Specialist

miles5 · Post by **miles5** » Mon May 06, 2013 8:18 pm

Hi,

Anyone have any recommendations on a specialst I can take my S1 FHC to for servicing and various mechanical work. I live between Banbury and Stratford and have previously used a jaguar man in Coventry. Dont really want to drive miles (CMC, E Type Centre, Lanes etc...). However after several episodes of wasting money on jobs not getting completed properly just need someone who does a good job. PM recommendations if people would rather.

Many thanks

Post by **Heuer** » Mon May 06, 2013 8:31 pm

Only one I can recommend in your area is CMC and they are only 70 miiles away from you. They were good enough to do 1600 RW, 1 VHP, 9600 HP, Lindner Lightweight etc etc so you have to think they are probably good enough to be trusted with your car. Worth the one hour journey in my view.

Durango2k · Post by **Durango2k** » Tue May 07, 2013 5:00 am

Just a question- how much do such services charge per hour in the UK ?

Carsten

P.S- I just ordered some IRS parts through a London- based Citroen - fanatic friend, because the ebay sellers (pros) did not want to send the items to germany. And HERE, these parts (fulcrum + hub kits) are really expensive, astonishingly. Doing so saved me at least 100 Euro !

Post by **Heuer** » Tue May 07, 2013 9:33 am

Last time I was at CMC (about 2 years ago) it was ?47/hr. I was talking to someone last week and they said J D Classics were charging ?108/hr which is in line with modern car service rates. Unfortunately classic cars take a lot more time to service than a modern!

MarkE · Post by **MarkE** » Tue May 07, 2013 9:34 am

CMC charge about ?45 / hour plus 20% tax, which is a very low rate for such a specialist. My local garage charges more that that!

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Tue May 07, 2013 9:45 am

For mechanical work, there is also David Marks in Nottingham

mystery type · Post by **mystery type** » Wed May 08, 2013 4:19 am

CMC charge about ?45 / hour plus 20% tax,

I am amazed, i thought it would be much more than that, given their reputation.

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Wed May 08, 2013 9:10 am

Remember, the labour bills consist of hours times rate, not merely a rate per hour. I may charge far more than others for my time yet give a smaller invoice and better value.

I have no view on any of the suppliers mentioned except JD Classics, who without any discussion, forewarning or a signature from me charged ?950 simply for an insurance estimate. Since they had possession of the car they were able to hold me (or more precisely Royal Sun Alliance, the Footman James underwriter) to ransom and would not release the car until it was paid.

Pete

MarkE · Post by **MarkE** » Wed May 08, 2013 10:51 am

You're absolutely right Pete, and I've come across some real horrors, especially at the high end in the Ferrari and Aston world.

The CMC business model though is completely transparent, with an itemised bill for labour and parts down to a level of granularity that is understandable and contestable. That works for both parties of course, allowing CMC to justify what time has been spent and giving the customer, who may not be too versed in costs associated with working on such cars, to understand what has been done and why.

Any major work such as re-commissioning or restoration always starts off with a complete analysis of the issues the car has, again, broken down to a low level. An estimate for work completion is provided against this analysis, and it is the start point for determining what are the priorities to be given to which piece of work.

They are the best specialist classic car business that I have come across and they certainly give me the confidence that they are doing a first class job for a reasonable cost. My S3 is up there right now having a last bit of fettling done.

Post by **1954Etype** » Wed May 08, 2013 12:36 pm

Pete is spot on. I did a job for a customer last week which took me about 3 days (adjust door and make window easier to wind up). I can charge ?25 an hour (low overhead) but could only charge the customer ?200 (would you want to pay ?600 for that work?

I only charge what I deem to be a reasonable cost for the job.

