Viewing feedback for: kcr
Email: [email protected]
Last Visited: March 31, 2022
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KevinBug
Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2004
Posts: 105
Location: Lewisville, NC
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 Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 10:09 am Post subject: KCR Transmissions - [email protected] - kcr |
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Let me start by saying that the transmission that I purchased from KCR Transmissions has so far performed well and I have no reason to believe that it will not continue to do so.
But the question I ask myself after dealing with this company is "Would I buy another transmission from KCR?" My answer is NO. Why? Their communication totally sucks. When my order was a week late I heard nothing from them. At two weeks past due I still heard nothing. My emails went ignored and my messages on their machine were not returned. At three weeks late I finally got hold of Kevin and he told me it was shipping. It didn't ship until another week had passed.
From what I can tell over the phone, when I was able to get them on the line, their shop is unorganized and one guy seems to be doing everything. I did not even get a receipt with my purchase and at this point do not expect to get one even after asking several times. I can understand a business being busy. Back orders happen, etc. and for a small business it can get overwhelming. I understand. Communication is all I was looking for. A simple email or phone call. I was not in a hurry for this transmission, the delays were not a big deal. All I wanted was a little communication. I didn't need hand holding either. I also felt like I had to hound them to get my core refund.
As far as the quality of their work? It seems great, and their prices are great as well. And were their communication better I could recommend them highly. But I cannot.
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'74 Super |
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Eric Outland
Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2004
Posts: 407
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 12:49 pm Post subject: Eric (VMR) |
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I purchased a 1970 Tranny about a year ago from Kevin at His shop in riverside=KCR. Told him over the Phone what I needed and he stated "give me about a week". I called him back 7 day's later Kevin at KCR said it's done. So I drove to Riverside and picked up my Trans for my 1970 Vert. I forgot to bring my nose cone from my old trans in and kevin said no problem just bring it in ASAP. So I went home the next day I drove back to His shop gave him my old nose cone, and he gave me my written reciept and Warranty.
Granted Kevin at KCR transmissions might be a man of few word's, (More than likely he has so much work to do he doesn't have time to shoot the shit), but as long as my trans hold's up--( which it has) That's fine with me. I will continue to do Business with Kevin at KCR transmissions--He builds a quality Product. Eric (VMR) |
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kcr
Samba Member
Joined: June 07, 2004
Posts: 19
Location: riverside .ca
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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To Kevin and all others with good and bad experiences with my company.I just wish the market would bare a pricing level,that would allow me to hire someone to sit in the office all day.That way I could build the same quality product as usual,but not have to answer the phones,do the shipping /recieving,going to the bank and other supply places,occasional deliveries,all the paperwork involved in running a business,plus since I am only human,doing things with my children and having a private life would be nice too,on top of the rare day off.
I apologize to anyone who has had a bad experience which is a very small percentage compared to the ones with good experiences.I thank everyone who has ever bought a trans from me,both positive and negative experiences. |
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Dave
Samba Elder
Joined: July 11, 2002
Posts: 2691
Location: The Forest Moon of Endor, in the Redwoods
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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I actually don't know where to start, with all my dealings with KCR. Let me say, Kevin has gone the extra 10,000,000,000 miles for me, on more than one occasion. And I don't believe at the time he knew I was a big-shot editor for a VW Magazine, I was just another customer. True, it's a small shop, run by just him, and sometimes his brother pitches in, but, pretty much, that's IT. And the quality of his transmissions? Ask any of the majority of Der Renn-Kafer Cup guys where they get their transaxles from....and anytime you launch a full-weight Sedan (right down to the back seat, all glass/no Lexan/Plexiglass, ashtray, spare tire, and everything else) at 7,000 rpm, with gummy sticky slicks, you'll know RIGHT AWAY if your trans builder knew what he was doing or not.
Did I have a problem with a KCR gearbox? well.... yes. I called Kevin, told him what was up, he said bring it back, I did, and he fixed it THE NEXT DAY. All better. Now THAT is what I call Customer service... if you catch him during sand season, or PRA racing, he's bound to be swamped, and backed up... that's what he gets for being one of the best.
