Where Should I go? Tacoma version
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Balliztik
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,276
From: Taco-ma
Where Should I go? Tacoma version
So everyone asks me all the time if I know a good shop to get parts and service done.
I got a bit bored today and went shop hopping to see if I could come up with some good answers for that.
Shop #1 Austin ProMax 56th and south Tacoma way.
Nice, clean and some kick butt muscle cars but NOTHING for tuners. They wont even order parts. matter of fact they kind of laughed at me when i brought it up. I got the impression they didnt want me even near their precious muscle and wanted me to just go get teriyaki or something. When I asked how much to install my exhaust ( it needed a small weld and i dont have a welder) they quoted me a minimum of 90.00 but i got the impression the minimum would go up based on what the guy said. Servive department offeres oil changes for 24.99 and the satellite shop across the street that does them called 'Total Performance' does all my oil changes. They are nice guys and like to see th tuner cars but not work on them. I suppose you cant teach an old dog new tricks in this case.
------------------------------------------
Shop #2 B and I car parts place by the pet strore (i hae no idea the name as its not displayed anywhere) in the B and I, on South Tacoma Way.
Dirty, crowded and with a huge focus on generic performance parts for the rice and beans racer (racing and ricing on a budget) and stereo, i didnt get a great feel for this shop. The staff was nice enough but I think they are pretty set into their clientel and dont want to evolve much past it. Prices were a bit out of line too. Not worth a trip. When I asked about an exhaust install, they dont do exhausts.
-------------------------------------
Shop # 3 Tune Station, 84th and South Tacoma Way.
This is a satellite store of a another B and I shop but it just recently opened in its own space. I wanted to check it out as I had heard a few good things about the owner. I was let down big time. The store was so crowded with generic and off brand crap I could barely see anything of interest. The staff, while friendly, seemed to know about as much about tuning as I do about being Queen of England. I know its fun and has its ups, and you get pretty things, but that's about it. They cannot do installs for exhuast, tried to sell me lights from a manufactuer I've never heard of and cant even find on the internet, and thought the riced out Pontiac grand prix in the parking lot could (and I quote) 'rip any STi a new one on any day.' Interesting....
All in all, i suppose of you need some Chinese stereo stuff or some actual Street glow series one neon (not kidding on that, package was at least 10 years old) then these guys are IT!!!
-------------------------------------------------
Shop #4 The infamous Fast Lane 2
I will preface by sayiung I hate this shop and have a lot of bad blood and memories there. but I also wanted to give them a second chance cause you never know, it might have just been a staffing thing or I might have had several bad days when I just happened to go into their shop.
Nice shop. Good parts. they do know their stuff there. Lots of Nissan, Honda, Subie and Mitsu support and lots and lots of drifting parts and body kits. Problem is, Scion is like a dirty word it seems. Lot of JDM crap like Air Spencers and cell phone holders. Prices are WAY high. like to the point where I could go online, pay for shipping twice and still get a better deal. There also seems to be some sort of test you need to apss before they talk to you like you know what you are doing. You get pointed to the pretty and generic stuff when you ask for things and when you say specific stuff, they seem to questions you rather than make constructive suggestions or reccomendations.
Installing and exhuast you didnt buy there would be, as I was told, "from 75 -150 dollars, it just depends."
I think all in all it has its place but the prices and attitudes were a bit to high for me. Seems the owner might care too much for his NSX and not enough about appealing tommore than just the Uber Hard core folks.
-----------------------------------------
Shop #5 Axiom Motorsports Stelicoom blvd in lakewood right off of S. Tac. way.
This was the jewel of my day. Strange too because it was my last stop. I had such apprehension in stopping at this place because I'd heard so mich bad about it. I had heard since they had a 4 wheel dyno and the Evo guys hung out there, that they were a STi and EVO only type of place and had no room for anyone else. I have to tell you I was knocked off my feet when I went in there.
A small tightly packed store held a ton of surprises. lots of hard to find, and rare goodies adored the walls and lots of fun stuff like manifolds and turbos were hiding in some of the cases. I wound up tlaking to the manager (maybe owner) Kyle Yi I explained what I needed done and when I asked just for giggles if tehy could throw my strut tower brace and mid frame brace on while the car was up, he cut me a crazy deal. I couldn;t say no! I got to talking with Kyle and found I finally had someone that seemed to just like cars. He didnt seem to care too much about the person or the team or anythign else, he just had a genuine interet in cars and making them go fast and perfomr better. we talked about the difference in gold and irridium spark plugs and I finally feel like I have a solid handle on why irridium is better! He didnt mock the Scion, he was actually really interested in the Kenstyle kit and asked me all sorts of questions about it and the car and seemed pretty excited when I told him my plans. All in all I dropped 60 on some new plugs and another 60 to get my exhaust hooked up, my mid frame brace put on and my strut tower bar installed.
