Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1999 12:46:44 -0500
Reply-To: Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Subject: Re: Front axle rip off?
Steve--
It doesn't sound too fishy.
You can ruin a brand new (0k) CV by driving it for a while with a split
boot. Conversely, CV's can last many 100's-of-k if looked after and
greased, etc. Like many items on a vehicle, there is no "recommended
service interval" for CV's, but proper maintenance can greatly lengthen the
normal service life.
Technically, what your dealer did was smart (replacing the whole
enchilada). The way he went about it (and how *you* went about it) could
have been improved, from a customer service standpoint.
When they recommended the new parts *you should have asked*/he should have
provided an exact price for the swap, and you should have made your
decision based on that price, if the cost of the new VW parts was an issue
for you. Being concerned about the price of the parts after the fact
doesn't give you much traction, in my book. YES, VW dealership parts are
much higher in many cases, but that doesn't make them a "rip-off". Just ask
next time.
As far as them "throwing out" the used CV's, if you have it IN WRITNG,
(like on the VW service contract) that they were to return the parts, then
they screwed up, and may owe you an apology and a couple free oil changes,
in my book. Truth-be-known, I can't imagine them agreeing to give you the
half-axles and CV's, as they turn them in as cores and probably receive a
little $$ for them.
As for the speedo-- typical of most mechanics today, your tech rep may
suffer from the all-too-common "replace rather than repair" mindset. Many
items in our modern lives are cheaper to replace than repair...no one would
consider paying for repairs on an electric can opener, or a Walkman-type
stereo, or bedside clock, even if the problem was fairly simple. You can go
to K-Mart and buy anyone of these things cheaply. Service reps have to be
forgiven a bit if they don't know a simple fix for things, and are tempted
by installing a new, good part for one that may need a little grease, or
simple adjustment. I'm not saying what happened was okay, just that it
isn't evidence of a insidious plot by your dealer to bilk you.
G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
Cary, North Carolina, USA
www.bulley-hewlett.com
phone: 888.468.4880 (tollfree)
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Macaulay [SMTP:smacaulay@INFINTIUM.COM]
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 1999 12:29 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Front axle rip off?
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
| 
