Off topic, but did I read that correctly. You spent over 100K on your G, before selling it?

 

$38k for the car, $10k for the paint, and about $50k on parts and dyno tuning..
Wort part is that I sold it for 45...

 

Is your little DFW g club in sacto? Or are you pissing me off all the way from Texas?

 

Is there a market for a shop with a certified infiniti Master technician? Sure why not? Should you open the business and keep it limited to Infiniti/Nissan vehicles? Absolutely not.

I too will be going through this venture in the next 5-7 years but will definitely not limit my business to just nissans. I have been in the game for 7 years since I purchasedy G and have built up a pretty solid customer base. I have also had a big hand in putting together 2 of the most respected sedans in this community.

If I were you I would start doing side work first. $60/hr is a great rate for side work, however of you had a shop and only charged $60/hr, your overhead would be hurting tremendously. There is no reason you couldn't charge the standard $100/hr for quality work.

If I wasn't a certified technician myself, I would gladly pay $100/hr for honest, quality work...

 

"modified the g37 sport brake setup to fit the 06 knuckle" How did u do this?? Did u use a bracket??

 

move down to SF then maybe we'll check it out.

but you also have to see where we're coming from. of course most people will be skeptical. this forum has had its share of failed sponsors/vendors.

if i signed up on the bmw forum with the username bmw-tech and said i'm a master bmw tech and i own a highly modded M3. then someone asks for pics, i conveniently say i have none. people are gonna be in doubt.

show us something, then this hostility will go away.

 

I made a bracket to move the mounting point for the newer caliper.. Super easy

 

I get it.. I'm going through the prelim steps of getting a shop going and I just wanted to see if people in a community such as this would even be interested.. All of a sudden I have some guy jumping down my throat.. That's ok though, it's obvious he has some self esteem issues and has to try and be an Internet bully.. I could really care less.. I don't want to work on his weak *** car anyway..

 

i dont see any self esteem issues with the other guy. he's just mentioning some stuff that should have been addressed by someone who is trying to open a shop for the infiniti scene.

and a word of advice. (since this is the forum your business concerns).

much like other forums, news travels fast here. and a shop owner who talks trash about potential customers or talks trash in general is one place guaranteed not to get my support, since attitude often reflects towards customer service. I'm sure others would agree.

 

And for what it's worth. there's a shop in San Jose, CA called Z Car Garage that specializes in Nissans/Datsun/Infiniti. And people from San Francisco, and even North Bay. And as far as Sacramento go there for some work. So yes, there is a place out there for a specialized shop.

But customer service and honesty remain the most important thing. You can have the cheapest rates, you can be a super duper master tech for all I care. If your customer service is lacking, I'll go to the next shop.

 

See now you finally get it and I am glad it finally clicked. Also does it really matter what our opinion is. If we all say no to you does that mean you will not setup shop. How bout if we say yes and no one show up to your shop from the forum. You need to go in business for your self and be ready to take the risk of loosing everything. If going into business was easy and we could put out a simple thread to judge if we should proceed with the plan or scrap it then everyone would be opening a performance shop and closing it the next week.

I have major self esteem issues let me tell you.....

lastly my weak a** car is what keeps you employed and gives you reason to wake up to head to work. This POS was designed by nissan to make billions of dollars in profits for shareholders and give you the dealership/mechanic job security. If it was not for the weak piston rings, craptastic rods, horrible window motors, ac/radio controls. Buzzing/rattling interiors, crapshoot plastic panels, horrible alignments and suspension issues, brake pad life, tire life, and many other various issues is what will be keeping your so called shop solvent and bring business to you. What do you expect to do just run a specialized VQ performance shop. You will have to cater to all sorts of customer that drive all sorts of cars including nissan, toyota, honda and the rest of them. If you plan to limit your self to a specific market and within that market a niche group of enthusiasts....well I can tell you that you will surely fail before you even start.

Also my weak A** car is used to get from point A to point B so I can earn $$$ at my day job. You dumped $55k into your car on top of the 38k original price and have nothing to show for it.....i dumped 55k into my retirement and stock market and guess what I have to show for it and I still have my weak a** POS nissan red headed step child rev-up sedan and I still get to work and make a living. I spend good chunk of money on the vehicle for maintenance to prolong life not on depreciating assets and mods that remove life and value.

Fast cars, hot girls and blow off valves don't excite me and that is not where I spend my money. Return on investment and arbitrage profit is what interest me and gets me all excited.

 

Trust me, I know all about customer service. This guy just came out of left field on me. I wasn't expecting all of the hostility.
I know about z-car, they do good work. I guess maybe I shouldn't have posted at all. It was a harmless hypothetical question.
I appreciate you and the things you have said.
I actually used to be in the bay. I was at the Infiniti store by the Oakland coliseum from the day it opened till the day it closed. I met a lot of cool people and did a lot of "mods" while I was there. I also did a ton of service work on the side while I was there and had a pretty good size customer base, but when the store closed I had to move on...

 

A picture says a thousand words, and would turn this around.

There's too many trolls going around these days the only real way to filter them out is with proof. Which is all this forum asks.

If you're up for it, open a shop. But like what's been mentioned, it cannot be infiniti/nissan specific. You can't just turn down other makes who show up at your door. Which would probably be most of your business, regardless of brand specialization.

As for location, nothing against the Sacramento guys, I love you homos. But there's a ton of G35s in the Peninsula lacking a decent Nissan shop. My car gets destroyed on the 101 highway given my clearance, so Z Car Garage is not an option. SF hills, don't even bother. Back when I had my evo, the reputable shops were ALL east bay (Speed Element, FFTEC, GST Motorsport). Tired of shops being in south bay or east bay. Peninsula needs some action.

 

You joined driver in 2007, and worked for or still work for a Infiniti/Nissan dealer correct, so in that time did you "meat" any other G/Z driver that can support any of your comments. What dealership do you work at I will swing by and say Hi.

 

Stop being a pussy and scrap that bitch, im just as low stiffen up those coils and scrap on. Polished under carriage thanks 101