Avantéix
12-16-2007, 09:56 PM
well i used to drive all the way to Livermore to get the Avant serviced under the care of Freddie while it was still under warranty so since he decided <a href="http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175205">to open up his own shop: East County European Autoworks</a> and that the Avant was due for its annual service, i thought i should just make another one of these trips to the "boonies"...
right now, usual hours at the shop are Mon thru Fri 8am to 5pm, but since it takes just a little over an hour to make it from the City, Freddie was kind enough to let me come by on a Saturday. gotta love the customer service already...
<img src="http://images33.fotki.com/v1071/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks01-vi.jpg">
<img src="http://images31.fotki.com/v1041/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks03-vi.jpg">
got there about 10:30am and well Freddie was already getting busy working on the bushings of an A6... not even 2 weeks in business and already people are waiting to get serviced...
mind you the shop/waiting area is pretty cool...
<img src="http://images32.fotki.com/v1063/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks02-vi.jpg">
there is a 42" TV mounted to the wall to the left and a sitting are to the right w/ a few magazines... car magazines of course... so i hang around for a while, went to Starbucks to load up on caffeine, which is just around the corner from the shop... then it was time to get the Avant in...
<img src="http://images31.fotki.com/v1056/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks04-vi.jpg">
don't mind the Corvette, Freddie's doing a favor to one of his buddies, but i think he wishes it was either an Audi or a VW... same thing for the Eclipse which was sitting outside...
right now there is one lift, but if the business goes well, which i'm sure it will, Freddie plans to install another one where the Corvette is.
The Man at work on the brake fluid flush...
<img src="http://images33.fotki.com/v1074/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks05-vi.jpg">
a couple of pics of the Avant up on the racks...
<img src="http://images31.fotki.com/v1041/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks06-vi.jpg">
<img src="http://images32.fotki.com/v1064/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks08-vi.jpg">
<i>don't mind and please don't mention the exploded Sportec front spoiler, this particular topic is a really painful one... </i> :o(
anyway, left the shop around 3pm after getting the following stuff done on the Avant:
- oil and filter change
- brake fluid flush
- differential fluid change
- pollen filter change, which i learned there were 2 of them, one ****ty one and one more solid... Freddie had ordered the better one for me and when he took the one that was in the Avant and showed it to me, i was actually really glad he went for the better one... the other one just seems to be a piece of paper folded many times while for the better one it seems there is some sort of charcoal within the folds as well...
- replace wipers w/ AERO wipers
- tight down the driver side bolt of the rear sway bar, which was a good thing this is was just about to fall off again...
overall i'm really happy i took the Avant to Freddie... he did a great job on it, paid attention to little details, you know these things that get overlooked sometime in the interest of time... told me interesting stories from his days at the dealership, talked about the business and what he was hoping/looking for... i spent a good time there...
so i would definitively recommend the shop to anyone leaving in the area, or even people from further away like myself who are looking for someone who knows his stuff when it comes to Audi. i'll be back there early in January since we run out of time to work on a couple of things not related to regular maintenance, working on the retrofitted auto-dimming mirror and some issues w/ my TIP and an air connection pipe...
actually i think we should all work on Freddie to convince him to throw a BBQ in the new year and make a cruise out of it for people in the Peninsula and/or in the South Bay...
by the way here's the addy of the shop is for those of you who'd like to drop by:
550 Harvest Park Dr.
Suite #E
Brentwood, CA
right now, usual hours at the shop are Mon thru Fri 8am to 5pm, but since it takes just a little over an hour to make it from the City, Freddie was kind enough to let me come by on a Saturday. gotta love the customer service already...
<img src="http://images33.fotki.com/v1071/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks01-vi.jpg">
<img src="http://images31.fotki.com/v1041/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks03-vi.jpg">
got there about 10:30am and well Freddie was already getting busy working on the bushings of an A6... not even 2 weeks in business and already people are waiting to get serviced...
mind you the shop/waiting area is pretty cool...
<img src="http://images32.fotki.com/v1063/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks02-vi.jpg">
there is a 42" TV mounted to the wall to the left and a sitting are to the right w/ a few magazines... car magazines of course... so i hang around for a while, went to Starbucks to load up on caffeine, which is just around the corner from the shop... then it was time to get the Avant in...
<img src="http://images31.fotki.com/v1056/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks04-vi.jpg">
don't mind the Corvette, Freddie's doing a favor to one of his buddies, but i think he wishes it was either an Audi or a VW... same thing for the Eclipse which was sitting outside...
right now there is one lift, but if the business goes well, which i'm sure it will, Freddie plans to install another one where the Corvette is.
The Man at work on the brake fluid flush...
<img src="http://images33.fotki.com/v1074/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks05-vi.jpg">
a couple of pics of the Avant up on the racks...
<img src="http://images31.fotki.com/v1041/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks06-vi.jpg">
<img src="http://images32.fotki.com/v1064/photos/1/110342/5710183/EastCountyEuropeanAutowroks08-vi.jpg">
<i>don't mind and please don't mention the exploded Sportec front spoiler, this particular topic is a really painful one... </i> :o(
anyway, left the shop around 3pm after getting the following stuff done on the Avant:
- oil and filter change
- brake fluid flush
- differential fluid change
- pollen filter change, which i learned there were 2 of them, one ****ty one and one more solid... Freddie had ordered the better one for me and when he took the one that was in the Avant and showed it to me, i was actually really glad he went for the better one... the other one just seems to be a piece of paper folded many times while for the better one it seems there is some sort of charcoal within the folds as well...
- replace wipers w/ AERO wipers
- tight down the driver side bolt of the rear sway bar, which was a good thing this is was just about to fall off again...
overall i'm really happy i took the Avant to Freddie... he did a great job on it, paid attention to little details, you know these things that get overlooked sometime in the interest of time... told me interesting stories from his days at the dealership, talked about the business and what he was hoping/looking for... i spent a good time there...
so i would definitively recommend the shop to anyone leaving in the area, or even people from further away like myself who are looking for someone who knows his stuff when it comes to Audi. i'll be back there early in January since we run out of time to work on a couple of things not related to regular maintenance, working on the retrofitted auto-dimming mirror and some issues w/ my TIP and an air connection pipe...
actually i think we should all work on Freddie to convince him to throw a BBQ in the new year and make a cruise out of it for people in the Peninsula and/or in the South Bay...
by the way here's the addy of the shop is for those of you who'd like to drop by:
550 Harvest Park Dr.
Suite #E
Brentwood, CA