Are Porsche Specialist Repair Shops disappearing???

[jluetjen]

I live in the Boston area, hardly 3rd world.

I was recently shopping to have some potentially engine out service done on my 986 (posted on a different thread). I called the shop that had done good work on a clutch replacement last year, but due to some illnesses with the shop staff, a departure or two, and also the demands of the other classic sports cars that they work on -- they couldn't do it.

He gave me the name of a couple of other well established Porsche specialists in the area, because he didn't want to send me to a shop where "they were going to be practicing on my car".

I tried calling the first shop. I got a phone intercept. I looked up their website and couldn't find it. I did a quick google maps search, and it said "temporarily closed". I did a google search and after some digging discovered that the owner had died last year, and the shop was gone.

I tried the 2nd shop. Similar story.

I happen to live near BelMetric (uncompensated endorsement!) who is a fairly large distributor of metric hardware. I stopped there to pick-up some hard-to-find bolts for a different project, and ran into the owner. We started talking, and I mentioned my experience. He invited me into the back office and he and his son brainstormed on which of their customers would be able to help me. The conversation went like this...

Company A? Oh, he died a couple of hears ago.
Company B? Oh, he died too.
Company C out in Fitchburg? Oh, lovely couple owned that shop, but they retired.
... and so on.

There were also a number of other shops mentioned, but they could best be described as shops that did oil-changes and regular service. An engine drop was most likely past their comfort zone.

I grew up during the "Air-Cooled" Porsche era, when a number of specialist shops were opened by guys who had been trained during the late 1960's and 1970's. Those shops grew and became well established during the 1990's and early 2000's, and pretty much dominated the Porsche repair shop market. I'm now a handful of years from retirement age, which means all of those guys have either retired or passed on. If there was no heir apparent to take over those shops, they're closing.

Is this just a local trend, or are other people seeing a similar situation?

Are new Porsche specialist repair shops opening?

[ammonman]

Shops that will work on "classic" cars period are disappearing. The owners are retiring and there are not many younger folks getting into the trade or who have the passion to work on old cars. The few shops I know of that I would trust are all booked 3-6 months out.

[MrBonus]

Yes. One of my local Porsche specialists just recently stopped servicing air cooled cars altogether.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by ammonman

Shops that will work on "classic" cars period are disappearing. The owners are retiring and there are not many younger folks getting into the trade or who have the passion to work on old cars. The few shops I know of that I would trust are all booked 3-6 months out.

Same here in Portland. My current air cooled guy (VW and Porsche trained) is 78 yrs old and who knows when he will leave the game. There are a few other shops but the old timers are slowly going away with no "padawans" being trained to replace them.

FWIW, it is the same story for my XKE.

[yelcab1]

Before long, your 986 will become a classic and the specialists working on those will too be retiring. Hell, I work on Porsches and I am 64 years old. I figure I have another 5 years before I don't want to do it anymore. That will be the day.

[proporsche]

I`m 65 doing this job since 1985 honestly, i stoped working back LA on 928,924.-(i did not like the antifreeze in my sleeves.)...
mainly 911 all years past 38 years....i figure i can do it till 75..no problem here;-) it is just a hobby for me....and beer money---
here is where i started back in 1985 as a fresh refugee from Czechoslovakia
little retro tv add from our shop..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjpaoixgOgA

Ivan

[kevingross]

Hey John, good to hear from you, albeit electronically.

Sadly, we lost two terrific Porsche people in eastern Massachusetts in recent years. My good friends Bill Pfister (Eurotech Advanced, Framingham) and Rene-Max Prepetit (Rensport, Framingham but more recently Stow) both passed way too young from health issues. There are still many good options in our neck of the woods, like Jerry Pellegrino (EPE, Framingham), Kenny Conway (Conway Autoworks, Hanover), Maurizio Cerasoli (MC Racing, Stow), Mark Cummings and his team (Auto Sport, Shrewsbury) and a bit farther but Pete, Dave and the team at Victory Auto Designs (Seabrook, NH).

The world is changing a bit... or maybe a lot. Bill used to gripe "Remember when working on cars was fun?" Porsche may still have 80% of the cars they made on the road, but 100% of the people who know how to fix them are aging. Every shop owner I talk to has problems attracting and retaining techs, its endemic. I have this idea that when AI eliminates so many of the BS middle-whatever jobs in corporate America, perhaps more young uns will take up actually useful careers, like fixing Porsches. Who knows? Cheers,

[$yncro]

Yea, hard to find a good reputable shop that works on euro classic cars now a days. The most passionates are long gone. I remembering a good shop for Lancia Deltas in the neighbourhood, long gone. I've always been a tinker working on my old cars. Nothing crazy started with the vdub buses, Syncro. 80's gti to e30 M3 and now 911 the first car I tackled from the ground up. I learned from good old service manual books, YouTube and forums and friends. I find it relaxing and very rewarding. Though there's a lot of challenges and head scratching still enjoy it. I think most of us managed to afford our dream car now are go getter and self taught personality. The community and forums are something we can't let it die. I'll be retiring in 4 yrs and maybe it's something I could pursue to help others.

