Mechanic shops in SoCal / LA

@Sean Seena. I had used German Car Service on Olympic and Pontius for our BMW.  I had received notice that they closed, but then heard they reopened, original owner sold to the longtime employee.  I just tried to call them but it was busy, and I am not in town to do a drive-by at this time.  They were really great and I would for sure use them for servicing the 912 if I were to have it in the west side, but currently, as written before, we are both in Reno.  

@Sean Seena posted:

To my southern Cali brothers, any recommendations for mechanic shops?  Either for the routine stuff (oil changes, valve adjustment, etc) or more involved/skilled jobs.  I'm in the west side, but happy to drive farther out if it's worth it.

As a bonus, would love to also learn of any other service providers that you think are notable, for example, body shops, upholsterers, etc.

Here's what I've gathered after reading various past threads, but many of these threads are 10 to 15+ years old, so I imagine the landscape's changed.  Also, all of these are pretty far from west LA, it would be nice to have somewhere more local for the frequent stuff and otherwise drive out to these big guns when needed.  Organized roughly based on proximity to west LA:

• Auto Meister in Manhattan Beach, CA.  Ask for Robert or Randy.
• E&C on Reseda Blvd, San Fernando Valley, CA
• Chico Performance Racing in Arcadia, CA
• Vintage Motorcars (previously Vintage Speedsters) in Hawaiian Gardens, CA.  Greg.
• Unique Imports in Mission Viejo, CA.  Owner is Chip.
• Mesa West in Costa Mesa, CA.  Ask for Norm.
• Larry Jowdy in Ontario, CA (unfortunately, if it's the same Larry, I believe he may have recently passed... 😞)

@ford356outlaw, I had promised that I would tag you on this thread, sorry it took so long to finally post!

Larry passed earlier this month.

Anabel Chico of Chico's Performance here in Arcadia is a top notch place for expert service. I know two SOC members who use him now and both are happy. I was over there last Friday and saw he's working on a 912 Porsche. Most of his work is VW engines. Recently he developed a turbo system that all fits in a VW, Porsche replica and you would hardly know it's in there by looking at it or until stand on it. I think he's going to retail the kit a $3200.00. Anyway, I would recommend him and it's worth giving him a call.  Tell him Bruce with the Red Speedster recommended him.....Bruce

I had a Chico Performance Racing 2332 I gave almost $10K for in 2008. My experience was quite a bit different that Bruce's.

Bruce, is it a blow thru turbo?

Awesome thank you.  I live in Northridge,CA so I am not so far from these places.  The weather is finally cooling off and i can go on some longer rides.  What size gas tanks do you guys have?  I am thinking of getting a bigger capacity tank.

Paul....Yes it's a blow thru system.

The turbo fits below the round rear tin to the left of the oil pump. All four tubes of the A-1 exhaust converge down below along with the gate valve. One tube ascends thru the rear tin about where the left heater hose went thru and then up to the top of the carb. The heater hose hole on the right side of the tin is where the inlet tube comes up from the turbo to take in air. pretty clean install ! I think he says he's setting them up for 7to8 pounds of boost. Believe the carb is "weber style" two bbl progressive set up  and jetted properly to be used with a blow thru turbo system. Boost pressure is adjustable of course.

Chico has two systems. One for a type 1 and another for a type 2. I'll get some photos this week when I go over to see him.  I know he will have some photos on his web too.

Stan....I'm sorry you were disappointed with Chico's work or products. In all fairness, and I'm glad you mentioned your experience. I certainly would question the validity of someones reputation if it was always perfect or "wonderful".  Of course your input is valuable no matter what the topic. You certainly have earned that reputation on here.

Oh...A little note !  I stopped by VMC today and spoke to Greg. He told me that we needed to meet in two weeks to finalize my Spyder build. He said it will take a month but that's optimistic I think. Anyway I will be in Mexico the day after Thanks giving so hopefully we can work out any build obstacles or directions before I leave.  Sooo, I'm pretty amped up tonight.............Bruce

I don't know how much maintenance or general mechanical work he does, but for a built engine or transaxle someone to talk to would be Gary Berg.

8zero8 six40 679nine

garyvwguy@hotmail.com

I believe he's in Orange

@BADSPD - Stephen thanks for that rec, I think you're referring to this German Car Service (Yelp page)?  I just tried calling, it's busy, but I bet this is the old number if it's under new management.  Their website says they've closed, but it could very well be that they haven't updated it yet...  I'll try to drive by soon but my other car has a flat, so I'm currently stranded!

@Robert M thanks for confirming that, that's unfortunate.  

@aircooled @Stan Galat thanks for a fuller picture re Chico.  I think it's impossible for any one service provider to be perfect across the board, as evidenced by a bunch of reviews I've been reading re various providers.  People think they're either saints or devils.  Of course, I'd wayyy rather rely on the experiences here rather than some random Yelp reviewer...  

Bruce, sounds exciting about your build!  

Stan, you strike me as someone who does most of the work yourself therefore not needed to rely on a shop, but any other recommendations otherwise?

