Date:         Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:53:19 -0500
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Update on Cracked Heads - Archives
In-Reply-To:  <FBA24637-1D0B-42BA-9751-E1EA673FEDD9@eoni.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

> I did search the archives, but it seems most of the posts
> talked about GEX in California not Arkansas

> There is only one GEX and they are a 'worldwide' company.
> You do what you want, but remember, you asked. GEX has a
> horrible reputation among those who know (really KNOW) VWs.
> Their work is shoddy and while the engine may last the
> warranty period, lasting beyond it is a rare thing.


That is the same GEX. They moved some years ago during a change in
ownership. As I understand it (and I heard this second-hand), some of GEX's
staff is still with them and others are at another rebuilder in California
whose name escapes me. Here is the Samba feedback thread on GEX:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=92079&postdays=0&postorder=
asc&start=0


> AVP seems to have hot and not so hot periods. Ron Salmon
>  would be better able to address their current quality. Ron has a
> reputation of standing behind his rebuilds and they're
> significantly less expensive than the GEX you're contemplating.
>
>
http://www.busdepot.com/view.jsp?model=58&category=15&group=8&prodgroup=1056


I've dealt with AVP for years, both selling their engines and using them
myself.  AVP is a family business that builds your engine to order, and
Leonard clearly takes pride in his work.  I have had very good luck with
their engines and heads. They are not a price-is-no-object rebuild (and are
priced accordingly), but a solid value for their price range. I have put
over 100k miles on their engines and still had them running strong when I
sold the van, as have many of my customers. Is there a failure here and
there? Of course; no product has a zero percent defect rate. But most
telling is the way this is handled in the extremely rare cases when it does
happen. I wish all of my suppliers stood behind their products as well as
Leonard and Erin do. Rebuilt engines can be a particularly tough warranty
issue. For example, a mechanic who doesn't do Wasserboxer engines regularly
can fail to properly bleed the cooling system, resulting in the brand new
engine overheating. Or a pre-existing condition that caused the last
cylinder head or engine to fail may still exist and eventually damage the
new one. That's where things get hairy, because the mechanic will deny
culpability and/or the Vanagon will owner will REALLY want to believe that
it was a warranty issue (even in the face of contrary evidence) rather than
accept that he just blew up another engine  This is where you have to be
able to trust the rebuilder, because ultimately he is the one doing the post
mortem and determining warranty eligibility. Some rebuilders are widely
known for blaming user abuse pretty much EVERY time they have a warranty
claim, as a way to weasel out of ever paying anything.  By comparison, AVP
tend to err on the side of the customer. In more than one case I've even
seen then cover - at least partially - engines that had unquestionably been
overheated or run low on oil, or say to me "it clearly overheated, but we
also saw such-and-such which didn't look quite right to us, so we're calling
it warranty."  They are equally stand-up when it comes to core deposit
refunds. By comparison, many rebuilders use core deposits as a profit
center, to the point that to get a full core refund you'd basically have to
send them an engine that didn't need rebuilding to begin with.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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