By Design
#31
07-07-2004 | 02:07 AM
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,874
From: Walnut Creek, CA
Rep Power: 579
Originally posted by Don Relentless
it is unfortunate that a shop like this that has come so far, be bashed. i think some of the poor customer service issues was due to growing pains, i have seen the same problems and bashing from one of LA's biggiest bike shop, Supergo. let's face the facts they were the most popular mail order guys in Excellence. i have had many mods done by them and have nothing bad to say, they have always tried to work things out as best they can with issues i have had. i figure rome wasn't built in a day. so some things just need some time. i think that there are lot of great shops in LA now that can cater to everyones individual needs. Like service, top techs, best pricing, product knowledge, availability of stock, no waiting, custom work, and excessive moding. everyshop has it's nitch. hope everyone finds theirs.
it is unfortunate that a shop like this that has come so far, be bashed. i think some of the poor customer service issues was due to growing pains, i have seen the same problems and bashing from one of LA's biggiest bike shop, Supergo. let's face the facts they were the most popular mail order guys in Excellence. i have had many mods done by them and have nothing bad to say, they have always tried to work things out as best they can with issues i have had. i figure rome wasn't built in a day. so some things just need some time. i think that there are lot of great shops in LA now that can cater to everyones individual needs. Like service, top techs, best pricing, product knowledge, availability of stock, no waiting, custom work, and excessive moding. everyshop has it's nitch. hope everyone finds theirs.
all shops screw up, it's how they handle the screw up that shows if they are good or not, from what i've read, by design is definately not "good". That doesn't mean they won't stay and business and make a ton of money thouhg.
#32
07-07-2004 | 02:21 AM
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Joined: May 2004
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Speed Gallery has no affiliation to By Design. it is owned by Dan Espesi, the old Chief Mechanic from by design. he is a great tech with a nice shop. Studio City (the Valley). a lot of racing in his blood.
Lucent Motoring, owned by Arling and Tom(chief mechanic from CEC of beverly hills) really great tech with alot of knowledge on porsche, mercedes and exotics. West LA (known for modding your car for only what you need. they test all products before selling and do not try to sell you on anything)
By Design, has a full stock of everything from A-Z. beverly hills they probably carry everything and more.
Meridian, Westwood. Ferrari specialist. and super highend equipment. young guns.
Lucent Motoring, owned by Arling and Tom(chief mechanic from CEC of beverly hills) really great tech with alot of knowledge on porsche, mercedes and exotics. West LA (known for modding your car for only what you need. they test all products before selling and do not try to sell you on anything)
By Design, has a full stock of everything from A-Z. beverly hills they probably carry everything and more.
Meridian, Westwood. Ferrari specialist. and super highend equipment. young guns.
#33
07-07-2004 | 02:41 AM
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 392
From: Davie, FL
Rep Power: 36
I had no choice but to order from them. They are the only "game in town" for the wheels I decided to go with. I used my AMEX card. I am not the least bit worried. This is their chance to redeem themselves. I flat out old my sales rep Scott that their reputation was tainted here on 6speedonine. Let's see how my experience goes. All I can lose is a little time....I will keep you guys posted.
#35
07-07-2004 | 03:29 AM
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From: SOCAL, 91 x 605
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Originally posted by Don Relentless
Speed Gallery has no affiliation to By Design. it is owned by Dan Espesi, the old Chief Mechanic from by design. he is a great tech with a nice shop. Studio City (the Valley). a lot of racing in his blood.
Lucent Motoring, owned by Arling and Tom(chief mechanic from CEC of beverly hills) really great tech with alot of knowledge on porsche, mercedes and exotics. West LA (known for modding your car for only what you need. they test all products before selling and do not try to sell you on anything)
By Design, has a full stock of everything from A-Z. beverly hills they probably carry everything and more.
Meridian, Westwood. Ferrari specialist. and super highend equipment. young guns.
Speed Gallery has no affiliation to By Design. it is owned by Dan Espesi, the old Chief Mechanic from by design. he is a great tech with a nice shop. Studio City (the Valley). a lot of racing in his blood.
Lucent Motoring, owned by Arling and Tom(chief mechanic from CEC of beverly hills) really great tech with alot of knowledge on porsche, mercedes and exotics. West LA (known for modding your car for only what you need. they test all products before selling and do not try to sell you on anything)
By Design, has a full stock of everything from A-Z. beverly hills they probably carry everything and more.
Meridian, Westwood. Ferrari specialist. and super highend equipment. young guns.
speed gallery - eric thanks for teh heads up , i did end up getting the side skirts from speed galelry, now i rememebr dan, he was teh one who installed the TT look rear bumper on my car, when i had bydesign do it a while back (thats why he looks so familiar) good guy great tech.
Lucent- one of the best guys in the business they wont sell u anything unless u want it lol
arling and tome are the best. hey arling i need to go pick up the bumper this week before i leave for europe lol sorry for the laggingBy design - they installed my tt front and rear bumper, with no problems whatsoever, they did great work and a bit on the overprice side, didint know where to go to back then for the mods, went to them from what i read in the magazines, didnt regret it one bit, but they were expensive
Meridian - havent had experience withthe m yet, but i believe the owner is former by design associate Matt - whom was my contatc at by design ...
#36
07-07-2004 | 08:12 AM
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 18
From: Brentwood, CA.
