Mark: Hi, it’s Mark from Top Local, we’re here with Bernie Pawlik,, Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, repairing and servicing vehicles in the Vancouver area for 38 years and 18 time winners of Best Auto Repair in Vancouver as voted by their customers. How’re you doing Bernie?
Bernie: Doing very well this morning
Mark: So we’re going to talk about a Porsche as we say in Vancouver or Porsche Macan, that was needing some service. What was going on with this vehicle?
Bernie: This vehicle is actually a 2017 Macan, we had the privilege of actually doing a service on a basically a brand new vehicle, 15,000 kilometres. It was in for its first service.
Mark: So what was happening with it?
Bernie: Really nothing much, I mean when a car is new it doesn’t need a whole lot. The A service on this vehicle is basically an oil and filter change and an inspection, a basic inspection, fluid levels. We look around for things like leaks and anything that is sort of developing because of course the car is pretty near new and under warranty and we would be looking for those sort of things. Things like the lights, I mean these cars are very sophisticated, so they monitor the lights and we look at them but if you have a light bulb that’s out on a lot of German cars, a lot of vehicles nowadays, it’ll tell you on the dash, this car for sure. We adjust the tire pressures, make sure they’re set to spec and that’s basically it.
Mark: Ok, so do you see a lot of new vehicles in your shop?
Bernie: We actually do, I mean it’s not a huge amount of our business but we do have a number of clients who bring us their brand new vehicles. A lot of times where people have been coming to us for a long time, we’ve developed a relationship. But this is a new client who was referred by somewhere else and just wanted to bring his vehicle to us for service.
Mark: And you mentioned a warranty. I know that you guys offer a warranty on your repairs. How does it work with a new vehicle like this that’s under warranty and you found something that was a fixable item through the warranty?
Bernie: Well what we would do at that point is just make a note on the invoice and obviously let the client know and from there you can just take it to the dealer, make an appointment with the dealer and say, hey there’s an issue, like say there’s a fluid leak from somewhere, or somethings going on of some sort, maybe check engine light is on or something like that. The other thing about you know, people do have a concert, hey you know should I bring it to you guys, isn’t that going to void my warranty? That’s a big concern people have and often, and dealers I thinks it’s insinuated that you should bring your car there because you have to, it’s actually illegal for them to say you have to bring the car to us. But you know, they obviously want to get the business, it’s part of their business and why not say so. But you don’t have to bring it there. The key thing is you need invoices for the repairs done on time. So you have to do it at the right time with the maintenance schedule and it has to be of course, all the right and warranty approved items which we use. So we do have our own liability insurance. We use all the right products. We take the time to make sure we’re using the right oil for the vehicle, the right filters. We don’t chince out so you get the same level of quality or better.
Mark: And I guess that would also apply in the same way to recalls on a vehicle as well?
Bernie: Yeah any recalls we actually do check for a recall now. If it’s actually like a government mandated recall, which they all are, the manufacturer will send a letter out for those kind of things and they’re often pretty good at tracking even used cars. I used to own a Pontiac Grand Am a few years ago that I bought, I don’t even know, who knows how many generations down of owner, but they somehow knew I was the owner and they kept sending me, hey get this ignition recall done and I didn’t own the car anymore and they sent me notice after notice. So things like recalls, we actually track them and look for that kind of thing too. But if you do own a vehicle, it’s a recall, generally the manufacturer will mail you a notification and you have to take it to a dealer to have that done. I’ll share a couple of photos while we’re here. There’s a nice 2017 Macan, beautiful vehicle, a nice little compact SUV and of course the best part, the engine. Three litre V6, nice powerful engine. All wheel drive. Sporty. I’m still more of a fan of a 911 if you’re going to buy a Porsche but you know, if you need to haul some kids around and you need something a little more practical, this is a nice size vehicle.
Mark: And how are these new Porsche Macan’s for reliability?
Bernie: Well, I’d love to tell you but and I actually get these questions frequently. I get people who see our videos, they call me, hey should I buy this particular, like you know a 2017 Range Rover or 2016, I go I don’t really know how reliable they are because they’re too new to really know. Macan’s have been pretty good. With a lot of times, I won’t personally really know and you know, the general world doesn’t really know how reliable a vehicle is until it’s a few years old. So it’s kind of a hard question to ask. I trust that the engineering is pretty good in this car but hopefully its not like the older Cayennes which were horrible, but it looks nice and they’ve had some time to work on these and to refine them. So can’t give you an answer yet, but we’ll do this hangout again in a few years with a little update.
Mark: Absolutely. So there you go, if you’re looking for service for your new Porsche or Porsche in Vancouver, they guys to see are Pawlik Automotive. You can reach them at 604-327-7112 to book your appointment, you have to book ahead they’re busy or check out their website pawlikautomotive.com, there’s hundreds of articles and videos on there or our YouTube channel Pawlik Automotive Repair. Thanks Bernie
Bernie: Thanks Mark