Kevin does this because he WANTS to. He lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes air cooled VWs. He's talented enough that he could go get a higher-paying job at any one of a number of engineering or manufacturing firms, but I think he just likes what he does, and it shows in the quality of his product.
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2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story
"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter" |
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OTO X58
Samba Member
Joined: March 27, 2004
Posts: 3101
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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My KCR tranny lasted a really long time, even with the terrible abuse I gave it. When it finally did break, I was working in a shop where the tranny guy helped me fix it. He has a lot of experience building trannys and he said that the work was top notch. On top of that, when I first installed it and had a tough time finding gears, Kevin helped me get to the bottom of it, which ended up being a coupler or a hanger issue, and had NOTHING to do with the tranny.
Would I buy another tranny from KCR? HELL YES.
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-Thomas
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia FOR SALE
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find |
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KevinBug
Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2004
Posts: 105
Location: Lewisville, NC
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 10:15 am Post subject: |
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For the record, not once have I said anything about the quallity of the transmission I received from KCR. Frankly, I have not had it long enough. I only speak of my experience as a customer. Does the KCR customer service that you guys speak of extend beyond a walk-in to the shop? I'm on the east coast and at the mercy of email and telephone. You previous posters all seem to be within California. I'm not a racer running at 7000 rpm. I wanted a stock transmission and I went with the smaller company based on reputation, price, and conscience (I wanted to support the non-mega-builder.) I hope I never have a problem with this transmission and if I do, I hope Kevin doesn't resent this review so much he tells me to take a hike. For what it's worth, I value this VW community a great deal and I think a little constructive criticism can be helpful. To that end I stand by my original post. It was not done in malice or spite but out of frustration and true experience. I am not trying to ruin KCR's reputation. If anything, I hope to forestall further customer service issues. Just one email or phone call throughout this entire process would have made my experience complety different.
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Dave
Samba Elder
Joined: July 11, 2002
Posts: 2691
Location: The Forest Moon of Endor, in the Redwoods
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:21 pm Post subject: |
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Understood, Kevin. But, by the sake token, understand that because he isn't a "mega-builder" and just a small, one or two-person shop, somethings, things fall through the cracks, and, to use the politcally correct term, "Doo Doo Occurs"
I would suggest maybe trying to call him again, possibly early in the morning, if you can, before he heads into the shop and gets in neck deep in ring gears, synchos, shift forks, etc.
You might want to take a cyber-trip over to <www.cal-look.com> and visit the forums over there, some people have had some things to say about KCR, as well. But I will tell you, not one person over on that forum has a bad thing to say about KCR, customer service, quality, turnaround time, anything...
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2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story
"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter" |
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KevinBug
Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2004
Posts: 105
Location: Lewisville, NC
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Dave wrote: |
| But I will tell you, not one person over on that forum has a bad thing to say about KCR, customer service, quality, turnaround time, anything... |
THAT was why I went with KCR! Perhaps my experience is a fluke? Perhaps simply getting a stock trans rates a little lower on the totem pole? I have no way of knowing. Regardless, I will say no more on the matter as I now believe I am in the minority (and I am glad for it).
Kevin, I too am sorry this has turned out poorly. I wish you all the best.
