I recently paid $55.00 labor to a independent VW shop to remove the gland
nut, replace the front seal, retorque the flywheel. Since this required a
big impact wrench, big socket, special tools to get proper torque, I
consider it a bargain.
It took less than 15 minutes.
Sure glad these folks are around to handle my special needs.

Stan Wilder

On Tue, 29 Apr 2003 10:08:01 -0400 Ben huot <huotx@VIDEOTRON.CA> writes:
> To conclude this thread,
> My dear friend Chris wrote:
>
> >>The majority of statements from the general populous is that ALL
> mechanics
> suck. I DONT!<<
>
> I never said that all mechanic suck!(did I?) But I said most are
> crook, and
> it's somewhat normal! It's not even the mechanic who is a crook;
> it's the
> one behind the desk who make the invoice, in other words, the owner.
>  Let me
> explain myself:
>
> One of my very good friend (Denis)as a 5 door garage/shop, he fix
> car and
> sell modified parts for those young guys who are in need of useless
> expensive gadget. The parts section of the shop is to make money
> because he
> had trouble putting bread & butter on the table with only the
> garage/repair
> section of is business (is an honest man, well he was!). I often go
> there to
> work on my gadget (Bus, Van, car) and give him a hand on difficult
> engine
> problems (he mostly does brake, muffler, tire and basic engine
> maintenance).
> In exchange of my help he lends me a "pit" (Garage door with a
> lift). A few
> months ago am hearing all mechanic screaming (I should say
> swearing), they
> are trying to solve a starter problem on a Honda (I was working on
> my Bus),
> so I go there and he told me that they change the starter, check
> wiring and
> the car still doesn't start. I take the used/removed starter and put
> it on a
> 12V battery, Ziinnnggggg, it does engage and spin!!! They all look
> at me, I
> said, BASIC stuff! Check what you have change/replace/remove first,
> if the
> use starter is working its not the problem. So, to cut that short.
> Me, and
> the older and very good mechanic (the only good one in the shop)
> found the
> problem, a loose wire in the relay box! My good friend Denis (the
> owner)
> said; The hell with that, I lost 4 hours on this car so I am
> charging him
> the new starter and a relay!!!!!!!!!!!!! + 4 hours!
> This is a classic = loose wire = put new parts.
>
> So I said to my friend, man, you've become corrupted! He said yes.
> He
> explained to me that he was still an honest man whenever he could,
> that
> means; as long as he makes money, he would stay honest! Well, I was
> a bit
> mad at him for a wile, but he did explain to me that when you have
> a
> business like a garage you often loose money at the beginning, just
> to stay
> honest, after a wile, you are getting tired of fixing small problem
> for a
> few penny. So once in a wile you need to be a crook to compensate!
> And it's
> very easy to be a crook in the automobile business; people don�t
> know a
> thing about their car.
>
> The conclusion (his conclusion), he said:
> Ben, if my mechanic had found the real problem in 15 minutes or half
> an
> hour, I would have charge the customer 1/2 hour, but the first
> mechanic lost
> 3 hours because he failed to see/find the real problem at the
> beginning and
> change a perfectly working parts for nothing. Good mechanic are hard
> to
> find, if they are good, they are expensive! Expensive mechanic cost
> me too much!
>
> Cheers, Ben
> http://pages.infinit.net/eurokit/
>
>

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