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Archer Motorsport - Recent Experience - a Review

Stoo.c

Well-known member
Joined
7 Apr 2014
Messages
205
Morning all - I've read a fair amount of negative reviews recently (granted mainly about dealers) so I thought it would be nice to write up about a very positive experience I have recently had.

Generally I like to do most of my own work including rebuilding my Boxster heads at the moment (thanks DeMort for the email motivation) however its always nice to have an expert look over your car for peace of mind, get some of those painful jobs done and get a good stamp in the history book.

I've been meaning to get my C4S serviced for quite a while as it hasnt had a stamp in a few years given I swapped the engine and so did everything from a service in one go. Finally I got round to researching and wanted somewhere local to me in Hertfordshire (I live in Hertford) as I struggle for time and I found Archer Motorsport (based in Kimpton not far from Stevenage or St Albans) who specialise in Porsche and Aston Martin (my dad has a DB7 so I thought we could kill 2 birds with 1 stone).

I contacted Angus, the owner who was really helpful, incredibly knowledgeable and offered a good price on the basic service and brake fluid change so I booked it in. Instead of having to drop it in however, Angus offered to collect the car and leave me with the company Smart.

Angus had also offered to fit my new braided hoses for free which was amazing however unsurprisingly, my pipes were bad - really bad - all of them the full length of the car. He sent me photos (way worse than I expected) and knowing I like to do my own work, didnt push for the job at all. This is something I knew would happen at some point as with all 996's and I didnt fancy the job one bit and after seeing the quote, I left it with them to do. I wont tell you the labour price however for what they were asking, I didnt even want to consider doing it myself - I was very pleased. All proper Porsche pipes obviously - no bodging over the gearbox.

I've had a snapped rear roll bar bolt for the last 2 years so no rear ARB on the car. To make it worse, there is a snapped easy out in the snapped bolt. I mentioned it to Angus so he didnt think I was an idiot for not having a rear ARB. Despite not asking for them to look into it, they somehow removed the bolt with the easy out and didnt charge for it. Equally my airbag light has been on for some time and there is a spare clock spring in the car - I've just been putting it off. I get an email from Angus to say - sorted your airbag out after finding the spare in the car - again no charge.

To say I'm impressed is an understatement - this has all been about service - of course I'm delighted the car has had so many unexpected jobs done and has now had almost all of the 'standard 996' pains sorted but I've now got somewhere I will go back to knowing they arent going to try and have me over and will always do that extra little bit.

Just to cap it off, when I went to collect the car, we had been talking about my Boxster rebuild and I had suggested that I may drop it in if the bottom end needed work however its just the heads and I've decided to do it myself. Rather than being annoyed that they arent getting work from it, Angus proceeded to lend me the timing tool and spend almost an hour with a spare head making sure I fully understood how to time it back up again. This is someone who just loves cars.

They will be getting all service works from me now for the 996, the 986 and hopefully my dads DB7 and any jobs that I dont want to do and I will be recommending anybody to try them out for a customer service that I didnt think existed anymore.

On a side note, according to Angus, the website is being refreshed shortly - it doesn't do them justice. When I collected mine it was rammed full of 911's - a lovely site although nothing quite matched the look of the back of my C4S ;)
 
Great review.

I may be mistaken, but I recall their name coming up for M96/7 rebuild, at what seemed like a competitive price.

Good that they are so generous with their expertise... I've often thought that a garage could do a lot worse than offer a 'consultancy' service for owners who like to DIY. Should my car need a rebuild I would find it very satisfying to do elements of it myself and would happily pay someone for training when required. Undoubtedly there would be elements I could not do, which would get passed on to the garage anyway.
 
I also recall a thread mentioning them :?:

Good review :thumb:
 
Engine rebuilds are what they spend the majority of their time doing and they had several in the workshop when I was there. Pricing is incredibly good value as far as I'm concerned and there is no doubt they really know their stuff.
 
Stoo.c said:
Engine rebuilds are what they spend the majority of their time doing and they had several in the workshop when I was there. Pricing is incredibly good value as far as I'm concerned and there is no doubt they really know their stuff.

They actually spend a large chunk of time building their own engines for the Boxster racing series (which they compete in - ask Angus to take you out in his one!)

I have yet to post a review but can echo all the above sentiments - great service every time, never fail to get a well-thought out response, and gives advice on whats best for your car rather than what will make the most money.
 
996 Rebuild

Yes can confirm great service as well.

My 996 crank was not serviceable on rebuild so Angus sourced a good secondhand one from one his Porsche racing contacts.

Will be back for the 1K oil change and check over following rebuild.
 
Thats great to read a positive review and they sound like a great find for those based in that area. :thumb: :thumb:
 

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