Kevin
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'74 Super |
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chicagovw
Samba Member
Joined: January 06, 2007
Posts: 1419
Location: Chicago IL/CHandler AZ
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| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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| My trans from KCR arrived later than originally promised, but not by that much and Kevin did let me know he was running behind. It happens. I have now had the trans in my '90 Mexican Bug for several years and it has performed flawlessly. Very happy overall. |
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Csaba
Samba Member
Joined: February 28, 2005
Posts: 30
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| Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:36 am Post subject: |
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| KevinBug wrote: |
| For the record, not once have I said anything about the quallity of the transmission I received from KCR. Frankly, I have not had it long enough. I only speak of my experience as a customer. Does the KCR customer service that you guys speak of extend beyond a walk-in to the shop? I'm on the east coast and at the mercy of email and telephone. You previous posters all seem to be within California. I'm not a racer running at 7000 rpm. I wanted a stock transmission and I went with the smaller company based on reputation, price, and conscience (I wanted to support the non-mega-builder.) I hope I never have a problem with this transmission and if I do, I hope Kevin doesn't resent this review so much he tells me to take a hike. For what it's worth, I value this VW community a great deal and I think a little constructive criticism can be helpful. To that end I stand by my original post. It was not done in malice or spite but out of frustration and true experience. I am not trying to ruin KCR's reputation. If anything, I hope to forestall further customer service issues. Just one email or phone call throughout this entire process would have made my experience complety different. |
Before you chose a builder, I suggest you do some research. Many of the forums are packed with information regarding quality, reliability, delivery dates...good and bad about various vendors. Had you done so, you would have found that small shops in a general sense, have more trouble with on time deliveries than the larger, volume oriented establishments do.
The primary reason is, that most of the one man, or mom and pop operations have a personal touch when it comes to dealing with the components they work on. Often times they have to juggle jobs because they are waiting for parts...parts that they can't afford to stock like the big shops can.
For the most part, you most likely will get a better product out of the small shop. But you won't get it in a hurry.
Not saying that production type shops turn out an inferior product, but they generally can't level the amount of attention on your tranny like a guy like Kevin and others like him can.
It is frustrating all around, as you, the purchaser is not happy, and perhaps have an expectation that cannot be satisfied.
Kevin is frustrated, because he is doing the best he can for you, but can't do it in the time frame you expect.
Next time, if you are in a hurry to get your transmission done, I suggest you ship it to Rancho as a core, and buy one of their off the shelf transmissions. |
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c.davis419
Samba Member
Joined: May 18, 2003
Posts: 506
Location: Vista,CA
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| Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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Its been a few years, but I got a T1 built trans from Kevin that performed flawlessly and got it within a couple of weeks of ordering it. He was helpful and his price was more than fair considering all the upgrades this trans got. I did drive to Riverside to exchange my core and pick up my new trans.
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1967 beetle
1974 Thing |
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Oldbugr
Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2007
Posts: 291
Location: Dusty Tucson
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| Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:30 am Post subject: |
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I forgot to leave a feedback on the experience that I had with Kevin. I ordered a super street plus a couple of months ago, it was delivered exactly as Kevin said it would, (if I remember right, total time was 2 weeks), it now has about 3000 semi hard miles on it. And I wouldn't hesitate to order another tranny from him. Sorry to see negative feedback on him.. Eric
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ultrarareparts
Samba Member
Joined: February 26, 2004
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:07 pm Post subject: KCR Transmissions |
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| I would like to say Kevin at KCR has built 3 transmissions for me. They have all taken a lot of abuse and have functioned excellent out of the box. I ordered a trans from him last year (March) and i still have not received it. We have had good communication back and forth several times, but my trans does not seem to move up on his list of getting it done. Talked to him a month ago and he said "it would get done"and he would email me with the shipping charges but nothing, i have tried to call and nothing, left messages and nothing. KEVIN GET IT DONE ALREADY OR TELL ME WHAT THE HOLD UP IS. |
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johnwesley
Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2013
Posts: 165
Location: Mena, Ar
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| Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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I called KCR in a bit of a bind for a tranny, worse yet it was close to Christmas. He was very informative and told me about upgrades that may help after he asked questions. Such as my habits with 1st gear and my normal cruising speeds. I had the transmission at my house in two weeks. Awesome!!!! I am very happy with him from an information standpoint and timely work done. On top of it all he did it quicker that he said he could cause I was in a bind.
Thanks Kevin
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Thanks to DRD and KCR. Great people to work with |
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pip hancox
Samba Member
Joined: February 01, 2005
Posts: 362
Location: Temecula,CA
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| Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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always had great experiences with Kevin too. highly recommended!
cheers,
pip.
