Superstar Of German Cars

My experiences with this shop....Jim (owner) is out of the shop ""having coffee"" when I've called on more than one occasion. A simple job promised within a day did not get done. Jim ""rags' on the work any other mechanic has done on the car's engine. My most recent experience was calling to see if a particular job could be done and requesting a quote. I was asked why my regular mechanic could not do the job (he did not have a particular specialized tool he thought he might need). The response from Jim was that he did not want to work on the car and he hung up. Rude, unprofessional, slow, and overpriced. more

I have been using Jim for years, and he is a fixture in the Pasadena German car repair and restoration screen. His knowledge of Porsche, Audi, VW and BMW is vast. And his pricing is so fair that I stopped asking him for an estimate years ago. I wasn't going to pay less for an equivalent repair job anywhere else, so I just tell him to do what needs to be done. The interesting thing about having Jim work for you is that Jim doesn't actually need your business. The building he uses for a shop, and the apartment building next to it? He owns them. I once asked Jim why he doesn't retire. But he doesn't want to retire. He likes what he is doing. One of the unique aspects of his shop is that he takes apprentices, one at a time, trains them for a few years, and sends them out in the world with their tools. Where does the money for the tools come from? It is part of the apprentices pay. Jim gets some Federal funding to support this program, or at least he used to. He is a very resourceful guy. The downside to this, if you want to call it that, is that Jim doesn't really need your business. You may meet his standards as a customer or your may not. Most people are unaccustomed to shops which can afford to be so selective. Jim is a local landmark. Pros: knowledgeable, priced well, personable, honest, & expert Cons: Jim doesn't actually need your business. more

Took my BMW to this guy and had to listen to his stories which drag on and on about how he was on this raceteam and that one, and that one over there too. He couldnt look at the car so I left it with him and had to call a few days later and found out he didnt look at it yet. Glad he is doing well enough that he doesnt need my business. more