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J's Van or J's VW in Reno, NV
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stevey88
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:12 am    Post subject: J's Van or J's VW in Reno, NV Reply with quote

I came across a posting in Reno Craigslist concerning a Vanagon engine rebuilt that cost $5900. The original listing that complain about the treatment given by the shop to the owner was removed/deleted. However, there were several posting defending the shop. After reading those, I posted a listing for rebuilt engine prices from 10C and Boston Bob last night and that got deleted this morning as well. As the other defending listing are still there, It lead me to believe someone is trying to white wash this incident. One listing said $5900 for a rebuild is not too out of line, and DIYer will spend $3000-4000 to rebuild their engine.

I am wondering if any one know J's Van or J's VW in Reno. Here is the link for the listing:
http://reno.craigslist.org/pts/835029013.html
Please search for Vanagon for the others.

Unfortunately, the Vanagon owner did not list his email address.
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morymob
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Exactly WHAT do u base the DIY wbx engine rebuild?? Maybe for ALL parts nos from dealer, i need to be doing things in your area,maybe order that BEAMER..........
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stevey88
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The DIYer cost is not my number. I have never rebuild one. The cost was from the listing.
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AFZ272
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I saw that as well.
All of the posts are still there.

Search for J's and they show up.

Makes me glad I do my own work.

Rich
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Volksaholic
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

First off... I'm unclear on the reason for your post. Is it to get a feel for what a reasonable cost is for a rebuild? Or are you considering having J's do some work for you?

Secondly, I don't think the rant on Craigslist gives enough information to make an informed judgment. Was this a stock rebuild? Was it built up to a 2.4 liter? What quality parts and machine work were used? Does the $5900 include installing the engine, or is that just the cost of the engine rebuild? It looks like GoWesty engines go for around $3600 for a 2.2 liter to $5500 for a 2.4 liter without any installation labor or supplies.

It's possible that the shop dragged their feet and is soaking the customer for the extra shop time, which isn't right. Maybe the mechanic spilled a beer in the almost finished engine and is charging for the time to open the case to clean it up and the spilled beer. It's also possible that the shop had to replace the case, heads, crankshaft, cam, flywheel, alternator, A/C compressor, AFM... you get the idea. Some of what the disgruntled customer is saying is pretty bizarre... they were going to replace the speedometer with an engine rebuild and wanted to break the gas cap off... but it sounds like one side of a "he said, she said" dispute to me.
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stevey88
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Volksaholic,

It is common for an dissatisfied customer to take " revenge ". What surprised me is the number of supporting customers who post and one even support the price. You should have guessed what I think when I said I have posted the price of 10C and BostonBob engines.

I don't think a shop who doesn't know the later Vanagon use the same key for the gas cap can built a 2.4L.
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McVanagon
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That was a tough read, most rants are. I'm just glad it wasn't all in caps.

Hope they get their van fixed.
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redtail
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Volksaholic wrote:
Maybe the mechanic spilled a beer in the almost finished engine and is charging for the time to open the case to clean it up and the spilled beer.


Lolz - Talk about Insult to Injury!
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Volksaholic
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, if I were in the area I would certainly steer clear of this shop if there have been multiple disgruntled customers. I still maintain that from the one Craigslist post we don't know what was included in the $5900 bill, and we don't know the story behind the gas cap (those caps can be pretty "sticky" with age... maybe the shop thought the ign key wasn't working with it), but if there are a number of complaints you know there are a lot more customers who were pissed off and didn't post on Craigslist.

P.S. I would like to emphasize again that, unless there was a detailed breakdown of what was included for $5900, none of us has any way of knowing if that cost was justified or not. It seems high, but most base engine prices include a usable core and if this guy's engine were garbage and this price includes a bunch of other labor it might not be too out of line. In fact, if this guy was a real PITA when he called several times that first week (or whatever he said), there may be a $1000 Aggravation Surcharge in there! Smile
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stevey88
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
unless there was a detailed breakdown of what was included for $5900, none of us has any way of knowing if that cost was justified or not.


I agree.

Is this the same shop ( very old post ) ?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77016&highlight=reno

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OxygenDestroyer
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

5k is certainly not out of line for an installed quality rebuild. It's definitely high for a 2.1 if you're just getting the motor on a pallet. For the installed version it all depends on what else happens when he's in there. You may need all new hoses or coolant lines or motor mounts or a power steering pump or a water pump or any number of other fairly expensive items. The same guy could install 5 different motors and you'll get a different price every time.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If they made a deal on a longblock for $3-3.5k, which is not an unusual price range, shipping a couple hundred I doubt the shop would eat, with install running $1200-1500 on the market, and all the ancillary crap that pops up, it could get to $6k without too much trouble. The usual engine swap also means taking components off the old engine and onto the longblock. That can add hours over the actual R&R. With tune-up parts, any extra hose replacements, fuel lines, you know all the stuff that could need to get done, it's easy to see how it would add up fast. Dealing with a surly shop who doesn't cut any breaks, you're there in half the time.