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Originally posted by sticky
Slightly overpriced? They are more like "give us a blank check and bend over because we are going to have our way with you" priced.
Slightly overpriced? They are more like "give us a blank check and bend over because we are going to have our way with you" priced.
They will bend you over though if you don't interact with them enough.
#37
07-07-2004 | 08:18 AM
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Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Brentwood, CA.
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Originally posted by 996turbo
I was told Speed Gallery is owned by the same guys at By Design.
I was told Speed Gallery is owned by the same guys at By Design.
#38
07-08-2004 | 03:23 PM
Welcome to the OC, bitch!
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,041
From: The OC
Rep Power: 200
I've only dealt with By Design on 1 issue and that was an exhaust install.
I had an appointment that I arrived on time for. Normally, an exhaust swapout on a 996TT takes around 1-2 hours depending on how skilled the tech(s) is.
It took By Design over 3 hours with 2 techs working on the car and then they charged me around $300 in labor. This is so unnecessary for an exhaust swapout.
To add insult to injury, my sales rep wanted to stick me with a $4,000 chip before I left.
I won't be going back to them anytime soon.
BTW, my local independent Porsche shop only charged me $150 to swap out the exhaust the 2nd time I did it.
I had an appointment that I arrived on time for. Normally, an exhaust swapout on a 996TT takes around 1-2 hours depending on how skilled the tech(s) is.
It took By Design over 3 hours with 2 techs working on the car and then they charged me around $300 in labor. This is so unnecessary for an exhaust swapout.
To add insult to injury, my sales rep wanted to stick me with a $4,000 chip before I left.
I won't be going back to them anytime soon.
BTW, my local independent Porsche shop only charged me $150 to swap out the exhaust the 2nd time I did it.
#39
07-09-2004 | 02:56 AM
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,875
From: Malibu, CA
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Originally posted by muybenno
he does the best allignment in the west coast.
he does the best allignment in the west coast.
Define best alignment???
Have you compared Speed Gallery's alignment work to Lucent's? Tom and Arling are one of 2 or 3 shops in the entire United States with the Hunter 9000 series laser alignment machine.
If they are the BEST alignment on the west coast, why do serious racers like Cort Wagner take his car to Lucent for alignment???
#40
07-09-2004 | 03:05 AM
GO 6SPEED!
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Cambridge, MA
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Originally posted by Hamann7
Sorry, but I take issue with that statement.
Define best alignment???
Have you compared Speed Gallery's alignment work to Lucent's? Tom and Arling are one of 2 or 3 shops in the entire United States with the Hunter 9000 series laser alignment machine.
If they are the BEST alignment on the west coast, why do serious racers like Cort Wagner take his car to Lucent for alignment???
Sorry, but I take issue with that statement.
Define best alignment???
Have you compared Speed Gallery's alignment work to Lucent's? Tom and Arling are one of 2 or 3 shops in the entire United States with the Hunter 9000 series laser alignment machine.
If they are the BEST alignment on the west coast, why do serious racers like Cort Wagner take his car to Lucent for alignment???
#41
07-09-2004 | 03:08 AM
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,875
From: Malibu, CA
Rep Power: 138
And for the record, from my experience, the two best shops in Southern California are Lucent and SP Engineering.
SP Engineering has very aggressive pricing, delivers stuff on time, and has in-house dyno tuning, and top rate installation. He can also get you stuff from Japan and Germany without any problem. Main disadvantage for me is that they are far from me, and Alex is extremely busy, making him difficult to reach at times. But he definitely takes care of his customers and they do very good work. They did a lot of work to my M5, and I've been very happy.
Lucent is convenient for me, their work is second to none and they make you feel like family. Tom's installation and alignment skills are top notch. Only disadvantage for some is that they take a conservative approach to tuning, for example, they won't sell you an ECU program that run 1.2 bar on an otherwise stock setup. But that's why I like them.
Between those two companies, you'll cover most bases.
SP Engineering has very aggressive pricing, delivers stuff on time, and has in-house dyno tuning, and top rate installation. He can also get you stuff from Japan and Germany without any problem. Main disadvantage for me is that they are far from me, and Alex is extremely busy, making him difficult to reach at times. But he definitely takes care of his customers and they do very good work. They did a lot of work to my M5, and I've been very happy.
Lucent is convenient for me, their work is second to none and they make you feel like family. Tom's installation and alignment skills are top notch. Only disadvantage for some is that they take a conservative approach to tuning, for example, they won't sell you an ECU program that run 1.2 bar on an otherwise stock setup. But that's why I like them.
Between those two companies, you'll cover most bases.
#44
07-09-2004 | 04:00 AM
Welcome to the OC, bitch!
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,041
From: The OC
Rep Power: 200
I just discovered SP Engineering yesterday...turns out they are only 1/2 mile from my office!! And to think that for the past year I've been trekking over 40 miles to the Westside to get stuff done!
#45
07-09-2004 | 04:24 AM
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 916
From: LA
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Originally posted by trojanman
I just discovered SP Engineering yesterday...turns out they are only 1/2 mile from my office!! And to think that for the past year I've been trekking over 40 miles to the Westside to get stuff done!
I just discovered SP Engineering yesterday...turns out they are only 1/2 mile from my office!! And to think that for the past year I've been trekking over 40 miles to the Westside to get stuff done!
Do they have a website?