Review for The Shop in San Bruno and Matthel
Review for The Shop in San Bruno and Matthel
Hey guys -
So I've been looking for a good mechanic to work on my FD for years now in the Bay Area and have never really been totally satisfied due to either: a) price and b) convenience, but I may have found a great solution! I was referred to "The Shop" in San Bruno and Matthel (Turbo95Max) by Rishie at AutoRND for some suspension/brake work on my street/track/non-daily driven FD. This was my first time taking my car there, and I have no affiliation whatsoever with The Shop. I tried doing a search and found no feedback for them and only a handful of reviews on Yelp, so I thought it would be worth my time to refer them for other FC/FD owners looking for a good mechanic.
My review:
Location: Perfect for me as I live and work in the city! The Shop is about a 15 minute drive with easy access from the freeway, and even better, it is about a 5 minute walk from the San Bruno BART station. I was able to drive my car in Tuesday morning, take the BART to work for the day, and then I went back via BART after work this afternoon. So simple! I no longer have to stress about finding a friend to drive me to/fro or to take a cab. The hours are 10:30AM to 6:30PM Monday to Saturday.
Customer Service: Matthel called me every afternoon with progress and with any questions/concerns about the install. My front Cusco sway bar was rubbing with the RacingBeat reinforcement brace, and he asked how I wanted to proceed instead of just moving on without notifying me. He was honest in his assessment and very easy to talk to, answering any questions I had. He gave a print out with an estimate, and it listed line by line the work I wanted done, which was pretty substantial (full Superpro bushing install, Tein Flex coilover install, rotors changed, Cusco sway bars install, ride-height adjustment and alignment). My final bill was about $5 bucks more than the estimate for fluid because they had to drain the differential to get to the differential bushings. They started work on the car the same day I brought it in and was done and ready for pick up 3 days later. They had all the stock parts in boxes and ready to be carried away. They even gave my car a quick wash before I picked it up!
Pricing: Very reasonable all things considered. Matthel himself has a gorgeous white 99-spec FD with an LS1, full suspension setup and goes to track events, so he's familiar with all the work I would need done.
If any of you Bay Area guys need work done on your cars, give Matthel a call or shoot him a PM/e-mail. And feel free to give feedback/review here on the forum for other rotary owners that might be looking for a good shop!
So I've been looking for a good mechanic to work on my FD for years now in the Bay Area and have never really been totally satisfied due to either: a) price and b) convenience, but I may have found a great solution! I was referred to "The Shop" in San Bruno and Matthel (Turbo95Max) by Rishie at AutoRND for some suspension/brake work on my street/track/non-daily driven FD. This was my first time taking my car there, and I have no affiliation whatsoever with The Shop. I tried doing a search and found no feedback for them and only a handful of reviews on Yelp, so I thought it would be worth my time to refer them for other FC/FD owners looking for a good mechanic.
My review:
Location: Perfect for me as I live and work in the city! The Shop is about a 15 minute drive with easy access from the freeway, and even better, it is about a 5 minute walk from the San Bruno BART station. I was able to drive my car in Tuesday morning, take the BART to work for the day, and then I went back via BART after work this afternoon. So simple! I no longer have to stress about finding a friend to drive me to/fro or to take a cab. The hours are 10:30AM to 6:30PM Monday to Saturday.
Customer Service: Matthel called me every afternoon with progress and with any questions/concerns about the install. My front Cusco sway bar was rubbing with the RacingBeat reinforcement brace, and he asked how I wanted to proceed instead of just moving on without notifying me. He was honest in his assessment and very easy to talk to, answering any questions I had. He gave a print out with an estimate, and it listed line by line the work I wanted done, which was pretty substantial (full Superpro bushing install, Tein Flex coilover install, rotors changed, Cusco sway bars install, ride-height adjustment and alignment). My final bill was about $5 bucks more than the estimate for fluid because they had to drain the differential to get to the differential bushings. They started work on the car the same day I brought it in and was done and ready for pick up 3 days later. They had all the stock parts in boxes and ready to be carried away. They even gave my car a quick wash before I picked it up!
Pricing: Very reasonable all things considered. Matthel himself has a gorgeous white 99-spec FD with an LS1, full suspension setup and goes to track events, so he's familiar with all the work I would need done.
If any of you Bay Area guys need work done on your cars, give Matthel a call or shoot him a PM/e-mail. And feel free to give feedback/review here on the forum for other rotary owners that might be looking for a good shop!
