Syncro Westy + Subaru EJ25 in 31 Days?

[mblotz]

i dont want to be the bearer of bad news, but overnight, border crossing and canada post dont go hand in hand. there is a reason netflix isnt in canada, who wants to wait 20 days for a movie. i lived in BC for a while and it drove me crazy, i think it took over a week to get some moto guzzi parts from seattle, and i was in vancouver, i should have just driven there. anyway, just want to prepare you for the news.

[a914622]

Sorry to hear your down and in Canada of all places. If your still having problems when your heading south drop me a pm. Im half way between you and Smallcar and Iv got a full machine shop at my disposal.

Keep us informed, upto date on how smallcar treats you. I think he has the parts made up in BC. You may be closer to a fix than you know!!

jcl

[GeorgeL]

[ranchero]

Hi folks
Well, drove from Tofino down to Nanaimo and crossed the ferry to Horshoe Bay. Hit Vancouver in rush hour traffic. That is one loud van in stop and go traffic. Talked to Brian at Smallcar this morning. I don't think I can have Smallcar ship one to me on the road unless I want to add an extry day to my trip. To warranty the muffler they'll have to inspect it so cutting it up to get the loose baffle is out. I think I'll either pop in to a car parts place and cobble together a cheapo muffler or just go muff....ler less back to CO. Have to head east to Montana. Thanks for the tips!
_________________
'90 Westy Syncro EJ25 (money pit #1)
'96 FZJ80 (cheap by comparison^^)
'13 Golf R. Daily driver.

[GeorgeL]

[?Waldo?]

X2!

That seems like a time where a supplier should be bending over backwards to help you out.

Andrew

[Christopher Schimke]

That's SmallCar for you!
_________________
"Sometimes you have to build a box to think outside of." - Bruce (not Springsteen)

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[Volksaholic]

Yeah... that's got me thinking twice about that muffler because I bought one too.... and they're not cheap! I would be tempted to tell Brian that if you have to replace it to get home you're going to expect a refund rather than a replacement.
_________________
1988 Wolfsburg Edition, 2001 Subaru EJ251

[ranchero]

Hey Guys,

I didn't want this to turn in to a Smallcar bashing. I fully expect Smallcar to replace the defective muffler and pay for shipping both ways, but I'm not sure that it is reasonable to expect them to overnight a bulky 30lb part across international boundaries. It would be outstanding customer service if they offered, but I would rather them be in business for the long term... Other than the quality of the stainless fasteners on the exhaust and this manufacturing defect (it happens to the best of them), I have been pleased with Smallcar's service and products.
_________________
'90 Westy Syncro EJ25 (money pit #1)
'96 FZJ80 (cheap by comparison^^)
'13 Golf R. Daily driver.

[Volksaholic]

For my part I didn't mean my post as a bash on Small Car either; Brian and Mao have been very helpful and the quality of the parts I've purchased for my conversion look great. I'm concerned, though, about whether this muffler was a good investment. I weighed the cost against the convenience of having a long-lived exhaust system pretty heavily before I opted to drop the $$$. I can understand that Brian would have a hard time justifying shipping the part across the border, and it sounds like that wouldn't have kept you on schedule anyway. By the same token, I think a manufacturer or service provider does well to give their customers something more than a straight replacement when their product fails. I would be pretty pissed if I were in your shoes, but you're probably a calmer person than I am.

I only know of one other person with the SmallCar stainless muffler and he's been satisfied last I talked to him, so I hope your failure was an anomaly. I hope it was... it's a good looking and sounding muffler when it works, and I've already dropped the $$$ on it!
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1988 Wolfsburg Edition, 2001 Subaru EJ251

[kenmag]

This may be a little to late, but Tom Shiels in Burlington Ontario also sells a stainless muffler he could probably ship to you without the cross border hassles.

http://subaruvanagon.com/tom/SS%20Exhaust/Exhaust.htm

I'm using his whole exhaust system and like it very much.

Ken.
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87GL Westy/suby ej22
87GL tintop/suby ej22
05 Golf TDI
95 jetta GLX

[?Waldo?]

I wouldn't necessarily expect international overnight, but to penalize someone (not allow the return) if they modify a defective piece in order to limp along is just downright lame. If they let you return the muffler if the baffle was removed wouldn't negatively affect their bottom line any.

Andrew

[GeorgeL]

[a914622]

[quote="ranchero"] To warranty the muffler they'll have to inspect it [quote]

Send them a phone pic. What is there to "inspect" Its messed up replace it!!.
Or are you going to get the infamous "you installed it wrong". I haven't had a good experience with smallcar. After dropping the coil you did I would have driven the hour and a half to Nanaimo and installed the replacement muffler on the ferry.

Just my two cents. Idd stop in to a shop that carries the flow-masters. A hush2 should be a quick and easy fix.

jcl

[Volksaholic]

[tclark]

[a914622]

[Andrew[/quote]

That was my thinking. It's one thing to deny warranty if the buyer obviously modified the part without their knowledge but this is a case where a stranded buyer made them aware of the problem.[/quote]
I suspect among Brian's concerns are getting reimbursed by whoever is building these for SmallCar and possibly the desire to learn from the failure to make the product better. I don't know how big an operation SmallCar is but I suspect it's very small and probably doesn't have deep pockets. Still, if I were in their shoes I would feel the need to bend over backwards to accommodate the customer. Maybe some digital pics showing the nature of the failure before the baffle was removed would meet everybody's needs, although it sounds like Ranchero vented his frustration and is moving on to Montana.[/quote]



You know , Your right . I shouldn't be so critical.

Stuff happens.How you deal with it shows who you are.

jcl

[ranchero]

hey Guys and Gals,

made it back last night. 4656 miles. No major problems. I would say the swap is a success!

I haven't averaged out all of my gas receipts yet, but most tanks seemed to be about 19mpg. A few 21-22 and a few 15-16. Don't frankly want to see what I spent!

I was able to find a used muffler in Nelson B.C. which made the drive back home a bit more pleasant. The muffler was from a 1.9. The ports definitely look smaller than the Smallcar muffler. I swear I had less power. I think I'll do a few zero to sixty runs to test it before I take it off.

There were only a few instances that I wished I had more power, but that is just being greedy I think. I took most passes at the speed limit or above. That really felt good.

There was one point in Montana when I was in the right lane and pulled into the left lane to allow a Ford F250 or 350 turbo diesel pulling a trailer to merge. I pulled around him and back into the right lane and he immediately switched to the left lane. I don't think he expected that I could pull the next hill at 75. But I did and watched him get farther and farther behind as we continued up the hill. He blasted by me at 80 or more once we were over the pass.

I don't generally like to drive the van that fast, but we had to cover a lot of ground quickly from Nelson BC to Livingston, MT. The worst gas mileage was at those speeds. The van seems really content at 55-65, my normal driving speed on CO roads.

I owe some updates on costs and I'm sure I've missed a few other things as well.

Thanks again everyone for your input and assistance!
_________________
'90 Westy Syncro EJ25 (money pit #1)
'96 FZJ80 (cheap by comparison^^)
'13 Golf R. Daily driver.

[ChesterKV]

[RichBenn]