Venting

[RollinInGreenz]

So I've been driving my car with an almost-dead clutch for about a month or so, drove it a total of about 1200 miles from OC to Santa Cruz twice...some slippage, but no major events

so this weekend I took it in to my shop in Mission Viejo to have them throw a clutch it in before monday so I could drive back in time for class that afternoon.

On Saturday, I waited as long as possible until calling to get a status report, called at 1pm since they closed at 2 and weren't open Sunday. The owner of the shop tells me that they got everything put back together, but that the guy working on it "Couldn't find first or second gear".

my reply: "Well, they were there when I drove it into your parking lot Friday...where'd they go?"

he tells me that because the shift relay lever is missing its rubber ball (a condition that has existed for at least 2 months and i've been aware of, and understand the ramifications of) that there was a lot of slop in the shift linkage and it was difficult to get into first or second gear, then he tells me that another mechanic drove it and said it was fine, but that you just had to really work to get it in gear, further emphasizing his point by saying "if one of your buddies drives it he'll probably smoke the clutch". Now I'm sorry, but this doesn't sound like the description of a car that's been FIXED...does it?

So, it was now about 2pm, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get a ride to pick it up before everyone bailed, so I paid for it over the phone with my card and told him to leave it in the lot with the keys hidden...

flash forward to 9pm, I finally arrive at my car...get in and try to get it into gear...not happening...I finally manage to JAM it into first and get started, but second is nowhere to be found...

I manage to crash-course my way home without first and avoiding second...


SO, my anger stems from the fact that after paying $500 and being told that the work would be completed by my deadline, I am now missing first and second gear because the lazy fu*k of a mechanic couldn't put humpty dumpty back together again properly...then fucking leaves the shop at quitting time and calls my car "done". Well I am sorry, but my car is not "Done" until it drives the better, or at least as well, as it did before I brought it in.

Now here's my MAJOR problem...It's not like the shop did everything they could and got the linkage adjusted as best they could and didnt know that the condition in which they left it was a far cry from the condition when I brought it in...I know this because when I dropped my car off, I parked in a 20min parking spot...realizing this an hour later I called the shop to tell them to move it, and they ALREADY HAD...meaning that someone was able to get it into first gear without any notable difficulty, and drive it into the shop...so they knew how it drove BEFORE, and they felt just fine leaving my car in a nearly undriveable condition...

So, instead of taking a nice leisurely drive up the 101 yesterday, I paid $40 to get to the airport in a f*cking yellowcab, then paid for a flight from OC to San Jose and had to get my girlfriend to pick me up on arrival.

As soon as 8:30 rolls around, I am going to call the shop to tell the owner to either a) come to my house and attempt to drive it back to the shop himself, firsthand, or b) tow it to their shop at their expense, and fix things the right way before I decide that his shop is responsible for my travel expedatures due to his mechanics laziness and negligence.

/rant.

[vr6-88]

I feel you. Effin bastards. I hate these wannabe mechanics. Only one way around it. Do it yourself.

[Agent Orange]

What car are you rolling that this happened to? F*ck man, I'd have them tow that at their expense.

[karl]

thats the way some places are........half assing work and calling it good. sounds like you need a few beers

[RollinInGreenz]

What car are you rolling that this happened to? F*ck man, I'd have them tow that at their expense.

my Mk1...so it's not exactly brain surgery we're talking about here...it's a shift linkage...yes...it might take some trial & error to get things shifting smoothly, but how on earth do you justify giving a customers car back if it's difficult to shift gears? :tdown:

VR6-88, yeah, I totally agreee, the only way to get things done to your liking is to do them yourself...that way if you screw up, you know exactly who to blame, no phone harassment necessary. If i had a jack and the time, i'd have just done the work myself over an afternoon and a 12-er.

Depending on how this all turns out, I may or may not edit this thread to include the name of the shop.

Shop Review will follow shortly.

[Neccros]

I feel ya on the rant.... I had to write a rant letter to Timmons VW in LB because of one sales guy that wanted to be a cocky ass....

Hope they compensate you for everything you had to go through AND some...

[Agent Orange]

Yeah, those and MK2s are the easiest to get if you have the time and just do it. Bunch of lazy bums. Sorry to hear that bro...