When I asked on prices for a few other toys, prices were right inline with what you would pay over the internet plus shipping. Nothing outrageous and they seemed to have some good lines on TON of parts. everything I was asking about, they had a source. even some very hard to find and hard to get rims.
I met his installer Jun (hope I spelled it right) and his tuner Moses. Both of these guys were honest, nice guys who knew their stuff. I cant see either of them being older than me but they had a ton of knowledge in everythign we talked about. cars, motors, parts, you name it.
Then the nice little surprise. I asked them what it would take to set up a dyno day and get some folks in to dyno and test their cars out. Turns out they want to do a day with Scions. they thought it would be awesome to get a few xA's and xB's and see who could lay 100 hp to the wheel and they've worked on a few tC's and want to get into a few more of them. (i'll be setting up a dyno day soon so if you are interested, watch for it but please do not post here)
HANDS DOWN!!! these guys were awesome. I dont know why i ever thought they were not a good place to go. I'm glad I gave them a shot, glad I met the crew at Axiom and am very pleased with my new exhaust... grrrrrrr
I got a bit bored today and went shop hopping to see if I could come up with some good answers for that.
Shop #1 Austin ProMax 56th and south Tacoma way.
Nice, clean and some kick butt muscle cars but NOTHING for tuners. They wont even order parts. matter of fact they kind of laughed at me when i brought it up. I got the impression they didnt want me even near their precious muscle and wanted me to just go get teriyaki or something. When I asked how much to install my exhaust ( it needed a small weld and i dont have a welder) they quoted me a minimum of 90.00 but i got the impression the minimum would go up based on what the guy said. Servive department offeres oil changes for 24.99 and the satellite shop across the street that does them called 'Total Performance' does all my oil changes. They are nice guys and like to see th tuner cars but not work on them. I suppose you cant teach an old dog new tricks in this case.
------------------------------------------
Shop #2 B and I car parts place by the pet strore (i hae no idea the name as its not displayed anywhere) in the B and I, on South Tacoma Way.
Dirty, crowded and with a huge focus on generic performance parts for the rice and beans racer (racing and ricing on a budget) and stereo, i didnt get a great feel for this shop. The staff was nice enough but I think they are pretty set into their clientel and dont want to evolve much past it. Prices were a bit out of line too. Not worth a trip. When I asked about an exhaust install, they dont do exhausts.
-------------------------------------
Shop # 3 Tune Station, 84th and South Tacoma Way.
This is a satellite store of a another B and I shop but it just recently opened in its own space. I wanted to check it out as I had heard a few good things about the owner. I was let down big time. The store was so crowded with generic and off brand crap I could barely see anything of interest. The staff, while friendly, seemed to know about as much about tuning as I do about being Queen of England. I know its fun and has its ups, and you get pretty things, but that's about it. They cannot do installs for exhuast, tried to sell me lights from a manufactuer I've never heard of and cant even find on the internet, and thought the riced out Pontiac grand prix in the parking lot could (and I quote) 'rip any STi a new one on any day.' Interesting....
All in all, i suppose of you need some Chinese stereo stuff or some actual Street glow series one neon (not kidding on that, package was at least 10 years old) then these guys are IT!!!
-------------------------------------------------
Shop #4 The infamous Fast Lane 2
I will preface by sayiung I hate this shop and have a lot of bad blood and memories there. but I also wanted to give them a second chance cause you never know, it might have just been a staffing thing or I might have had several bad days when I just happened to go into their shop.
Nice shop. Good parts. they do know their stuff there. Lots of Nissan, Honda, Subie and Mitsu support and lots and lots of drifting parts and body kits. Problem is, Scion is like a dirty word it seems. Lot of JDM crap like Air Spencers and cell phone holders. Prices are WAY high. like to the point where I could go online, pay for shipping twice and still get a better deal. There also seems to be some sort of test you need to apss before they talk to you like you know what you are doing. You get pointed to the pretty and generic stuff when you ask for things and when you say specific stuff, they seem to questions you rather than make constructive suggestions or reccomendations.
Installing and exhuast you didnt buy there would be, as I was told, "from 75 -150 dollars, it just depends."
I think all in all it has its place but the prices and attitudes were a bit to high for me. Seems the owner might care too much for his NSX and not enough about appealing tommore than just the Uber Hard core folks.
