What you wish you knew before giving your 7 to a local mechanic

[IamScotticus]

Let's hear the horror stories!

 

Sometimes we get lucky and find a shop and a mechanic who will give your 7 the right treatment.  Often times not.  They simply don't have the investment in your car that you do.  And perhaps to them, your idea of a golden toy is one they have no respect for no matter how they fawn and gush over it when you bring it in.  That should be a clue there.  Well intended or not, I have heard of many bad experiences of 7s being taken to the wrong man with $hitty results.

 

Oh, how do I screw thee? Let me count the ways!

 

Thread rules:  No names!  Regardless of how much someone deserves to be called out, please don't mention specific people, business or any detail that can infer to them.  We don't want to bring the forum any slander or liable suits.

Edited Saturday at 04:46 PM by IamScotticus

[wdb]

It did not happen to me, rather the prior owner. He took the car to a regionally well regarded restoration shop to have the engine fitted and some other items done to get the car completed. As I went through the car after I bought it I found workmanship that was far, far below the standards I would have expected from a shop with its reputation. (I've since been told that the business went through a period where quality slipped a significant amount; I've also been told that the situation has since been rectified.)

 

I guess the prior owner would have liked to know that before sending the car there. And before writing those substantial checks.

 

I know of two places locally that might work on my 7, and that I might let work on it. So far though I'm the only to blame for the horror stories.

[IamScotticus]

One of the things I like to say about 7s is, they are not cars.  They have car parts, yes, but if you treat it like a car, you will tear it up in no time.

[theDreamer]

So many stories so little time. If you haven’t read my stories in the “Member Rides” section I’d suggest you do that first.

Start with: Our summer fun has been put on hold because

Then read: Hopefully we will have our car back soon

I have more stories to add as I'm sure others do too.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 09:41 PM by theDreamer

[theDreamer]

Funny coincidence, our little Group of Sevens email list has been discussing some of the problems found by those who imported a car from the UK.

One member mentioned that his car was in a pretty sorry state when it arrived, just poorly cared for and not as good as the photos and description had him believe. Furthermore, some issues were not disclosed that should have been.

Another member said his car was advertised with 13” wheels but arrived with 15” wheels. Upon delivery he contacted the dealer and demanded the dealer ship the 13” wheels ASAP at the dealer’s expense. There were other issues as well but not discovered until much later so thought that too much time had passed. The worst was the buyer was informed the car did not have a LSD. The buyer paid to have a LSD installed. After owning the car for some months he learned of Mr. Martin Phipps, the Caterham archivist. He asked Martin for and received documentation on his car. It showed his car was ordered and delivered with a LSD. The dealer should have sent the old diff along with the car but he did not.

One thing seems clear, many UK dealers are not happy to let the best cars leave the UK. It appears that some use bait and switch tactics. They lure buyers in advertising great cars but then turn them onto the lower quality, high mileage and poorly maintained cars offering reduced prices. Speculation is that they want to move those types of cars out of their inventory. If they sell one to a local and there is a major issue then the dealer has to bite the bullet and fix it. Less likely they would pay when the car is across the Atlantic.

[Timothy Keith-Lucas]

Part of owning a Seven is not handing it to a local mechanic. At least the pre-Caterham examples are so simple that it is difficult for me to come up with a scenario where I would. My local mechanic takes very good care of my Miata with my only complaint being the air hammer his resident Neanderthal uses to over-torque my lug nuts. The problems that are a challenge to me, such as 64 year-old Lucas wiring behind the scuttle, would take him just as long to figure out as it has me, and for everything else I have you folks, bless you. Sevens are a learning experience, not just a driving experience. OK, I'll let him mount tires, but onto rims, not onto the Seven.

[speedwagon]

Yes. most are competent enough to mount tires, but too lazy to use a torque wrench. So farm out the dumb jobs till you find a smart, willing, and honest wrench operator. (and he will not be at the stealership).

[Timothy Keith-Lucas]

Bravo, Speedwagon. Therein lies a good point. The local mechanic has invested in tire changing tools, and some others I can't afford or rarely need. Farm out those jobs. Why he can't bring himself to buy even a torque bar for that demolition wrench is beyond me.

