Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 23:37:00 -0800
Reply-To: zampano <matthias.k@ATTBI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: zampano <matthias.k@ATTBI.COM>
Subject: Re: Fast German will fix the broken rebuild / Fix?
In-Reply-To: <3E279100.6090209@eoni.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
Yeah, well,
In a perfect world, suing and going to court will work. In reality,
however, and this is in part based on my own experience and that of
friends of mine who have been to court or taken to court, it is seldom
worth it and always better to settle and reach a compromise. Unless you
are a lawyer or superintendent at the municipal court, you want to stay
clear away from courts. Being right will not get you anything in the
real world, considering all aspects. Even if you win, the vanquished
will have a grudge or severe hatred against you, and might try to hurt,
threaten or damage you and your family in some other way. I have seen
it and had it happen. There is a book I had to read in school by
Heinrich von Kleist, named "Kohlhaas". It is about a german farmer in
the 17th (?) century I think who on his way to the market gets severly
mistreated and chicaned by the guards at the city walls. What starts as
a simple argument in which anyone can clearly see the farmer is
obviously right, ensues into a huge battle in hearings and court
appearances, with the farmer finally ending up burning the city to the
ground. Everybody loses. It's ridiculous. A classic.
Enronitis seems to be the bigger underlying problem here, as it has
infiltrated almost all aspects of doing business. Especially in a big
city, with fierce competition. How come cell phones still are horribly
unreliable all over the U.S?? When I could use them in Italy,
Switzerland and Germany 8 years ago on mountain peaks, valleys, subway
stations, anywhere except tunnels??? Seems like we all have grown
accustomed to not commit to firm investments and instead focus on
cashing in on the short run, or at least put up with it as citizens.
The time litigating would have by far exceeded $1100.00, or even $2000,
the cost of the initial rebuild. Considering everything from writing
letters, sorting out a court system outside my county, dealing with
appeals etc. In L.A. county you can not have a lawyer represent you in
small claims court, unless you lose the case and decide to appeal.
I have had a lot of people write me who had dealt with FGA, some said
they had their cars filled with green coolant by them, others said
their rebuild failed, too, even though FGA put VW blue coolant in it.
Then again others encountered different problems dealing with FGA. Both
the tech and sales rep repeatedly assured me they never used green
coolant, ever. Are they lying??? I don't know. Could be. They might
still think that I ran plain water in my cooling system for 10k miles.
I know that I didn't, and used a 50-70% mix of phosphate free Prestone,
checked at regular intervals.
My other car is a '91 Alfa 164. Some of you might break out into
laughter here. But it's the same story there. I have resealed the
engine twice myself and once by a very reputable Alfa shop here, this
all over about 10 months time. The main crank seal is pissing oil
again. I have had the heads rebuilt by recommended shops three
times(internet research) and they messed up by forgetting to tighten
bolts, etc. Always resulting in a big mess. $$$. It's frustrating.
The wonderful thing about America is that there's an abundance of
opportunity, still today. This is due to a minimum of regulation.
Requiring mechanics to go to school for several years to become
mechanics, and specialize on certain makes, is how they deal with it in
Europe. If you want to work at a dealership here, I think they have
very strict requirements, too. As for independent mechanics, anything
goes, and the consumer ends up paying the difference, sometimes. That's
true for Chevrolets as it is for Volksies.
My regular mechanic for my Vanagon, whom I trust quite a bit, has also
saved me money compared to the dealer. I should have trusted him to do
the rebuild, too.
Needless to say that the WBXs and their management are delicate.
Volkswagen of Santa Monica told me they don't even sell rebuilt 2.1s
anymore, and the 1.9s go for $3000. Volkswagen of America had their
hands full with fixing head gasket related problems on WBXs.
I have driven Vanagons(Transporters) in Europe as tour buses for our
band and working on actual construction sites in Europe (during my
architect internship, a requirement in some Euro nations). Diesels and
WBX, and I think they are even smaller displaced over there, and might
have been carbureted. Never heard or had such consistent trouble as
with mine here. And those got a run for their money, some of them 10/12
years old, with more than 120000 kilometers on the clock. In Europe
(Western, richer part) cars are well on their way to the glue factory
or the east once they reach 100000 kilometers, also because of rust,
they have very strict MOT safety inspections.
Having a car that's outside of the mainstream, sometimes without dealer
support, is not and will never be an economical choice. Unless you
learn and are willing to do the work yourself. But they're not as
boring, and perform better if you get them to run right.
I would not use AMC heads in the future. I might lack the competence in
this, but it might well be a problem involving metallurgy. The
corrosion on those cylinder head mating surfaces and on the water pump
looked unbelievable. After all, I think FGA will not try to hamper with
or sabotage my engine, since I insisted on getting another warranty.
The best option would be to get a Honda or Toyota, the best built cars
out there, I think.
Stobbornly, I refuse to go that way, and am willing to put up, to some
extent.
Happy trails
Matt
My
On Thursday, January 16, 2003, at 09:13 PM, Jim Arnott wrote:
> I second that. As far as you (or I) know, the motor that they
> "rebuilt"
> isn't the one that you started with. I haven't seen pictures, but I
> have an 83.5 that had green coolant in it for the first 150k miles of
> its life. It had NO evident corrosion when I opened it up for a
> reseal.
> The more you post of your tale about these people, the more skeptical I
> become.
>
> IMHO, You'd be better off using the $1100 to buy an attorney and a
> competent investigator. Sue to recoup your expenses (cost of engine and
> cost of litigation)and take the business to a reputable rebuilder. If
> they're a real company, it won't cost them more than about $250 to
> settle. That's what business insurance is for. If they're not
> insured,
> seize assets.
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> George Goff wrote:
>
>> Matt,
>>
>> Give them 1100? I'd rather spend the money squaring an assault rap.
>>
>> I am sorry to open a sore which in your mind may be healed, but I do
>> not see
>> the upside for you in this remedy. For your $1100 I feel all that
>> you will
>> get is a lot of uncertainty provided by the same guys who did not
>> perform in
>> the first place. When they took on the work willingly, they screwed
>> it up.
>> Now imagine what might happen when the work is done begrudgingly.
>> Find an
>> expert to assess the failure, then take the Fast boys to court.
>> Until the
>> engine is opened up, you have no idea of what they did. For all you
>> know,
>> they could have power washed a junkyard jewel then slapped on some
>> new valve
>> covers.
>>
>> George
>>
>> .
>>
>
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