N-East Q owners rejoice!!!!

[nuQ]

good news to all northeast Q and infinity owners. Finally an independant master tech qualified to do all infinity repairs. His name has been posted before by paintwgn but my 90Q is currently in his shop getting the guides done, plugs, valve reseal, and possibly a trans cooler. Had a lengthy discussion with him Fri. evening when I dropped my Q off. Found him to be extremely knowledgable on all things related to the Q, especially the guide problem, has done at least 100 of them(worked for years at Holman Infinity in Maple Shade NJ). Was also very excited to hear his shop was posted on NICO. He charges 65 and hour, about $1300 plus parts for the guides, a little more than T-3 I know, but at least you know the job will be done 100% and is still much cheaper than the dealership! Said he would be glad to work with NICO members. I'll let everyone know how the Q turns out when the work is completed. If interested, here is the # and address: Keith Vanmeter --Vanmeter Auto Service Mantua New Jersey 856-415-2022Also got a good deal on parts from Mark at Holman Infinity in Maple Shade NJ. Only a few bucks more than Scottsdale. With shipping would probably be more through Scottsdale. Just my opinion. Mark is also a 92Q owner, so he's "down with the cause"!!!! If anyone is within driving distance, I would recommend Keith for any and all repairs. Contact me with any questions. Jeff:D

[PalmerWMD]

Sounds great!!

We were looking for a good NE shop.Thanx for putting out the info.Say hi to Keith for us and ask him if he wants to visit us sometime.

Hmmm, Makes me think maybe we should make up a list of NICO approved Independents?

What do you guys think?

Fred....

[nuQ]

Fred, sounds good about making a list of NICO approved techs. Would definitly take the guess-work out of alot of potentially costly repairs. Nice to have people on the inside! Haven't spoke to Keith since Fri.--getting cabin-fever from all this snow!!, but he told me he would be checking out the site, and like I said, was very excited to be written about, he had no idea! Will keep everyone updated on my repairs. Jeff

[90Q45blue]

That sounds like an awesome idea. Especially if there's a couple in the Kansas area. Oh well. Here's to hoping.

Nick

[eQlipse]

That would be a very valuable resource. Looking for anyone in the NW IN, Chicagoland area.

[brucepelletier]

Ditto - have been looking for a qualified independent Infiniti tech in the San Francisco Bay/Northern California area. A list would be a great member service.

[Q45tech]

Get 20 of your fellow owners together promise to spend $3,000 per year EACH with a shop, buy them some manuals and in a few years they can become expert.

Other than a Consult and a few specialty items [ignition adapter] and some Q to practice on.

They are just cars!

[nuQ]

speaking for myself, and i'm sure most of the other Q owners that don't do their own repairs(at least not on the bigger stuff, i.e. chain guides) finding a knowledgable independant mechanic is a good thing. granted, i'd much rather take my car to a top-notch general mechanic than a crappy dealer tech, but i sure would not feel good about just any mechanic playing trial and error on my Q. i'd much rather have a tech that knows the ins and outs of my particular car. saves time and money. i'll give two examples. first, on my own Q, just a short time before finding the driver side guide broken by my own mechanic, a dealership tech "listened" to the engine and said all was fine with the car and wouldn't have to worry about the guides for at least another 25k miles, if ever. in all likelihood it was already gone at that point. another example is, a fellow NICO member took his Q to his own general mechanic to have the guides replaced and the job took his mechanic 3x longer than he planned, with all kinds of frustration on the mechanics part. this was a good mechanic, but had no experiance on a Q-there isn't that many Q's out there. after it was all said and done, the job finally completed, he threw his arms up and said "that engine is over-enginered!". like i said, that is just my opinion. just feel better having my Q in the hands of someone who knows what to look for and can do it right, in the shortest time. ultimately saving me $$$$.

[OLU40]

Thanks for the heads up nuQ. I'm in NYC. Never heard of th town in Jersey but I'm sure it won't be to far.

[Bayarea Q]

I'll second the need for the norther california Q speacialist!!

[PalmerWMD]

NuQ:Please, let Keith know, due to his good feedback here, I am putting him into our "recommended shops " list in Infinti articles.

Fred...

[nuQ]

fred,,,,,,,,,,,,,i just sent him an email. i think he posts more on the yahoo site but i let him know we'd all like to see him get into the action here a little more. he really is very knowledgable. he might be doing my KS'ers very soon so i'll "hammer" him when i see him in person. thanks, jeff

[90Q45blue]

Yes, get Keith on here. We could definitely benefit from his knowledge and it'd give him a chance to further plug his shop for NE repairs.

Nick

P.S. Fred, thanks for making that edit for me.

[Jesda]

Cartalk.com has a nice section on their site called "Mechan-X Files" where you can submit and read ratings, comments, and reviews on shops. We should have the same, with a similar rating system and form we can submit with all the work we've had done at the particular shop.

-Jesda

[reggiegsd]

I have found a couple of reliable shops in central New Jersey. In both cases, their dance cards are full and they don't take many new customers. One I use for oil changes and other routine stuff and the other gets the serious wrenching jobs.

One is an ex-Nissan tech and can work on your mother's Buick as well as the Q while the other is an old school sports car guy who can (and has, I've watched) fix the pneumatic suspension on on a Merc 450 SEL 6.9, change the clutch on a 944 turbo, and balance three sidedraft Webers on one of my Zcars. When he did the fuel injectors on my Q, he had another one on the rack replacing the differential. He is not cheap or fast, but there is never any rework. OBTW, if you happen to have a Citroen SM, he can fix the hydraulics.

[nuQ]

reggiegsd, i'm not too far away from flemington, and even though keith vanmeter is a top-notch master infiniti tech, it is a BIG hassle getting down to him. i'm getting set to do a complete plenum job with knock sensor and O2 removal. gave thought to doing it myself but i'm thinking it's a little outside of my capabilities.do you think your tech has any experience with this???? could i get his name/number to check it out.thanks jeff my email is [email protected] BTW-----A Q AND A ZCAR!!!!!! you're my new hero!!!