I couldn't even read the whole rant, so I didn't really get the gist of it, and have no idea what's on the bill, but I don't see the price as necessarily out of line. Like OxD said above, it's not a flat-rate kinda job.
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RCWesty
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had some personal experience with J's in Reno. I would strongly avoid dealing with these guys on any level. I spent quite a bit of time returning my van to these guys to keep it for a couple days and repair or highly suggest I repair things that weren't the original issue. Granted, my first mistake was purchasing my van from J's. My second, was trusting in his shop that he would stand by their product following his thorough inspection. After only two weeks of owning it and plenty of $$ on the vanagon bucking syndrome, blowing coolant into my secondary tank (head gasket leak) and suggesting that I needed new springs to treat the westy lean (due to camping gear), I decided to take a breather and save some money to take it to Gowesty. When I mentioned my dissatisfaction with the van, he told me he "doesn't sleep with these vans, only sells and repairs." There was a couple days were my van sat in his shop where they didn't put any miles on it and they charged to me to reproduce the coolant leak. They would then say, nothing appears to be wrong and they changed my radiator cap as a preventive measure... wtf..

I know others who live in Reno who had similar experiences with that shop. He is very good at taking the long and expensive road to minor repairs or maintenance work. I would prefer to spend the $ in gas driving to Gowesty than get the run around by J's. In the long run, it's cheaper, done professionally, and I get to spend some time on the coast.
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heyjohnnyo
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 8:46 am    Post subject: J's VW bad choice Reply with quote

I feel compelled to tell everyone that J's VW USED to be good when the dad owned it but unfortunately the son doesnt know the simplest thing about vws. Camper gasket for camper was cut 3 ft too short. Bad cyclinder from the get go, overheating immediately. The list goes on and on. Things like they called me to tell me they couldnt find the gas cap key so they were going to have to cut my gas cap off.?????? Duh, its the ignition key dude! They agreed to a deadline (hard to do)to get me in there and then it took an additional month, this is understandable but when I called on the agreed date and I said I wished you would have called me to let me know you werent going to have it ready they just said I was being NAIVE. Then the price quote "not to exceed $6000" except it was $7200 again I was "being naive". For $7200 they didnt replace the spark plug wires or other simple things you would want with a $7200 engine. Please avoid.
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:45 pm    Post subject: J's van, horrible reputation locally, and he's a criminal. Reply with quote

The old guy who owned the shop back in the day was honest. Not so for his criminal ne'er do well son, who was arrested a year or so ago for theft, resisting arrest, and being under the influence of an illegal substance at the time of arrest. A quick search on ripoff report will also show you that Martin Young, current owner of J's van in reno, will show you that he LIT A CLIENT"S CAR ON FIRE AND DESTROYED IT while he was supposed to be doing the "any teenager could do it right and fast" job of changing out the spark plugs. And then refused to pay for the damage he'd just done to the car. He also has a history of calling people in Reno up who tell other folks what a bad job he does, and attempting to intimidate them. If that doesn't work, he calls their supervisor and whines and complains like a 6 year old. Yep, He's a "real class act", and the sooner he's tarred, feathered, and run out of Reno on a rail, the better.
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 6:03 pm    Post subject: Martin young is a criminal. Do not do business with him. Reply with quote

And I just discovered that he was involved in trying to steal a woman's purse here in Reno last year, too. Here ya go: http://footback5.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=4079587&item=435
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:11 pm    Post subject: Re: J's Van or J's VW in Reno, NV Reply with quote

im new to the reno area and am looking to for a reliable shop to do a subaru vanagon conversion?
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 1:20 pm    Post subject: Re: J's Van or J's VW in Reno, NV Reply with quote

There's a guy I know who goes to the same local coffee shop as I do who had a subie conversion on his van done by a guy in Carson city, and he seems pretty pleased with the results so far. I'll ask him.
But before you do that Subie conversion, a cautionary tale: A guy here in town had a subei conversion done, which he loved. Until it broke down down in central mexico, where nobody had any experience with or parts for a subaru engine. He and I both recommend the VW waterboxer rebuild if you plan to be traveling out of country with it. Sure, you get a little more horsepower with the subie. But if something goes wrong, that car night be a writeoff, or a 2,000 mile tow truck ride.
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