Repair shops in southern Utah and/or where to stay in Vegas

[DaraSue]

Both my left-hand gauges and my cooling system have been functioning normally so far this week, so I'm going to try and head down to Vegas this Tues (if I don't get called in for overtime). Does anybody know of a shop in the Cedar City/St. George area in case anything happens on the road? I can get a AAA tow to Vegas or back to SLC if absolutely necessary but I'd rather not use my 200 mile one in the first three months I have the car if I can avoid it.

Assuming everything holds together and I make it into Vegas, where should I stay that the car will be safe? I usually stay at the Motel 6 on Tropicana but I don't think their lot is big enough that I can park away from everybody (plus a greater likelihood of drunk a-holes stumbling around by the Strip). Should I plan on staying at a casino and valet-parking? Would one of the less busy motels away from downtown be safe? (I was looking at the Motel 6 on Boulder Highway.)

(Edit: after reading some reviews about the area around that Motel 6, maybe that one's out.)

[DMCVegas]

Go elsewhere and stay at a locals casino/hotel. Sliverton, or any of the Stations or Boyd properties.

This right here is the place that I always go to:
http://www.owensautorepair.com/OwensAutoRepair/Welcome.html

Trained by a factory-certified DeLorean mechanic from the original dealership. However, he may not be taking on new clients. It would be best to call ahead and see what they say.

I've heard that this place is supposed to be good, but they're not not DeLorean specialists per se. They want to be, but they're not right now. Probably good for some basic and universal items like any other shop.
http://lostinthe50sautomotive.com

There used to be a mobile mechanic shop that worked on DeLoreans, but I cannot remember the name. Though they are expensive. There is also another shop I can't remember, but call DMCH to see who they're shipping parts out to.

[DaraSue]

Thanks! I tried emailing Owens but the message bounced. I'll give them a call on Monday. I'm not expecting any major issues but considering how many of my road trips have required trips to the repair shop either during or after, I want to be prepared for any contingency.

[DMCVegas]

I'm not surprised. Al Owens is a helluva guy, but his site hasn't changed in a few years since he's so focused on business. He deals in bulk repairs and hates cars sitting around his shop taking up space. He once replaced my entire clutch including resurfacing the flywheel, bleeding the hydraulics, and adjusting the shift linkage in about 3½ hours and got me out of his shop fast. He's also the only mechanic my own mother has ever gone to that doesn't talk down to women, and he combines hourly charges. So let's say you have a water pump that needs replacing, and it requires him to pull the radiator hoses. Since Al is already charging you the labor to pull and reconnect the hoses, he just replace them as well for just the price of parts instead of double-dipping on the hourly rates as a separate job. That's something that allot of mechanics get sneaky about.

Stopping by his shop always brought strange surprises of off vintage cars as well. You might see an old Volvo, Jag, Mercedes, Plymouth, or even another DeLorean up on the lifts. But they never stay there long.

Let me know what he says about working on DeLoreans. I've always gone to him for years, and never had a problem. But apparently he had a spat with one DeLorean owner, and unless you were an old legacy customer he already knew, said he was refusing to work on new DMCs. Hopefully he has changed his position from over the years.

[DaraSue]

Called them just now, asked if they still worked on DeLoreans, they said no, they didn't know who does. If they don't want to take my money because one owner was a jerk 10 years ago, whatever. :rolleyes1: Maybe I should have dropped your name, heh...

Hopefully nothing catastrophic will happen anyway...

[DMCVegas]

That's a bummer. Like I say, there are at least two other places in Vegas that do work on DeLoreans. DMCH should have the one address, and the other is that Lost in the 50's place. Though honestly I've no way to personally vouch for either one.

When are you heading down to Vegas?

[DaraSue]

I didn't get a chance to call DMCH today but if I find anything out tomorrow I'll report back. I'm planning on leaving tomorrow(Tue) so depending on how early I get going, I should get down there either tomorrow night or Wed late morning/early afternoon. Hopefully I'll see some of you around!

[Bob635]

DanaSue are you in town for business? Do you want to meet any Las Vegas DeLorean owners?

[DaraSue]

DanaSue are you in town for business? Do you want to meet any Las Vegas DeLorean owners?

Not business, just wanted one last road trip before the snow starts falling. :)

It would be cool to have a mini-meetup if some of you guys are around. I was planning on dropping Andy S.a line since I owe him a burger so maybe we can have a DeLorean show at In-n-Out or something :biggrin:

[DaraSue]

The shop I ended up at in Cedar City after busting a gas line clamp was Above All Auto. They were listed on AAA and had good reviews so here's hoping I can still make it to Vegas. I talked to Stephen at DMCH and he said he knew a guy in Vegas who was a personal friend of his and he'd give me his number if I had an emergency. Hopefully I've had all the emergencies I'm going to on this trip, heh...

[ccurzio]

Get photos of the meetup and the cars. :)