TheSamba.com :: View topic - Rusty Bug Restorations aka Curello Restorations

Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:48 pm

I was wondering if anyone in CT knows of Greg at the Rusty Bug? I've known Greg for close to 20 years and he's the only one I would bring my 1967 Beetle too. He restored the car back in 1997, a rust free car that he was saving for himself. If you have any problems or you need a rebuild or whatever I highly encourage you to check him out!

Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:26 pm

I brought my 63 to him back in 97. He seemed like a really nice guy but I have to be honest, he did not do such a great job. I have been slowly putting this car back together since then and have been finding his "mistakes" over and over. I don't want to get into it but he charged me 7K to put in new floors and patch here and there. I still had to find doors, a hood a rear deck lid, finish up the body work and then paint it. I feel he knew I didn't know and he took advantage of the situation. Granted he can do some nice work, I saw what he had at his shop and it looked great. I feel he just didn't do right by me. I'm sorry if I am ranting, it was just my expierence with him.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:10 am

good to hear others experiences before i let someone else work on my pride and joy

Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:14 pm

I have heard mixed reviews regarding that shop. But also have heard that they are a little pricey and sometimes inconsistant with their quality of work.

I bring my vw's to a tech in bristol named tracy. I think she runs an ad on here. I was told about her through word of mouth, and was extremely happy with the results. She was really thorough, and suprisingly reasonably priced for the quality of work. A real enthusiast. I don't think that she does bodywork though.

Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:20 pm

Oh, I know Greg at the Rusty Bug and he's the only one I WON'T bring my VW to.

Here is my experience with Greg and I'll go into detail about it...

I brought my newly-purchased '74 Thing to Greg and asked him check it out. I mentioned that I was thinking about putting in a bigger engine and doing some performance work to it. I dropped off the car and told Greg I would think about what I wanted for an engine, and would call him in a few days.

So a few days later I call Greg only to find out that he had pulled the engine, cracked the case open and had the engine in a million pieces. I couldn't believe that a mechanic would pull a motor without even discussing it with the owner. He reassured me that he pulled the engine because he had found several problems with the heads and wanted to check out the internals where he says he found major problems with the crank bearings.

I had always wanted to have a bigger custom-built engine in a VW anyway, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and then gave him the go ahead to put in a custom 2110cc engine with all the bells and whistles. My car was in his shop for almost 5 months. In that time I stopped by his shop every weekend to drop off parts and check on the progress. While I was there I got to know him a little. He was always friendly, and very talkative. His favorite topic... money.

Greg did a ton of work to the Thing. He installed the new engine, Rancho Performance transaxle, electric fuel pump, SS braided fuel lines, electronic ignition, etc. He also put in new ball joints, steering box, exhaust system and detail painted the engine compartment, shroud, valve covers, etc. Greg had almost everything put together, but hadn't fine-tuned anything.

I'm assuming that somewhere during those months I must have worn out my welcome with him. I know that I can be pretty picky about what I want, but I always tried to be friendly and was never rude or pushy. I'm also willing to pay a little extra to get quality. Greg assured me he did quality work, and I was ready to pay him for that quality work.

I'm not sure why, but towards the end of the build Greg was talking about money again, and told me that he needed to make as much money off of his customers as possible (I believe the OP of this thread "Snake Plissken" was right there when he said this to me). I was shocked that any business man would say that to a customer. He went on to explain (with a straight face) that he needed to make as much money off of ME now in case work slowed down after I left. This is when things started to go down hill.

With a bigger engine in, I asked him to give me an estimate of how much he would charge me for the labor of installing front and rear disc brakes. He told me (with a straight face again) "well, it could cost up around $2,000 - maybe more".

At first I thought he was joking. I asked how installation of disc brakes could cost over a thousand dollars? He told me (again with a straight face) that installation will be really expensive because aftermarket disc brake kits never fit right, and there would be hours and hours of adjustments and testing. He came down on his estimate, but not by much. At this point it was beyond obvious to me that he just didn't want to do the job. I made a quick phone call and was able to get an estimate of around $600 for installation from Freccia brothers in Greenwich.

As soon as I told Greg that I had called Freccia (his main competitor) he handed me the bill for the work he did, instantly copped an attitude with me and stopped working on the car. Greg had mentioned several times during the project that he would work with me on the price when the job was done. However, after handing me the bill, he told me that he would NOT work with me on the price because I didn't let him do the brake work!!!

