My dad and I have been using Georgica Services for about 5 years. My father drives a 1971 MGB GT, and my most recent vehicle was a 2003 Ford Ranger.
I have to say that Jim and the other mechanics have always been pretty good with my dad's MG. They specialize in classic cars so they know what they're doing. When he first got the MG he needed to have the entire engine replaced. Georgica got the job done when other mechanics in the area had failed to do so. For the past 5 years they have taken good care of my dad and his car.
My Ford Ranger, on the other hand, is a very different story. I moved to Cleveland recently and we were planning on transporting the truck out there on a flatbed. Before the transport, we gave the truck to Jim so he could check it out, just like any other reasonable person would do before a big trip. My dad told Jim that the truck had been making a strange squeaking noise while we were driving on the highway earlier that week. He instructed Jim and the guys to put the truck up on the lift and run it at the same conditions that we had experienced on the highway.
Granted, I do not know much about cars and how mechanics do their job. My dad, however, it very good with cars. He performed routine maintenance on my truck the entire time that I owned it, and he does a lot of the simple work on his MG himself. So when he told Jim and his guys how to hunt for the noise, he knew what he was doing. Jim blatantly disregarded his instructions and it ended in disaster.
Jim apparently could not find the squeak using the methods that my father had described. So, without getting any real approval from us, he took the truck out for a test drive. As he was attempting to mimic highway conditions, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed it into a tree. The truck was totaled. He was fine, and we are very thankful for that. My truck, again, was a very different story.
As upset as I was, Jim was very helpful throughout the entirety of this situation and its aftermath. He helped my father and I hunt for a new car before I left for Cleveland. He was very kind to our family during this time. At the end of the day, the truck was old and I was going to have to get a new car eventually anyway. BUT, I want this to serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who is considering bringing their larger vehicles to Georgica. If my truck had been any newer or nicer of a vehicle, this could have been a crippling disaster in terms of our family's financials.
TL;DR: Jim and his crew are great in terms of their work on classic/specialty cars. They are not good (sometimes catastrophically so) with larger, more modern vehicles. They are also not the most responsive in terms of listening to the customer. Make sure that you make your desires and needs for your vehicle very clear before leaving your car at their shop. read more