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DBK!
'49 Standard.
'51 Crotch Cooler.
'58 Kombi.
'65 Notchback.
'64 Ghia.
2 Things.
wifes 2332 '59 lowlight ghia. |
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Mr.Duncan
Samba Member
Joined: May 12, 2012
Posts: 3542
Location: Houston, TX
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| Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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Kevin @ KCR was great to deal with.
He built a transmission exactly to what I needed, the customer service and response times were perfect.
10/10 would recommend to anyone with VW transaxle needs.
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(Owner) www.vintagecarleds.com
Red 1971 Squareback Thread
Red 1966 Beetle Thread
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1971 Green Super Beetle (sold)
1966 Ghia (sold)
1971 Blue Super Beetle (sold)
1966 Java Green Std Beetle (sold)
1971 Red Squareback (sold)
1966 Red Beetle |
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richierich
Samba Member
Joined: December 23, 2004
Posts: 889
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 10:03 am Post subject: Re: KCR Transmissions - [email protected] - kcr |
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| Just bought a Super Street Plus transmission from Kevin. I am in the UK and had a lot of questions I wanted to ask and I have to say - everytime I called, Kevin answered the phone...everytime I emailed, he replied within an hour or two and went beyond by helping me with advice for installation (first time I have done a trans removal/install). The transmission is great - over the moon with it and delivered to my door within two weeks of first speaking to him. Cant recommend highly enough. Thanks a lot. |
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Mr.Duncan
Samba Member
Joined: May 12, 2012
Posts: 3542
Location: Houston, TX
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| Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:43 am Post subject: Re: KCR Transmissions - [email protected] - kcr |
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Ordered my 2nd transmission for my other Beetle from Kevin @ KCR.
He is extremely helpful with a few of the custom things I was having done.
(bare mag case, and using a Elring Dirko sealant)
Cant recommend him more than enough for any transaxle needs.
Cant wait for it to arrive!
_________________
(Owner) www.vintagecarleds.com
Red 1971 Squareback Thread
Red 1966 Beetle Thread
---------------------------------------------------
1971 Green Super Beetle (sold)
1966 Ghia (sold)
1971 Blue Super Beetle (sold)
1966 Java Green Std Beetle (sold)
1971 Red Squareback (sold)
1966 Red Beetle |
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plastikman187
Samba Member
Joined: July 05, 2016
Posts: 92
Location: Gilroy Ca
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| Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 10:12 am Post subject: Ordered my first transmission from Kevin. |
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Overall the experience was great, Kevin took the time to talk to me about my issues. Kevin wanted to make sure that I got what I needed. He explained to me the difference between then stock transmission and the super street, he explained to me the reasons to get one or the other. Kevin was more concerned about me getting the "right" equipment instead of selling me something I did not need.
I only have one car but if I were to need another transmission, i would for sure get one from Kevin.
I'm not sure he still works with that AOL address, here is his website. http://kcrtransmissions.com/
Thank you thesamba, your reviews helped me to pick the best shop for my needs! |
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vwbarrios
Samba Member
Joined: April 08, 2013
Posts: 5
Location: Corona
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| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:37 pm Post subject: Re: KCR Transmissions - [email protected] - kcr |
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It will be my first time buying a transaxle form KCR and so far it has been a great experience. I have yet to test out the product because i have been paying it in payments for like over 6 months. Haha right?? Its just one day i had the money and I put a down payment for the transaxle that I needed. Kevin is really solid with the times that you can contact him. For me, he told me he is there usually Tuesdays and Thursdays maybe Fridays and weekend. Hes very cool and is cool with me taking so long to pay him but he said he doesn't care and its no trouble. In addition, he let me bring 2 other transaxles as payment towards my new one so that helped me a lot. Also he let me use his computer to login to my bank statements because neither of us could remember how much I owed him. So yeah I never got a receipt or i lost it but he isnt the type of person to rip you off or be sneaky. Over all Very Caring. 
PS. [email protected] is his email that I use to pay him through PayPal |
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