Speaking of Yelp, has anyone come across any of these shops?  I've tried my best to evaluate them through Yelp reviews, but there's a lot of noise and variables.  I don't want to suffer from too much paralysis by analysis, but I also know that one bad apple mech can bring on a world of hurt, so I'm trying to be as careful as possible up front:

• Westside Independent VW Repair (Layne).  Sounded promising but some hints that he shies away from older cars now...
• Superformance Foreign Auto Repair
• Euro-Tech Motors
• Santa Monica Autoworks
• AE German Car Service
• Stuttgart Automotive
• German Autosport
• German Motors
• Foreign Autohaus

Otherwise, the current list:

• German Car Service in west LA, on Pontius Ave at Olympic Blvd.  Waiting to confirm whether reopened or not.
• Auto Meister in Manhattan Beach, CA.  Ask for Robert or Randy.
• E&C (or this link?) on Reseda Blvd, San Fernando Valley, CA
• Chico Performance Racing in Arcadia, CA
• Vintage Motorcars in Hawaiian Gardens, CA.  Greg.
• Unique Imports in Mission Viejo, CA.  Owner is Chip.
• Mesa West German Auto Center in Costa Mesa, CA.  Ask for Norm.
• Gary Berg in ~Orange, CA.  8zero8 six40 679nine garyvwguy@hotmail.com
• Larry Jowdy in Ontario, CA (unfortunately, Larry's no longer with us)

@Sean Seena. My wife, before meeting me, used Stuttgart Automotive for her Mercedes and other BMW and talked highly of them.  I plan to be in the Westside this weekend and will see about swinging by German Car Service to see if anyone is around or any signage telling a different story.

I use Walter at  United Auto on Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.

He knows all about our cars and does all VW air-cooled repairs.

Larry Jowdy is gone, unfortunately.

@MusbJim Jim might have some favorite. having so many vehicles under his belt.

Auto Meister works primarily on VW Type 2 buses/campers. Lots of experience. Reasonable prices.

Jim Ruiz

Westchester, CA 90045

@calmotion posted:

@MusbJim Jim might have some favorite. having so many vehicles under his belt.

@Sean Seena

Sean, I used to take my car to Larry Jowdy (Ontario) but as you already know he has since passed away. I have taken my car to Greg at VintageMotocar , but nowadays he is so busy with completing and shipping cars that it is rare for him to take in service work.

I would take Bruce-s @aircooled advice and give Anabel Chico (Chico's Performance) a call for info.

I've been meaning to post an update to this list for a LONG time.  It now incorporates the more recent comments above, as well as my own recent experiences:

In short, I got very lucky because the next shop on my list was fantastic, so I didn't have to work through the rest of the list.  I'm referring to Superformance Foreign Auto Repair, I worked with Devon.  

First thing I noticed was that they're very personable / down to earth.  People skills seem non mission critical, until you work with someone difficult and realize it's getting in the way of the forward progress.

Then I was impressed with Devon's diligence.  For example, I would send fairly long emails with multiple links, and I could tell he'd read it all.  Not only that, but he'd follow links IN THE links!  Eg, I sent him some of my forum posts here because they did a good job of characterizing the problem and included wise guidance from our members.  In discussing repair strategies, he'd refer to specific usernames that sometimes commented on pages 2+ of the thread!  I have to admit I was already sold by this point.

Getting to the meat and potatoes of it finally:  They knew their stuff, did great work on a handful of repair jobs, and even identified a few things we could improve (work that my father and I had done but they were right).  I should also mention that they're honest folks- eg one of my deck lid arms inexplicably cracked out of nowhere, even though it wasn't their fault they still sent it out to be rewielded on the house.  They also comped a few other things where it was a minor stop in.  Lots of little things like that.

I have many other praises to sing, but you get the point.  Needless to say that I'm personally not taking the car anywhere else, but it looks like there are also other wonderful options below and encourage everyone to do their research.

Main list:

• Superformance Foreign Auto Repair in West LA, near the 405 & 10.  Ask for Devon.  <- My pick
• German Car Service in West LA, on Pontius Ave at Olympic Blvd.  Waiting to confirm whether reopened or not (I never did, @BADSPD - Stephen might've by now?).
• Stuttgart Automotive in West LA (@BADSPD - Stephen endorses above)
• United Auto Center in North Hollywood, on Lankershim.  Ask for Walter. (@Carlo endorses above)
• Auto Meister in Manhattan Beach, CA.  Ask for Robert or Randy.  (@jprpdr endorses above)
• E&C (or this link?) on Reseda Blvd, San Fernando Valley, CA.
• Chico Performance Racing in Arcadia, CA.  Ask for Anabel.  (strongly endorsed by some, others have had other experiences)
• Vintage Motorcars in Hawaiian Gardens, CA.  Ask for Greg.
• Unique Imports in Mission Viejo, CA.  Owner is Chip.
• Mesa West German Auto Center in Costa Mesa, CA.  Ask for Norm.
• Gary Berg in ~Orange, CA.  8zero8 six40 679nine garyvwguy@hotmail.com
• Larry Jowdy in Ontario, CA (unfortunately, Larry's no longer with us)
• Westside Independent VW Repair (Layne).  He will no longer work with older cars (I confirmed over the phone).

@Sean Seena

Thanks or updating that list, Sean! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

As an update, German Car Service did not re-open.  The shop manager moved to another shop, that I took my wife's BMW to, and lets just say I will not be going back there, so no need in giving you the name.

Stephen

This is very helpful. Thank you so much.