Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 17:07:15 -0700
Reply-To: A & C Grobey <alien1@JPS.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: A & C Grobey <alien1@JPS.NET>
Subject: Re: tranny mount responsibility?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I once found the screw holding down my distributor stripped when I went to
find out why my car was stalling for no reason. I took it back to the shop
who had recently done a check-up to determine the problem. They wouldn't
back it up and said I had stripped it in my investigation. All I wanted was
for them to say they would tap new threads and fix the problem for free. I
wasn't looking for blame, I just wanted my car working. Needless to say, I
don't go back there anymore.
I am in Customer Service for a living. When someone tells you, the
customer, "its not my fault" it means you should go elsewhere. It doesn't
matter if he did it or not. What the mechanic should have said is he
certainly didn't think he did it, but it is a possibility and he'll
investigate it. Then you get back to the customer after the investigation
and tell them what you found. Honesty is the best customer service you can
give....
my $.02
Alan
'91 Carat
Sherwood, OR
-----Original Message-----
From: ncdragonfly <ncdragonfly@COMPUSERVE.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 4:47 AM
Subject: tranny mount responsibility?
>Let me preface this inquiry with this statement: I am not a mechanic nor do
>I play one on TV. I have been able to maintain my vehicles over the years,
>that is to say I am not completely devoid of mechanical knowledge or
>aptitude. With that said let me relay the following story: This past
>weekend we were camping on our land where we are building a log home. A
>good friend of ours and his two young sons were on their way to camp with
>us. Last week our friend got his 85 Westfalia back from a shop near his
>home after 5 months of having the engine rebuilt. He traveled around town
>last week and felt relatively confident in the vehicle. On their way to our
>place last Saturday the transmission came loose from the front mount and
>the engine/tranny dropped to the pavement! Yes, fell out on the road. Very
>fortunately he was down shifting at an intersection and traveling at a very
>slow rate of speed as I am afraid if he had been traveling at highway
>speeds he and the kids would be dead and a beautiful '85 would be scrap
>metal. When I got to him and we crawled underneath the vehicle we saw that
>the +/- 4 inch bolt that holds the front tranny mount to the frame was
>simply not there. No sign of the bolt shearing, the bolt was not found on
>the road thus we were unable to inspect it. My question is this, is the
>mechanic responsible? Please don't misunderstand this is not a litigious
>situation so much as it is a quest to find a reliable VW shop for my
>friend. My feeling is that at the very least the mechanic was negligent in
>not checking all mounts to the frame after dropping the engine and
>remounting it. The mechanics response was that he did not service the
>transmission just the engine and therefore had no reason to adjust this
>bolt. What do my fellow listees think? How about you professional's out
>there? Thank you very much for your opinions.
>David Higginbotham
>82 Westfalia
>Raleigh, NC
>
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