11 replies to this topic

[jimbob]

Please check this thread: http://www.vx220.org...27#entry1158727 If any of you didn't know, Dan Jude based in Consett is working on more and more VX220's. I'm sure others will vouch for this when I say that his level of committment to honesty and perfection is probably one of the best experiences I have had with car maintenance/service/repair. Let's just say an enthusiast, helpling enthusiasts? For those who don't know I think Dan is a bit of a best kept secret. He has around 300+ regular customers who ship their Lotus cars to him for a variety of jobs from engine rebuilding, track prep, supercharging etc. Many arrive on low loaders to be mended and returned remotely and his customers appear to have absoulte trust (something quite rare these days) (I'm not on commission!) but I've encouraged him to produce a price list etc for typical jobs. It can only be a good thing to have at least one specialist who is not a dealer tuned in to our plastic boxes on wheels. Has anyone got any feedback on typical jobs or kit that he should price against..?

Edited by jimbob, 16 March 2011 - 06:04 PM.

[Mangham54]

1. Typical servicing + MOT 2. Rad replacement 3. Geo setups 4. Wishbone bush and ball joint labour rate For a start.

Edited by Mangham54, 16 March 2011 - 06:07 PM.

[zimmer]

Dan just did my timing chain and fitted an exhaust manifold. Top marks from me, wont take it anywhere else from now on.

[cramman]

Aye, I had him do my service when I first bought the car. excellent fella and seemed to know his stuff. Lazydonkey recommended him to me, saying a lot of the Scottish Elise boys use him.

[Mangham54]

Now that is a list of recommendations anyone would be a fool to ignore.

[drpau]

Dan just did my timing chain and fitted an exhaust manifold. Top marks from me, wont take it anywhere else from now on.

What was the damage on the timing chain? £600?

Have heard that purelotus in Wetherby are OK also - no experience of them myself...

[zimmer]

Dan just did my timing chain and fitted an exhaust manifold. Top marks from me, wont take it anywhere else from now on.

What was the damage on the timing chain? £600?

Have heard that purelotus in Wetherby are OK also - no experience of them myself...

You have PM

[Crabash]

Absolutely the opposite for me, p*ss poor job and would not even allow him to put right what he had done wrong for fear of even more careless work. Did everything again myself and found so much evidence of careless work and shortcuts.

[zimmer]

Absolutely the opposite for me, p*ss poor job and would not even allow him to put right what he had done wrong for fear of even more careless work. Did everything again myself and found so much evidence of careless work and shortcuts.

That's a shame, is there anyone else around that you use crabash? Or do all the work yourself?

[Crabash]

To be honest I tried a few, including main dealers and from much further afield, they never do it to my standards, maybe because I do a lot myself I tend to get into the places most don't see and I notice things like screws missing or parts not put back properly etc, maybe others wouldn't notice some of the stuff I have but I think that I can't trust any of the work if say there were 2 O rings in the water pump or screws missing from the harder to get to areas of the timing cover. A lock nut not tightend properly on a rear toe link (after spending 2.5k on susspension geo etc) caused a major tail out moment on track and almost put me in the wall after the hairpin at Mallory. Never trust anyone with my car again as these have all been "respected" places to go. For me on a car like ours, parts do not always fit right and need that extra attention, and the details are what makes it better. For instance how many people have fit uprated rear toe links and not known any better than to expect to bolt it in and set the rear toe? They need to be checked as they do not always mate up to chasis due to differences in subframes. They look like they are fine but unless you take the time and know what to look for then you would not know.

Edited by Crabash, 19 March 2011 - 11:43 AM.

[roadboy]

Hmmmm, interesting. Yours is one of the few cars on which I haven't done everything myself in recent years as I was really busy and got some help in. I really can't understand why anyone who has bad service won't go back and complain but are happy enough to bad-mouth the company elsewhere instead. There are often reasonable explanations for such things and you may be enlightened if you took the time to get in touch. There's a reason I have the reputation I do and it is not through cutting corners and doing a bad job. Not interested in having an argument on an internet forum but please do get in touch so I can talk through the issues with you. It would probably be helpful for both of us. Cheers Dan

Edited by roadboy, 24 March 2011 - 02:45 PM.

[roadboy]

Also worth mentioning, Steve, that you had no suspension or geo work carried out at SPS Automotive so your second post isn't specifically about SPS. Just thought I'd bring that up as your post is somewhat misleading. Its a shame you haven't bothered to get in touch to talk through your issues. Not much more I can do really. Dan