Hey everyone,

New to the boards and I just bought and 89 Convertable. I wanted to get the car a good tune-up and have it looked over, mechanically, to see what other work might need to be done to ensure that the car can be an everyday driver.

Its my first Vette and has a 147,000 miles on it. I know I should have had it looked over before purchase, but it was kind of a last minute thing.

My question is, should I just take it to a Chevy dealer for the work or find a shop that specializes in Corvettes? And if I should find a shop that strickly deals with Vettes, could anyone point me in the right direction for a shop in South Florida?

Thanks for the help

 

I have no idea about south Fla, but I know where there are people who do. If you don't get any good answers in this thread, try posting the question in the Reginal-> SouthEast board in the forum. Most of the time the FLA group prefixes their posts with [misfits] I believe, but mentioning Florida in the title is all you should need to do.

 

My experience with Chevy dealer parts and repair depts has been that they are completely incompetent.

If you can find a good independent shop in your area, I'd go that route.

 

I'm not sure what part of S. Florida you're in, but there is the Vettesmith in Miami, you may want to give them a call.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I took Fozzys' advice and checked out the Regionals board and saw some good things about Roger at Horsepower Sales in Pompano.

I gave him a call and set up an apointment for next week. He was nice on the phone and did'nt sound like he was gonna rob me, but I quess we'll see soon enough.

I also think I made up my mind with going to a dealer. I called one and they qouted me $200+ just to do an oil change and a 27 point inspection. I know this is my first Vette, but that price seems kinda high just to look at the car. Am I off in my thinking or is that the norm for a dealer or any shop?

 

I think that is "a tad steep" for the service mentioned, but i don't know what's included in the 27 pt inspection.

Usually shop fees are all about man-hours to do a particular job; at a Chevy dealer they go by a flat rate book for each job.

If you like to or would like to learn how to turn wrenches on your Vette, start the learing curve by purchasing a copy of the GM Shop Manual from HELM for your car. It will cost around $100 and that amounts to about 1hr of shop rate work. So, you can bet pay back on the manual plus any tools very quickly by doing some jobs yourself. And you have this Forum for assistance when needed.

Good luck, save the wave and enjoy your Vette.

 

Welcom to the forum.I live in south FL. and do not know of a decent place to take your car ,Ido know the dealer will really lighten your wallet.

 

Welcome to the forum and the addiction. Stay away from the dealer if at all possible. They are not Vette specific and that can make it expensive (you pay for their learning curve). Also, there is a reason that the guy who sells crack on the street and the guy who wants you to believe only they can service your car have the same name, "DEALER". The only time I set foot in there is to order a dealer specific part like a rear caliper emergency brake return spring (don't ask).

 

There are some Chevy dealers that are good with vettes, and as much as possible at a dealership, fair in their pricing BUT most of the time the best place to go are the Corvette shops.

Corvette shops can't afford a bad reputation when their business centers around a limited production vehicle and therefore a limited number of customers who often are linked togeather through clubs, common interests and the Corvette Forum!

 

That is good advice.

 

i agree if you can find a speciality shop, a couple years ago i had a honda accord that i aquired from my aunt, and i took it to the dealer a couple of times, and every time it was like pulling teeth, then i found about this shop that specializes in hondas and acuras, and they did all the tune ups that i didn't have the tools for at home

 

You're getting boinked for $200. Bet there's some members in your area that could do it for you and tell you more about your 'vert than any dealer could. Congrats on the purchase

 

Did that when I first bought my 86 vert also. Told the guy I just got the car and wanted to have it inspected to see what it might be needing now or in the future. Of course this was before I knew anything about my Vette. Took it to a dealer and they suggested a "scope analysis", at the time not really knowing what that was. I gave the ok and they did it. Two hours and $100.00 plus dollars later all they told me was that the ignition system was working properly. What a rip off. Few weeks later the car dies on me on the road at 55MPH, loosing power steering and almost ending up in a ditch. Guess what the problem was. A dead ignition pick up coil. So was good did that "analysis" do me. Complete waste of money. I might as well just have lit a $100 bill on fire.

I learned a lot more about the condition of my car simply by crawling under it to check for leaks, checking for trouble codes, getting my hands on a GM Shop Manual (Helms), and doing a compression check myself rather than the useless "analysis" a Chevy dealer did.

For the price of a compression check at a Chevy dealer for example, ($120 plus 3 years ago) you can buy your own compression gage, and do a full tune up yourself; i.e oil change, plugs, wires, cap & rotor, air filter, ect.

A compression check or a leak down test would tell you a lot about the condition of your motor. So will pulling any trouble codes thay may be present. A Shop Manual will tell you more about your Vette and how it works than you could ever want to know. Even if you plan on having a Corvette shop do the work for you, at leat you will be informed.

I would choose a Corvette specialty shop with a good reputation everytime over any Chevy Dealership hands down. That's just based on my experience with Dealers. But I prefer to do all the work myself at home.

The truth is that the really knowledgeable technicians who know their stuff leave the dealerships to work for themselves because they can make more money independently and not have to answer to a phony boss or manager.

 

I can understand you are looking for someone truthfull and experienced w/reasonable prices..... well I would not look at a dealer other than warranty work. And while I agree about vette shops, in this area there is one whos been doin vettes for over 30 years, he knows whats goin on however his prices are almost double to a dealer!
Ultimately I think if you have the extra time, learn and do it yourself, know and learn what you have. There really is only a couple of things I wouldnt do, alignment, rear gear set-up, and trans, and this can be done w/specialty shops. If you really feel that you have no time etc. IMO, go to some of these places you are considering and talk to them first before handing over the keys. Ask questions about specific issues and listen to thier response, you should be able to tell if someone gives unspecific or run around replies (incl. prices and thier experience).
Ive seen many forum members hail from Fla. so hope fully you guys have more places in general to chose from, good luck w/ finding a trusted establishment, or maybe doing it yourself

 

I live in the Ft. Lauderdale area and welcome you to the Forum. After a couple of bleeps at the local dealership, I learned how to do most fixes myself. There is a great post a few above me. Buy a Helms manual for $100. and you will save that in the first few weeks. Buy one.