Endorsements

Prospective Clients:  This is the guy you want working on your beloved German automobile. I purchased a Porsche Cayman 987S that Chris had built from stock into a dual-purpose street/track machine with a whole raft of modifications to the suspension, exhaust, and engine management, etc., with special attention to safety and reliability. The car was beautiful, fast, and long-lived. Everyone who drove it - or chased it - remarked on its balance and performance. It was clear that Chris had researched extensively the best solution to every question, and implemented it perfectly and professionally. Chris provided extensive after-the-sale support and I have been deeply impressed with his subsequent builds.    Chris is one of the good guys: fair, principled, highly-intelligent, knowledgeable, and a true enthusiast.  I trust him to do the right thing in every situation.    

Chris was the previous owner of my 996 Turbo. When I saw the detail of the listing, including a PDF aggregating options, maintenance history, service history, and modifications – I had an idea about the type of car guy he is. Feeling good about the impression from his listing, I contacted him on Monday afternoon, met him on a Tuesday afternoon to see and drive the car, finalized the deal on Wednesday morning, and picked it up Saturday.

My experience with Chris during the transaction validated my theory about “the type of car guy” I thought Chris was. And that type – which I categorize as a personified Porsche 911– is the engineering type. Without that mentality, there is no way on we could have finalized the deal with such efficiency. Without that mentality, there is no way that anybody would have a mechanical wonderland in his garage (with overwhelming general organization, dozens of labeled storage containers, and clinical cleanliness). Without that mentality, the car I bought would not have been so fastidiously maintained above any normal required level – I was blown away by the list of preventative and intelligent elements that Chris incorporated into the car during his ownership; nothing was unnecessary, but everything enhanced the essentials, yet again displaying his engineering philosophy  

So my initial interaction with Chris was that he is efficient, functional, overly competent, and definitely OCD with his cars. But he’s not just analytical and “left-brained,” which is at times too objective in a subjective world. Chris marries right-brained thinking to establish a thoughtful perspective from his clients’ points-of-view. He was acutely aware and sensitive to my priorities during our negotiation and transaction and exhibited the attention to detail, honesty, and pragmatism that any car enthusiast desires in a mechanical custodian – the same mentality that ensures Customer-first diagnosis and solutions.

There is nobody I would trust more with my car – I think Chris is a bonafide “German Car Whisperer” who can massage optimal and peak capabilities better than any impersonal large-scale maintenance and modification operation. He has higher standards than any wrench I’ve met, and the know-how to satisfy those standards. Chris and I have become friends through the purchase, and I’d like to add last meaningful element to Chris’s remarkable resume. He also won’t tell you this. But he moonlights as a Sushi Chef in his spare time – yet another historic precision-based pastime. As if working on his 911’s wasn’t satisfying his need for disciplined construction. Enough said.

Chris (Der Garage) is one of the most informed, educated, and skilled car enthusiasts/wrenches I know.  There’s never a fact he doesn’t know, an obscure fix he isn’t aware of, or a complex project he’s afraid to tackle.  He is the kind of guy you have absolute, complete faith in to know the right way to approach a challenge, and he never fails to execute it with meticulous detail.  I’ve been continually impressed with his skill set, professionalism, honesty, and simply amazing results ever since I first met him during his 911 SC 3.6 conversion back in the ‘90s.  His combination of real world racing experience and technical competency creates the perfect perspective, and I would trust him with any my Porsches or BMWs.

Chris is who you get when you combine an articulate, hands-on corporate CTO in the software world with a life long gear head that builds and races his own cars. In short order, I found him to have an uncanny depth of knowledge and fanatical attention to detail. I highly recommend Chris to service any Porsche. Just after purchasing my 17 yr old, low mileage Porsche on eBay (fingers crossed), I asked Chris for a deep dive inspection of the entire car, a complete fluid service and to provide driving impressions. Due to my car’s age and lack of being driven regularly, I wanted the confidence to take it on long trips, in heavy traffic. After watching Chris hook up the computer, listening to his step by step explanation of what we were viewing on the screen and observing his nit-picking methodology, I felt reassured I’d found the right person to take care of my car and he’d find any potential issues, which he did. His honesty, intelligence, love of what he’s doing and, most importantly, his ability to get the job done is what all us car guys want to see in the people entrusted to care for our motorcars.      

 I have supreme confidence in bringing my Porsches to Der Garage.  Chris is conveniently located, flexible, and most of all possesses expert knowledge on these cars, stock or track prepped.  He works on them like they are his own and not only consults with me on decisions that need to be made, but he also has excellent recommendations from his experience and research.  Bring your German cars to Der Garage with confidence.