Opinions on Eximport in Houston???

[woodyracing]

I graduated Wyotech a couple weeks ago (Ducati, BMW, and Triumph certs) and am going to start the job search tomorrow.  I'm pretty much looking everywhere in the US with a decent riding season.  I heard a place called Eximport in Houston is hiring so I looked at their website and sent in my resume.  Then I started googling them...   Seemingly every mention of their name is a negative comment but most of them seem to be more "I heard they have a bad reputation" than actual experiences so I figured I'd go ahead and ask.  Anyone have first hand experience?  This is my first job as a technician and the job market isn't great right now but I don't really want to work somewhere that doesn't treat their customers fairly.
I guess my question is are they a bad dealership or have people just had bad experiences with their techs?    Should I stay away from there or give it a shot?

[Raux]

send your resume to KC International in San Antonio.

[woodyracing]

adding that to my list!

[Raux]

are you a Duc rider also? that will go over well

KC International also has MotoGuzzi.

[woodyracing]

oh yeah, I love my Monster

(also an expert licensed roadracer, that should help as well)

[El Matador]

Was your screenname Dr. Woodrow?

I'm a houston local. Eximports is, well for lack of a better phrase, a pit of hell. The salesmen are the quintessential slimy, sell at any cost, salespeople.

The parts department is decent, the only reason for this is a guy named Juan. He is good.

The service dept. Well, let me give you an anecdote. A friend of mine took his m750 for warranty work. His tank was leaking a bit around one of the welds. It took them close to 4 months to give it back. The irony? he is a welder by profession. He says it would've taken him a whole half hour to do the job. He just didn't want to do it for fear of voiding the warranty.

[slim_grizzy]

I bought my 696 there last summer,  Houston local as well.  The sales folks and parts guys are all nice guys for the most part.  The sales guys obviously have to sell bikes, that's why they're there, but they can be pretty decent folks.  Juan is a class act, helps run the local ducati rider club.  Can't say too much about the service dept since I haven't had to use them for anything yet other than the 600mi service.  The showroom looks nice and the owner Fabian really likes ducatis, seems like a decent guy from my limited experience with him.  It's a good dealership from my point of view but I have no idea how that translates into a working environment.

[Turf]

Visited everytime I've been down there (4 or so times a year) it's a big shop, seem to not have the greatest reputation. I've never had a problem with anyone in there...it's a pretty cool shop though.

[cbartlett419]

The service dept. Well, let me give you an anecdote. A friend of mine took his m750 for warranty work. His tank was leaking a bit around one of the welds. It took them close to 4 months to give it back. The irony? he is a welder by profession. He says it would've taken him a whole half hour to do the job. He just didn't want to do it for fear of voiding the warranty.

that's me!! something else that should be noted is the high turn over rate on mechanics there, no one seems to last, have you searched Bob Lunsford Honda in Houston? It's a smaller shop which means less dazzle, but they keep a couple dozen bikes inventoried and there seems to be a charisma at that shop that eximports lacks.

and then there is this place, http://www.metricmotorcycles.com/ I've never spent money there, but they are highly reputed amongst cycle heads around H-town.

congrats on finishing school and good luck w/ the job search

[Howie]

My advice would be to interview the dealership instead of the other way around, then make up your mind.  If service is bad, the reason can be the lack of good techs.  If you have solid wrenching experience to go with your Wyotech training you may be a valuable asset to them.

[Porsche Monkey]

My advice would be to interview the dealership instead of the other way around, then make up your mind.  If service is bad, the reason can be the lack of good techs.  If you have solid wrenching experience to go with your Wyotech training you may be a valuable asset to them.

+1 to interviewing the dealerships.  If you don't have your heart set on Houston, then also check out KCI in San Antonio.  We have better roads here and it's not Houston  .  On a side note, we are looking for a tech apprentice at the Porsche dealer in San Antonio.  We have a very low employee turn over rate. 

[Drjones]

Eximports is a revolving door of Ducati techs; first reason their service quality sucks.  The main business focus of Eximports is to buy used/wrecked jap crap, slap em back together and ship them to South America; second reason their service quality sucks.  Walk into the shop and the rows of bikes up front are not Ducatis.

Lunsford's NW Honda & Ducati, Metric Cycles, & Motorcycles Unlimited all have better service departments.

[El Matador]

Metric and Motorcycles unlimited are class act shops. And I personally know that metric is hiring.

Metric is owned by this badass british ex/racer that is considered a ducati guru who does all the work on Ducati race bikes in houston

[swampduc]

Bought my bike from Eximport last summer. The place has a bit of a cold feel to it because it's a really large, high volume type of dealership. However, I don't know if I'd go so far as "pit of hell." 
In addition to Juan, Alex in parts is great - really looked out for me. I have limited experience with the service dept. as I live in Louisiana. They weren't very personable, but the work was done right and was finished when they said it would be.

[AfroStar]

+1       for Juan is an outstanding gentleman.  I rode with him on his weekly organize cruise around H-town. I bought parts from him there and that was about it.  I like cruising the floor looking at bikes, cause I like looking at bikes, and when the salesman comes around, I point out to my S4RS, and they leave me alone, and just talk about pulling wheelies....    ,  I don't even consider doing wheelies on my bike.. so... Juan took me on a tour of the service area and it looks nice, plenty of bikes in the back...that could mean good...

maybe you can turn that bad reputation around.... I think you should give it a chance and see it for yourself...
Roads outside Houston is better to ride though. 

Good luck