[email protected] - Adam Kottke - Seward Speed Shop

[Marcdeb]

I bought a seat trim part for my car from Adam. It arrived well packaged and in perfect shape. Super Fast Shipping and fair price too. Thanks for the wonderful service Adam.
_________________
Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio

Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
2003 Saab 9-3 SE Conv
2001 Saab 9-3 Conv
1998 BMW 3 Series Conv
1997 Saab 900 Conv
1997 Mazda Miata

68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc

[motofly196]

I bought another small group of parts from Adam...arrived 4 days later. He is my go-to seller on here. Absolutely flawless transaction every time. Thanks again!

Scott

[wcfvw69]

I continue to do business with Adam due to his prompt replies to emails and excellent customer service.

I bought some items from him again and he took a lot of time to carefully package them up so they were not damaged in shipping.

Thanks as always Adam.

You rock!
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[jays58s]

Always a pleasure to do business with Adam. Parts are always top notch, ships fast, and always communicates. Thanks again for the headlight switch!

Jason

[Hideo T]

Very good seller, very good description, rapid shipping and very good communication!!
Thank you so much

[Frostyjwatt]

Bought a rear seat from Adam and was packaged with care and shipped quickly. Thank you sir

[DeDoHo]

My name is Phibu, and I work at DeDoHo as a payment service for clients in Indonesia.
Email: [email protected]

My client: Wanna Babylian
Email: [email protected]

First buy:
29 Januari 2018: $468 - vw part
Status: success

13 September 2018:
I paid deposit $1000 to Adam, for vw parts.

24 November 2018:
My client said that she had bought a $ 800 ragtop from Adam.
My client told me that the item is too big, and she could not bring it into Indonesia from Malaysia.
She wants to know whether she could exchange the item with other spare parts, such as carburetors or other smaller products.

6 March 2019:
These are my client messages:
Carburetor 30, germany 10 pcs.
Carburetor 31, germany 10 pcs.
Carburetor 34, germany 25 pcs.
Total 45 pcs.

8 May 2019:
Adam response:
The carburetors weigh 4 pounds 8 ounces each. I can put 8 in each box if we ship them via usps which would make 6 boxes. Each box will cost $236 to ship. So the total will be $1416.
If I ship them via Fedex I can get them into 4 boxes and the total cost will be $2499.64

26 July 2019
I paid another TheSamba seller and sent items to Adam Kottke.
hlrose (Email: [email protected])

27 July 2019
I paid another TheSamba seller and sent items to Adam Kottke.
vw.dodge/Dave Spieler

29 August 2019
I paid another TheSamba seller and sent items to Adam Kottke
Mark Skinner

2 September 2019
I paid another TheSamba seller and sent items to Adam Kottke
Joel73/Joel Curtis <[email protected]>

8 September 2019
I paid another TheSamba seller and sent items to Adam Kottke
Steve Medley/[email protected]

3 November 2019
Contact Adam Kottke, need to change the carburetor to reduce shipping
carburetor 34, One box fill with 12 pcs.
carburetor 31, One box fill with 12 pcs

6 November 2019
My client said that she received response from Adam Kottke:
The shipping was too expensive and he (Phibu) did not want them. I do have a lot of other parts for him that were sent to my house.

6 November 2019
Sent email again to Adam, to explain order changed.

20 December 2019
Received email from my client, she already contacted Adam Kottke to buy turn signal bezels.

16 January 2020
Adam Kottke sent items from other sellers and turn signal bezels

24 August 2020
Adam Kottke explain the total cost to my client:
The shipping was $287 and the parts I added were $94.
At this point, he forgot about $1000 deposit
My client deposit supposed to be still $619

1 September 2020
Sent email to Adam Kottke to explain the rest of the deposit and buy new items for $450.
No response.

9 October 2020
Sent follow up email and no response.

16 March 2021
Sent follow up email and no response.

Maybe my emails went to Adam's spam box.
Maybe there's a misunderstanding.
Maybe Adam forgot about the first deposit.
I hope he can contact me and solve this problem.

Regards,
Phibu.
_________________
DeDoHo - Payment services for Indonesian clients who want to buy from TheSamba.

[ronbinford]

Bought my T3 muffler from Adam. It was just as advertised. Packed really well, and arrived very quickly. Super deal!! Thanks Adam!!

[Relyt]

Bought a pair of spindles. They arrived quickly in good shape. Thanks again!
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69 Beetle - Daily driver
1600 SP (unknown history)
30 PICT 1 w/power circuit (Volkzbitz)
205T (Bill)

[3foldfolly]

I've bought numerous parts from Adam. Always pleased with my purchase and transaction.

[Callook59]

I just bought a used wiper motor from Adam. Everything was complete, as pictured/described and showed up packaged nicely and undamaged. I’d be happy buy from him again. Thanks Adam!
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-Shaggy

56 Oval Window 2175 turbo
56 Euro Karmann Ghia
62 Double Cab
70 Bug convertible (my first car)

[Marcdeb]

This is my second purchase from Adam and both have been perfect. Fast shipping and very fair pricing. My parts were in excellent condition. Thanks Adam.
_________________
Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio

Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
2003 Saab 9-3 SE Conv
2001 Saab 9-3 Conv
1998 BMW 3 Series Conv
1997 Saab 900 Conv
1997 Mazda Miata

68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc

[Bill Dykes]

I bought a rear view mirror from Adam. Fair pricing and fast shipping.

