Date:         Thu, 1 Apr 1999 09:29:14 -0800
Reply-To:     Steve Macaulay <smacaulay@INFINTIUM.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Macaulay <smacaulay@INFINTIUM.COM>
Subject:      Front axle rip off?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

First off, I'm not a mechanic and I don't play one on TV.  Until I got my
westy last September and started subscribing to this list, I didn't know
much about maintaining cars other than simple tune-up type of stuff like
changing oil and plugs.  I have learned a lot from this list since then.

Early last September my local VW / Subaru dealer serviced my wife's Subaru
Legacy wagon.  They were doing a 60k service tune-up and were also going to
replace the CV boots because one of them was visibly cracked and leaking
some grease.  No big deal.  My wife dropped off the car and I was not
involved at this point.  Next thing I know the service rep is calling my
wife telling her that they recommend that she also have both front axles
replaced since the boots were cracked and that may have caused some damage.
She had them call me, and at that time I really didn't know much about this
issue (the rep probably figured this out by my questions) so I said go ahead
and do it, mainly because they said that most of the labor would be covered
by the fact that the boots were being replaced and it would be a big labor
bill if I waited until I really needed this done.  This car only had 58k
miles on it and was never in a wreck.  When my wife picked up the car later,
we were shocked to find out that the two front replacement axles added $690
in parts to the bill.  I also found out the the parts that had been replaced
that I had asked them to save couldn't be found and "must have been
accidently thrown away - sorry about that".

After subscribing to this list, I now know a lot more about CV boots and I
don't really remember any posts talking about a need to replace the front
axles also.
Was I ripped off?  You be the judge.  I couldn't find anything in my
vanagon, 4-Runner, or Subura recommended maintenance schedules about
replacing an front axle.  Another recent dealing with the same VW dealer
with the same service rep for my vanagon has got me wondering if I got
shafted on the axles due to my lack of knowledge at the time ($300 estimate
to fix noisy speedometer - list member tips allowed me to correct it with a
$2 tube of cable lubricant).  I know it was a while back, but I'm thinking
of making an appointment with the dealer owner and service manager to
complain if the consensus seems to be that this was unnecessary work and I
was shafted.

Thanks for all advice,

Steve

89 Westy