I wanted Quintin Brothers to work out because there are very few shops in the Burlington area willing to work on older cars. They clearly have knowledgeable people on staff, and the shop is fun to visit if you like muscle cars, hot rods, and sports cars. Unfortunately, my experience with a largely original full-size American car has been much less positive.
While their positive reviews suggest they are a great fit for modified performance vehicles, it has not been a good fit for an uncommon, original full-size American car for a few key reasons:
Turnaround & Scheduling: Appointments can be many weeks out. This is a critical factor for local owners since our old-car driving season in Vermont is so short.
Ignoring Factory Specifications: When the shop replaced my wheel studs, I provided a tip sheet with factory specs, including the 65 ft-lb wheel-nut torque specification. At pickup, I was told they torqued them to 100 ft-lb and that I should re-torque them to 100 after a few miles. When I pointed out the factory spec, the response was "cars go faster now." This logic makes no sense for a late-1960s car designed for sustained highway speeds.
Quality Control Issues: On another occasion, the shop replaced the valve-cover gaskets. Both later leaked badly enough that the car failed state inspection. When I raised the problem, I did not receive a meaningful response or an offer to correct the work.
My Takeaway:I can't tell whether the problems stem from the technicians, the front office, communication between the two, or a combination. But when you are dealing with a rare car and scarce, expensive components, you need a shop that takes factory technical information seriously, communicates carefully, and stands behind its work. Based on my experience, I would not take my car back here. read more