-----------------------------------------
Shop #5 Axiom Motorsports Stelicoom blvd in lakewood right off of S. Tac. way.
This was the jewel of my day. Strange too because it was my last stop. I had such apprehension in stopping at this place because I'd heard so mich bad about it. I had heard since they had a 4 wheel dyno and the Evo guys hung out there, that they were a STi and EVO only type of place and had no room for anyone else. I have to tell you I was knocked off my feet when I went in there.
A small tightly packed store held a ton of surprises. lots of hard to find, and rare goodies adored the walls and lots of fun stuff like manifolds and turbos were hiding in some of the cases. I wound up tlaking to the manager (maybe owner) Kyle Yi I explained what I needed done and when I asked just for giggles if tehy could throw my strut tower brace and mid frame brace on while the car was up, he cut me a crazy deal. I couldn;t say no! I got to talking with Kyle and found I finally had someone that seemed to just like cars. He didnt seem to care too much about the person or the team or anythign else, he just had a genuine interet in cars and making them go fast and perfomr better. we talked about the difference in gold and irridium spark plugs and I finally feel like I have a solid handle on why irridium is better! He didnt mock the Scion, he was actually really interested in the Kenstyle kit and asked me all sorts of questions about it and the car and seemed pretty excited when I told him my plans. All in all I dropped 60 on some new plugs and another 60 to get my exhaust hooked up, my mid frame brace put on and my strut tower bar installed.
When I asked on prices for a few other toys, prices were right inline with what you would pay over the internet plus shipping. Nothing outrageous and they seemed to have some good lines on TON of parts. everything I was asking about, they had a source. even some very hard to find and hard to get rims.
I met his installer Jun (hope I spelled it right) and his tuner Moses. Both of these guys were honest, nice guys who knew their stuff. I cant see either of them being older than me but they had a ton of knowledge in everythign we talked about. cars, motors, parts, you name it.
Then the nice little surprise. I asked them what it would take to set up a dyno day and get some folks in to dyno and test their cars out. Turns out they want to do a day with Scions. they thought it would be awesome to get a few xA's and xB's and see who could lay 100 hp to the wheel and they've worked on a few tC's and want to get into a few more of them. (i'll be setting up a dyno day soon so if you are interested, watch for it but please do not post here)
HANDS DOWN!!! these guys were awesome. I dont know why i ever thought they were not a good place to go. I'm glad I gave them a shot, glad I met the crew at Axiom and am very pleased with my new exhaust... grrrrrrr
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Balliztik
SL Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,276
From: Taco-ma
Originally Posted by honey0bucket
i'll be able to lay 100 hp at the wheels soon dustin!!! 
(i'll be setting up a dyno day soon so if you are interested, watch for it but please do not post here)
grrrrrrrr..... lol ;)
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Thread Starter
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Balliztik
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,276
From: Taco-ma
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Posts: 69
Originally Posted by ohcanada_00
i like it tho, i'll have to take a better look later.
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Club One
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,000
From: Ladera Ranch, CA / Chehalis, WA
im personaly not a fan of local shops due to personal experiance...i can get stuff at really good prices if not wholesale plus shipping from my friends @ enjuku. from previous experiance the shipping is much less than the tax and full retail...
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Club One
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,000
From: Ladera Ranch, CA / Chehalis, WA
sure...what are you looking for?
also this might perk peoples interest, through another source we have a container leaving in a few weeks from japan so if anyone needs custom stuff....
also this might perk peoples interest, through another source we have a container leaving in a few weeks from japan so if anyone needs custom stuff....
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 760
From: Tacoma, WA
You should also try ILLtech
I havent bought anything from them but I have gone in there trying to get prices and he does really good on prices. All the guys in there are all certified the owner Cody is a great guy. I have gone in and shot the stuff with him a few times.
http://www.ILLTECHAUTO.com
2320 Jefferson Ave
Tacoma WA 98402
I havent bought anything from them but I have gone in there trying to get prices and he does really good on prices. All the guys in there are all certified the owner Cody is a great guy. I have gone in and shot the stuff with him a few times.
http://www.ILLTECHAUTO.com
2320 Jefferson Ave
Tacoma WA 98402
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 273
From: Tacoma, WA
Kyle at Axiom is awesome. I met him for the first time when he was over at Speedline. He helped me get many of the parts for my former neon . . . and we all know that Speedline was pretty much an import shop. He also never talked down to me like I'm stupid just cause I'm a girl which I've encountered at other shops before. I'm not at all surprised that Dustin had such a great experience there!
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