Adelaide subaru mechanic recommendation?

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:49 pm

valerian wrote: I just give dry facts. Everybody can draw their own conclusions from my descriptions.

Ok I will

Although from my experiences too; he's a top notch guy and very helpful, the two times I've been there expecting to have to leave my car there for at least a day or two, he's had a look, told me what the actual problem was and that it's not as serious as I thought. Then tells me the best thing to do...without charging a single cent! I'm kinda glad my oil pump is leaking so I can leave the car there and actually pay him for his help

valerian · Post by **valerian** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 12:23 am

Silverbullet wrote:Ok I will

I gave a thought and came to the conclusion why I said I felt slightly less than 100% happy. (As usual, I am giving this account as a service to the potential clients who are looking for the facts on the Internet in order to make up their own opinion.)

I used to service my car at an independent mechanic who did the job by himself. I got used to him not only doing a good job mechanically, but also making a good appearance of the job. If there was an oil spill on the engine he would clean it, he attached the unconspicious generic "next service" sticker on the windscreen, he attached the stickers about changed timing belt under the hood, and he thoroughly put the shine on the tyres sidewalls. He was also putting efforts in finding the cheaper parts, not just pulling them off the shelf in an auto parts store next door.

In the Rising Sun, the job is done by the hired mechanics. Naturally, they would not care about the client's car appearance as the owner-mechanic would do. For example, the oil spills on the engine are still there, the "next service" sticker with the Rising Sun logo is attached with a tilt to the windscreen, there were no timing belt and coolant stickers under the hood (only on computer and "log book"), and the shine on the sidewalls was put unevenly.

These things do not matter much, as long as the mechanical job is done right. Well, come to think of it, Steve is obviously giving to the clients what they want. I just got used to a different culture. I have nothing to complain about the quality of the mechanical job. You, guys, universally complimented the quality of the Rising Sun's work. I hope the time will confirm it for me, too.

Oh, by the way. The tax invoice says the oil is "eco 10". Do you guys know what brand does the Rising Sun usually use ? Is it Shell ? Is the oil Shell Helix Plus Eco 10W-30 ? (I do not want to call Steve and ask this little question; I remember the surprised look he gave to me when I dropped in to his shop next day after the service with my questions.)

leebag · Post by **leebag** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:28 am

Best mechanic by far in adelaide. Is Steve at rising sun. He give you a one car and the work is top notch. He has been my mechanic since I bought a vortex with a head gasket failure. He gave me my options and I ended up buying a rx Turbo from him at a reasonable price. I've spent tens of thousands with him and always honest and prepared to deal with all the headaches

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

valerian · Post by **valerian** » Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:00 am

leebag wrote:... the work is top notch.

I do not know, maybe I am doing something wrong, but I am not getting the top notch work.

Yesterday I opened the bonnet, and I noticed two things. First, the bolts in the brackets holding the radiator were not completely screwed in to the chassis. The brackets were rattling. Maybe this explains the additional sound from the car I got after the service.

The other thing was that when changing the fuel filter, the mechanic damaged the hose. The hose is missing the chunks of rubber, and the textile cord is exposed, http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/4581/dsc00905r.jpg . I would've thought the mechanic could change the hose.

I told to Steve about the hose, and he told me to "call in" and he would fix the hose. I am not sure if I am going to tell him about the bolts. What's the use ? My real concern is if I found these things on the surface, what lies inside ?

valerian · Post by **valerian** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 10:02 am

An update. I brought my car to the shop as was suggested by Steve. His attitude put me at ease. He arranged for the mechanic to change the fuel hose. After that, Steve said the hose would not need changing and he would leave it there in general case, but he did it for me anyway.

I mentioned that the bolts on the radiator brackets were not tightened. I thought that removing radiator was a part of the timing belt change process. The mechanic told me he did not touch the radiator.