[karl]

when i had my mk1, adjusting the linkage was a pita....same problem you're describing. it took a long ass time to make the adjustment proper. it was something like an inch from the locking plate to reverse or something like that.....all i know is, i dont miss being under the car

[TOYr32]

So I've been driving my car with an almost-dead clutch for about a month or so, drove it a total of about 1200 miles from OC to Santa Cruz twice...some slippage, but no major events

so this weekend I took it in to my shop in Mission Viejo to have them throw a clutch it in before monday so I could drive back in time for class that afternoon.

On Saturday, I waited as long as possible until calling to get a status report, called at 1pm since they closed at 2 and weren't open Sunday. The owner of the shop tells me that they got everything put back together, but that the guy working on it "Couldn't find first or second gear".

my reply: "Well, they were there when I drove it into your parking lot Friday...where'd they go?"

he tells me that because the shift relay lever is missing its rubber ball (a condition that has existed for at least 2 months and i've been aware of, and understand the ramifications of) that there was a lot of slop in the shift linkage and it was difficult to get into first or second gear, then he tells me that another mechanic drove it and said it was fine, but that you just had to really work to get it in gear, further emphasizing his point by saying "if one of your buddies drives it he'll probably smoke the clutch". Now I'm sorry, but this doesn't sound like the description of a car that's been FIXED...does it?

So, it was now about 2pm, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get a ride to pick it up before everyone bailed, so I paid for it over the phone with my card and told him to leave it in the lot with the keys hidden...

flash forward to 9pm, I finally arrive at my car...get in and try to get it into gear...not happening...I finally manage to JAM it into first and get started, but second is nowhere to be found...

I manage to crash-course my way home without first and avoiding second...


SO, my anger stems from the fact that after paying $500 and being told that the work would be completed by my deadline, I am now missing first and second gear because the lazy fu*k of a mechanic couldn't put humpty dumpty back together again properly...then fucking leaves the shop at quitting time and calls my car "done". Well I am sorry, but my car is not "Done" until it drives the better, or at least as well, as it did before I brought it in.

Now here's my MAJOR problem...It's not like the shop did everything they could and got the linkage adjusted as best they could and didnt know that the condition in which they left it was a far cry from the condition when I brought it in...I know this because when I dropped my car off, I parked in a 20min parking spot...realizing this an hour later I called the shop to tell them to move it, and they ALREADY HAD...meaning that someone was able to get it into first gear without any notable difficulty, and drive it into the shop...so they knew how it drove BEFORE, and they felt just fine leaving my car in a nearly undriveable condition...

So, instead of taking a nice leisurely drive up the 101 yesterday, I paid $40 to get to the airport in a f*cking yellowcab, then paid for a flight from OC to San Jose and had to get my girlfriend to pick me up on arrival.

As soon as 8:30 rolls around, I am going to call the shop to tell the owner to either a) come to my house and attempt to drive it back to the shop himself, firsthand, or b) tow it to their shop at their expense, and fix things the right way before I decide that his shop is responsible for my travel expedatures due to his mechanics laziness and negligence.

/rant.


Hahaha . . . That sux . . . sympathetic laugh of course . . . on a side note, I was at the San Jose airport 3 times yesterday. Dropped my dad off to go back to San Diego, dropped my wife off to go to Reno, and then back again to drop off her laptop charger . . . shit, my car was probably put on terrorist watch list for visiting the airport so many times withing a few hours.

[RollinInGreenz]

lol yeah, that was the beauty of working on my CJ-7...with a 4.5" lift and 33" tires, you can at least sit comfortably...

just got off the phone with the owner, who gladly gave me the number of his towing company and told me to put it on his account and have it brought over so he could fix it the right way, fo frizzle :)

too bad I'm out the money spent on flights, as I seriously doubt they would ever reimburse me.

[FunkTron]

It sounds like you took it directly to Volkswagen service department.............what did you expect........?



Good luck though.

[RollinInGreenz]

It sounds like you took it directly to Volkswagen service department.............what did you expect........? .

I didnt, nor would I.

I don't expect a dealership to even know what a mk1 is...

