Let's see.  5 x 36 = 180.  So they are willing to fork out $180.00 + parts,
eh.  That's not much of a waranty, when the cheapest head gasket job I could
find for my 82 was $300.00 from a guy that, in retrospect, I shouldn't have
used.  The average around here for ANY import head gasket job seems to be
$500.00.  The high end for the Vanagon that I found was well over $700.00.
They probably include the guy in West VA that charges a box of chicken
fingers for labor when they compute their so - called national average.
That's called a ripoff, not a waranty.  If you don't get better treatment, I
will never use AVP.

As far as HOW the work is done, that's up to the mechanic.

You may want to let them know that everyone on this list is tracking this
incident.
Respectfully,
Steve
"What you don't know can't hur..$#&(@^ ARGHHHHkkk!"
satew@mninter.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Berlett <berlett@SABER.TOWSON.EDU>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Monday, April 12, 1999 10:53 PM
Subject: AVP and repair costs nationwide (Longish)

>I have purchased and had installed an 2.1l engine in my 87 GL from AVP.
>Mostly from the strength of their recommendation on this list.
...snip...
>This is all well and good. The dicrepency comes from the amount that they
>are willing to pay for the replacement.  They would only pay for
>replacement with the engine in place.  They only allow 5 hours for the job
>at $36 an hour (which they claim is the national average), and they supply
>the parts...snip...
Is it reasonable to expect someone
>to do a job in a method to which they are not accustomed?  Is 5 hours a
>reasonable amount of time to complete the job (especially if it is the
>first time the mechanic did a gasket replacement this way...snnip...
>
>Thanks
>Ed
>'84 GL
>'86 syncro
>'87 GL
>'91 Cherokee
>