Why I work on my own cars...

[DurocShark]

From a thread on The Samba: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1428791

I did search before posting ,just wondering about this i have a 77 westy,i had a tune up about 2 months ago and have been taking it aback so they can adjust the idle because it dies out when i am at a stop,not all the time though,well this weekend everytime i put it in first from second it would die, anyways i took it back again,now he tells me that i should estimate it at 1500.00 if it needs a valve job ,does that seem about right, i do want a second opinion, so if someone can recomend a mechanic in the norwalk,ca area thats 90650,or give me some advised i would appreciate it,also the van ran better before i had the tune up,i bought it in january,its had regular maintenence ,but its not from this area or else id take it back to the previous owners shop

Cliffs:
Had new shop tune up bus.
Has to bring it back regularly because it won't idle.
Shop just keeps adjusting idle speed.
Shop then says bus needs a new valve job at $1500

Then after we all tell him this shop blows:

well i went to get my bus a 6:00 and first they told me i needed to rebuild the engine and then it was a bad head,then after i told them to put it back together and i would take it somewhere else for another opinion ,he said he would adjust the valves and pick it up in the morning ,i told him its been there 2 days ,he said come bake in an hour,now he says its just not getting enough fuel to the carb and that everything else is ok! HUH,so i guess i need to learn how to tune up my own bus, thanks for all the mechanics you all mentioned and your advise,it seems to be running good now,but definitley not going pack to that shop,thanks ,david socalgoblin

Cliffs:
After a couple days the shop says he needs a rebuilt engine.
Guy says to forget it. Gimme my bus back.
Shop then says well maybe it's just a valve adjustment and we'll do it in the morning.
Guy says no way.
Shop says come back in an hour. Just not gtting enough fuel to carb.
Guy lets them make another adjustment and it now seems to be running ok.
Not going back to this shop (duh).


EDIT: Formatting

 

[K1052]

The trick is finding a mechanic you can trust.

I was fortunate that one of my best friend's father runs/owns a shop. As long as I kept the shop computer stocked with fresh pr0n (thank you bittorrent and newsgroups) I got great deals on auto work.

 

[aircooled]

Amazing.... People should know better.
Hell, half the fun of having an old VDUB is working on it
That's how I learned mechanics in general. Had a bus and a "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Complete Idiot".

 

[DurocShark]

Umm... aircooled... it's Compleat.



I left that book behind 2 years ago. All about the Bentley now.

 

[nakedfrog]

Wow. Great group of scam artists there. I could buy a pretty sweet engine for $1500 from Cram.

 

[skisteven1]

That applies to all fields though. Just like "Geeksquad" (gag) could charge $150+ to keep my computer running smoothly (right), I can do it myself for free because I have the knowledge and time. But I don't know jack about cars, so I have to take someone's word for it.

I think it's worse with cars though, cause everybody seems to think they know what they're doing with computers.... ha.