Need a shop in Denver that won't rob me

[Westy95TSi]

Hey guys I'm looking for a shop in the Denver area that's capable of doing upgrades to my 95 talon tsi such as an exhaust or things of that nature. I've found a few but they've quoted me at like 2 grand for a cat back which is crazy to me. Gracias

 

[ThunderChild]

I suggest you learn to work on your own car personally. You'll save tons of money and learn valuable skills.

 

[PlanZero]

You can get a decent exhaust for a couple hundred bucks and put it on in your driveway in about an hour, as many many many of us have done. Even if you have an "unlimited" budget costs will escalate very quickly paying a shop to do bolt on mods. Save the shop money for real repairs and maintenance, such as a timing job.

All the information you need can be found on this site, and at least a Haynes manual if not a FSM.

 

[Jsrunnlus]

We are taking for granted he has a place, tools and abilities to do the work? You can expect to experience some unexpected issues which affect your use of the vehicle. I would strongly suggest at least being familiar with what is involved in a repair or mod so that you are educated in the work and can recognize some shops for what they are. As stated above, asking questions, searching the site, reading a service manual.

A cat back is generally not all that difficult. Assuming the downpipe can be reused I would hazard a guess that $2k is on the pricey side. Are they using a pre-made kit or doing a custom fab at an exhaust shop? if a kit how does the price compare to other retailers? Aluminized or steel piping? Muffler? Tips? Is it something they do in house or are they sending it out to another shop to perform the work? While not the most enjoyable thing to do, jack and jack stands from harbor freight will get the car up enough for you to perform the work yourself based on a bolt on cat back system.

Not to dissuade you, but if it is your daily driver and no other vehicle is handy, bear in mind that things creep up when working on any vehicle. Especially older ones. Strip a bolt, need a tool, or have a bad/missing part from a boxed shipment can lead to some choice words as well as time delays. It's just one of the joys of ownership you learn to deal with.

 

[Vegas Smith]

If you have to let a shop install your exhaust for you, then you are in big trouble with these cars. It's almost mandatory to be able to work on them yourself. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time finding people who know about these cars and not getting ripped off.

 

[tunedbysaturnsl]

I had a shop do my exhaust system including downpipe and O2 housing. This was due to the simple fact that, at the time, I could not get to the damn blind bolt on the O2 housing. Very tight fit around there. The shop was reputable and didn't charge an arm and a leg. Funny thing though, it took them all day due to that stupid bolt.

My other car though, I did the cat back exhaust on that no problem. Just had to lower the rear subframe to get the rear portion through. This wasn't on a DSM.

 

[joemamma]

2k for a catback is crazy and like others said if you don't have the ability or resources to do it yourself you would be better off selling and getting a newer car that's just for transportation

 

[Vegas Smith]

I had a shop do my exhaust system including downpipe and O2 housing. This was due to the simple fact that, at the time, I could not get to the damn blind bolt on the O2 housing. Very tight fit around there. The shop was reputable and didn't charge an arm and a leg. Funny thing though, it took them all day due to that stupid bolt.

My other car though, I did the cat back exhaust on that no problem. Just had to lower the rear subframe to get the rear portion through. This wasn't on a DSM.

Yeah, it's a mega pain. It makes life easier to have slim fans and the tubular front crossmember.....much easier.

 

[FallenKing]

Boost Creep, they even have a dyno so you can see performance differences and they do tunning.

Address: 245 3rd Ave, Longmont, CO 80501
Hours:
Closing soon · Phone: (303) 219-6071

 

[We're on Boost]

Boost Creep, they even have a dyno so you can see performance differences and they do tunning.

Address: 245 3rd Ave, Longmont, CO 80501

@FallenKing
@Westy95TSi

Thanks for this info! I might be living near Denver pretty soon so this question is also one of my top priorities.
Do you guys have anything more you can say about this shop?
I see all good in their google reviews.
Most of the comments though are about tuning, and the shop's own comment says they are "primarily a Subaru tuning shop".
How are they for doing mechanical work on a DSM?
I would need them mostly for drivetrain work, remove and replace the heavy stuff, and not mess anything up.
Do you think they would be good for this type of work on a 1g?

There is also a shop called 5250 Performance, also in Longmont.
They also have good google reviews. Know anything about them?
What is it about Longmont anyway? Is this like CO Race Central or something?

 

[Brembo]

Any half way good repair shop will install anything for you. Buy the part and bring it to the shop and let them see it. I really love how some people threat their dsm like gold. I guess that is why we have all of these threads come up for bad running or no start conditions. I guess no one knows how to fix cars but the owner/tuner. I guess mechanics are all stupid and thief's. Good luck.

 

[We're on Boost]

I have 4 cars, they are all old. I like them. Newest one is a year 2000. I have a preferred shop for each one where I live now, near Seattle.
When I first got the Talon, it was a nightmare until I found a good shop for it. Made all the difference in the world. Hoping to not go through that again if I have to move. In gold, I have put about 1 kilogram of gold into my Talon so far, since buying it. As I get older it becomes harder and harder for me to do some of this stuff myself. Although 40 years ago I rebuilt a few engines, Peugeot, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo. I enjoyed it then!
So any discussion about shops near Denver would be nice.