Dealer or Corvette specific shop for service?

grandsp69

grandsp69

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Hi guys,

I’m new to the forums. I was wondering what the majority of you guys do for Mod installs? I have a 2019 GS that will need things installed. I’d rather stay away from the dealerships for service as I used to work for one when I was a teenager so I know how much of a money grab most of the “service” they offer. But since my car will be under warranty would it matter where I take the car for service?

I’d like to know what you new Vette owners do for mod installs/service?
What dealerships I should go to and what to avoid ? Same with what corvette shops I should go to and avoid? I’m in the GTA area.

Thank you

Frank
 
Frank, I have 1 2015 z51 M7. Lots of mods, eg. ARH mid length headers, Halltech cai, B & B Bullets, trunnion upgrade, Innovator West balancer and I will be getting G2 coilovers, a DSS carbon drive shaft, Katech light weight flywheel among other things. The only person that I trust with my car is Dave at Race Ready Garage, located in Cambridge. I have to drive 130 km to get to him, but his knowledge, experience, fair pricing and attention to detail is worth it. Other forum members have used him as well and I have only seen positive comments. I'm sure he can help with your projects.
 
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I am being patient with an extensive mod (i.e. supercharger) until my factory warranty expires
and then also to see how my insurance company is in regard to it - they are always asking
me if I have performed any modifications and can only imagine where they are going with that.
After which, I will be trending toward an after-market specialist and not a dealership. For when I am
ready, I am also asking the questions and taking notes from modifications I am seeing within our
Alberta CCF Circle - a real good group here.
 
Whoa, that car must move! Mine won’t be that hardcore mainly because it’s still under warranty. I’ve also seen that shop pup op when talking about reputable shops.

Spencer, my plan is to bring the car to the dealership only for oil changes and warranty work or any work that would require me to bring it to a dealership. But I’ve also seen horror stories about bad dealerships so I want to know the dealerships I should avoid. I will try and install small things I’m comfortable doing but for the big complicated things, I’ll leave to the pros :)
 
grandsp69 said:
Hi guys,

I’m new to the forums. I was wondering what the majority of you guys do for Mod installs? I have a 2019 GS that will need things installed. I’d rather stay away from the dealerships for service as I used to work for one when I was a teenager so I know how much of a money grab most of the “service” they offer. But since my car will be under warranty would it matter where I take the car for service?

I’d like to know what you new Vette owners do for mod installs/service?
What dealerships I should go to and what to avoid ? Same with what corvette shops I should go to and avoid? I’m in the GTA area.

Thank you

Frank
Click to expand...


Frank that is a fantastic question.
I do not have any performance mods on my car but plenty of cosmetic things added.
For performance mods... yes absolutely you will want to take your car to a specialist shop. Dave’s shop mentioned above has a great reputation here and elsewhere so if it were me and I lived a bit further East my car would go there. Out west there are a few good shops with Davenport in YYC being the one that many here swear by.
Of course we also have members with skills and shops who do their own mech mods and only use the shops for dyno and tuning. Warranty or no warranty... it’s a choice for the individual and what they want from the car. Oil changes and warranty work are IMO best done at the dealership during the warranty period. Especially since you get the first 5 or so oil changes free and only a dealership can honour the warranty. Some dealerships have very good corvette techs and it takes a bit of research to find the right one if you do not like what is going on at the one you bought the car from. You can easily get good feedback here on that question. All good
Now for the majority of us Corvette owners who only want to add cosmetic things to make the car unique or simply more attractive to us as the owner there are plenty of options.
You will find most cosmetic mods on your corvette can quite easily be done yourself as these cars are assembled with small screws, plastic clips and 3M tape. YouTube is the main “how to” resource for this. Just buy yourself a good set of plastic body moulding tools along with a set of picks and a set of torx drivers. That’s almost all you need. Oh and beer of course.
In my case I was fortunate and had a very skilled young tech at my dealership do some of the bigger jobs on my car as I didn’t have the confidence to pull off some of the larger panels. But as time went on I began to do this kind of stuff on my own and it’s all worked out good. The car is quite easy to work on body and trim wise so don’t let that intimidate you if you feel you can do it.
Another good resource is friends in your area you make here. Plenty of guys here do all their own mods and have all the tools and experience to do the mods.
I’ve spent many afternoons in @turbozig s garage working on Corvettes and socializing. For me this is the best part about owning a corvette. Getting to know some great people with a similar interest.

You have some fun days ahead.
 
I travelled from Windsor ON to have Dave Race Ready (previous employer) Tune my ride after my "DIY": CAI, ported Manifold, LG Header and X Pipe. Planning a mild cam install and will go back to Dave.
 
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