[sgmalt46]

great seller . fast shipping . great prices a+
_________________
55 deluxe 23 window bus
64 crew cab
55 rag top beetle
66 beetle
71 square back (sold) ! good luck with it Henry!
46 beetle 552nd royal army service corps CCG

[jbbugs]

Super easy transaction. Very Well packaged, shipped quickly.
Zero Disappointment.
Thanks!
_________________
Drag bus! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MOVmKdhX4

69 OG paint Transporter
73' Super Beetle Champcar Endurance Roadracer
Patina my ass, that's a Rust Bucket!

[sportin-wood]

Bought a pair of NOS Hella turn signal lenses. They arrived in a week, very well packed. Would buy from Adam again. Thanks!
_________________
.
Paused 66 project bug
.
"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[albert1966vw]

Bought a Judson supercharger from Adam. Communication was excellent. It was very well packaged.

[David Raistrick]

bought a rear engine tin from adam - easy to do business with and the part was clean and in great shape - and matched the listing. thanks adam.
_________________
...david - '66 SO-44 #231

[volksbus]

A Year Lost in Rockford, Illinois

I am sorry to share a very disappointing experience with Adam Kottke (Seward Speed Shop) in Rockford, Illinois -- [email protected]

I was introduced to Adam in March 2023, and we began talking about my bus restoration, which was a restoration gone wrong that had been abused and neglected by two shops prior, between 2019 and 2022. I can't tell you why Adam strung me along so long and then didn't do anything; I can only share what he told me and what I observed along the way.

Adam said he would go look at the bus and consider it. We met in person and talked about the scope. We have friends and experiences in common and his skills and accomplishments seemed comprehensive and universally respected. There was no indication he would do me wrong. He seemed to be and talked like a solid, standup guy.

While he didn't make it to the previous shop (Rockford to Woodstock) to see the bus in advance, he decided to take on the job and my bus was towed there in April 2023. We were off on the right track and Adam promised he would start in two weeks.

By July, he was still promising to start in two weeks, and said I had a place in line with a good restoration body shop that he works with -- P.A.B. Collision Repair Center of Kenosha, Wis. (which also proved to not be true.) "Next week we should be throwing sparks on your beauty!" he wrote via email on July 14, 2023. And he wrote that it would be finished and ready for paint in October.

Over the following weeks, Adam had me order $5,000.00 in new metal and updated me with his evaluation of the condition of the bus. He said the media blasting by Das Kaferhaus (Randy Sheridan in Woodstock, IL) had damaged multiple panels significantly. "Wavy gravy," Adam said, time and again. He reinforced this when I visited in person again in September and we again talked about the scope of the project. I told him I heard him loud and clear and that I would follow up with Randy about this damage that both he and his partner told me about so adamantly.

Then, on Sept. 21, out of the blue, I got a "Dear John" email from Adam, stating that he was quitting the job.

"The fact that you are still trying to get money back from Randy because of the warped panels (knowing that the blasting had nothing to do with the warping) gives me very cold feet. I am not comfortable moving forward with this project. I am quite sure I will not be able to please you or meet up to your expectations and I do not want to be held liable for any adverse issues this bus may encounter years after its completion."

I reached out to him by phone, email and text. He never responded. I even signed and sent him a hold-harmless agreement. I told him I trusted his work and that I wanted the job done. I know for a fact that racers trust him with their lives. No response. My expectations, which we had discussed in person twice, were that he would start the job and do his best.

To this day, I do not understand a grown man working in this niche who quits a job without a conversation. Adam could have had the courtesy to apologize and say he bit off more than he could chew and that he decided to renege on his promises. He couldn't be bothered.

Adam prides himself on an unusual "I never take photos of anything" way of doing business and communicating with customers. (He told me that, in person.) I think this is emblematic of how he doesn't hold himself accountable for his promises. And, I don't understand why he was so wishy-washy about evaluating a job that sat in his shop for months. There were no mysteries in a bus that was stripped of parts and paint.

It seems as though Adam simply repeats the last thing he heard from the last guy he talked to. I don't know how talking about panels warped by media blasting for months turns into the exact opposite thing a few days later. It seems flakey to me.

While he may still be a good supplier of parts, and do-er of routine maintenance, his reliability for bigger projects has clearly diminished. It hurts to write this because I trusted him and I did lose another year to yet another VW BS'er. I was not able to finish or enjoy my bus in 2023 because Adam strung me along, two weeks at a time and then quit without doing a single thing to move the project forward.

I wanted to believe that there was this great guy, a VW mechanical genius with a hoard of parts who was friendly, reliable and trustworthy. It turns out that it was just a heap of talk and ego.

During my last visit with him, he was servicing a Vanagon owned by a deep-pocketed client. Adam said he hated doing that kind of work but would still do it for loyal customers. He said he preferred building motors and bigger projects. After sitting on my project for six months and then turning it away, I am not sure what he wants or what he will actually take on and finish.

I share this as a warning. If you are going to do a bigger project with Adam, get it in writing somehow and don't fall for Adam's "two weeks" trap.


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_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon