Shop rankings in Phoenix, Arizona

[123386]

This are looking up. Steve is feeling better, and he called me today to say that he is close to completing my Ghia. I got a phone call from Steve!!! woooohooooooo!

[ESchey56]

[Buddy Hale]

I can 100 percent stant by Erics side,as he has helped me with so many custom 1 off parts that he him self had made. He works for me part time{aside from being a flamming homo} his work is truely top notch. And to top it off a super nice person to be around, honest, hardworking, and cares about his work. That being said no one is perfect, parts and things go wrong its how you handle your fuck ups that make you who you are. I don't know the person on here calling eric and ce names nor do i care to ever know him, But if your so unhappy take care of it like a human. Because sir or mam if you your self are perfect i do apoligise to you. But comming on here and degrading ce like this is a shame. Sir or mam guestion to you when you mess up at your job or life, insted of who ever comming to you so you can make it right, how would you like it if they went on the internet and called you names and drug your name threw the mud? Oh the joys of volkswagen owners.
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Dont worry about that..............I know a good body and paint guy.....

Buddy "the bondo king" Hale

[XXX/Rx/RnR]

Eric, sometimes the truth hurts. Still leaking oil, still have a bent collector, my transmissiom almost burned up, still have to rerun the cables to the invertor, when the CV's were done got the bus back and I was getting ATF in the gear oil from the transmission. How many times did the engine get pulled to do a simple fuel line change? I could go on and on. Is this bad luck or poor workmanship. In an earilier post I said CE makes good or tries too. After leaving your shop the last time got home and the oil cap was left off. As simple as that is, its still part of the job. How many more exsamples do you want? Have I been singled out? Only way to fix the oil leak is to split the case. Dan never offered. You going to buy me a new collector you bent in the vice welding on it? I had to pay to put seals in the transmission. It wasn,t leaking when I gave to CE to do the CV's, but thats the way I got it back. Where's my old case from the last engine before the cam failed? And I still can't belive I got the bus back after the rebuild not full of oil and ATF! WTF! How would you react? What ya got to say? What can you say? Real techs get it right the first time. Not the second, third, or forth try. I don't have airplanes falling out of the skies after I release parts into service.

[silver billy]

Arizona Transaxle: I recently had ATE custom build a single sidecover IRS Gearbox for my street bug. Bill and his team are consistent in delivering an outstanding product in a reasonable amount of time. We (Karl's Mesa) have never had a problem with one of his transaxles. While they may not be the cheapest, they are definitely the best, although their prices are very reasonable as well.

Blair and Son: Jan is extremely knowledgeable, and has a huge stash of otherwise unobtainable parts. Again, not the cheapest, but usually a good value.

Bugzyla Fabrication: While I can't speak to the service side of things, I do know that Daryll & crew are talented fabricators, and honest people. Definitely Innovative, and unafraid to push the envelope.

[Desertbusman]

Fill us in on all the changes that have taken place within Karl's in Mesa in the last year. We know that about all of the old people are gone. What's the background experience of the new people? Last I checked Karl's website has been dead in the water for a long time although it said it was going to be up and running which it sure wasn't. With some of the bits of talk here and there the only good thing I've heard is that Mike is still in the shop and everyone always has real good things to say about him.

Bill of Ariz. Transazle has a good reputation and is ia real nice guy to deal with. I'm going to get another trans from him shortly. The work is impressive.

Glad to hear a good report about Kenny of European Automotive from a guy traveling through with a broken bus looking for engine help. Kenny knows his stuff, runs a tight shop and has been real consistant over many years. Had him do a small job a few months ago and was again very pleased. After 12 years I don't know if I'd be content with my cylinder heads unless Kenny had done them.

The guy that started this topic must be one of the guys that got started in the VW hobby and then bagged the whole thing in a short period of time. Happens a lot.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[silver billy]

[babysnakes]

[Desertbusman]

Jan's quite the guy. He's at all our shows. Did you see his little black crazy bug? Do a Google aerial search of his yard and drool. However, City of Phoenix is clamping down on the fire hazards of our salvage yards and Blairs yard might not be around in a couple years. Get you parts now while you can. I cringed a few years back watching a big yard full of classic Mustangs burn and thinking about what if that had been dubs.
You were right about desert parts. Steel parts are good but plastic and rubber are pretty much destroyed because of the heat and dryness.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[babysnakes]

I did the Google birdseye search before I decided to go, and I just had to look. He said he was trying for the "Old Buick" look with all the over riders. He's also got a badass custom notch show car. There is only so much one can cram in a suit case. I hope he's there next year. It's hard to find good used parts in S. Fl. at a reasonable price.

[TUDrewser]

[Cusser]

Jane on this board had good VW repair success at Sheldon's Auto Repair on 12th Ave in Phoenix. For non air-cooled VWs repairs I've been happy with Smart Automotive on North Cave Creek.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[erlawson]

Drove by Karl's in Mesa today and there was a sign up saying that the location is closed (actually said they have moved, but the "new" address is the Phoenix store).

Eddie
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57 ragtop bug, 59 Country Buggy repop., 61 ranch buggy/bus, 62 baja, 63 dune buggy/baja, '66 dune buggy, '66 & '67 fastbacks, 70 "Mule", 73 Thing, 09 dune/street buggy

TOOB Member #13

[BGEE68]

[erlawson]

[wcfvw69]

[Desertbusman]

You just saved me a trip to Karls Mesa in the morning. Was going to go there to get a couple goodies. Business might be way down because of the economy but I don't think they sucessfully recovered from all their prior mess. Just so Bill and crew at Karl's PHX keep up the good work. Been dealing there for 15 years now. Always good.
BTW my new bus IRS trans from Bill at AZ Transaxle is great.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[TUDrewser]

I'm bummed to hear it too...Karl's in Phoenix is too far of a drive most of the time for me. Guess I can still go to BAP for small stuff I need quick, or looks like online ordering from here out.

[Desertbusman]

I use AutohausAZ.com quite a bit. Usually the order shows up the next day. And cheaper than driving over to Phoenix to pick it up.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[TUDrewser]