Matt Smith or Str8Six
Discussion
The Tuscan is crying out for a few issues to be resolved, and might as well have a service at the same time as it's done about 5000mls since it's last 12K service at Power.
I'm trying to decide where to take it having had nearly 20 years of mediocre service from a variety of specialists with both the Tuscan and my previous S.
Both Str8Six and Matt Smith seem to get high praise on here, but Matt is much closer to me in Norfolk. However, I am fed up with spending considerable time and money with specialists only to find:
a) some or all faults that I originally asked to be investigated have not been rectified, or only partially fixed when I go to collect the car,
b) "new" faults have been introduced as a result of work done,
c) work takes weeks to be completed with no advanced indication of when it would be worked on (time not justifiable by the amount of time required to actually do the jobs, ie car has spent most of the time not being worked on at all,
So I am very keen that the next person who works on it will have the skill, experience and time not do any of the above.
Current issues with the Tuscan are:
a)Body vibration/resonance under drive torque (light to full throttle) - introduced when clutch was replaced by local specialist widely recommended by TVR community - would take it back but they took a month to get the clutch and a wheel bearing changed, anyway, it was about six months ago now.
b)Gearshift poorly adjusted - again as per a)
c)Idle speed too low, especially from cold.
d)Misfire / flat spots high rpm / full or sudden throttle opening - developed over last 1000mls (probably needs a service...)
e)Major electrical short, particularly in humid conditions, causes lights and dash illumination to flicker and more significantly causes throttle to drop out - recently for about 5 -10 secs in third gear flat out whilst mid-overtake - the car has always had this, no specialist has ever fixed it or offered a suggestion as to cause
f)usual Tuscan light throttle shunting - probably need throttle body bearing mod
g)speedo needle doesn't always reset to 0 at ignition on, may take several goes or I may get bored with trying and drive around with it reading 20mph low, 50% it works OK, digital speedo is always OK, but hard to see...
So, who would be best to go to to get these issues addressed once and for all?
All recommendations/cautions gratefully received.
Thanks
I'm trying to decide where to take it having had nearly 20 years of mediocre service from a variety of specialists with both the Tuscan and my previous S.
Both Str8Six and Matt Smith seem to get high praise on here, but Matt is much closer to me in Norfolk. However, I am fed up with spending considerable time and money with specialists only to find:
a) some or all faults that I originally asked to be investigated have not been rectified, or only partially fixed when I go to collect the car,
b) "new" faults have been introduced as a result of work done,
c) work takes weeks to be completed with no advanced indication of when it would be worked on (time not justifiable by the amount of time required to actually do the jobs, ie car has spent most of the time not being worked on at all,
So I am very keen that the next person who works on it will have the skill, experience and time not do any of the above.
Current issues with the Tuscan are:
a)Body vibration/resonance under drive torque (light to full throttle) - introduced when clutch was replaced by local specialist widely recommended by TVR community - would take it back but they took a month to get the clutch and a wheel bearing changed, anyway, it was about six months ago now.
b)Gearshift poorly adjusted - again as per a)
c)Idle speed too low, especially from cold.
d)Misfire / flat spots high rpm / full or sudden throttle opening - developed over last 1000mls (probably needs a service...)
e)Major electrical short, particularly in humid conditions, causes lights and dash illumination to flicker and more significantly causes throttle to drop out - recently for about 5 -10 secs in third gear flat out whilst mid-overtake - the car has always had this, no specialist has ever fixed it or offered a suggestion as to cause
f)usual Tuscan light throttle shunting - probably need throttle body bearing mod
g)speedo needle doesn't always reset to 0 at ignition on, may take several goes or I may get bored with trying and drive around with it reading 20mph low, 50% it works OK, digital speedo is always OK, but hard to see...
So, who would be best to go to to get these issues addressed once and for all?
All recommendations/cautions gratefully received.
Thanks
I can only go on the recent experiences i have had with Mat Smith, and all totally positive car came back after a 12k running better (although apparently it wasnt that bad in the first place) geo and corner weighted, no issues and fixed/solved the issues i had mentioned to him. i have had dealing with both Dom at Power and Jason at str8six and both were extremely helpful in the issues i had. (although never had service work done by them).
I previously used Techniques in Stotfold for the Chim, and had no issues with them at all, just that Mat was a little closer and i like to support local small businesses. I will be returning next year and also this winter to sort speedo and low idle.
The question is, is it worth travelling those extra miles to Jason? thats upto you.
I previously used Techniques in Stotfold for the Chim, and had no issues with them at all, just that Mat was a little closer and i like to support local small businesses. I will be returning next year and also this winter to sort speedo and low idle.
