When foreign car repair was a specialty

[artificialist]

I live in the USA, and I was told that at one time, people who worked on foreign cars were considered specialists. I was born in 1984 and will be 25 this May. By the time I got into auto repair in 1999, people worked on American cars, and worked on Asian imports, and often worked on certain European makes.

My mom owned a 1985 Nissan Maxima when I was growing up, and it frequently needed repair, but I was too young to remember who did the work and where it was done. My dad owned a 1987 Hyundai Excel, and again, I never really remembered who did the work or where it was done.

Sometimes there are specialists that only do European cars, but that is extremely rare.

I want to know at what time did working on imported vehicles go from a specialty task to an everyday job?

 

[OVERKILL]

We have a local VW specialist. That is all he works on......

 

[StevieC]

I don't think it refers to a time but more so their specialty with Asian designs versus Domestic designs as they are generally similar.

 

[JTK]

I'd say it mostly ended somewhere in the early 1980s. An independent shop would go broke wrenching on only one make today.

Joel

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JTK
I'd say it mostly ended somewhere in the early 1980s. An independent shop would go broke wrenching on only one make today.

Joel


The VW guy around here does quite well actually

 

[StevieC]

We have a VW guy near us and he does very well. Then again VW isn't the best for reliability so maybe that's why?

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

The VW guy around here does quite well actually

Give him some time with the way things are today. Even so, he likely has other irons in the fire to suppliment.

Joel

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

The VW guy around here does quite well actually

Give him some time with the way things are today. Even so, he likely has other irons in the fire to suppliment.

Joel



I don't think so. The name of his business states VW, and that is all I have ever seen there. He does very good work and his clients seem to keep him plenty busy.

 

[Quattro Pete]

There are still plenty of Euro car specialty repair shops. I was actually using one when I was living in FL up until last year.

 

[moribundman]

Euro car repair shops are all over the place here.

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
We have a VW guy near us and he does very well. Then again VW isn't the best for reliability so maybe that's why?

At least VW isn't at the brink of extinction.

 

[StevieC]

I own one and the older ones IMO are built very well, but the newer ones I would beg to differ... But I guess they are still better than some of the stuff out there.

 

[moribundman]

Shouldn't you be looking for a good air filter for your Kia?

 

[StevieC]

Shouldn't you be posting useful information versus minding everyone elses business?

 

[moribundman]

I post what I want. It pleases forum management.

 

[tom slick]

Locally, I have a Vanagon/Westfalia specialist

here are the other local independent specialists
a couple "import"
"german"
"british"
porsche
mercedes
toyota
honda
volkswagen, air and water cooled
jaguar and shelby

 

[moribundman]

For a few years I used to go to a small place that specialized in VW, Audi, and Volvo. They were mostly working on older Beetles, VW 181, Bullies etc, but also on newer cars. Last time I drove by the place it was freshly boarded up. I guess the owner called it quits. He must be near 80 now.

 

[Silk]

Here in New Zealand there used to be no specialist shops at all - any mechanic could fix any vehicle,no matter what it was.There were some VW specialists,but they were more enthusiasts really.

The change to specialist shops came with the introduction of electronics - the Euro dealers in particular became closed shops,they wouldn't let out knowledge,parts or and information at all.The British cars disappeared,and with mechanics always moving from shop to shop,knowledge of Japanese and Australian vehicles spread as a tech went from a Toyota shop to a Holden dealer.

 

[The Critic]

To answer the OP's question, I think the answer to this one is that foreign car repair became an easy task ever since the aftermarket improved their support for foreign cars.

Ten years ago, the aftermarket did not have the same coverage for foreign cars as they do today. With the introduction of products such as multi-vehicle automatic transmission fluids, universal antifreeze and better replacement parts coverage from major suppliers, parts are becoming easier to obtain for foreign cars. That alone, plays a major role in allowing your corner garage to service a foreign car. Of course, I believe that Snap-On has also improved coverage for foreign vehicles on their diagnostic tools, which helps tremendously by allowing the aftermarket to handle the more complex repairs.

 

[Shannow]

When Mum and Dad bought the 1975 Renault 16TL, Jaque Thornidetd (spelling's out for sure) was the dealer and servicer....just done Renaults (and badly at that).

In Canberra, "Alpine Motors" did the French thing (and were good at it).

In 1985 worked with a bloke who had apprenticed with Merc Germany, Worked with Bosch Germany, and Raced Formula 2.


All three charged a premium.

One had a french name, specialised in renault, and was useless.

One had spread to french in general (and been on the assembly line), and were great. They'd addapt mitsubishi galant stuff to the cars, or specify OEM.

One could retune mechanical injection systems after ADRs neutered them.