SVX Back from Switzerland YEAH!

#1 10-20-2005, 09:07 AM

Well, I got back home yesterday after picking up my car on Monday. Had a terrific drive home in my "good as new" SVX. You wouldn't believe all the work that was done to the car. New head gaskets, shaved heads, replaced just about all the other gaskets, too. New spark plugs, complete new brakes in front, new pads and callipers in the back plus rotors polished, changed just about every hose and belt there is, new water pump, knock sensor, all fluids, filters done, you name it, it got inspected and probably had something done to it.

To top it all off, the new apprentice mechanic spent two days washing and cleaning every inch of the car, including conditioning the leather interior! I'm in heaven!

I learned a few interesting facts while in Switzerland. First off, my car isn't Claret or Barcelona Red. It is Mica Ruby! Seems that the colours made available here in Europe were different from the USA colour choices. Secondly, yes I have glass headlights, not plastic. (I checked since I couldn't answer when asked before)

I also found out that the idiot who installed my new rad didn't have the proper hose, so he cut a hose and spliced it with a little plastic insert joining piece. Yikes! My Swiss mechanic says that should be only done as a temporary fix and is NOT a proper repair at all!

I had my digital camera along and thought you might appreciate a little tour of the facilities in Switzerland. I also want to put in a plug for my favourite mechanics in the world: Mr. Egelhofer, Mr. Schneider, and the whole team. From now on baby gets inspected by them at least once a year.

Wolfgang Egelhofer - owner/master mechanic ..... U. Schneider - head mechanic

nice big facilities

view looking out of garage - note the Swiss cows with bells! (and the SVX too)

We're looking real pretty, shiny and polished. All ready for winter (those are our winter rims without the caps)
The silver SVX owner comes from Zurich for his servicing. (about 1.5 hr drive)

what a Subaru garage should look like <grin>

he's got one for sale ... hmmmm....

And that's my tour. Now perhaps you see why I trust these guys and made the long trip to Switzerland to get everything fixed properly. Seems like my car really wasn't properly serviced for the last three years.

check out my bad brakes! Yikes!
We ordered new ones from Bremsa www.bremsa.ch

I actually passed a full mandatory inspection just last November with no faults found and no repairs required. No way these brakes got so bad in only 9 months! So from now on I won't trust the inspections at all, and just treat it as another tax on the car.

the bad head gasket (but we replaced both)

Well... that's the limit for images, so I won't bother with more pics of partially shredded belts and other horrors that were found. I still can't believe that so much could go wrong in just three years. Especially when we thought that we were doing proper regular maintenance. I should have been suspicious when our maintenance costs went down after our move to Germany, but we thought we were just lucky. Oh, well... live and learn.

Now I'm off for a little drive <big huge grin!>

SilverSpear · #2 10-20-2005, 09:23 AM

Cool pics Bipa, your car now is as good as new. Swiss mechanics are reputed to be the best in the business, they overhaul everything and restore your car to its original status. Now you have one happy SVX, again

Tim · #3 10-20-2005, 09:40 AM

Thats the coolest garage. Ever. Period.

P.s. that shade of silver is awesome

msvx95 · #4 10-20-2005, 09:47 AM

wow, I'm very jealous.........just curious how much labor rates are and what your final bill was.....

Was it "service the SVX" day with that one pic??

TomsSVX · #5 10-20-2005, 10:12 AM

thats what my house looks like once a week... whe John mike stop over and pretty soon I will see my Barcelona back in town soon enough

Who would have thought it would go to Conneticut and then end up 20 mins away from my house?

Good luck with the car Bipa

Tom

svxstarship · #6 10-20-2005, 10:15 AM

Thanks for the interesting pictures. That companies brake disks look very nice. How do they feel so far?

Chiketkd · #7 10-20-2005, 10:20 AM

Nice pics Bipa! Enjoy the ride!!!!

-Chike

#8 10-21-2005, 02:58 AM

Originally Posted by svxstarship
Thanks for the interesting pictures. That companies brake disks look very nice. How do they feel so far?

Well, they have to be broken in a bit more, so for now I'm being careful and not doing any aggressive driving on the autobahn. I cruised home at a reduced speed of about 120km/hr or 75 mph and tried to avoid hard braking.

They feel very good, though, and I'm happy so far. The real test will be when Hubby is doing 150 mph on the autobahn and has to brake hard for a slowpoke who comes out without looking into the left lane to pass a truck and is only going at 80 mph. That's always fun

You wouldn't believe how many idiots just don't check behind them to see what's coming up in the passing lane before pulling out to pass. That's why we need the better brakes, and I'm hoping these new ones don't wear out as quickly.