William,

I paid $850 at a european guy here in L.A. who specializes in Porsches
and has a Buick V6 conversion himself as a shop car. Thought it was a
good sign. It then  broke down 100 mi from home 3 months later, because
they didn't tighten the AC compressor nuts. That thing then came loose
and the AC belt chafed thru my upper coolant hose. It was great. I got
more Vanagon stories, but would rather not think of them. Guess it's
something about my face??? :)  Seriously considering Toyotas now. Or
cosmetic surgery. I'm already in L.A....

Cheers

Matt

On Wednesday, January 15, 2003, at 11:47 am, developtrust wrote:

> Although I agree with the heads up about Fast German, I think you
> inflate
> the job cost at $800-$1000. My VW dealer wants only about $450 to $500
> and
> that is for everything.
>
> What a pity people get ripped off when looking for a bargain.
>
> William
>
>
>> Yeah,
>>
>> They're a rotten lot. I am not afraid anymore of posting on the list,
>> because I know they are. For Rene to say he was in the middle doesn't
>> make any sense. since him and this other sloppy orange county kid are
>> the owners (Robert). In the middle of what?? Being a responsible
>> business owner.?
>>
>> I don't know what they did to your clutch, but $300-$400 will never
>> cover that. That is at least a $ 800-1000 job, depending on whether
>> you
>> need hydraulic slave cyls, throw out bearings etc. The pressure plate
>> and clutch disc alone cost somewhere around $180, I think. Sounds like
>> they just bled the hydraulics, or maybe they did nothing and just
>> charged you for wrecking stuff. Probably part of their mission
>> statement. Sounds typical.
>>
>> I'll go ahead and file with small claims court if they don't comply
>> with their warranty soon. Chances are they'll cave in and give me
>> another  Tijuana rebuild after I waste another bunch of time dealing
>> and arguing with them and sending them letters. A rather moot pursuit,
>> but maybe it'll keep them from praying on others.
>>
>> I recommend everybody to not ever do business with them, ever.
>>
>> Happy trails
>>
>> Matt
>>
>>
>> On Tuesday, January 14, 2003, at 10:31  PM, Oxroad@aol.com wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Geez! sorry to hear that. I didn't realize that thread was about FGA.
>>> The
>>> mechanic was so blatantly lying that I was embarassed for him and
>>> asked to
>>> talk with Rene in private. Rene then told me he was in the middle and
>>> was
>>> "not going to accuse the mechanic of lying."
>>>
>>> Truth is the mess I found my bus in was so sloppy it went beyond
>>> normal
>>> sloppyness. This part I didn't want to share with the list because
>>> I'm
>>> not
>>> convinced I'm right and didn't want to publically post a hunch, but
>>> it's like
>>> someone had a tatrum in the bus. maybe the brake fluid spilled and
>>> they hit
>>> the dash with a tool or a hand. That's an odd part of the dash to
>>> break down
>>> by the light switch. The plastic is pretty thick. Unless maybe
>>> someone
>>> pulled
>>> themself off the floor by grabbing on it. I dunno. But there was a
>>> mess in
>>> there and it looked like the kind of cursory clean up you'd expect
>>> from an 8
>>> year old kid. I mean if they were gonna deny it why wouldn't they at
>>> least
>>> wipe up some of the brake fluid. And while I guess they tried to dump
>>> the
>>> brake fluid out of the floor mat (Mine is deep rubber) then they put
>>> the mat
>>> back in upside down.
>>>
>>> The point is it's like the thing was thrown together by some one
>>> pissed off,
>>> not someone trying to hide waht they broke.
>>>
>>> Anyway, hearing your story and finding out this is not a lone
>>> incident
>>> makes
>>> me fear these guys are just crooked. It's a shame because I had them
>>> put in
>>> ball joints about 6 months ago and I thought they seemed compitent
>>> anf
>>> thorough.
>>>
>>> Any way, good luck and let me know if I can be of help--besides
>>> carpooling.
>>>
>>> Best
>>> Jeff
>>>
>>> In a message dated 1/14/2003 8:35:13 PM Pacific Standard Time,
>>> matthias.k@attbi.com writes:
>>>
>>> << Yes, I did have some trouble with them, or am having it now. The
>>>  subject line read: rebuilder blames coolant for failure under
>>> warranty.
>>>
>>>  I'll carpool down there for small claims court any day.
>>>>>
>>>
>