RE: Transmission rebuild at Bellevue MS

["Lisa & Rick" <hugacub@whidbey.net>]

On 21 Jan 97 at 13:54, Scott Stiles wrote:

> Thanks for the information. I've generally been pleased with
> their work in the past.
> If you don't mind, I'd love to hear how things work out.

Ok, it's done nad I'm sure all of you have been waiting for this 
update.  If not, delete now so I don't bore you :)

I picked up the trans last Friday.  The cost was $100 over the 
original quote for a total od $777.53.  This included 2 qts of 
Redline gear oil.  The extra $100 was due to the fact that Dennis at 
BMS told me the used bellhousing was included in the rebuild price of 
$595, but when the guy who does the rebuild picked it up, he told him 
that he now charged extra for it.  They called to inform me of this 
before the rebuild was done.  Since I hadn't gotten a written 
estimate, I had no choice but to go for it.  Plus, I had no time to 
find other options, as the dealer was waiting for the trans and their 
loaner back.  I still figured it was a good deal with the 2 year 
warranty.

It was supposed to be done Thurday, but I didn't get it until late 
Friday afternoon.  Dennis had warned me that his rebuilder was kind 
of independent, but did excellent work.  I dropped the trans at the 
dealer Sat and they had it done Tuesday eve.  The bill there was 
$275.  I had to pay 1/2 labor, new disc, plus they called to tell me 
the starter died and I had to fork out $50 for a used starter.  Since 
I had trouble with it last month, I figured they were being honest.  
The bendix was ****ed up, which I knew was the problem.  After seeing 
the old one, it verified this.  They also replaced the negative 
battery cable and one other related cable for free, as they screwed 
them up somehow.  They also replaced the negative terminal and 
charged me $3 for that, no big deal.  

All in all, Oak Harbor VW treated me well, and I made sure to tell the 
service manager that.  He also responded that the reason he cut me 
some breaks was that I was reasonable with them and didn't have crazy 
demands.  Having some mechanical background helped me.  I did suggest 
that they could use a little more knowledge of VWs and suggested they 
get on the net.  He took this criticism well, and said he had plans 
of doing that.  I also promised to give him Mark's info as a parts 
source.  I first got Mark's ok for that.

The car seems to be working normal.  I've driven it @ 650 miles and 
all seems well.  The shifting seems just a tad easier, not a big 
difference.  I was expecting more of a difference from all the new 
parts and the Redline oil, but I guess my trans was in good shape 
before.  If only someone had put those 10 cent clips in the 
differential before, I could have saved a lot of hassle and money.

So hopefully this chapter in the life of my Rocco is over and I can 
move on to the exhaust, RF motor mount and all the other things it 
needs.  Total cost of the clutch and subsequent trans failure was @ 
$1800.  YIKES !!!!!  Could have been worse, but if it I had the time 
and place to do the work, it would have been @ $1200.  But I would 
have had to rent a car and buy some tools and equipment, so I didn't 
do too bad.  

At least I got my rocket back and my butt no longer hurts on the long 
commute to work :)  Now I need to get a few more items from Mark 
before I tackle the remaining motor mount.  I've also noticed some 
vacuum lines in need of replacing.  Anyone now what sizes and total 
lengths I'll need to replace all of the damn things at once?  It 
never ends........

Rick    hugacub@whidbey.net
85 Scirocco 8V  Wolfsburg
Oak Harbor, WA
(On Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound)
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