Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 13:04:25 EDT
Reply-To: VW85Westy@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Peter Krogh <VW85Westy@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Broken New Engine, What is fair resolution?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Bruce,
Your point about having the parts obtained by the installer is well taken.
It is one of the things I will post in the Lessons Learned at the end of all
this. That being siad, when I first approached him, he did not have any
sources for engines that he was happy with, and was glad to try a new one.
He explained to me that he was not responsible for the quality of the engine,
and I would have to pay him shop rate to fix if it was defective. I agreed.
The Rebilider assured me they had a good warranty should the engine fail
within the first 12/12., and that included shop time and shipping. However,
they have not even paid me back for replacing the defective oil seal,
although they conceeded that it was a good claim (Seal was contaminated by
permetex). Their warranty has proven, so far, to be completelly worthless.
I am not naming them right now, because the larger matter is still unresolved.
As to the "overcharge" for head R&R, i did not pursue him about it, because
it seemed to force them to take responsibility for the job. I consider the
applicable warranty to be on the work done in January, where he gave me back
the car with the still existant coolant leak. I feel completely justified in
going after him because I took the van in and said "Fix this air in cooling
system situation," and $1350 later, it was EXACTLY as before.
I'm trying to find a compromise here. I think it's cheaper for the Swapper
to pull the engine that to go back into the heads, and cheaper for the
rebuilder to rebuild, than for either of them to pay for the other's work.
Once again, Thanks for your time.
Peter
In a message dated 4/10/02 12:32:47 PM, motorbruce@HOTMAIL.COM writes:
<< I don't think it is fair for the mechanic to have to pull the engine again
and do a free install of another engine. In your original post you said that
you believe that the problem is a hairline crack in the head. Why should the
mechanic be responsible for the labor on a part that you supplied to him?
If you do buy a part like a rebuilt engine and take it to your mechanic,
find out about the warranty before you make the purchase. The seller should
be very clear about who is responsible for R&R labor, shipping, diagnostics,
etc. should something go wrong.
If you felt that the mechanic overcharged you by $600 you should have
addressed that issue with him at the time you had to pay the bill. >>
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