I drove away from his shop with an engine that leaks oil like a sieve. The carbs, valves and timing were never adjusted properly which fouled the plugs. The steering wheel was put on crooked. A fuel leak in the engine bay was never fixed correctly. The fuel pump block off wasn't attached correctly which allowed oil to spray all over the inside of the engine compartment. And more than half a dozen things that I asked Greg to do (and he said he would do), he never did.

I think it's really unfortunate that Greg has let himself become obsessed with greed and the Almighty Dollar. Greg saw that I was spending a lot of money on my car, and he made it quite clear that he was going to try and take advantage of me.

The bottom line is I paid a lot of money for a sloppy, unfinished job, and to add insult to injury, I was treated rudely and disrespectfully because I refused to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a job that he didn't even want to do in the first place. I'm no genius, but this just doesn't seem like a smart way to run a business. He sure won't be getting any more business from me.

Mark Hatfield
Fun 181

Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:23 am

Thanks for the added info on Rusty Bug. I was and had heard some good things about them, but was hesitant on taking the 1 1/2 hr drive to get there. I will not be taking that long drive after all.

If you have not worked with Frank and Frank Jr from Freccia Brothers, I suggest you talk or meet with them and give them a try. Don't let the location Greenwich throw you, they are not expensive nor are they all about money. They seemed very knowledgeable and very down to earth folks. They have talked me outta spending money where it was not needed. They like to keep things simple and will work with your needs.

- Mel :D

Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:15 pm

Freccia Brothers are the ones who rebuilt my 1200 for me. I have driven past there shop a bunch of times when my Dad worked in Portchester. They too talked me out of spending needless money. I know I will never go back or recommend Rusty Bug to anyone. It is a shame when you put your trust in someone and they just take advantage of you just to make a buck. Or 7000 bucks! Just bad kharma.

Sat May 03, 2008 11:53 am

In response to shano 63, you started with a car that was was in very bad shape. Most body shops would refuse this bad of a car. They know they cannot make a profit doing it. The space was costing me more than I was making on most body jobs. I have only been doing body work for a select number of customers who appreciate my body work. I do not want people to have regrets and am making it clear to people the cost of the job and give them specific examples of the finished product they can expect upon completion. Most cars are not as bad as yours. On a car as bad as yours it is harder to know how well it will come out. I am very sorry that you were dissatisfied. Most of my customers are very happy with my work.

Greg

Sun May 04, 2008 12:10 pm

Curell wrote: In response to shano 63, you started with a car that was was in very bad shape. Most body shops would refuse this bad of a car. They know they cannot make a profit doing it. The space was costing me more than I was making on most body jobs. I have only been doing body work for a select number of customers who appreciate my body work. I do not want people to have regrets and am making it clear to people the cost of the job and give them specific examples of the finished product they can expect upon completion. Most cars are not as bad as yours. On a car as bad as yours it is harder to know how well it will come out. I am very sorry that you were dissatisfied. Most of my customers are very happy with my work.

Greg

Greg, I know my car was in bad shape, that's why I took it to you. You told me to drop it off and said that you would probably not get to it for a while. So don't tell me it was taking up space.

As far as making a profit, It took less than a thousand dollars worth of sheet metal and you charged me seven thousand dollars.

When I started to put the car back together, the rear fenders wouldn't line up to the apron, (which was for the wrong year, my T handle wont work with the later style apron.) the nut inserts you welded in for the passenger rear fender were off from the holes in the fender, the hood release cable guide tube was poorly welded back on and has since broken free. I am now replacing the spring plate bushings I had trouble getting the spring plate cap off because your welds on the rear quater panel were in the way. I had to grind them down out of the way.

It looks like to me that you had my car for seven or eight months and on the day you called me to come get it that's when you started working on it. I hope you are happy Greg because you screwed me out of $7000. Like I said earlier I will NEVER send anyone your way, not even for an oil change. Chris

Mon May 05, 2008 3:41 am

Shano 63, have you ever taken a car to a body shop. I recently took my mini van for repair they fixed a dent the size of a golf ball, replaced the back window and repaired my wiper motor - it was 3800.00 and the had the car for 3 days. In my bussiness, I have gone thru many changes to try to figure out how to make vw repair a good bussiness for me and the customer, I realize today that it is not possible. There is a difference in billing a insurance CO. and the person who is taking it out of there pocket. I was trying to make a shop that could give what people want. Employees and such takes alot of money. If this was so profitable there would be a shop on every corner. I am not trying to make you change your mind about me but I would be willing to give you some free repairs if that would help. Did you know that a vw was half the cost of a new home in 1960. A floor pan from the dealer 20 years ago was 1500.00. I would have to do restorations in China to make it affordable. I have cut prices here in half and stopped work that I know will be A problem like yours.

