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Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:16 am

Hi,
anyone here heard of LaVere's VW restoration? Good? Bad? My bug came with brand new interior(stock look with low back seats and wolfsburg wheel) done by LaVere's. It looks really nice and all and its a good start(though I have to convert to IRS and some better suspension still before I drop in a turbo engine). Has anybody here had there interior done by them? Right now my bug is over there getting 3 point retractable seatbelts though later on I will convert to 4point harnesses. For now as a daily driver for the next 6mos. it seems to be nice.

Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:45 am

I have heard some good stuff about them. I think they specialize in restoration not high performance though.

Evan

Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:29 am

Yeah, I know. Thats why I had him just install my seatbelts.

Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:24 pm

Don't go there, I took may car there and it was a BIG mistake, totally unprofessional and they hold onto your car forever and give lame excuses.

Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:33 pm

snee8 wrote: Don't go there, I took may car there and it was a BIG mistake, totally unprofessional and they hold onto your car forever and give lame excuses. How about some details rather than a general sentence?

Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:03 pm

I'll post details when/if I ever get my car back from them. Right now they have done jack to my car although they have had it and the parts they ordered since the beginning of the week.

Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:26 am

snee8 wrote: they have had it and the parts they ordered since the beginning of the week.

Perhaps your expectations are a little unrealistic. They've had your car for less than a week?

Sat Jun 13, 2009 7:32 am

Unrealistic? The whole process started 3 weeKs ago!!! I told the guy that I have a 3 weeks vacation and that I absolutely need the car by June 15th cuz I'm starting a new job on that day in SF and I need the car to get to work, and asked him if he could do the work by then. He said "yes no problem". I've called him several times since, throughout the whole thing of ordering the parts, to check on it and see if it would be done by then and everytime he assured me it would be done by then. Parts came on Tuesday, brought my car down on Tuesday, waited around for an hour and a half for the guy to return to the shop and look over the car and fix the estimate which had some wrong parts listed on it. (Last time he e-mailed me he forgot to press send was the reason).The guy wanted me to just drop it off, but I said no it's in bad shape can you just take a look to make sure you can really get it done by said date, time is getting short can you stiil get it done by 15th? The guy looked it over and said yes. Called on Thurs to check and from what he said I got the impression that the work was done except for one part which I had the option of putting on at a later date if they couldn't get it done. Called on Friday, the guy said there was no way I could get it back by the 15th. Went down there to Concord, car has been stripped and hasn't got any of the parts that came in on Tuesday put on it. The guy gave me some lame-o excuses about "parts coming in later than he thought (no idea what he was talking about he never mentioned it before), didn't realize the 15th was Monday thought it was some other day, they were short handed." Basically just been lying to me the whole time, if he thought the time frame was unrealistic he should have said so at some point before yesterday, now I'm carless and moneyless (by the way latest estimate came out to quite a bit more than original) and I 'll be sleeping out in a sleeping bag at Ocean Beach or GG Park for the rest of the week to get to work in SF on time cuz I live way out in the boonies.

Sat Jun 13, 2009 8:06 am

Sure, I admit it was stupid/naive of me to believe anything a mechanic says about timeframe and that I should have done the job myself since even though it's not an easy job to do on the street I had the time, but the car ('71 Super Vert) has been my faithful daily driver for a long time now and stood up to my amature mechanicking and I really wanted to get the job done right. My mistake.

I can only hope that the quality is going to be good when/if I ever get the thing back.

Sat Jun 13, 2009 8:25 am

What kind of work?

Sat Jun 20, 2009 6:12 am

Install convertible top

Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:10 am

The nightmare with LaVere's in Concord continues:

So now the car has been sitting there for 2 weeks, should be done right?wrong again.
So on Thursday the 18th I called to see if it was done, they said yes and we arranged that I'd come by on Friday at 6:30pm to pick it up.
So I take off early from work and ride an hour and a half on bus/BART to get there and when I walk into the shop at 6:30 they look totally suprised, the shop is closed up and my car is buried way in the back behind about 10 other cars, also once again they don't have an updated estimate of parts and labor so that I can pay. The only people there are the lady at the front desk and Pablo a mechanic who doesn't speak English and is just about to go home. I tell them I need my car today, so Pablo, the poor sucker, clocks back in and gets started pushing and manuvering all the 10 plus cars out of the garage to get to mine. The lady at the desk has no idea what to do about the estimate and suggests that maybe I should just pay what is on the old estimate and if it turns out to be more they can refund it to my card later. Huh?
Finally she tracks down Gary, and the mechanic who put the top on, by phone and they try to protest that they had no idea I was coming by on Friday 6:30 to pick it up, bad sign right?
so finally my car is unearthed, I check it and I'm amazed to find it's only about 90% done, with quite a bit of rubber/seals missing which were there when I brought the car in, specifically the seals around the rear quarter window's which is now just a mass of bare staples pretty obviously not finished and totally ghetto looking and even more importantly the big rubber seal under the header bow is missing. Also for some reason a Cal-look rear window seal has been installed instead of the one with the chrome insert that it came in with and they didn't trim off the headiner in the luggage compartment and put the carpet back. Obviously a bad attempt at a last minute rush job, So the lady says either I can leave the car there again, NOT! or take it home in which case I have to pay.
So I ended up paying and driving it home, maybe a mistake? Out $2000 with all that wind whistling and blowing on my head through where the front header seal is supposed to be and one of the retainer screws falling out of the plastic header bow insert into my lap where they had ghetto'd it on by drilling a hole in the header bow that was too big.
Lesson here? Would have been faster and done better in at least that amount of time if I'd done it myself.

Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:12 am

At that point, I would have rented a car, and given them a chance to resolve the issues. Walking out paying full price without allowing the shop a chance to respond is your fault.

Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:17 am

Unfortunately I don't have the funds to do that and since the main issue is holding onto the car without working on it and telling me it's done when it's not multiple times, I don't see how leaving it there any longer would help.

Wed Apr 28, 2010 10:30 am

I wish I had found this thread earlier. I couldn't find much info on them but didn't think to check in this forum.

I bought a new T3 and had them check over it. Got new ball joints and tie rod ends. Total bill came to around $900. Jason was very good about calling me and updating on on what they found and what I wanted. This was especially good considering they were in the midst of moving shops.

HOWEVER

When I got my car back...

--chrome side trim popped out, one clip broken
--light cover in dash for brakes broken and out of the hole (sorry, can't explain this better)
--spring for one of the carbs missing (could've fallen off in the three weeks before i even looked at the engine compartment)
--a few hose clamps not tightened
--intake hose wasn't connected properly

I didn't make a complaint because I noticed these things a week or more after I got my car back. Not sure how they would've handled it. I thought I just got a hungover tech, but after reading these stories, I won't go back. I'm not even mechanically inclined and I can remember to put things back where they were.

Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:16 am

I'll give my .02

A friend of mine had a car painted by them (or one of their outsourced folks) 7yrs ago...he was so disatisfied with it he just took it home and put it under a tarp and didn't touch it again until I recently pulled it out and fixed most of it...the paint was as rough as sand paper, and SUPER thin in spots....and it was an expensive paint job even at today's prices...plus he got his car back missing parts too.

Sun May 02, 2010 2:11 pm

I emailed them a few times over the past 6 months about restoration of my 1978 Westfalia. They never replied. It is fortunate for them that in today's economoy, they can turn away or ignore opportunities.

Keith

Thu Oct 07, 2010 2:18 pm

I emailed Laverve's 10 days ago to introduce myself and asked them if I could come by and check out their operation. I also attached a few pics of my car along with a brief description of what I was planing on doing paint and body wise. I thought that I would hear back from them as a perspective customer. I would at least like to get a quick reply like thanks for the inquiry sure drop by any time. Nuthin. I re sent the email today.

Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:51 pm

I'll go here for parts, nothing else... I called a while back and asked about bringing my bug in as I had some questions about lowering (this was prior to reading the 30-sumthin page thread, lol). The guy who answered was pretty short with me and didn't seem to have any interest in talking to me or having me come down there. Strange, but oh well... I do my own work myself anyway, so no biggie, but if I ever have serious engine work needed, no way it will be done here.

However, they had some parts in stock that were comparably priced, compared to online sites, so I picked them up here since they were local. I talked to Jason this time, and he was nice, even called me back with part info when he couldn't find it quickly while I was on the line. I went in he was cool, and the other 2 guys in there seemed cool too. Anyway, I'll be going there for parts that I can't get at Monument or SP.

Speaking of SP, a friend of mine went to Lavere's the other day for some small parts, and Lavere's said they would have to order them and they would cost $10 each... So he went to SP Auto on Pacheco, they had them in stock for $1.50 each....

Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:50 pm

Just found this thread and figured I should let people know the experience I had with this guy, Gary Lavere, 12 years ago.

I own a '66 Deluxe bus that needs body work, doglegs, long rocker and the B pillar on the passenger side replaced.

I had seen Lavere's restoration at a VW show and the work looked nice. I contacted them and drove to their shop back when it was located off of Pacheco in Martinez.

I discussed with Gary at the time (in 1998) that I needed these repairs done. I then met with his body work guy "Dan" to discuss what needed to be done. Dan told me I needed a donor bus for the correct replacement panels and B pillar.

I purchased a 65 or 66 Lotus White, Sundial camper, that had been hit in the nose but was near perfect everywhere else, this was still a nice rolling chassis without camper kit.

I had the donor bus towed to Lavere's, at my expense on top of the cost of the donor bus itself. After a week I called and asked about getting started, now that I had met their requirements. I got the run around for another few weeks and then I drove down there to ask what was going on. Gary told me that he and "Dan" had an argument and that Dan was leaving Lavere's but would continue to do my project.

I spoke with Dan separately from Lavere's and Dan then told me the donor bus I brought to them was "too nice to cut up, I (Dan) will find you the metal you need and do the work and take the donor bus in trade".

After not being able to contact "Dan" any longer through either Lavere's or a permanent phone number, I went down to Lavere's shop to find out what was going on and where was my '66 donor bus. Gary gave me an address three blocks from the shop in Martinez. I drove to this address and began looking around. I found the donor covered in the middle of a yard. I found a guy who then told me that if I wanted that bus back, he would try to charge me for the storage fee for the time it had been there.

I was living at an apartment at the time and did not have anywhere to store the donor bus, it's tags were old and it would have been towed. Things were very busy in my life at the time and I couldn't do much about having my donor stolen from me by Lavere's.

Friends had told me not to deal with Lavere back in '98, they said he got caught selling bus's overseas to Japan that had late bus seats and parts.

Avoid the con.