Yup, most definitely a California thing. I live about 50 miles west of Washington DC, in one of the wealthiest counties in the county, so I must be loaded, right? WRONG! Everything costs more here. A while back I was thinking of putting Audi wheels on my Vanagon, most everyone here said they had paid about $15-20 bucks a wheel to have the centers of Audi wheels machined to fit a Vanagon. I had a hell of a time just finding a machine shop that would do it, then they wanted $200.00!! Ending up going with Mercedes rims that just bolted right on. Jeff Stewart ----- Original Message -----
> Cool!
> Thanks to everyone for your feedback. So it looks like the total for
> rebuilding the transmission locally will be about $1600. So not cheap
> compared to a lot of the other quotes I've heard. Maybe it's a
> California thing (I'm in Berkeley). But the shop is reputable and well
> reviewed on Yelp and the guy (Jack) at Wholesale Transmissions is
> about as by-the-book as I can possibly imagine it and broke down all
> the charges clearl
> Couple of questions I have:
> - The number of hours quoted is 10h. Is this a normal number of hours
> for this sort of job? From my conversation with Jack, it looks like
> he's lifting the number straight from the book rather than charging me
> for the actual number of hours worked. Is this normal?
> - The price quoted for the new torque converter is $325. Is there a
> better price somewhere else where I could order it from?
> Thanks!
> Philippe
> On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 8:30 AM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:
> > That price seems pretty chunky for a used auto-tranny - tested or
> > not.
> >
> > Granted, it comes with a warranty(however good it is). But given all
> > the
> > trouble to remove the old and replace it with the new one - and if
> > bad -
> > remove and replace it again to return to the supplier - I would
> > think you
> > would be better off taking your own to a reputable auto-tranny
> > repair shop
> > and have them do the job locally. I'm all about using local folks,
> > for the
> > most part, because if all else fails, and you can't get
> > satisfaction, the
> > local shop is right there, and you can run over with your chainsaw
> > to
> > achieve satisfaction. On the other side of the coin, the local shop
> > is close
> > enough you can run over and keep them tweaking on it until it's
> > right, if
> > there are problems. But likely not necessary. If your trans-axle is
> > good,
> > the local transmission rebuild will probably be OK. The tranny is
> > simple
> > enough, that If you are careful, with a standard toolbox you can
> > rebuild it
> > yourself at home in your garage. That being the case, a competent
> > shop
> > should be able to do a decent job, given their experience and
> > facilities. My
> > local guy who rebuilt my engine (now with 140,000 mi on it since
> > that
> > rebuild and no troubles) recently quoted me $900 for a rebuild of
> > the tranny
> > on my Carat. Haven't had it done yet, but it's coming this spring.
> > The
> > price may change a bit by then but it won't be much. So for around
> > $1000 I
> > will have a newly rebuilt tranny with new parts - not a certified(?)
> > tranny
> > with used parts that would be questionable in my mind from the
> > get-go.
> >
> > Just my $0.02 this morning.
> >
> > Good luck.
> >
> > John
> >
> > John Rodgers
> > Clayartist and Moldmaker
> > 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> > Chelsea, AL
> > Http://www.moldhaus.com
> >
> >
> >
> > On 12/7/2011 12:38 AM, Fuzzy :philippe wrote:
> >>
> >> Anyone with experience with these guys?
> >>
> >>
> >> http://www.a1partsdepot.com/1987-VOLKSWAGEN-VANAGON-Transmission-P347136.aspx
> >>
> >> Philippe
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 8:15 PM, Fuzzy
> >> :philippe<fuzzmeister@gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi!
> >>>
> >>> Looks like my automatic transmission is going bad. My options are:
> >>>
> >>> - Get the old transmission fixed/rebuilt
> >>> - Get a working used transmission and replace the old one with it
> >>> - Get a non-working used transmission and pilfer parts from it
> >>> - Convert the automatic transmission to a manual transmission
> >>> (used/rebuilt and working)
> >>>
> >>> Can anyone help with any of the above?
> >>>
> >>> Let me know privately to fuzzmeister@gmail.com
> >>>
> >>> Thank you so much in advance!
> >>>
> >>> Philippe
> >>
> >>
> >