Date:         Tue, 17 May 2005 11:52:25 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Williams <williams@FIRE.BIOL.WWU.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Williams <williams@FIRE.BIOL.WWU.EDU>
Subject:      religious affiliation
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

It would be interesting to know this man's religious affiliation, don't you
think???  And whether or not they prayed over the vehicle???

Last week, I drove over 300 miles one way to have Ken look at my van in=20
preparation for a 12,000+ mile trip to the Pacific Northwest and British=20
Columbia that my wife and I are about to take. What a great experience! Ken=
=20
and his mechanic Rob couldn't have been better. They answered every one of=
=20
my questions and taught me so much about the van and how to do things I was=
=20
afraid to tackle. The charges were very fair----Ken charges his mail order=
=20
price for parts and a normal labor charge. I had previously spoken to Ken=
=20
and explained that I wanted a thorough checkup and among other things,=20
wanted him to change every hose that was even remotely suspect. Ken made=20
certain he had on hand every water hose for the van and could have changed=
=20
every one had he wanted and I would have never complained. To his credit, h=
e=20
didn't change one of them since he felt they were all in great shape.=20
However, he and Rob did a lot of work and corrected a lot of hose, ball=20
joint, boot issues, and misc. work that needed attention.=20
He has a young lady who takes care of phone orders and online orders, but=
=20
Ken periodically would talk to someone who needed a mechanics advice before=
=20
ordering parts. What a great service!=20
Ken is a great resource person for the list and a fine mechanic. I wish he=
=20
would consider moving his business to Harrisonburg, VA so he could be my=20
regular mechanic.
Why would I drive that far to have someone work on my van? Well, the local=
=20
(45 minutes away) mechanic who normally looks after my van hurt himself and=
=20
hasn't worked since November so I had no local mechanic I trusted. Two week=
s=20
ago, I took the the van to a mechanic (120 miles south of me) who supposedl=
y=20
specializes in VW's. It was not a good experience----he didn't do all the=
=20
work I requested, he charged me for at least one part that he didn't change=
,=20
and didn't have parts he said he had. I was so disgusted that I added a=20
comment to Larry Chase's VW Repair Shop List and decided I needed to see=20
someone I could trust. Ken Wilford was that person.
Thanks Ken!!!!
Harold
------=20
Harold Teer
Harrisonburg, VA=20
1991 Westy