Hey all, I was just wondering if anyone knew of a good reputable shop in the Lake County area (Will go further if need be, I want the best work possible done on my car if it's something I can't do myself)

I had a very unfortunate experience with the last shop I went to in Lake Villa, even though the reputation (Granted it was all info from his site) sounded great. I went in for a front end alignment, which he did well, however he didn't even bother to look underneath the car as he put it on the lift and destroyed a good portion of my plastic under trays, and was frighteningly close to my air lines. On top of that, he got grease all over my seats and interior carpets which were SPOTLESS, and when he took the car out for a "test run" he drove it like it was a Go Kart, slamming the brakes and throwing it between Drive and Reverse like he WANTED to destroy it. Needless to say I don't want to go back to this shop.

Thank you all in advance for any information you can provide!

 

We've been taking my wife's Miata to Glens Auto repair in Libertyville for years, they do great work and are VERY trustworthy.

I've seen all kinds of foreign and domestic cars there and they work on Jaguars too. In fact, I'm dropping mine off tonight to check on possible coil problem. So I can't yet attest to their Jaguar work, but I stopped by yesterday and he read the codes for me. Based on the conversation, he knows what he's talking about.

glennsautorepairil.com

Located at 137 and 45.

This is a family business and they won't do work that isn't needed, they have a great reputation.

Give em a shot and let me know how it goes. I'll also post about my visit.

Regards,

Erich

 

Thank you Erich! I'll have to give them a call and set something up, I really appreciate the quick reply. I'll post back with my experience as well.

 

You might also want to consider "Imports Unlimited" in Highland Park.

Ask for Ted, he's an expert on all things Jaguar.

Mike

 

Forget the North Shore with their North Shore prices, if you want a real technician to take a look at your car and fix it right - the FIRST time, take it to Coventry Classics in Richmond, Illinois (it is right on 59/12 going up to Lake Geneva - just south of the border).

He has a very nice clean shop. He fixed my 1993 VDP by building a part. The Anti-Freeze reservoir unit went on the car and we sent out for a new Jaguar part ($289) that was made of a plastic with a clamshell type seam.

The new part failed after about 50 miles. The next one (again a genuine Jaguar part) failed at about 12 miles. After bringing it back to him and getting a third part from Jaguar that failed (in the shop) - he built his own reservoir unit out of a racing part (aluminum) off of a Nissan 240SX and installed it. I have shown it to others and they cannot believe how good it looks in the engine (the welds on the aluminum are perfect). PLUS - it works!!!

Dan Bent is an excellent mechanic (in the real sense of the word he is not just a "parts exchanger"). He is also an expert on V-12s.

I have also taken my Bentley there and he has done an excellent job. If you want an excellent technician, you might have to drive a little bit farther, but it will be well worth it.

 

I've herad good things about Francen and Son in Algonquin, IL

 

Wow, thank you to everyone who replied. I never knew there were so many options around. I'll have to call around and maybe go to a few places, hopefully I can find myself a good go-to tech for any issues that may arise.

 

Hey Revo,
Did you find/pick a shop yet? If so, how was your experience?

 

As of yet, I have not unfortunately. I thankfully haven't had anything major go wrong that I wouldn't be able to do in my garage, and finances have been pretty tight lately so I've been putting it off. I still would like to visit some of the shops and see how they are but I've got so little free time now a days I'm not sure if I'll make it there before the winter, and I'm going to buy a beater $500 Jeep from my friend for the sake of keeping my Jag off our awful salty roads when the snow starts coming.

 

I'm pretty impressed with Francen & Son in Algonquin.

I had a noise coming from the passenger side of my engine. (I posted about it here, but nobody replied). I took it to Kevin at Francen and Son, and he diagnosed it as 'probably' a pulley/tensioner. I set up an appointment and on Friday (yesterday) I brought it in.

Once they got in there, Kevin pulled the tensioner and all the pulleys to check them, and then he brought out the bad tensioner and the bad pulley out to show me (I was grading papers in the waiting area), and demonstrated that the pulley was what was making the noise. He also showed me that the crankshaft seal was leaking oil, and that the clamp on the CV boot was loose and spraying grease/oil, and the belt was about to go. As he fixed everything he also took the time to clean all the gunk from the leaking oil and CV boot up from the engine.

In the end my car was fixed and the price for all the work was reasonable. He also gave me an estimate for replacing my passenger-side control arm and wheel bearing that was less than the estimates I've gotten from other shops, I'll definitely be going to Kevin to get that done too when I have the spare cash.

 

I just called Francen & Son to get an estimate, just waiting on a call back now but the phone call was very pleasant and he's getting me a detailed quote to let me know what the costs will be for my request. I'll report back with my experience after I go

 

Thanks much! The dealers around here are all greedy *******s that want $1000 up front to LOOK at your jag in West Milwaukee.

I will take my Jag to Coventry Classics as soon as I get back from vacation. Thank you!

 

I live in Milwaukee. I typically find that Matt's Foreign Car Specialists in Wauwatosa and Milwaukee Motorwerks in Waukesha do me well.
I have had a few experiences that have left me interested in seeing if there are any more appropriate places I should bring my Jaguar to.

I'm going to call Francen and Son tomorrow. I don't mind driving/towing far to get quality diagnoses. The dealer is out to August 17th and I don't even trust them to do expert repairs.