Mon May 05, 2008 6:22 am

Fun181 I built you a motor that would have been depemdable. you made me rebuild it your way. I had to do it twice and you did pay me for it.You did not respect my opinion. Now you are bitter with your decision. I am not to blame. The motor is still running despite this.When you expressed discomfort with my prices I told you that I will not take your money if I was not worth it to you. You said my compettitor was better and cheeper After I spent 5 months of time on a 1week project. Despite my compettitors quality you still have a disfunctional car

Mon May 05, 2008 6:32 am

FUN181, When your car came in it was a bondo filled car with a new motor that was done incorrectly, balljoints installed backwards that would have broke and lost a wheel when driving, and a bad transmission (just to name a few things). All this work was done by the competitors you praise. I gave you a rock bottom price on a 2110cc motor and you said ok. You also said I removed your motor with out your permission - I did not! If you felt I am a liar, why did you continue with me? It seems to me the only people you praise are the people who work cheep AND THEY STILL HAVE NOT FIXED YOUR CAR. Do you want your car fixed or a cheep price?

Mon May 05, 2008 6:42 pm

Greg, You said you were not responsible for body work but that's why I took my car to you in the first place.

I'm not going to argue with you back and forth like this, granted I should have said something but I picked the car up from you back in 1997 and I didn't start to work on it untill 2004. I thought what's the use, to much time has gone by. Why would I go back to you if you didn't do the job right the first time??

Truth is you did not do a $7000 job, and mind you that price was 11 years ago. I said in my first post you are capable of some really nice work, you just didn't do it to my car.

Anybody can be licensed and insured, its just a matter of paperwork and $$.

Mon May 05, 2008 7:33 pm

Wow. Where do I start?

Curell wrote: Fun181 I built you a motor that would have been depemdable. you made me rebuild it your way. I had to do it twice and you did pay me for it.You did not respect my opinion. Now you are bitter with your decision. I am not to blame.

Actually Greg, you are to blame.
As a "professional" mechanic who often boasts about the quality of his own work, you should be able to build a dependable engine no matter what the circumstances. After all, it's your job. Are you telling me that the engine you built isn't dependable because I wanted a full-flow oil system installed? Ridiculous! And the only thing I'm bitter about Greg, is how you treated me - a paying customer.

As a graphic designer I have clients come to me all the time and ask me to do work for them based on their specifications. Sometimes I disagree with their design decisions, but they are paying me to perform a job so I do it to the best of my ability - whether I agree with them or not. And I certainly don't blame my clients for any mistakes that I make.

Curell wrote: You said my compettitor was better and cheeper

Let's get the facts straight here Greg. I never said Freccia was better. How could I claim that Freccia was better when I had never even met the guy? All I said was that his estimate to install disc brakes was well over a thousand dollars cheaper (not cheeper) than your estimate. And that's all I needed to say before you started treating me like an asshole.

Curell wrote: After I spent 5 months of time on a 1week project. Despite my compettitors quality you still have a disfunctional car

Wow. You're telling me you could have done all that work in one week, huh? What a load of horse shit. And as far as my dysfunctional car goes... IT WOULDN"T BE "DYSFUNCTIONAL" IF YOU HAD DONE THE JOB CORRECTLY IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!! Now you're going to blame your customers and your competition because they need to fix your screw ups? You've got a lot of balls dude, I'll give you that much!

Curell wrote: FUN181, When your car came in It was a bondo filled car with a new motor that was done incorrectly, balljoints installed backwards that would have broke and lost a wheel when driving,and a bad transmission. just to name a few things.

Yeah Greg, my car was headed to the scrap heap before I brought it to you. "Bondo-filled". That's a good one! For those of you following along at home, check out the photos of the car in my gallery - you'll see what a rusty junker it is. :roll: The only issues that the car had when I brought it to you were the bad shifter bushing and low power. I guess I'll just have to trust your "expert opinion" about the engine and ball joints. There was nothing wrong whatsoever with the transaxle.

Curell wrote: You also said I removed your motor with out your permission ,I did not! If you felt I am a lyer why did you continue with me.

