StructEngineer Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I'm having a heck of a time finding anywhere to take my forester. Am really wary of taking it anywhere but the dealer since Subarus really arent all that common here.....but there's only one dealer in the entire Louisville area and they're always booked solid a week out. How do you go about finding a decent shop that can work on Subarus? I dont know anyone else with one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I live in Indy, and can only provide you with a name of a good shop in my area. I am not any help in knowing any private garage, that is honest and good at working on Subies in the Louisville area. Since you don't know anyone in your area with a Subie, your next best referral system is to ask a number of people who own Japanese cars where they get their cars repaired, other than at a dealer. I have always felt that their is a certain amount of generic engineering influence that is common among all Japanese cars, and if a shop works on Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans, they are going to be better prepared at working on a Subie, then say a shop that works mostly on GM cars. You may also want to go to the telephone book yellow pages and look under "automobile repair." Some shops may state that they work on foreign cars. You may want to call some of those shops, and inquire about their familiarity with working on Subarus. If you get some Japanese car repair referrals, and some foreign shop listings, you should be able to meld the two efforts together to come up with a shop or two that can provide good repair work for you at reasonable cost. Yes, this is going to take a bit of work on your part, but if I were in your shoes, that is how I would go about it. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortlid Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I'm having a heck of a time finding anywhere to take my forester. Am really wary of taking it anywhere but the dealer since Subarus really arent all that common here.....but there's only one dealer in the entire Louisville area and they're always booked solid a week out. How do you go about finding a decent shop that can work on Subarus? I dont know anyone else with one. I use to live in Princeton, and Evansville when I worked for Toyota. Only a few places you could take it that far South that would work on "J#p cars!!". PM me maybe I can remmber back five years!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 depends what you're wanting. if it's basic service...which is probably all you need, any competent mechanic should be able to help you. frankly i'd avoid the dealer, there are more bad ones than good ones, so i wouldn't touch them anyway unless you have very good reports from them. what i would do is find the best, most honest local mechanic you can. ask around, ask people you know, at work, around town, anyone. look for a good, honest mechanic. let us know what you're doing and we can tell you any subaru specific things that might be useful in the particular job you're getting service for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StructEngineer Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 depends what you're wanting. if it's basic service...which is probably all you need, any competent mechanic should be able to help you. frankly i'd avoid the dealer, there are more bad ones than good ones, so i wouldn't touch them anyway unless you have very good reports from them. what i would do is find the best, most honest local mechanic you can. ask around, ask people you know, at work, around town, anyone. look for a good, honest mechanic. let us know what you're doing and we can tell you any subaru specific things that might be useful in the particular job you're getting service for. I'm wanting some basic things like a transmission flush, rear diff fluid change, fuel filter, brake fluid change. Honestly I could do most of this myself if I had a garage and time. I also have a Honda, and had nothing but trouble with private shops who claimed they worked on foreign cars....the dealers seemed to be the best of the worst. I can imagine for the subaru it will be even more difficult to find anyone competent to work on it. Am originally from Chicago, and never had this sort of problem till moving down here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I'm wanting some basic things like a transmission flush, rear diff fluid change, fuel filter, brake fluid change. yeah that stuff is very simple, there's nothing complicated or subaru specific in any of that. the trans will get a new transmission filter assuming it's a 99 or newer, but they should see that sitting there. your goal is an honest mechanic, not cheap, just a straight shooter that wants to do a good job. most want to make as much money as possible. that means flat rates and do them as quick (less quality) as possible. dealerships work under the same principles, it's revenue driven. now that's not bad, i'm not against that, 'im a business man and understand that - but the high price should also come with quality and fair treatment. too often these days high prices come because "people will pay it" "people don't have the expertise" and the quality isn't there because the shops paying a guy by job...not by hour or salary. some soob mechanics in DC are making 6 figures working tons of hours and completing lots of "jobs", i had a regional subaru executive trying to recruit me - it's about quantity, not quality. the quicker your filter and fluid is changed the quicker he gets to the next job and more money. do you think that makes you get a "better" and "attention to detail" trans filter and fluid chnage - of course not. they're answer to that is - insurance, that's not what you want. how far are you from Salem, IN? I have very good friends there and will send them an email about who they go to. fairly certain that have a good mechanic, his family is from close to there as well, so they may know others elsewhere. let me know what part of the state and i'll shoot them an email. i'm off to send them an email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StructEngineer Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 yeah that stuff is very simple, there's nothing complicated or subaru specific in any of that. the trans will get a new transmission filter assuming it's a 99 or newer, but they should see that sitting there. your goal is an honest mechanic, not cheap, just a straight shooter that wants to do a good job. most want to make as much money as possible. that means flat rates and do them as quick (less quality) as possible. dealerships work under the same principles, it's revenue driven. now that's not bad, i'm not against that, 'im a business man and understand that - but the high price should also come with quality and fair treatment. too often these days high prices come because "people will pay it" "people don't have the expertise" and the quality isn't there because the shops paying a guy by job...not by hour or salary. some soob mechanics in DC are making 6 figures working tons of hours and completing lots of "jobs", i had a regional subaru executive trying to recruit me - it's about quantity, not quality. the quicker your filter and fluid is changed the quicker he gets to the next job and more money. do you think that makes you get a "better" and "attention to detail" trans filter and fluid chnage - of course not. they're answer to that is - insurance, that's not what you want. how far are you from Salem, IN? I have very good friends there and will send them an email about who they go to. fairly certain that have a good mechanic, his family is from close to there as well, so they may know others elsewhere. let me know what part of the state and i'll shoot them an email. i'm off to send them an email. I'm only about 30mi south of Salem. Thanks a ton for asking them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 i sent them an email, sometimes she doesn't check her email for a couple days, but she should respond, if not i'll call. feel free to PM or email me a reminded, i'm rather busy and making lists doesn't cut it because they'd be a billion pages long. reminders are good - i'm good at over commiting, but i did send them an email. i can call if they don't write back in the next day or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 i heard back from them "We've taken our vehicles to a place called Stewart's Automotive in Salem, IN, and we've had very positive experiences with them". these are highly respected friends of mine, i would imagine they deal with a decent shop, although they haven't been there for a super long time, just a couple years. hope that helps. said that's all they know in their area. if you want i can call them and get them to track their parents down, they live about 30 minutes away though i don't know in what direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StructEngineer Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 i heard back from them "We've taken our vehicles to a place called Stewart's Automotive in Salem, IN, and we've had very positive experiences with them". these are highly respected friends of mine, i would imagine they deal with a decent shop, although they haven't been there for a super long time, just a couple years. hope that helps. said that's all they know in their area. if you want i can call them and get them to track their parents down, they live about 30 minutes away though i don't know in what direction. Nah, that's ok. Appreciate the recommendation. Might check the shop out tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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