This is standard proccedure for most mechanics today!
This is why people buy new vehicles.  Been pissing me
off for years!  Even more, when I get a car that had a
been fixxed by one of these guys  now I have to fix more
problems!
                                                   Eric

ian Butler wrote:

> Just a quick heads up to both Vanagon and Scirocco crowds:
>
> Livonia Volkswagen of Livonia, MI (suburb of Detroit) is an excellent place
> to avoid if you're ever in the area.  I took my Scirocco in to have it fixed
> today, and got a call saying that they didn't have any old diagnostic tools
> for that old of a car (it's a 1988, for crying out loud) and couldn't
> diagnose or fix it.  When I went to pick it up, I got charged $86.
> "Standard diagnostic fee," claimed the cashier.  She handed back my pill key
> in three of its constituent pieces.. somebody had dropped it along the way
> and not even bothered to put it back together.  And when I drove it home,
> much to my chagrin, I learned that they'd fiddled with the timing; the car
> was doing its 45mph top speed thing instead of the 55mph thing it was doing
> when I brought it in.
>
> In short, I got charged an hour's labor to a) be told that they couldn't
> work on it and b) receive my car in worse shape than when I brought it in.
> Gonna call them tomorrow and see if I can weasel money back; I think I'll
> give VWoA a ring too.  I had hoped better from a dealer... bad idea.
>
> ian Butler / ian@bluemoon.hplx.net
> '88 Scirocco 16v, '87 Syncro GL