One Van Repair Shop in Seattle - any insights?

[jimf909]

I just came across One Van in the SoDo area of Seattle. Does anyone know anything about them? They're new to me but I don't get out much.

One Van is a small customer dedicated shop specializing in VW repair, restoration, and conversion.
A new shop concept based on two decades of experience.
25+ years specializing in Vanagon, Eurovan and Air-Cooled vans

https://www.onevanrepair.com
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- Jim

[do.dah]

I think Casey might weigh in?

[djkeev]

While it isn't a problem, my take away from his stated working model of keeping your Van at Your house until He has all of the parts and the time to fix it .......

Tells me he is a small operation, small shop, small lot, no place for vehicle storage.
Though I do think that he is either optimistic that he can order all of the parts that will be needed in one swoop ..... or he is ordering a lot of "maybe I'll need this" items. "It will be good to put in a new one anyway"

Do new rear axle bearings come with new bearing carriers too? You don't know the carrier is shot until it is in your hand.

Does he have a good parts department in house for these type of situations?
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[RicMcK]

I would hightly reccomend Yori @ Shoreline Auto Clinic 206.922.3651.
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Rick McK
Seattle
89 Westfalia-2.2L WBX "VINNY"
2006 TDI Jetta
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70 tin top, 700k mi when sold in 91
58 split window (first car)
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[jimf909]

[E1]

I know none of the players but think it’s cool to spread the word like this, Jim.
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[MikeB71]

I didn't have a good experience there with a Subaru conversion. They might know their way around a Vanagon really well. They did a fine job on my brakes.
But for Subaru conversions I think there are way too many factors involved to get it right. I had to go to another shop to try and fix a lot of things they did wrong.

[DeLvxe]

I've had a lot of experience there - they have been my main "have to take it to a shop for this" kind of work for probably 5 years. I am not sure where the comment about storage came from, but he has had my van for decent periods of time while parts came in. He has some storage, but I am sure it is a hassle to move vans around.

He has worked on my Subaru swapped van - had thinks like valve cover gasket, replaced exhaust manifold, replaced my wiring harness (from PO swap) with one from Auto Ventures, some brake work, replaced steering rack, replaced clutch, and probably a few other things. He's done a good job, I felt was honest, and at a fair price.

It has overall been a pretty good experience with only a few bumps. He let me bring in some of my own parts to avoid the markup and has provided some guidance on how to do some things myself that I was a little nervous about.

While a small shop, I have found it is much quicker to schedule work. I had something done at Eions (who is great) but had to schedule is 5 months out. Except at the busies times, Case has usually had me in within a week and has always been responsive to emergencies.

I have asked him to do a couple things that he is unwilling to do but he is upfront and clear about this work.

My worst experience there was related to the wiring harness swap. The PO had a rat's nest of a wiring harness and other mechanics had flagged it as a problem. I had some gremlins and Casey said the harness was part of the problem. He sourced a harness from a salvage yard and sent it along with the ECU to Auto Ventures. Turns out the harness and the ECU weren't a perfect match which caused some delays and problems. The van was offline for about 5 months. When I got it back, there was a very high idle problem which OneVan kinda shrugged their shoulders.

Hope this helps
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1991 manual camper with EJ25

[jimf909]

[Red Ryder]

If I know the shop needs to order parts, I ask about availability and the lead time to get them. Customer-provided parts can be a liability for the shop unless agreed to in advance. Overall, I prefer to keep the van in OUR garage if there is a significant wait involved rather than being stored by the shop.
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“Scarlett” — 1990 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition (Tornado Red)
“Nigel” — 1999 Jaguar XK8 convertible (Alpine Green Metallic)