A simple request, turned into a quest.

[dcarrb]

With the guys who've serviced my cars for years, here's the general rule of thumb: If it's a dealer-only part, I buy; if there's an aftermarket item available, they buy. Everybody happy.

I have a Subaru bearing and seal set on the left rear, and an aftermarket set on the right, both installed by the same guy. Should one side fail, it'll be interesting to see which one tanks.

dcb

Originally Posted by dcarrb

With the guys who've serviced my cars for years, here's the general rule of thumb: If it's a dealer-only part, I buy; if there's an aftermarket item available, they buy. Everybody happy.

I have a Subaru bearing and seal set on the left rear, and an aftermarket set on the right, both installed by the same guy. Should one side fail, it'll be interesting to see which one tanks.

dcb

Well, as I had said before, given the problems with finding the right seals, as noted in these threads I felt it best to buy from Subaru. You are lucky, you found someone who wants and appreciates your business. I cannot seem to find anyone who is interested in making cash money and having a customer for life, except my local Subaru dealer. I have learned from this experience and will just let Subaru do my work for me. The little guy loses, but it's not my fault. Who turns away cash money?

[Rotorflyr]

Originally Posted by fl_svx

I have learned from this experience and will just let Subaru do my work for me. The little guy loses, but it's not my fault. Who turns away cash money?

Sometimes the little guy will turn away cash money for the simple fact that he was bitten before. People are "sue-happy" these days and unfortunatly it's the little independent businessman who suffers the most when it come to law suits. It's sucks that you can't find an independent mechanic who is willing to work on your car, but if the dealer does a good job and it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg, ohh well, be happy you found a dealer who can do a good job with the SVX as some dealer mechs have never even seen one!

As a matter of fact, my SVX is going to the dealer for the 120k service as well as valve cover gaskets (cha-ching!!) and when I checked with a local mech who I know has worked on an SVX before about the valve cover job, his comment was that "It looks like a nightmare", at that point I decided I didn't want him doing it, even if it would save me a few $$$

[WGJ]

my brother and a couple of my friends think I'm a nutcase because I take my car to either a Subaru dealership 30 miles away (fairer pricing than the much closer Subie dealer AND the work is performed by a Subie master tech w/25 yrs. experience who invites me to watch) or 25 miles to the race shop where SDrotor works, (where the head mechanic and I have mutual friends going back 30 yrs. from when I was in the business.).
So many folks in the network do their own work I was beginning to think I was the only one who had had difficulty finding a competent mechanic. The shop I went to first failed to pack my rear wheel bearings in high temp grease even after I told them to. That's before I found a dealer that was both 'reasonable' (a bit on the high end but they back their work) and competent. Master mechanics with 25 yrs. experience don't often make mistakes, so I don't mind paying a bit more for the peace of mind. The race shop mechanic comes with personal referrals from people I've known a long time. so I'm comfortable having them do certain "performance" work. Good, honest mechanics can be hard to find. Frugal as I am, if Beav doesn't want to use my parts I ain't gonna argue...just gonna ask for a copy of the warranty on the work. Never met a good mechanic yet who wouldn't stand behind his work.
WGJ

[Rotorflyr]

It's not that I wouldn't mind doing more of the work on the car myself but:
a) I don't currently have a lot of "free" time
b) I don't have all the tools
c) I don't currently have a lot of "free" time
d) Certin "repairs" are best left to those who know what they are doing
e) I don't currently have a lot of "free" time
f) Some of the work would be beyond my automotive mechanical skill level
(not that I wouldn't be willing to give it a try)
g) I don't currently have a lot of "free" time
h) If the money is there, I see nothing wrong with paying someone else to do the work

Not to mention I've got a bunch of things I need to do around the house that I have let go for a while now, much to the dismay of MrsFlyr, and did I mention that I don't currently have a lot of "free" time