Brim's VW Restoration New Hampshire

[schell '59]

..you guys need to start thinking legal.

no shop should be taking money and not showing progress period.
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WWW.401RESTOS.COM

see my "gallery" for more pics other than the website.

[manyvws]

I have been watching this post and have responded to similar claims in the past. Albeit, Brim has issues when it comes down to estimating time to restore and taking on more than can be handled for a shop that does complete body-offs and metal fabrication vs. aftermarket panels and parts.
So, I agree with all those who talk about 'time to completion'.

That said, I have been a vintage VW collector for over 30 years and have traveled coast to coast collecting and collborating on Vintage VWs. I can say without one bit of hesitation, that I have never seen anyone match the knowledge, skill, perfection, and dedication to these cars. As a recipient of first place and best of shows up an down the eastern sea board with my first car (age 17), a 1965 bug and winner of Best German Car from Hemmings Motor sports in 2010, Brims IS my VW shop and will be for as long as I have cars to be done. My 65 underwent a body off resto that was.. you guessed it .. 4 years in the making on an estimated 12-18 month job. After sitting in other shops for 7 plus years with nothing done, I decided to bring it to Brim for 1 last shot at getting it done. Today, the car is shipped to various VW dealerships for display in thier showrooms during the winter months. It was expensive, a long time in the shop, but at the end of the project - I would challenge anyone to match the quality of work and the hundreds of hours put into my car. There was one shop that siad, as I was taking it away, "That car will never see the parking lot of a VW show unless it's in parts". Really?

My 67 drag car, 66 21 window delux, and others have all been subjected to the expense and time required to bring them back at Brim's and they wont be the last. I will say that there has been a major thrust to get work out of the shop that has been there for a long time and improve the turn time back to around 12-18 months. I have a 74 weekender bus that is in-line as I type. I am planning 3-4 years...

As for the guy who talked about pulling his car way before it was ready... I totally understand your frustration (having been through it) but your claims of shotty work, messed up harness, etc... seem signiificantly embellished based on my and other customers experience. I just dont buy the claims and you left out a ton of truths - some of which I saw first hand.. but I dont play the 'he said, you said' game... it is what you say and likewise for me.

Moral of the story: If you want a 100 point, OEM restored VW this is the shop. hands down, no doubt. If you want it done in 18 months... look elsewhere but understand the sacrifice in quality. As for pricing - remember you always get what you pay for. Want an expert resto? pay expert prices. With cars that have been featured in Hot VW mag and Hemmings Motorsports mag (and me owning 1 of them), I wouldnt think twice about reccomending this shop and being honest about what you should expect.

[sqairback]

Manyvws this may have been true in the distant past but I dont believe that Brim has finished a total restoration since you last updated the website in 2007 He has gone down hill bad! I'm done talking about it. I hope no one gets taken by this guy again.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[sqairback]

I know I said I was done but I have to let everyone know that my friend got his car on the road today. This may sound good at first but...... It turns out when Brim put the brand new transmission in he never filled it with fluid. long story short 10 minute trip around town then two mile trip down the highway at 65 mph and.... complete transmission failure Rear wheel lockup and a skidding sliding stop off the road and onto the soft shoulder of 495 in Mass. This guy is down right dangerous. The car is at a reputable shop now ANYONE WITH A CAR HERE DOUBLE CHECK ALL MECHANICALS YOUR LIFE COULD DEPEND ON IT!

[skills@eurocarsplus]

^^^^^ thats awesome a bit of an update on my friends behalf. seems that there have been no major efforts put in to finishing the car.

*sigh* sucks about the transmission at least no one was hurt......yet
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[Barneybeagle]

@Squairback....Were you working for him? If I understand you correctly, then you are saying your friend pulled his car from Brim's before it was completed? If he flatbeded it away from the shop without Brim signing off on the completion, then I don´t see how no tranny fluid would be Brims fault. It would have been your friends responsability to check all the fluids before taking it out for a spin. Am I wrong?
I guess I am Pro Brim, being that I have been blown away by the work he has done for me over the years. He certainly is not the fastest shop by any means but he never stops working from what I´ve seen and I have stopped by unannounced! Personally I think he takes on too many little projects and should scale his operation back a bit and focus more on the highend restorations. @Frank, I think it is best to give Brim the car and then stay out of his hair until it is primed. I have found this saves me alot of unneccisary stress. It is hard to see your baby all cut up in pieces. Ultamately, I trust him to do the work he says he will, Not always as fast as I want but always nicer than I thought.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[WM971252]

[Matteod]

Yes,
I too have had Brim do two of my cars. Still has one. He takes time, does pretty good work. Knows the car, so yes you could bring it to someone else, but I doubt they would have his depth of knowledge. I expect the vehicles to take a while. Stay in touch helps and setting deadlines with cash attached to it help as well. If you set expectations of pay as you go, you will get your project done that much faster. If you write a big check all at once, you may wait a while. So it's up to you, do you want good work or no? One more thing. Brim is good, but he can not see under paint and tell you exactly how much work is there. Putting metal back on cars is an expensive and time consuming proposition. Have you ever had a home remodel go exactly as expected? Why would you expect your 40+ year old vehicle to be perfect underneath all those ugly layers of paint? How many hippies and weekend warriors worked on your car over the years. Stay involved and take the project in stages and you will do fine with Brimm.
Just my take from my experience.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

well, i was at a buddys shop, and saw a 4 year brim resto first hand. brims customer just got this car back a few months ago



the car was full of horrible paint work and bad blends...look at the ring here in the paint

can't forget this jazzy little number...

this car was FULL of SCREAMING flaws!!!! it is at my buddy's for some repair work after a accident. it was like uncovering the holy grail of backyard hippy. to me, the average joe could (and does) do better.