The question is, is it worth travelling those extra miles to Jason? thats upto you.
Thanks for the quick feedback guys. Getting the job done right is more important to me than how far I have to travel, but obviously closer would be more convenient all else being equal.
Sometimes places with a good reputation seem to end up taking on more work than they can manage and then the quality tends to suffer, especially when presented with difficult/intermittent faults which need more time to isolate and rectify - I'm trying to avoid this if I can.
Sometimes places with a good reputation seem to end up taking on more work than they can manage and then the quality tends to suffer, especially when presented with difficult/intermittent faults which need more time to isolate and rectify - I'm trying to avoid this if I can.
I know what you mean, i had this with one of the companies i use to use. I dont think you will be disappointed with Mat, he is a finicky bugger. I happened to see him in the process of a body of chassis refurb and the attention to detal was second to none...I also felt very confidant that if i had a problem with Mats work, a quick call to him would be all that was needed.
But again as i said, i have dealt with Jason a couple of times albeit over the phone and he has taken more than enough time to help me out. Guess im not helping!!!
Remeber, the TVR world is small, and it doesnt take alot to ruin your perfectly good reputation overnight. There are plenty of garages that have stopped trading because of this.
But again as i said, i have dealt with Jason a couple of times albeit over the phone and he has taken more than enough time to help me out. Guess im not helping!!!
Remeber, the TVR world is small, and it doesnt take alot to ruin your perfectly good reputation overnight. There are plenty of garages that have stopped trading because of this.
Edited by Milky400 on Tuesday 29th July 14:55
I am a big fan of Mat Smith, and know him well enough to suggest you email your issues list and then phone him for a chat through them. He is honest and will tell you if you are better taking it to Jason or bringing it to him. He is definitely not in the business of disappointing customers, but is very good at his job and very knowledgable.
QBee said:
I am a big fan of Mat Smith, and know him well enough to suggest you email your issues list and then phone him for a chat through them. He is honest and will tell you if you are better taking it to Jason or bringing it to him. He is definitely not in the business of disappointing customers, but is very good at his job and very knowledgable.
thats a very sensible approach. Andy_mr2sc said:
I know you can Andy, but you might be breaking some rules on here...Once I've worked out who's going to do it and when (will depend a bit on the costs of other work), I'll probably be in touch.
Whilst I haven't used Matt myself i know a couple of the Cambs TVR crew have started using him and he has sorted out some long running problems that had remained unsorted when they had used some of the other specialists.
Give Matt a call, the way he deals with prospective customers on the phone gives a lot of confidence before you even meet him.
Would have to say at the same time Str8six have a good reputation which seems very well deserved when you speak with people about their experiences.
Give Matt a call, the way he deals with prospective customers on the phone gives a lot of confidence before you even meet him.
Would have to say at the same time Str8six have a good reputation which seems very well deserved when you speak with people about their experiences.
I have not used Matt, but he does get a lot of positive comments on the TVR forums. I have been using Str8six for the past four years and will continue to do so. They are the most thorough TVR garage I have ever used, and I have used a few over the past 20 years or so. They found problems with my TuscanS that others had failed to find and some that I did not even know about.
Mat (only one 'T') for me every time, he's looked after my car's for many years, I wouldn't go anywhere else. He's honest reliable and has never let me down. He'll give you an honest opinion even if it means he doesn't do the work, and he's very reasonable on price.
I can't recommend him highly enough.
Jason is of course also extremely good, but Mat is on your doorstep.
I can't recommend him highly enough.
Jason is of course also extremely good, but Mat is on your doorstep.
Many thanks for all the replies.
It seems both Jason and Mat(t?) enjoy excellent reputations and have the sort of approach I am hoping for.
On a purely geographical basis I will try Mat first, but if I lived close to Jason it would no doubt be him instead.
Quite looking forward to having a Tuscan that works properly for the first time in 4 years...
It seems both Jason and Mat(t?) enjoy excellent reputations and have the sort of approach I am hoping for.
On a purely geographical basis I will try Mat first, but if I lived close to Jason it would no doubt be him instead.
Quite looking forward to having a Tuscan that works properly for the first time in 4 years...
Matt. Nice honest chap I take mine here he goes the extra mile
Jason and his team have a great rep too
Prestige Performance are also good
Bespoke Performance are thoroughly professional and made a nice cup of tea for me today
Given your location Matt makes sense good to know there are other options though
I take mine here he goes the extra mile Jason and his team have a great rep too
Prestige Performance are also good
Bespoke Performance are thoroughly professional and made a nice cup of tea for me today
Given your location Matt makes sense
good to know there are other options though 
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