[Jeff Alton]

To answer the original question, YES. But, shops like ours (of which there are many in NA) do our absolute best to train the younger generation of Technician about the early cars- MFI/CIS/Carbs/Motronic etc, as well as the chassis/electrical side. Same goes for engine and gearbox building....

We are restoring a 69 911 where the techs get to see/touch/install the correct parts and understand how to do it "right".

Cheers

[EC900]

And when you find a 911 shop willing, it’s months of waiting for an opening and then weeks of jockeying for lift space and storage as the shop waits on parts while doing some other tasks for other long waiting clients.

Took the pickup truck in for a quick-lane oil change appointment. Still waited over an hour and a half. Short handed all over or taking on more than they can handle.

[Whiskey911]

Not here in the Raleigh, Greenboro, Winston Salem and Charlotte area. In Raleigh we have a Sports Purpose, a Elfer, European Perormance, 2 other independents and Road Scholars, quite a elite line up IMO. I have a 79SC and just bought a 88 3.2 Outlaw...

[Aurel]

Hi John,

Have you tried Zacks in Hudson? They did some good work on my Cayenne a while ago.

Best,
Aurelien

[930cabman]

Yes, with every 'trade"

I searched locally for over a year for someone to get the CIS working correct on my 1975 911S. Currently removed the entire system and installing a pair of twin Webers. one local shop asked for a deposit of $4k with no guaranteed results.

Many younger kids are simply not interested

[yelcab1]

Originally Posted by 930cabman

Many younger kids are simply not interested

Until they figure out that Artificial Intelligence cannot replace a grubby mechanic. And 95% of all cars on the roads is still gasoline powered.

[88911coupe]

We are lucky here in Dallas to have a LOT of independent Porsche focused shops with great reputations that have been around a long time. In addition there are a lot of newer independent shops who do great work BUT they focus on "newer" cars. My wife and I both drive Mercedes models and one is past factory warranty and we stopped using the Mercedes shop for any service. They were insanely expensive and constantly tried to upsell us. We have found a great indy shop here and they also work on Porsches BUT NOT air cooled models. I think the focus in on replacing parts versus FIXING things. Perfect example is the PDK transmissions that Porsche won't repair, they just sell you a new one for $25k. Fortunately there are smart people out there who now repair PDKs. Similar with LN/Jake Raby/Slakker Motors filling in the gaps where the factory dropped the ball. Hopefully the old guard can help bring in younger people who want to pick up from where they are now.

[Ryan_Cunningham]

Probably to a lesser degree in SoCal, but still happening. My local guy has a significant waitlist and he's getting up there in age. There is another shop run by a younger guy and he's trying to hire as many older guys with working knowledge to learn from them while he still has a chance.

In about two years, when I have some more time I'm going to ask my guy if I can just volunteer to help out since he's a one-man shop and see if some of his knowledge will transfer.

[nickelplated5s]

Kudos to Jeff for helping pass on knowledge. Harry, I'll PM you about a Brit shop I ran into the owner of, out the Sunset Highway.

Short answer is yes. Paul of Weber fame retired. Mark of MFI is taking 2026 off. Around here you have to schedule and be prepared to pay. Only two I'd recommend and one of you can't get into.

[930cabman]

Originally Posted by yelcab1

Until they figure out that Artificial Intelligence cannot replace a grubby mechanic. And 95% of all cars on the roads is still gasoline powered.

I'm trying to figure out what AI can replace?

[proporsche]

well. ..i would love to move back to my favorite state CA.. and work there..got some offers from some vere respectable places there, but ..it`s almost impossible to finance living there nowadays...so for now i will wrench and rebuild engines here in Bohemia..since i am very enexpensive i get kinda plenty clientale..$50 an hour..one day i move back...
Ivan

[jluetjen]

We have a great guy about 30 minutes from here who was the service manager at a local VW dealer, and went independant. My extended family has 3 VW's, and we take them all to him. I have a friend who was a BMW dealer tech, and he went independant and now has established a very successful BMW specialist shop.

We have some decent sized Porsche dealerships nearby. Hopefully some of their guys will decide to go independant.