Thanks for your help on this one, guys. I apologize for the crosspost on rennlist and here, but the timing is critical here and I really need some advice from you porsche veterans.

A few weeks ago I wanted to buy the ROW m030 suspension for my 03 C2 Coupe. I wanted to buy the kit from Gert, but I couldn't find any good shop locally who was willing to install the kit for me. My dealer will not install ROW suspensions.

A local Porsche shop with a very good reputation refused to install the kit if I bought it from Gert, and wanted me to buy it from them instead. Their price is about $600 more than Gert.

So I reluctantly agreed, since I'd rather do that than find a shop that doesn't do porsches at all.

It took a couple of weeks to "get the parts in from Germany." I took the car two days ago and was told that they had ordered some extra parts also, because they weren't sure which parts went with my car. (Clue #1 something was wrong). Then they said that they had two different sets of springs, and they wanted to put the heavier springs in ("probably from a C4", their quote). They rationalized that the cars were only 200 lbs different, and the heavier springs would "work better".

Then yesterday the same person I have been dealing with (the owner) said they couldn't do the work yet because they had gotten the wrong springs ("probably from a C4"). The same spring he himself had recommended the day before. He said again that the ordering sheets for these cars are complicated, and the spring may have been mislabeled (????).

I'm really shocked, because this shop seems to specialize in porsche and was highly recommended on rennlist. There were half a dozen porsches there (but interestingly, none of them were newer than a 964 or 968).

But at this point I'm not convinced that at the end of the day I'm going to get the correct parts in the car. I'd much rather order from Gert, and know that I'm getting the right components. Given that they haven't actually done anything on the car yet, do you think it would be reasonable for me to ask them to stop now and give me my car back? What would be a reasonable compensation for their time?

Thanks!

 

Why don't you just give them the part #s yourself and verify the parts before the installation.

I personally would walk. You are paying $600 more? That's a big chunk of change. I would order the kit from Gert and find a different qualified shop. Contact your local PCA Chapter for recommendations.

 

WALK! There HAS to be a shop around to swap these parts out. To be honest with you I had my ROW kit installed by a NON-Porsche shop... I took it to an "asian race shop" This is not very technical work being performed, suspensions are very similar... I would keep looking. The way things are going this will either take forever or you will have many of the wrong parts.

 

I would buy from Gert and look for a better shop than the one you're dealing with. Seeing how the outcome is so far, you will have problems with your car and problems mean tires because of the problem with the incorrect suspension.

 

Thanks for the responses, guys. Unfortunately now the owner is saying the car was already taken apart. Even though last night he said they hadn't done anything. And this morning I left a message first thing saying not to do anything until they spoke with me because I wanted to make sure we had the right parts. So I guess I'm screwed now. They didn't call back until almost 11am, so I suspect they had plenty of time to take the front suspension off.

I'm going to double check the part numbers and see how well they match up and then go from there.

 

BTW What are they charging you for the work...?

 

Too much. They want $2700 complete, and even then they are saying that is an estimate. I went here because everyone says this is such a great shop, and they are heavily involved in racing, etc.

 

Walk and don't pay them. See my answer on other forum. They don't deserve your business. They misrepresented their ability and expertise.

 

That is NUTS I paid $1495 TOTAL Parts, installation and alignment for my ROW Suspension. Sorry to hear this... I can't believe the nerve of some shops. I know your situations though I have gone through three local shops which overcharge I won't put up with it.

 

Thanks again for everyone's input.

Unfortunately, my car was already up on the lift with the front suspension removed, so taking the car home would be a little tricky.

The good news is that another guy in the shop seems to have taken over this project and he seems to know this particular subject better. The other guy is much more of a engine expert.

So we agreed on part numbers. They had it almost right today after a couple of screw ups. They need to order one more thing.

I definitely feel ripped off in the sense that I paid a lot extra for Porsche expertise/experience and it ended up it was me who was reviewing and editing the list of part numbers today. But oh well, chalk this up to experience. People who read these forums seems to know more about their cars than anyone!

Communication has gotten much better today. Nobody is trying to BS me, and they seem to be serious about getting exactly what I want. So let's see how it goes on Monday. Hopefully I'll have a nice ROW m030 next week!

 

Another thing I don't get is why it is taking them so long. I dropped my car off at 11:30am and had it back at 6PM they did ROW M030 and PSE... good luck.

 

Well, I certainly hope that once all the right parts are in, they should be able to finish this in less than one day.

Thanks.

 

hey nova996. I'm assuming you're talking about intersport in tysons considering they are the major race shop in virignia. they do overcharge, but generally they do a good job. My friend and I swapped out his suspension (changed from m030 to coilovers in 4 hours and neither of us are mechanics (by trade). my friend and i used to tune jap cars for fun at his house and doing the same thing on both his and my 996 was not different from any aspect. i think next time you need something done on your car you should definitely post and ask on the board before you start dumping $ at a shop that toys around with your time and money. alternatively you can always join the local pca or pm me and i'm sure my friend and i would be more than happy to lend you a hand in starting to do work on your car for yourself. suping up cars is like building models... as long as you have good instructions it's not rocket science.

 

No, this wasn't Intersport. I don't want to rip this shop online just in case maybe I caught them at a bad week or something. And they do seem like nice guys, just not the most professional or the most well informed on the 996.

But I may take you up on that offer of yours to help get me started on some DIY stuff. I did install my own PSE mufflers and B&M short shifter in the past couple weeks. And it was a lot of fun and very rewarding.