Greg, you know as well as I do that you pulled the engine in the three days after I dropped the car off, but before I called you back to discuss the details of how we were going to proceed with the repairs. We can play "he said, she said" all day long, but we both know the truth. And as I stated previously, after you assured me that the old engine was "bad", I gave you the benefit of the doubt and took you at your word as a professional mechanic.

Curell wrote: It seems to me the only people you praise are the people who work cheep AND THEY STILL HAVE NOT FIXED YOUR CAR . Do you want your car fixed or a cheep price. I think you are more money hungry than I will ever be !

You have repeatedly accused me of giving praise to your competition. Please show me where I have given praise to any other mechanic in this thread. Don't bother - you can't, because I haven't.

Greg, all I ever wanted was a fully-functioning, bad-ass VW Thing, and to be treated fairly by you. In the end I didn't get either. I guess expecting to find a mechanic who will perform quality service at a reasonable price (and who won't and try and take advantage of me) is just a stupid pipe dream, huh?

Care to address the fact that you lied to me? You stated on at least three occasions that you would work with me on the price of the final bill. When the bill came you refused to budge a penny. I never asked for free - just fair. The truth is you didn't honor your promise to me because I didn't want to pay an outrageous price for a job you didn't want to do. Care to address how you told me that you needed to make as much money off of me as possible? And you call me "money hungry"? Check the mirror dude!

On top of all this you demanded that I pay the balance of the bill in cash because you didn't trust me to pay by check or credit card. After 5 months of working together - and I even brought you lunch on several occasions! That's some great customer service you got going on there Greg!!!

And now, to address the most ridiculous post I've ever read on the internet...

Curell wrote: Shano 63, Why didnt you tell me you had a problem after all these years. Fun 181, You never told me either , This must be motivated by my compettors to make me look bad. You both praise the same place.I must be a huge threat for these shops to have to stoop so low to beat me and charge so little just to get buissiness.Talk about bad kharma!!!!!

Talk about delusional. This would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Greg, I'm sure you remember the day I drove my Thing home from your shop. It's the same day I called you to tell you that my engine was leaking oil. So I guess I DID tell you about it!!!!! On that same phone call I asked you why you were treating me like an asshole. You didn't really have a good answer for that one. Suffice it to say you never told me to bring the car back in so you could check it out.

Greg, I'm not ganging up on you with your competitors to make you look bad. I'm posting negative feedback because you didn't complete the job that I paid you to do. I've had to pay someone else to fix your mistakes, and more importantly, I'm posting this because of how rudely and disrespectfully you treated me.

Wed May 07, 2008 11:34 am

I have known Greg for approximately 25 years through old VWs, and he's helped me out greatly on numerous occasions. I value Greg's friendship personally, and also value his company as an important old-VW resource in an area not exactly overflowing with similar outlets.

Thu May 15, 2008 3:29 am

Fun181 I offered to buy back the engine or give him new parts to build another because his pride will not allow him to come back for any warrantee I have not had a response. His offer to me was a little like blackmale. I do stand behind my work!The internet is a nice place to hide where there are no laws . To me it is a cowardly way to defend yourself.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:58 pm

I have worked with VWs since 1982.

Anybody looking for honest, high quality mechanical or body work has to check out Curello Restorations formerly the Rusty Bug.

203-288- 4204
www.curello.com

Greg has worked on my 1963 rag top Bettle and 1974 Ghia Conv.

I have never had any problems plus he gives warranties on his work.

For years I worked at Rapid Parts in NY selling VW parts. I know of what I speak. I have known many VW doctors and Greg is a true guru.

He really bends over backwards to do a quality job at a fair price while keeping the customer satisfied. Any negative review on this forum sounds as if their car was a problem to begin with.

My experience with Curello Restorations was so positive I had to spread the word..

www.curello.com
203-288-4204

Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:00 pm

My complaint with Greg is he is a little pricy on his estimates. 1800 bucks seems a little much to install a head liner in a 73 bug. 6 hours work. That's the reason I didn't go back.

Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:34 pm

miller0358 wrote: My complaint with Greg is he is a little pricy on his estimates. 1800 bucks seems a little much to install a head liner in a 73 bug. 6 hours work. That's the reason I didn't go back. $1800? :?

Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:06 am

Greg did some rust repair, bodywork, interior and paint on my 79' Vert in 2005. His work was very good and he stuck to his estimate. The result was a very nice driver, not a show car but show quality paint would have probably cost more than the car was worth. Three years later the paint is holding up well. Thanks Greg!

JP

[/img]