Midwest Eurosport

Decolliber · 03-12-2002, 12:23 PM

Can anyone tell me about experiences with Midwest Eurosport in Bensenville (Chicago), Illinois?

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

Top Notch! ...but found them expensive and hard to get an appointment.

Never heard anyone complain about their service...

DANNOV · 03-12-2002, 05:53 PM

They are always busy. They never return a phone call. They seem to be interested in the racing side of the business and concentrate on a small clique of customers. If you have normal maintenance problems this is not the place to go. Last year I tried to get a price quote on a upgrade to new torsion bars and shocks, not a normal job. This was probably a $3,000+ project, they never got back to me, and I was ready to go. Prior to that I asked them to check out the cost of a mass air flow modification. Again, they never got back to me. I could not believe that they just didn't consider me worthy of their services, despite the fact that each job was in the $2-3,000+ range.

They are good at what they do, but it seems that you have to be in the "inner circle" of customers, most of whom are club racers. If they blow away a $3,000+ job you have to wonder what market they are focusing on. In terms of quality of work, I understand they are first class, but I don't think they pay much attention to their customers unless you are paying mega-bucks and are a steady return, like a racer. I take my work to Peter Fischer in Barrington. They are good, and at least they return phone calls and pay attention to their customers.

Decolliber · 03-12-2002, 06:12 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I finally decided to get a top overhaul and new clutch in my 88 Carrera (oil consumpiton and valve clatter getting too scary), and called several places in the Chicago area. Peter Fischer impressed me and I am taking the car to them Friday. I had no problem getting my phone call returned from Midwest, but they are definitely more expensive. The Porsche dealer in Barrington (Motor Werks) was outrageously expensive, and the guy gave me a very annoying "hard sell" on performance upgrades, like new cams etc. Part of this is that you pay full list prices for parts at a dealer; for example, Motor Werks quoted $1400 for a clutch, Fischer about $600.
I hope I am doing the right thing by only having the top done. Anderson (p.115 of Performance Handbook) says that if the engine is over 70K you should have a full overhaul, but I have also been told (by Sol at Perfect Power) that the bottom end of a Carrera should be good for 200k. I do not know the true mileage of my Carrera but guess it is about 90K or so. Hope I am not being penny wise and pound foolish ...

DANNOV · 03-12-2002, 06:46 PM

Peter Fischer is a fine choice. I have tried most everyone here in the Chicago area and have eliminated them all except Fischer. The Porsche dealers are very expensive and I have some bad experiences with sloppy work; e.g. failure to tighten an oil line that sprayed oil all over my heat exchangers, or using a torch to loosen the oil line fitting in the front wheel well which blistered the paint on my fender. If anyone wants to know the culprit, send me an email.

I don't want to make a big thing about MidWest Euro not answering phone calls, but it is customer service that is lacking - Brian is the problem - and the phone call difficulty is a symptom. They just don't seem to value me as a customer and I hate to constantly have them tell me that they will get back to me, and they never do. I'm not a demanding kind of person but I can tell when someone wants my business. They have a customer base and I'm not part of it. Unfortunately, they are very good at what they do, but you have to grit your teeth to deal with these guys.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

I never experienced problems with phone calls, but always got through or dropped right in to talk. George is who I usually talk to there. Mind you, I've never had any work done there, just heard great reviews from PCA members in Chicago.

They ARE VERY big on up-selling performance mods. I went in to discuss an oil pressure problem and they tried to sell me the whole kita nd kaboodle.. THey were HONEST about it, weren;t trying to pull a fast one, but they do like the up-sell.

Fischer on the other hand does the job you want, does it right, and is very attentive to their customers. They made a mistake once and fixed it free of charge, as well as making a few other corrections "on the house" that I didn;t even know about for my troubles.

I cannot say enough good things about Fischer. Peter and Rick (father and son) are a good way to go.

I considered mentioning all this earlier, but I don't like to be too verbose about these things...

Eurosport is definitely more racecar focused while Fischers are focsed more on street cars. Both of mine go there...