Good garage in Auckland? Glenfield maybe?

[ClanFever]

Hey upper north island guys, help my friend out!

She's recently moved to auckland, has a levin, and has no knowledge of cars. She's gone to Beaurepaires as her car vibrates badly at 70kmh. They say this is caused by one of her inner cvs, and that the car is dangerous to drive. They said it'll be 100s and 100s of $$ to repair maybe even $1000 as they'll need to "service her gearbox".

Now this just sounds like a garage trying to rip her off or having no idea what they're talking about... obviously I'd help her but it's hard 600 odd km away...

So any garages you guys recommend? Ones with decent blokes who are in it for the good of the customer? Or any of you guys work in a garage she can take it to? Cheers.

[Alsw20]

Scott Baird Automotive. They are in Saint Johns though. My girlfriend and a lot of her female friends take their cars there. No bullshit just top work.

[Kippeth]

A family friend has a garage in auckland. Im not sure on the details but he does good work according to the folks, mostly works with the drift scene but gets alot of other work in too seems like the reliable sort. im taking my MR2 up there for some panel work this weekend. so we'll see how it goes (and ill also get an address for you)

[MIKEP]

Pete at Waikowhai Motors is good. Worked on 2 of mine including my AW11 S/C

626 2026 Good Bloke

[ClanFever]

Thanks guys I'll pass those on

[DravidDavid]

If in the West Auckland/New Lynn area, Tony from Rhitz Automotive on Binsted road is awesome.

He owns a bunch of Japanese tuners and knows everything about him. Always has an answer for questions and is an all-'round awesome guy.

[Grrrrrrr!]

The toyspeed guys rate Spargs Auto tune in Porana road highly. http://spargsautotune.co.nz/car-service ... -auckland/

[justsomeguy]

You could talk to Joon - who works for ,,,,,,, you'd never guess......... Toyota .............in....... wait for it ........ Glenfield!

http://mr2.org.nz/phpbb3/memberlist.php ... file&u=877

Rebuilt/painted and did a lot of work on his own MR2, owned 3 last time i checked and does work on private appointment.

Lives in the general Glenfield area too

PM link -------- http://mr2.org.nz/phpbb3/ucp.php?i=pm&m ... pose&u=877

[Mcdeviant]

Hey, I met Joon and he seems cool.

I was also referred to the Glenfield shop. I took in the car for an oxygen sensor replacement and a strange noise. I'd diagnosed this myself so I knew what that fault was and made this clear. Removing the Oxy sensor removed the check engine light. Putting it back soon caused the light to come back on.

I paid around $850 for the two to be diagnosed and repaired and drove off the lot the next day IIRC. I remember wondering about the diagnosis fee, but oh well it's fixed.

The Check Engine light came back on almost immediately though, so I went back in. They told me they'd made a mistake and not actually replaced the Oxy sensor, putting back in the faulty one.

The rattle turned out to be the heat shield which was knocked into a different position to end the rattle, but it came back less than a year later.

During all this, I received a call from one of the workshop guys. He was a bit blunt and demanding about confirming I'm happy for them to repair at that cost. I don't expect him to treat me special, but it was another negative mark on my experience there.

I'd like to have a regular garage to service and repair my MR-S, but I don't feel safe with North Shore Toyota after this. If anyone would like to change my mind, I'd like to hear it, but first impressions are hard to break.

Is there another MR-S specialist or similar that Aucklanders use?

[Joel]

I take my MR-S to Lauries Garage 96B Railside Ave,Henderson - not quite Glenfield sorry.

Tim is a family friend so I have total trust in him. He is knowledgeable and quite keen on the MR-S too.
He has always serviced my MR-S and AW11. He will be doing an engine swap in the MR-S for me in the next week or two. (The fact it needs a new engine is no reflection of his work - he hadn't worked on this particular one)

I've always steered clear of factory service outlets as I feel they over-charge, don't always do a thorough job and often find things to fix that don't need to be.

[Alsw20]

Hey, I met Joon and he seems cool.

I was also referred to the Glenfield shop. I took in the car for an oxygen sensor replacement and a strange noise. I'd diagnosed this myself so I knew what that fault was and made this clear. Removing the Oxy sensor removed the check engine light. Putting it back soon caused the light to come back on.

I paid around $850 for the two to be diagnosed and repaired and drove off the lot the next day IIRC. I remember wondering about the diagnosis fee, but oh well it's fixed.

The Check Engine light came back on almost immediately though, so I went back in. They told me they'd made a mistake and not actually replaced the Oxy sensor, putting back in the faulty one.

The rattle turned out to be the heat shield which was knocked into a different position to end the rattle, but it came back less than a year later.

During all this, I received a call from one of the workshop guys. He was a bit blunt and demanding about confirming I'm happy for them to repair at that cost. I don't expect him to treat me special, but it was another negative mark on my experience there.

I'd like to have a regular garage to service and repair my MR-S, but I don't feel safe with North Shore Toyota after this. If anyone would like to change my mind, I'd like to hear it, but first impressions are hard to break.

Is there another MR-S specialist or similar that Aucklanders use?

Yeah never take your car to a Toyota dealer for anything mechanical. I've never heard a positive experience from a Toyota dealer customer. The parts departments are always good though. A friend of mine had a $3k bill for simply removing, and reinstalling an engine here in Christchurch. They didn't even work on the engine, another company did. On top of that, the genuine GReddy intercooler was stolen while they parked the car out the back, then they quibbled about replacing it because it was really expensive to buy a genuine intercooler, opting to have one made up, which didn't fit properly, so had to be remade and cost them more than the GReddy would have in the first place. They are run by muppets I'm sure.

[jif]

5 star automotive on Barry's pt rd is another place run by a couple of good straight up guys.

[justsomeguy]

Ah.. you took it to Toyota.. I meant - privately message Joon.

[Mcdeviant]

Thanks justsomeguy, will keep that in mind.

[kim0663]

Unfortunate and sorry to hear you've had a bad experience at North Shore Toyota.
The fact is, not all techs at dealers are of the same level and specialization and there are so many cars going thru the workshop it's really a hit and miss depending on which tech works on the car.

The final bill is also greatly affected by the technician working on it.

Someone might diagnose it in 30 minutes and spend the 30 minutes rectifying the issue + cost of parts totaling 1 hour labour + parts,
Same car could be worked on for hours without going anywhere. And to make it worse, there are staff members that are out to make as much money out of the job for their own bonus.
Its a gamble and requires serious luck to get a good deal at the dealership (especially with our mr2s).
Either you name the exact technician you want working on your car or know management who will relay the car onto the exact technician needed for the job.

Seen all of this happen, and it's wrong but is reality.