Attention Portlanders....Who has the most reliable Rover shop in Portland?? It seems that all repair shops here are taking a hit in customer satisfaction and reliability.

 

Without question, Ships Mechanical.

 

If its on the interwebs it must be true!

I have consumer based experience with the indy Rover scene in pdx...

I've never heard of Ships Mechanical but their non proprietary Google presence is PHENOMENAL!

Is this some kind of inside joke?

EDIT: D'oh! marketing. i get it. lame.

There are several shops in PDX. If you are serious (and not some shill for Ships Mechanical) go talk to them all about your needs and issues, meet their techs, look around their place and
ask plenty of questions you should be able to discern who you want to trust with your truck and your money pretty easily.

 

You're blabbering on the internet, so why should he listen to you over anyone else on the forum?

I bought my Disco 1 from Ships, so I'm pretty sure they're a real company. And judging by the response from customers using Doug's services I'd say he's held in pretty high regard. He also essentially manages the Northwest Challenge. which is more than I/you can say for anyone else in Oregon/Washington.

 

Fine.

Nice to learn something new.

As I said, listen or not, there are some good shops and some BS shops in that town and its not too hard to figure out who is what with a little work.

I'm not getting involved with any online pissing match about who is or isn't any good.

 

It could have been avoided by not questioning my suggestion and instead offering the names of a few other shops that you have experience with.

 

Wait, you bought your truck from them but have never used the shop for repairs?

Yet your suggestion was "without question"?

Personally I'd trust the opinion of someone who actually lives in the area, not an online salesman. YMMV

 

Edit - Never mind, some things aren't worth it.

 

I used in live in Portland (aka Vancouver, WA across the river). I am not familiar with Ships Mechanical either. But I am not inferring they are not a good shop. Just have not heard about them in the past.

There are other popular shops in the area such as Green Oval, Green Dog, PDX Rovers, etc. I work in the truck manufacturing industry and manage dealers. Feel free to send me a PM if you would like to know of my personal recommendation.

 

After more Googling Doug Shipman appears to be as reputable as it gets.

My first google attempt at Ship Mechanical brought up a bunch of ad based crap but no actual website. Apparently he doesn't need to advertise or have a website. There are a few Yelp reviews (3) but I don't trust Yelp for anything.

If he has 25 years in as a founder of the NW Challenge, then thats enough for me but it takes more than a cursory google search to figure that out.

He is literally the only Rover shop in PDX i've never heard of. However I do know Gord'n Parrot in Seattle (Lamorna Garage) who is the Washington part of NW Challenge.

Those guys are the elite Rover guys in the PNW to be sure.

Sorry to offend and sorry to have spoken too soon. And sorry Zack for your attitude challenge. I realize it gets difficult on an open public forum with "regular" folks chiming in rather than just the insiders. We are all here to learn and pass forward anything we've learned in the process. If you would prefer a forum where nobody asks questions and people with relevant experience are intimidated into not contributing then you might as well start blocking users from replying and allow only moderators to give advice.

That being said I have experience with 5 other indy shops in the area and would only recommend Green Oval on MLK.