G. Matthew & Teresa,

Thanks for the update.  Paul's has been pulled from our shop listing.

Ron

On 1/25/02 8:59 AM, "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@bulley-hewlett.com> wrote:

> Zoinks!!
>
> I am so sorry to hear that.
>
> I forwarded your letter to the Vanagon Newsgroup to warn others, and ask
> that the "Paul's in Annandale" recommendation be pulled from the
> Vanagon.com site, ASAP.
>
> That recommendation is from about 5 years back (1997?); I had completely
> forgotten about it being out there. I wish I had remembered it being
> there because I have since changed my opinion of Paul's 180 degrees,
> based on a similar experience to yours.
>
> In 1998 or thereabouts, I brought our mint-condition Type2 to them to
> replace the front main seal (the one behind the clutch), which was
> leaking slightly. When I went to pick it up, I trusted that all would be
> well, based  on earlier experience.
>
> I paid the invoice (with a check) and went out to drive the bus home...
> Needless to say, the bus was not running right at all; it would hardly
> run. I pulled back into Pauls, (which, as you know is a royal pain in
> the *** once you are back on the street.  I asked him "what gives"? they
> said they'd take a look... I waited an hour, consistently asking that
> they get my van in the shop and fix it. He had a thousand lame excuses
> about "having to finish this one up, and then he'd "get right on it..."
>
> Fuming, I finally left with the bus, and limped it home to Fairfax city,
> where we lived.
>
> When I got home and poked around in the motor, I found my tin all banged
> up, the engine periphery air seal installed backwards, almost NONE of
> the vacuum lines connected (a couple of them plugged with bolts, and a
> myriad of mis-routed wires and hoses. It was mechanical anarchy. I
> stopped payment on the check and wrote a note to Pauls describing in
> detail what I found.
>
> He threatened to take me to court, and told him in so many words to kiss
> my entire white ***. In the end, I sent him a check for (I think) $100
> for the stuff they did right (the main seal) and told him wouldn't see a
> dime more. I haven't talked to him since.
>
> The other place to avoid is Buggy Barn in Alexandria. Even suckier.
>
> I have since opted for the dealer (Stohlman's) or Ace German Auto in
> Woodbridge. Ace is more a restoration shop for Air-cooled, and they will
> tell you as much. Stohlman's knows their stuff (or atleast they did up
> until 2000, the last time I had work done there).
>
>> From historic, walkable Mount Olive, NC,
>
> G. Matthew Bulley
> Bulley-Hewlett
> Corporate Communications
> Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
> Alliance: www.ntara.com
> Home: www.MountOliveNC.info
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TeresaRein@aol.com [mailto:TeresaRein@aol.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 11:04 AM
> To: gmbulley@bulley-hewlett.com
> Subject: Your recommendation
>
> Matthew,
>
> I followed the listing on the vanagon.com list and your testimonial and
> had my van, which I bought in Annandale from a private party
> "checked out" at Paul's. It seems that they did not only do nothing
> (they finally did a compression check after I insisted, but didn't put
> the
> heat
> shields back, and never drove the vehicle, which I had expressly asked
> for),
> but
> they also gave me dangerous advice (when I called them after I broke
> down an hour outside their shop) which I think contributed to a
> catastrophic
> head failure.
>
> This is especially interesting in the light of the fact that they had
> worked
> on this vehicle for the PO. My shop tells me now I have a bad lower end
> also,
> so most likely not a vehicle with the advertised "original" mileage of
> 49k.
>
> I is very possible that these folks used to be good at air-cooled
> engines, but
> to tell a person whose overflow tank is squirting coolant that this if
> fine
> and she
> should just go ahead is, to say the least, questionable.
>
> While I am not holding you responsible for any of my or "Paul's"
> decisions,
> I just wanted to alert you to the fact that not all that comes out of
> there,
> works.
> I am glad it did for your wife.
>
> Teresa Reinhardt
>
>
>

--------------------------
ron lussier / lenscraft                         fine art giclee prints
rlussier@lenscraft.com                              67 crescent avenue
ICQ 23581466                                      sausalito / ca 94965
http://www.lenscraft.com/                              +1 415.331.3687