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 4:51 pm

Understanding it was a couple trips to meet your expectations, are you satisfied with the work, and importantly these days, value for money?

valerian · Post by **valerian** » Sat Nov 26, 2011 12:51 am

sven '2' wrote:Understanding it was a couple trips to meet your expectations, are you satisfied with the work, and importantly these days, value for money?

The short reply is: "Yes".

Here is the long reply. My main concern was the quality of the major mechanical work, such as changing the timing belt, pulleys etc. I was choosing the shop carefully by the reviews on the Internet. Probably, the job has been done properly. I saw an inattention to detail and even sloppiness in the things which I could see straight under the hood, and naturally I asked myself the question: "Then, what's the quality of the work under the covers where I cannot reach ?" But, my experience shows, it should probably be OK. At least, the engine seems to be working well, which means the timing belt is put back properly.

I am charged the amount of money about what I expected. After my previous mechanic of 7 years quit without warning, I realised that I would have to pay more if I engage any new mechanic, and I prepared mentally for that (about 15% more).

So, in the current case, I obtained approximately what I expected for the money I was prepared to pay. I had to go twice to the shop to iron out some little issues. This took some effort for me, which bumped the attractiveness of the deal down.

Will I ask the Rising Sun to do my next service and repairs ? I think for that to happen, I would like to see them increasing the attention to detail. Or, alternatively, they can keep the same attention to detail, but decrease the price.

valerian · Post by **valerian** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:40 pm

I took my car for the second time to Rising Sun, and again I got bullshit experience.

This time it was for a 10k km service -- change oil, filter etc. When I was picking the keys from Steve, I thought: "What could go wrong now ? It is just a simple service."

Oh well, as I was going to drive away, I discovered that the light "door is open" on the dashboard did not go down. I opened and closed each door at least twice, but the light was still there. I did not have that problem before I turned my car in for the service.

Oh boy. What should I do now ? Should I go back to Steve, and tell him I got this problem ? He may dismiss me saying that this is a small problem. From the other side, the constantly lit signal will drain the battery flat.

So that I told to Steve about the light that was always on. He sent the mechanic in. The mechanic closed each door. The light was still on. He was pressing the door switch buttons one by one, but the light was still one. The mechanic said he needed to get inside the buttons and check them.

I told to the mechanic that there might be one more switch -- under the bonnet. The mechanic said that there was no switch under the bonnet.

Oh well. While the mechanic continued pressing the buttons and opening and closing the doors, I opened the bonnet, and here it was the switch on the bent support. I bent it back, closed the bonnet, and here we go -- the signal light went away. As I see it the switch got bent either because the car was too old and it happened just because of closing the bonnet. Or, a mechanic carelessly bent it.

The mechanic commented the find that he did not know that there was a switch under the bonnet.

Now, the normal person would think that the problem is fixed, and would drive away. But I wanted to share it with Steve. I knew it would be useless -- what was I going to get by telling to Steve that his mechanic was unattentive and unknowledgeable ?

However, I thought that I should inform him about what happened, so that to earn "brownie points". I would not get a discount now for my work, but at least I get an extra attention next time.

Steve told me he did not know there was a switch under the bonnet. He told me: "Got what you wanted ? Happy now ? Bye".

Mmm... I need to chose the car service where the owner is doing the work by himself.

valerian · Post by **valerian** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:58 pm

Can somebody explain me what might be happening ? Today I noticed three thick pools of motor oil on my driveway. My car never leaked oil before I took it for the service to Rising Sun last Wednesday (3 business days ago). Does mechanic hate me and the proprietor does not care about the quality of their work ?

After I arrived home after a 20 km ride, I checked the oil dipstick -- the oil level was 2 cm above the "full" limit. The top of the engine was heavily smeared with oil, it dripped from the bottom, but I could not find out from what part of engine. Maybe they just overfilled it with oil ? Has it been dangerous for the engine ?

