Good shop in STL or Indy? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Adam · 09-23-2009, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnoice

beaumont alignment in champaign does an excellent job if you request the mechanic cain and cain only..

I might just do that. I took my car up to Beamont for a tire install a couple years back and they a fine job with that. I had an appt at a non Porsche place in Bloomington because a lot of the guys we autocross with highly recammended a tech there. We'll I just received a call back and they said they don't think they'll have the proper tools to perform the alignment?? So I cancelled the apt and now I don't know if I should take it to a specialty shop that deals with Porsches or take it to a place like Beaumont which would be closer and probably cheaper. I wasn't aware Boxsters required any special tools to do an alignment. Have any of you guys ever heard of that?

Flavor 987S · 09-23-2009, 01:44 PM

Why not Isringhausen Porsche in Springfield? A lot closer than St. Louis or Indianapolis. Save time & money. They charge typical Porsche prices ($295) but they will price match it you talk to the Service Manager.

Adam · 09-23-2009, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flavor 987S

Why not Isringhausen Porsche in Springfield? A lot closer than St. Louis or Indianapolis. Save time & money. They charge typical Porsche prices ($295) but they will price match it you talk to the Service Manager.

I doubt they would do an alignment for $95, plus I don't feel like haggling with the service manager.

tnoice · 09-23-2009, 07:24 PM

The last time I was at Beaumont they had a 95 911 turbo sitting on the lift and a 02 slk sitting on the other. Both were in for allignments. I think that they might have the tools. They do have a tendency to have a little bit of an attitude issue (service managers / desk paperweights), however I have never had a single complaint about Cain (the actual mechanic that works on the vehicles.)

I did take my porsche to isringhausen and absolutely loved their service department, but they would probably be a little bit more expensive, however it would not hurt to call both places.

Adam · 09-24-2009, 04:16 AM

Thanks Tim, I'll give Beaumont a call and see what they say. I don't know why I didn't think of them before. I'm sure they can do it just fine and probably at a fraction of what Isringhausen charges. I'll ask for Cain. Plus, Champaign is about an hour closer to me than Springfield.

Adam · 09-28-2009, 03:52 PM

Just got the Boxster aligned at Beaumont in Champaign. Glad I did because I actually had .5 degree of positive camber in the front! I told Kane to give me as much negative camber up front as he could and that was -.5 degee. Without camber plates I can't get anymore than that up front unfortunately. Even though it's not as much as I'd like, it should make a noticable difference with low speed understeer hopefully. The rear had -1.5 degrees of camber so we just left that there. We set the front toe at 0 and just a very slight toe in on the rear. He said the caster is static and not adjustable. I'm taking the Boxster down to a autocross in STL in a couple weeks so that will be a good chance to test out the changes.

dburris · 09-28-2009, 06:08 PM

I got burned by a dealer in St. Louis, and have used private shops in Tulsa and Kansas City with much success. Also I found a St. Louis mechanic who does work at home to help fund a new baby, and does great with the simple stuff like changing my rotors, brake pads, and oil on my 2000S. Please post any experiences you have with your S in the area.