[Agent Orange]

lol yeah, that was the beauty of working on my CJ-7...with a 4.5" lift and 33" tires, you can at least sit comfortably...

just got off the phone with the owner, who gladly gave me the number of his towing company and told me to put it on his account and have it brought over so he could fix it the right way, fo frizzle :)

too bad I'm out the money spent on flights, as I seriously doubt they would ever reimburse me.

Pics of the CJ???

Good deal. At least it'll get fixed now (hopefully)

[RollinInGreenz]

here's the CJ

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n72/HalcyonDaysInOC/P1010001.jpg

its for sale if you're interested...

[Agent Orange]

Lol, in the driveway is a 65 Cadillac, Ford Escort, 95 Jetta VR6, 98 Dodge p/u, 2000 Dodge V10 4X p/u, and in the garage is a 94 Jetta 2.0 and a 72 Toyota FJ40.

If I had the room, I would add this to the collection.

How much just for the hell of it???

[Monster8V]

$500??? Man I need to up my price!!!

THe problem is, you paid for a clutch job, not a shift linkage rebuild. Thats probably the angle they will reply with when you talk to them next.

[RollinInGreenz]

well, without a doubt, the ford escort escort is the weakest link....GOODBYE!

don't even bother selling it...just buy my CJ and you can practice crawlin' on it :)

I'm asking $5,500 ObO.

PM me if you wish to know more :)

[RollinInGreenz]

$500??? Man I need to up my price!!!

THe problem is, you paid for a clutch job, not a shift linkage rebuild. Thats probably the angle they will reply with when you talk to them next.

yeah, well, in order to do the clutch they pulled the linkage apart, so it's not that they didn't rebuild my linkage with new parts that pisses me off...it's that they didin't put the shitty old parts that I was fully aware of, back together again properly...showing me that getting out at 2pm was more important than giving me a driveable vehicle to get back to school in time for the start of classes today.

Even as a mechanic, I'm sure you'd agree Shawn, that it would be less than ethical to charge someone $500 to make their car work right, and then give them a car that doesn't work right.

good thing I spent most of my mathematics class staring out the window at the ocean view and forgot about all this mess :)

[Monster8V]

yeah, well, in order to do the clutch they pulled the linkage apart, so it's not that they didn't rebuild my linkage with new parts that pisses me off...it's that they didin't put the shitty old parts that I was fully aware of, back together again properly...showing me that getting out at 2pm was more important than giving me a driveable vehicle to get back to school in time for the start of classes today.

Even as a mechanic, I'm sure you'd agree Shawn, that it would be less than ethical to charge someone $500 to make their car work right, and then give them a car that doesn't work right.

good thing I spent most of my mathematics class staring out the window at the ocean view and forgot about all this mess :)



id never give you a car back that wasnt right, but thats just me.

The thing with A1's is when you put the tranny back in, unless you get lucky and stab the tranny exactly as it came out you will likely have to readjust the linkage. Unless the linkage is so worn out that you simply cant adjust it properly. Its a 2 hour job to do, not hard so the fact theyre not willing to do it right the first time...... sad.

The easy thing to do is loosen the trans/motor mounts and move everything. 9 times out of 10 the linkage will line itself up.
But sounds like theyre willing to spend more time making it right so id let them.

[youatemynachos]

tell them this..
ill cut your third leg off with a rusted knife.
then ill hang you upside down.
ill get my sledgehammer and ill hammer in a baseball bat in your ass.
im going to do this to all of your employees and you until the shop fix my damn problem.

[RollinInGreenz]

tell them this..
ill cut your third leg off with a rusted knife.
then ill hang you upside down.
ill get my sledgehammer and ill hammer in a baseball bat in your ass.
im going to do this to all of your employees and you until the shop fix my damn problem.


dude, chill...they're fixing it


and I thought I was upset over all this...:rolleyes:

[Monster8V]

dude, chill...they're fixing it


and I thought I was upset over all this...:rolleyes:


I think he just went over your over the top!
Ut oh..... !

[your_blog_sucks]

hey,

did you try adjusting and replacing the clutch cable? before replacing the clutch? those things are notorious for fraying/binding and them failing.

also there is an adjustment tool to adjust the linkage, you can actually make one out of cardboard.