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:17 pm

Reading back through this thread I don't think you mention what car you have? I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. I'll tell you though that my Dad has his L series serviced there lately and last time they did over-fill the oil, but it didn't leak out. I don't think over filling the oil damages the engine but not absolutely sure. Could the oil on top of the engine just be a spill from the bottle? Or is it much more than that.

valerian · Post by **valerian** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:52 am

A follow-up. I checked the oil level in the cold engine, and it was correct.

Then I brought the car to Steve. They examined it and he said the leak was from the power steering pump or from the o-ring between the pump and reservoir. He said topping the Dextron up could upset the old o-ring, and it would leak. Hm... OK, I'll buy it for the moment.

Steve told me to observe the leak more and hope it would subside. If it does not then he told me to come for the replacement of the power steering pump which would cost $350 plus labour. (Or, hopefully, it would be just the o-ring which would cost less, however it looked like the gasket failed (No. 55 in
http://www.porcupine73.com/pics/steerin ... ump-96.gif) which is typical according to the thread
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66- ... -leak.html

I have noticed that Steve buys kits at full price. I find it surprising. My previous mechanic was always able to find the kits that's well below the official price.

steve_rising_sun · Post by **steve_rising_sun** » Wed Nov 07, 2012 1:35 pm

Thank you for your kind words and support guy!
Unfortunatly it does not matter how well I explain everthing, how clear I make things, I just can't get through to everyone, I just can't please some people. If I say "Please recheck the coolant again tomorrow" I mean it for good reason! Sorry my loan cars leak [some would say that they are free and better than walking]. If something on your car leaks [that I have not replaced], it's not my fault, its got 2,00,000ks on it. Part of our job is to point this stuff out! To blame someone for a door light sticking is just silly. I could go on, but life is too short to waste. I have great staff and brilliant customers with the odd exception who will never be pleased.
Thanks again guys

steve_rising_sun · Post by **steve_rising_sun** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:10 am

I hope you don't think I am being mean here, but I just had a call from this guy,"can you help me with my car" er sorry aren't you the guy bagging me on the forum? Life is to short, so I said no.

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:15 pm

Don't sweat it Steve, some people are never happy

Nice to see you check on this forum every now and then.

steve_rising_sun · Post by **steve_rising_sun** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:00 pm

Thanks Mate!
It has been awhile.
The last two years have been, well.... lost a family member last year, so forum time or even getting out has been tough
Still have a Brumby with a EG33 sitting at work needing to be driven!

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:34 pm

steve_rising_sun wrote:I hope you don't think I am being mean here, but I just had a call from this guy,"can you help me with my car" er sorry aren't you the guy bagging me on the forum?

Really? I had some trouble reading this thread from the start as there must be posts deleted - there are quotes from posts that don't exist in this thread... Go figure.

Best of luck with this fella. He'll have tough luck finding a better place in Adelaide from what I understand.

Cheers

Bennie

Post by **Alex** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:55 am

El_Freddo wrote:Really? I had some trouble reading this thread from the start as there must be posts deleted - there are quotes from posts that don't exist in this thread... Go figure.

Best of luck with this fella. He'll have tough luck finding a better place in Adelaide from what I understand.

Cheers

Bennie

Yes, it seems the OP has gone through and deleted his comments.

Sent from my Motorola RAZR HD

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:19 am

Alex wrote:Yes, it seems the OP has gone through and deleted his comments.

Yeah that's what I thought. It can make following a thread very difficult!

Cheers

Bennie

valerian · Post by **valerian** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:54 pm

I went to another mechanic recommended in this thread. I asked him to walk me through the proposed work, and it came out he wanted to change the timing belt concurrently with the main job. He did not know that the Rising Sun changed the timing belt earlier this year. Earlier in this thread I lamented about the stickers not applied as a part of the service in the Rising Sun shop, and here was the case when the need for the sticker came.

Rodeo4jake · Post by **Rodeo4jake** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 3:41 pm

Was it the end of the world that you had to state it had just been done? I don't think so. It's time to move on now, you'll send yourself to an early grave with undue stress.