overpriced balloons Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 (This is a bit of a long story to set up a "where should I take my legacy?" question, so I've put a summary at the end. If you're interested in the details and want to know a garage to avoid, read the whole thing, otherwise you can skim it or skip completely.) My '05 Legacy GT is/was due for state inspection last month. When I had a Volvo, I went to a Volvo specialist (Dave Russel in Mechanicsburg) and he did excellent work, fast, for a fraction of what the Lehman Volvo dealership charged. Unfortunately he pretty much sticks to Swedish cars, so I needed to find a new garage. After asking around and not getting much in the way of great recommendations, I took the car to Dove's Auto (because my parents go there) just for inspection and they told me I needed new rear pads and rotors (true), new front pads (maybe), and they suggested that I replace the front rotors as well because one of the front pads was cracked and had caused some damage to the rotor that they couldn't fix. I asked what they would charge and what brand of rotors and pads would be used. After being very disappointed by both answers, I just picked up the car and decided to do the brakes myself. I ordered the DBA Street series rotors and Hawk HPS pads from ScoobyTuner (front and rear) for about half the price the garage was going to charge me. After investing in the biggest breaker-bar I could find, I got all the rotors and pads changed in the evenings over the course of the week, and I'm ready to get the car re-inspected, but I don't want to take it back to Dove because I could find absolutely no evidence of damage to any of the pads or rotors (front or rear), and honestly the front rotors looked like they had quite a bit of life on them. I don't feel bad about doing them anyway because now I have a nice set of upgraded brakes, but I was a little peeved about the lying, and no longer wish to give that garage any of my business. Now, I didn't flush the brake fluid, and the car has 80,000 miles on it so I probably should. I just do not trust myself to do a full system flush on the brakes, so I will be having that done by a professional mechanic. I figured I would be fine taking it to the small garage down the street for a simple inspection and brake-fluid flush, but today I made the mistake of parking on the street in downtown Harrisburg and someone seems to have backed into me, breaking a few of the clips on one side of the front bumper and screwing up the corresponding headlight. So, now that the list of work that needs to be done is actually substantial and will require Subaru-specific parts, I don't really want to take it to the tiny garage on the corner. I was hoping someone here would know of a Subaru specialty shop (or just a good Subaru mechanic who can do the work and slap an inspection sticker on the car) in Central PA. Faulkner Subaru is only about a mile from where I live, but I had some work done there in the past (clutch+flywheel) and while the quality of the work was good, they had my car for over a week and the price ended up being a lot more than I was expecting. If there are no really good options, I guess I'd be ok with taking it back to Faulkner, but I was hoping someone here would know a place. I'd be willing to drive as far as Lancaster (50 miles / 1 hour) for a really good shop with good mechanics, fair prices, and fast turnaround. A great shop with a 3-week waiting list won't help me at the moment, as my inspection is now officially expired, but I would still appreciate the information for the future when I don't need service so urgently. Summary Looking for a good Subaru garage near Harrisburg, car needs inspection + a headlight and a brake-fluid flush. Time is of the essence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryN Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 All depends on how far you want to drive. You may want to add that in there as well so your locals can help you out with a shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overpriced balloons Posted October 3, 2010 Author Share Posted October 3, 2010 I did say ~50 miles/1 hour in the longer part of the post. I guess I should have mentioned that in the summary as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryN Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 Well, I can easily recommend Agile in Bel Air MD, but that would be beyond your scope. That was what I was aiming for, but my wording was off. My bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB-M3 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 why do you need to go to a subaru specialty shop just for inspection and brake flush? i know a few shops that I go to. inspection is usually done within 2 days. but u should just get a new headlight off the forums or ebay. your going to have to replace it anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RALLYT-WRX Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 I have a guy in Middletown that will work on your ride. He is the former Head Subaru Mechanic at Lancaster County Motors and had been working on Subaru's for 15 Years. Let me know if you want his info and I will PM you his contact info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB-M3 Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 can you pm me his info? I actually work right in Middletown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK1320 Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Chad Block Speed Factory is amazing. http://www.cbrdspeedfactory.com/Homepage.aspx '07 Forester STI (ECS Performance)..SOLD! '09 Spec B...Sold! '11 LGT Limited...Sold! '17 STI Limited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RALLYT-WRX Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Chad Block Speed Factory is amazing. http://www.cbrdspeedfactory.com/Homepage.aspx And overpriced for what the OP wants to have done. And they are not really a Subaru specialty shop. You could say more of an Evo specialty shop. Not to take away anything from Chads shop (I have known Chad for 15 years) and it's a first class business just overkill for what the OP wants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overpriced balloons Posted October 10, 2010 Author Share Posted October 10, 2010 I have a guy in Middletown that will work on your ride. He is the former Head Subaru Mechanic at Lancaster County Motors and had been working on Subaru's for 15 Years. Let me know if you want his info and I will PM you his contact info. That sounds good, please do send a PM. I actually managed to do the headlight myself (easier than I thought) and then had Faulkner do the inspection and brake-fluid flush, so I'm good for the moment, but the next time I need something I'll give the Middletown guy my business, because Faulkner still charged almost $300 for the amount of work they did and that's just not worth it. If I didn't live downtown (with cops everywhere) I would have waited a little longer, but I feel lucky I made it as long as I did driving around on the expired stickers. I had seen that Chad Block speed factory in a google search, and yea, that place looks awesome. If I ever decide to do any serious engine upgrades I'd certainly have them on my short-list. I'd feel like I was wasting their time asking for inspection and fluid-flush though. Thanks for the input everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolksey85 Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Do yourself a favor and do not go to Faulkner anywhere for anything. Faulkner has screwed up many customer cars in the past. There's a reason Becker is taking all of their business. Edit: I'm seriously considering having CBRD do me protune come springtime or so. Just need a few last parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott6058 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I have a guy in Middletown that will work on your ride. He is the former Head Subaru Mechanic at Lancaster County Motors and had been working on Subaru's for 15 Years. Let me know if you want his info and I will PM you his contact info. You also have a PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott6058 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 And overpriced for what the OP wants to have done. And they are not really a Subaru specialty shop. You could say more of an Evo specialty shop. Not to take away anything from Chads shop (I have known Chad for 15 years) and it's a first class business just overkill for what the OP wants. You have PM as well. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalxice25 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Can anyone PM the Middletown guy's contact info? My '08 Legacy is in need of a new short block and rather than go through the dealer to get the work done, I wanted to see if there are any independent shops in the Harrisburg area that anyone trusts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zangado1 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 (This is a bit of a long story to set up a "where should I take my legacy?" question, so I've put a summary at the end. If you're interested in the details and want to know a garage to avoid, read the whole thing, otherwise you can skim it or skip completely.) My '05 Legacy GT is/was due for state inspection last month. When I had a Volvo, I went to a Volvo specialist (Dave Russel in Mechanicsburg) and he did excellent work, fast, for a fraction of what the Lehman Volvo dealership charged. Unfortunately he pretty much sticks to Swedish cars, so I needed to find a new garage. After asking around and not getting much in the way of great recommendations, I took the car to Dove's Auto (because my parents go there) just for inspection and they told me I needed new rear pads and rotors (true), new front pads (maybe), and they suggested that I replace the front rotors as well because one of the front pads was cracked and had caused some damage to the rotor that they couldn't fix. I asked what they would charge and what brand of rotors and pads would be used. After being very disappointed by both answers, I just picked up the car and decided to do the brakes myself. I ordered the DBA Street series rotors and Hawk HPS pads from ScoobyTuner (front and rear) for about half the price the garage was going to charge me. After investing in the biggest breaker-bar I could find, I got all the rotors and pads changed in the evenings over the course of the week, and I'm ready to get the car re-inspected, but I don't want to take it back to Dove because I could find absolutely no evidence of damage to any of the pads or rotors (front or rear), and honestly the front rotors looked like they had quite a bit of life on them. I don't feel bad about doing them anyway because now I have a nice set of upgraded brakes, but I was a little peeved about the lying, and no longer wish to give that garage any of my business. Now, I didn't flush the brake fluid, and the car has 80,000 miles on it so I probably should. I just do not trust myself to do a full system flush on the brakes, so I will be having that done by a professional mechanic. I figured I would be fine taking it to the small garage down the street for a simple inspection and brake-fluid flush, but today I made the mistake of parking on the street in downtown Harrisburg and someone seems to have backed into me, breaking a few of the clips on one side of the front bumper and screwing up the corresponding headlight. So, now that the list of work that needs to be done is actually substantial and will require Subaru-specific parts, I don't really want to take it to the tiny garage on the corner. I was hoping someone here would know of a Subaru specialty shop (or just a good Subaru mechanic who can do the work and slap an inspection sticker on the car) in Central PA. Faulkner Subaru is only about a mile from where I live, but I had some work done there in the past (clutch+flywheel) and while the quality of the work was good, they had my car for over a week and the price ended up being a lot more than I was expecting. If there are no really good options, I guess I'd be ok with taking it back to Faulkner, but I was hoping someone here would know a place. I'd be willing to drive as far as Lancaster (50 miles / 1 hour) for a really good shop with good mechanics, fair prices, and fast turnaround. A great shop with a 3-week waiting list won't help me at the moment, as my inspection is now officially expired, but I would still appreciate the information for the future when I don't need service so urgently. Summary Looking for a good Subaru garage near Harrisburg, car needs inspection + a headlight and a brake-fluid flush. Time is of the essence. Rich is the best Subaru specialist at Flat Four Specialties that is closest to you. Not far from rt. 222 and 100 Mertztown area https://www.facebook.com/Flat-Four-Specialties-162718870493749/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmdlvr Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Does anyone have the info for the mechanic in Middletown PA or any other recommendations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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