still no word on my friends car. i did share the photos with him, and he is pretty much preped for the worse, as his car is black too.

i feel really bad for you guys. it took me (by myself) 4 months part time nights and weekends to to a westy....
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[sqairback]

Yep, that is my friends car. They had to strip all sorts of body filler and uncured paint ( read as "no paint booth") from the body before a total respray. It also had paint in the fuel tank and the hard lines on the body. Brim had every chance to complete this bug and missed his deadlines everytime. The day we picked it up he said my buddy would "drive it home"
So he had every right to expect a fully completed car especially at over 20k. After 4 plus years I dont think you can say that he pulled it early. As for the "accident" He was back at the shop within 4 months so I hope he still isnt using that as an excuse, and finally I never worked at his shop and am not some angry customer. I'm just writing here to get the story straight and try to stop this guy from ruining any more cars/ peoples lives

[Vbigdog]

Hi,

Is anyone missing a VW that was being worked on by Brim's? Give me year / model / color of your missing car.

I'm chasing a Brim related rumor myself, and while I came up empty, may be able to help someone on the board.

Tom

[VWig]

I was just following up on my project with Brim. It has been going for quite a few years now, though in a way this is convienent for me as I am working abroad. However every time I have asked about progress he says he needs an instant funds transfer for chrome and paint. This has happened several times over several years. Now he says he is broke and needs quick money - "my shop is on the line".

Anyone know the real situation?

Mine project is a green '57 beetle. I do hope it is not missing, but it is a little hard to tell.

I have to say the stories from other people seem to be a mix of "wait and you will get perfection" and "disaster", with the disasters seeming more frequent in recent years...

[skills@eurocarsplus]

shop? what shop? he is in a barn of some sort....my friends car was such an epic fail, you guys have no idea what you're in for. for anyone out there who wants the best advice you'll ever get...


PULL YOU CAR NOW! cut your losses and move on. from what my friend has told me (and shown me in text messages) the dude is always trying to hustle money and show no progress.

4 years to do a bug? give me a break....dynamat and undercoating all over the place....come the f*ck on.

you guys got exactly what you paid for...all of your cars are in a billion pieces and i would bet 80% of your stuff is missing. run, cut your losses and find a different shop
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[MiaGia]

Well, I wish I had seen all this 16 months ago.
I am another one who has been "taken" by Brim. I won't go into the numerous details (some of you might not believe me anyway) but my experience with Brim parallels a lot of the other bad experiences written about here.
As far as I can tell, Brim is not "committed" to any of his projects. His day is filled with figuring out how to hustle money for VERY little work.
I have recently retrieved my car and now have to take it to someone who will actually do the work that I already paid Brim to do. Yes, I am venting, but I am also trying to warn others. Use him if you want, but be prepared!

[frankraineri]

after 3 years my ghia is painted and ready for assembly. Dealing with Brim was not a pleasure able experience for me or Brim. Hes painstakingly SLOW SLOW SLOW. Every time we spoke it was like trying to get a child to eat his vegetables. That being said. seeing the car painted. It almost seems worth it. BUT. the car should have been done a LONG LONG time ago. Well... its still not done. The work he does is truly amazing. But if you want to get the same results on a car that was as bad as mine, in a reasonable time, You will pay a lot more. But it won't take 3 years.

Brims a great guy. He's friendly and knows VW like no one else. He may be the best restorer for VW's on the east coast. But his lack of reasonable turn around time and his inability to be honest with his customers will
be the demise of his reputation.
I'll post pix of the ghia soon
If your looking for a good restorer I can say Honestly..
DON'T BRING IT HERE!!!
you will wait and wait. Hear him cry for $$$WA WA WA. "western union me this daddy" I'm sick of it and ONLY want my dam car back.
Its no way to run a business.
Like any contractor or anything. If the "business" Requires the $$ BEFORE the project is done.. Go elsewhere. 20K and my car.. 3 years and not done.
Brim is a very talented HOBBYIST. I wish I went elsewhere.
If I need to say anything good..

His work is amazing. so far.

His shop is great for long term storage.

[Eurolymius]

After three years and over $100,000 spent with no end in site, I have hired an attorney. I doubt he will finish the project, and I will likely end up scrapping the entire project just to get away from him.

I have never met a more unprofessional and immature businessperson in my life. I would love to go into detail and horrify you with stories of his manipulation and empty promises, but I believe this thread speaks for itself.

I loved this car, and I had high hopes for Brim, but I am devastated, embarrassed, and heartbroken.

[MiaGia]

Eurolymius, sorry to hear of your terrible experience with Brim. It sounds like you went through some of the same problems with him that I did.
I have to ask though, since you brought it up, is that a typo....or
did you really spend $100,000?
I think you have done the right thing in hiring an attorney, and I would say to pull your car out of there...but...after all that money...is he even close to finishing? Ask your attorney what can be written into a contract with deadlines and penalty clauses. Not that I think Brim has anything.

[Eurolymius]

No, it is not a typo. I recently added up all of the checks, bank deposits, wire transfers and last minute Western Union demands to amount just over $100,000. The originally estimate was for $27,000.

I would like to pull the car out, but the last time he sent me any update on the car's progress, the chassis was in pieces, primed, and "ready to be painted" or so he has been saying since April. (Basically pictures exactly like the ones posted above) I have no idea where all the miscellaneous bits for the car have gone, electrical, mechanical, interior, exterior, accessories, engine, tires. I have no idea how to get the car back in one piece.

I wrote him an Email last month, CC'd to my attorney, giving him an ultimatum, and I have not heard a peep from him since, which is very unlike him. I am contemplating my next step. Since I'm a young woman with no prior restoration experience, I am very intimidated by confronting him personally.