neilk]

You can't sell any parts on a PPI.

It sounds like they didn't want the job so they quoted you a ridiculous price knowing you would go elsewhere.

[Por_sha911]

"Tif's" as is Tri-Tech on Hudson St?

[SXSMAN]

Originally Posted by Neilk

You can't sell any parts on a PPI.

It sounds like they didn't want the job so they quoted you a ridiculous price knowing you would go elsewhere.

Just wondering..........

is this your view of this
shop or all shops in general ?


The price is way out of line though .

SxS

[Mo_Gearhead]

QUOTE: "Just wondering..........is this your view of this shop or all shops in general ?"
____________________

You sound surprised?

This can happen not only with auto shops, but other types of businesses.
I know a contractor that is very busy, but if someone wants to pay him 2 or 3 times his going rate, he WILL work you in.

[VFR750]

Did you try GT Performance in Edgewood? Gennady Soykher did my PPI a few years ago. $120.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Mo_Gearhead

QUOTE: "Just wondering..........is this your view of this shop or all shops in general ?"
____________________

You sound surprised?

This can happen not only with auto shops, but other types of businesses.
I know a contractor that is very busy, but if someone wants to pay him 2 or 3 times his going rate, he WILL work you in.

I am an electrical contractor and 99.9% of my work is commercial. Every once in awhile I get a call for a residential job. To be polite, I will visit with the homeowner and spend time explaining the job and their options. Then, I give them a HUGE estimate...priced ridiculously high, just so I don't have to do the job (existing residential work sucks). One or two times out of ten, they'll accept the estimate...

[304065]

It depends on the engine but a DIYer can do a leakdown the first time in two hours. A professional should spend about an hour on it, that's ten minutes per cylinder.

Remove spark plugs. Admittedly this can be very difficult, particularly on the later cars and turbos. Remove distributor cap. Insert "whistler" in #1 spark plug hole. Crank engine to #1 TDC on the compression stroke so that notch in distributor aligns with rotor. Insert compressed air adaptor in cylinder, apply pressure, note reading, remove air adaptor, repeat procedure on #2, etc.

[Garnetredcoupe]

Originally Posted by VFR750

Did you try GT Performance in Edgewood? Gennady Soykher did my PPI a few years ago. $120.

A bunch of PCA guys use GTP, I wouldn't hesitate to have a PPI or work performed on my car by them.

[ljowdy]

You said you do a lot of your own work, so why not buy a leak down tester from Harbor Freight for $40.00 and do it yourself. I bought their tester and it work great. I don't think I would want to use of 100 cylinders per day but for that occasional test, it's well worth the 40 bucks.

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by ljowdy

You said you do a lot of your own work, so why not buy a leak down tester from Harbor Freight for $40.00 and do it yourself. I bought their tester and it work great. I don't think I would want to use of 100 cylinders per day but for that occasional test, it's well worth the 40 bucks.

I wouldn't let someone do their own PPI on my car. Sure they could look at it and jack it up, but I wouldn't want them to start playing with spark plugs or taking things apart..

[ljowdy]

Why not? So long as you were there to supervise the event what's the big deal? Besides, a leak down and compression test is only a very small part of a true PPI. Lots of shops like to advertise that they do PPI's when in fact, it's no more than the used car manager does when you trade in your car. I'd be happy to supervise anyone that wanted to do a leak down or compression test, provided it was done in my garage.

[call911]

Originally Posted by msk1986911

I've had nothing but good experience with Tif's. Your best bet, if you are in or near Annapolis, is to drop by and actually meet the guy. The free advice he gave was outstanding...he really knows these cars. Could it be that they provided a worse case scenario? Whenever I've called or stopped by, they look to be very busy. I don't know that many Porsche owners would go back if he wasn't good and reasonable. Ralph's in Owings Mills is also a good shop.

I second Ralph's Auto Service in Reisterstown, MD. He has been working on Porsche since 1968. His shop is full of everything from early 356's to 996's.

Extremely nice, very competent, and I find to be much more reasonably priced than others I have used in DC/Balt. Who says you can't have all 3?!

[Wickd89]

$880. Thats funny. Think I paid around $260 for mine 2 years ago.

There was a shop here in Orange, CA called Steves Independent that was similar attitude. I went buy looking for a good mechanic after I bought my Porsche and the owner was such a dick.
He acted like he was running a factory shop and did not need any more business. He had a great shop and I had heard he did great work, but a dick is a dick is a dick.. Life is too short not to have a great relationship with your mechanic.

Since then, I found a real independent that knows everything about every 911 (Randy in Orange) and sometimes I swing by his shop just to see whats up.

Pick a good shop for the PPI. They might become your best bud!

[Joe Bob]

Free money is free money....if yer stoopid enuff to pay it there are people who are willing to take it from ya......

[FinallyGotOne]

DANNY OCEAN:
"I am an electrical contractor and 99.9% of my work is commercial. Every once in awhile I get a call for a residential job. To be polite, I will visit with the homeowner and spend time explaining the job and their options. Then, I give them a HUGE estimate...priced ridiculously high, just so I don't have to do the job (existing residential work sucks). One or two times out of ten, they'll accept the estimate...
"WELL i DON'T KNOW YOU, SO i WON'T HAMMER YOU HERE, BUT REALLY, YOUR ADMITTING THAT YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF UNSUSPECTING CONSUMERS. YOU ARE THE PROFESSIONAL THEREFORE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO RESIDENTIAL, THEN JUST SAY THAT.
Would you like it if a mortgage guy quoted your 4 points on a refi because he "usually" does commercial lending?
I hope you were just kidding, it's funny you say you are being "polite" to come meet them just to drill them with a huge estimate...
anyways, SOUNDS LIKE THE SHOP MISUNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS REQUESTED?

[berettafan]

Danny's comments are spot on with just about every contractor i know. if you are a) busy or b) don't want the job you quote so damn high that you'll be whistling on your way to and from the job.


Annapolis is the 'ooh look at me in my benz with my labradoodle on my way to go for a ride on my fancy sailboat' center of Maryland and it's not terribly surprising that a shop in that area quoted such a stupid high price.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Danny's comments are spot on with just about every contractor i know. if you are a) busy or b) don't want the job you quote so damn high that you'll be whistling on your way to and from the job.
.

I hate to even comment. This thread really serves little purpose. But Danny exhibits poor form, IMHO. I'm a contractor as well, but I'm sick of it, mainly because people like Danny have poisoned the well.

As for the shop, maybe the better way would have been to say they didn't have an appointment available for 2-3 weeks. On a PPI, I would think that would be too long to wait on a sale.

Also, I have to totally agree that any PPI done on any car I sell will be done only by a mutually agreed upon shop. There are two main reasons for this: one, the shop will fix anything they break (I would hope, anyway) and have insurance in case something drastic happens, and two, they are an independent third party.

Think about this: a fuel pump is suspected so a fuel pressure test is in order. A fire breaks out as a result of some anomaly. Do I want this to happen in some hack's driveway?

[ljowdy]

HACK? A leak down test is a far cry from a full blown PPI