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Wed May 08, 2013 2:37 pm

In a sense Angus, your 'market pricing' model (as opposed to 'cost plus') is what JD did when they reamed me. From opposite sides of the spectrum you both somewhat 'massaged' the price to what you thought you could charge and stand a reasonable chance of receiving. The difference being that you were fair and reasonable and JD deal in million-dollar plus vehicles. That meant they could invent a two day estimate time with a 950 bill and treat me like something you wipe off your shoe at the first opportunity, since I was completely insignificant to them and possession is 9/10ths of the Law. They claimed to have done a full geometry check but were unable to produce any data. The RSA adjuster had never come across anything like it but since the alternative was for the bill to grow by 20 a day for storage, I had to cough up and clear out.

Good luck with the biz. Can you do me an ally D-type tub for five hundred quid? Ex RAF man - you should know where there are a few surplus drop tanks to give you a head start? :-)

miles5 · Post by **miles5** » Sun May 12, 2013 1:58 pm

Thanks for the feedback. I think CMC it is.

Regards

Post by **1954Etype** » Sun May 12, 2013 4:51 pm

Pete, to be clear, I 'massaged' the price down in this case. I always put myself in my customers shoes and think what would I be happy with. In this case, the agreement was that if there was no significant improvement, he wouldnt have to pay me. That's only fair and means I only take on work I know I can do.

I still get really upset when I see people who are prepared to pay the going rate for work and get ripped off - I saw some examples of this recently and it still annoys me. Must go and lie down down now.....

oh drop tanks, all used up by the US servicemen now mate to make their Bonneville Salt Flat specials.

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Mon May 13, 2013 1:51 am

Yes, sorry if that wasn't clear. You did the right thing and didn't charge every ha'penny of time it took, just what was reasonable in context and what you thought the customer would pay for a good result and be happy. JD charged for masses of time they couldn't substantiate but were pretty sure they'd get paid because they had the car and all the aces against me.

Pete

Post by **1954Etype** » Mon May 13, 2013 7:21 am

:D I remember that episode well!

Woolfi · Post by **Woolfi** » Mon May 13, 2013 10:17 am

"JD charged for masses of time they couldn't substantiate but were pretty sure they'd get paid because they had the car and all the aces against me."
Hello Peter !
That's wrong. A man of YOUR reputation in the Jag-world has ALL aces against them. In the time of internet, you can punnish them verrrrry hard.
Only a super idiot is acting like them. To do like this, is like preparing suicide. If you tell this story 1:1 (very exactly) in internet, they will catch a loss in reputation, which is MUCH higher than 900 pound.
I am a business man, selling soft-tops for cabrios, and I know very well about such a problem. We say: if you are loosing your "good name", you are loosing ALL a dealer can loose. This is allways the first step to decline.
Regards Wolfgang Gatza

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Mon May 13, 2013 10:56 am

I think it is all on here Wolfgang, from around January 2012? I agree it is scandalous and my insurers had never heard of anything like it, but then I suppose thry had never dealt with a shop that deals in multi-million cars for whom 950 is the price of a good lunch. And once they have your car they can say 'See you in court, and by the way each day the price goes up while we store your car'.

Pete

Woolfi · Post by **Woolfi** » Mon May 13, 2013 11:42 am

'See them in the net and all forums' !
But also you have to think about, if you have acted correct. Sometimes both people make mistakes in a "deal". I judge tries to clarify, what has y happened and who is 'guilty'. Often the result is diferent from the own "feeling".
I have checked their home page in internet. I allways try to avoid the contact with such a company, because they have (high) prices for another type of customers.
Regards Wolfgang Gatza

Post by **Heuer** » Mon May 13, 2013 11:49 am

I don't think J D Classics customers will be frequenting many Forums. I notice all their cars are POA which sets off alarm bells as even E Type UK and Eagle are upfront with their prices. They do have some gorgeous cars though.

Woolfi · Post by **Woolfi** » Mon May 13, 2013 12:28 pm

If they are loosing only 1 customer, the lost is bigger than 900 pound.
Regards Wolfgang Gatza

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