[Vovchandr]

To you its THE car. 

 

To any regular mechanics its just A car that will be more pain in the ass, more scrutinized and pay the same or worse than others for the time invested.

 

There's just no business sense for regular shops to care for special cars.

 

Special cars need to go to special mechanics which will demand special pricing for special treatment which isn't a lot of people are willing to accept. I will venture a guess and say @Croc knows quite a bit about that with the amount of specialty vehicles he deals with and outsources the work on. 

 

 

This is why I do pretty much all my own work on it. 

 

You should hear the stories that real exotic car owners have to deal with. There are as much as 5 and as little as 1 person in the whole country who can do certain work and you have to ship your car to him and wait for availability. That's just the name of the game. 

[panamericano]

True, really exotic cars take a lot of money.  Run of the mill 8 cyl Ferrari should have a maintenance (not repair) account set for $%,000 annual.  Could be worse.  I have a copy of a guys receipt for 20k Km. service on a Porsche 959 back when.  First you drop it at a European dealer.  They put on truck to the factory.  Factory disassembles it, including trans, diffs, engine, then sends the estimate.  By the way, you need a set of wheels because the hollow mags are prone to rot.  Final service totals $53,000 US.

 

I took a F-40 for a couple thousand mile oil/service.  $900, back the same day.

[Croc]

3 hours ago, Vovchandr said:

Special cars need to go to special mechanics which will demand special pricing for special treatment which isn't a lot of people are willing to accept. I will venture a guess and say @Croc knows quite a bit about that with the amount of specialty vehicles he deals with and outsources the work on. 

 

 

Damn right.  Do your homework on who you are sending a car to.  I have been known to ship projects out west as it is MUCH cheaper than using a specialist on the east coast plus I can tap into a deep network of very knowledgeable people with extensive collections.    In the dumb cost awards, did you know Land Rover Brooklyn in NYC area charges $500 per hour for a mechanic to work on your trusty Land Rover or Range Rover?  Even the local Ferrari dealer repair shop is not that bad.  Fuggeddabutit.

 

It was also good to break down at Tom Carlin's on my road trip in 2021 as there was a convenient specialist nearby in a little town who knew his stuff and even owned a sister car to mine.  He also had a large collection of Lotus/Loti which reinforced my faith.  

 

For a Caterham or Birkin, I believe a good race mechanic will work wonders as the cars are similar to many space frame race cars they work on.  Always make sure you source parts for them - thats an expensive soak of time that you can do yourself.  Always provide a copy of the manual or technical bulletin and educate them - simplify their learning curve as that saves substantial time.  

 

In an ideal world I would have time to do the work myself but I don't.  Between work, work travel that keeps me out of town 7-8 months of the year, family sagas, and my own home saga, I don't have time to come on here and cause mischief to @Vovchandr

[Vovchandr]

2 hours ago, Croc said:

 

 

Damn right.  Do your homework on who you are sending a car to.  I have been known to ship projects out west as it is MUCH cheaper than using a specialist on the east coast plus I can tap into a deep network of very knowledgeable people with extensive collections.    In the dumb cost awards, did you know Land Rover Brooklyn in NYC area charges $500 per hour for a mechanic to work on your trusty Land Rover or Range Rover?  Even the local Ferrari dealer repair shop is not that bad.  Fuggeddabutit.

 

It was also good to break down at Tom Carlin's on my road trip in 2021 as there was a convenient specialist nearby in a little town who knew his stuff and even owned a sister car to mine.  He also had a large collection of Lotus/Loti which reinforced my faith.  

 

For a Caterham or Birkin, I believe a good race mechanic will work wonders as the cars are similar to many space frame race cars they work on.  Always make sure you source parts for them - thats an expensive soak of time that you can do yourself.  Always provide a copy of the manual or technical bulletin and educate them - simplify their learning curve as that saves substantial time.  

 

In an ideal world I would have time to do the work myself but I don't.  Between work, work travel that keeps me out of town 7-8 months of the year, family sagas, and my own home saga, I don't have time to come on here and cause mischief to @Vovchandr

 

Many words just to describe that @vovchandr is right.