Vintage Auto Werks - [email protected] - Dan

[RTT]

I took my 78 bus into Dan, the owner of Vintage Auto Werks in the beginning of february. I got it back the 3rd week of May running a lot worse than when it came in. I initially brought it into to replace a fuel line that cracked last winter. I decided to have him do some other work to my bus. His shop is a decent drive from my house so I wasn't able to just drop in easily to check on things. But about 3 months after he started the work i drove out there and he didnt even have the front ball joints fixed or anything. He was also supposed to put an electronic ignition and when i got there he acted like there was a huge crisis because he couldnt get the distributor out. This was after months of him already having my vehicle and he had never once called me with concern. He was absolutely clueless as to how to get the distributor out. He acted like my bus was a piece of shit becauce the distirbutor didn't twist right out. I asked him if he had checked the Idiot guide as to what it said, his reply 'It usually doesnt cover stuff like this'.. I wanted to look anyways, and the answer was right there 'tap on it gently to loosen it up' I told him what it said.. he tried it and it came right off.
After seeing how little progress he had made over 3 months and the most simple problems seeming unsolvable for him, I lost pretty much all hope. I'm getting so angry just typing this that i won't even go into the rest of the details. Like the dent's and dings that happened to my OG paint bus sitting out in his shop for 4 months. To make a long story short, He sent me out of there with a bus that was barely running.. with some flukey problems he caused that weren't there before. I don't think I need to go into any more explanation. Dan is an okay guy.. He's just really lazy, or really stupid.. or a deadly combination of both. Dan fed me so much bullshit, and by him keeping my bus for 4 months and charging me 1000$ worth of stuff that is all going to have to be redone since i pulled the motor and started a rebuild. If he would have completed the work i had hired him to do.. I could have moved on to get my motor rebuilt during the winter. Instead of having to do it now, and have no vehicle for the whole summer to camp in. Dan also made me pay him up front 100$ over for the parts,, What a hustler.. I'll never do that again. I feel sorry for the guy to tell you the truth. I went out there to support him and his new shop that he has listed allover theSamba, and I got screwed. I also witnessed other customers upset with their outcome. It just sucks it had to be this way.. :bangs head on the table:

[Vintage Auto Werks1]

This is Dan from Vintage Auto Werks. Ryan had his bus towed here the first of Feb. When his bus came here it didn't run since it had a fuel leak and some vaccum leaks that I fixed right away. Once I got the fuel leak fixed he came down and was going to pick it up but he mentioned that he had some noise in the front end of the bus and it wondered while driving. I inspected the front end and noticed that his front ball joints were shot, front shock bushings dry rotted, brake hoses cracked.

His engine also had a lifter noise so I suggested a valve adjustment. Since he just purchased the bus and didn't know when the plugs or wires were changed we were going to change these also. He mentioned that he was going to be driving alot this summer with the bus and that he wouldnt mind a electronic ignition. I sat down with Ryan and went over all the parts his bus needed and he gave me the ok to order the parts. He left a deposit for the parts and a core deposit for the ball joints. Bus Boys use to require a $100 core charge on the ball joints now they don't. The $100 was refunded and added towards Ryans final bill.

The distributor was stuck in the case and I didnt want to beat on it to get it out. I was letting it soak hoping it would come loose with out having to beat on it. I did end up beating on it and I broke the coldstart valve on his engine while getting the distributor out. I replaced this valve free of charge since I broke it. Ryan drove his bus out of the shop under its own power he drove it around for a little while and a few days later he calls me and tells me it wont start for him. I told him I would make the 1 hour trip to his house to see what I could figure out to save him a tow back to the shop. Got to his place couldnt get it running and I had to get back to the shop so I told him Monday I could come back up early in the morning with a few more tools and parts to hopefully get him back on the road.

Early Monday morning Ryan showed up at my shop driving his bus. His bus would sometimes start and other times not. I talked to Ryan and his dad and told them I would take a look at it to see what I could figure out. I checked the compression and cylinders 1 and 3 had 0 compression. I called Ryan after I found this problem and he found it pretty hard to beleive that his engine had 0 compression in two cylinders. Said he just had it checked out at another shop that he had some other work done at and it was 125 in all cylinders. I told him to come down and I could go over everything with him to show him. He told me he had to talk to his dad and he would get back to me. Few weeks past by and his dad calls me and asked about the bus. I told him everything that I knew and that I told Ryan to come down and I would go over everything with him. He said he would talk to Ryan and they would get back to me. His dad once again calls me and ask if I found out anything more on the bus and I told him I wouldnt really know anything else without tearing the engine apart to see what happen. His dad asked how much a new engine would be I told him upwards of $2,000. He said ok I will get back to you and he calls once again and tells me that they are just going to come get the bus. I asked if they were going to tow it out of here and he said no we were going to drive it out of there. I told him I couldnt be certain it would make it back home but they wanted to try anyways. They come and pick the bus up and Ryan kept asking me if it would make it back to his house and I told him I couldnt tell him if it was going to make it back there or not. I didnt want to be liable if something happen on the way back and they didnt make it. Ryan got in the bus and left that was the last time I heard from him.

As far there being dents and dings on his OG paint bus. This was the first time I heard this. If there was dents and dings that I caused I would of had them taken care of. I dont beleive I caused any damage to his bus mechanically or on the body.

I am sure I missed a few things. One important thing is that I am a one man shop and when I had 3 vehicles here at the same time all wanting major work it was hard to move the vehicles out of the shop in a fast rate. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[RTT]

Such is life.. I don't even think you did anything that caused the compression to drop completely in two cylinders. I do know the van ran liek a completely different vehicle after leaving your shop. I just think since I paid up front for a motor tune up like you mentioned (engine noise) That you should have done it in timely manner so i could have been aware of the lack of compression and problems it had upon leaving your shop, Instead of dicking around for 4 months then telling me.

That's right you didnt hear from me again after the 2nd time.. Hell you sent me away with it running like shit the first and second time.. so why would I call you.. and the reason my dad got involved is becasue he wondered where the hell His son's van was for a quarter of a year. Everyone knew you were screwing me but me.. I took up for you so many times when people would say 'you STILL dont have your van back, what is he doing.. building you a whole knew one' it's just all very disappointing to me. I'm out all the 'tune up' stuff i paid for, because i'm going to have to pay it all over again since i'm getting a new motor.

'Nuff said... you are the King of Excuses and I'd rather just forget about you than furthur this thread.

[keifernet]

Not taking either side here, but I will say it is very common for someone to take a non or poorly running VW ( or other make of older car) to a mechanic/shop to see if it will run. This requires a "tune up" or at least some form of to get the engine running to see what it is...


To say your out all the tune up money IMO is simply a "poor me" I spent money trying to sse if I could make an unknown POS run... get over it.

since this is a 78 bus if it has hydrolic lifters this could explain why the compression has gone away... old hydrolic lifters bleed down and this definantly effects how the engine will run.

When these engines sit for a long time other issues (besides the ones that parked it to begin with) manifest themselves.

[RTT]

It wasn't non running or poorly running when i brought it in. I drove it from Arizona to Chicago shortly before. I had it towed because it had a fuel leak. It was idling/running fine. After i got it back from Dan's shop the first time it'd sometimes start and sometimes not, along with a buttload of other issues that it didnt have before, and when it did start, it ran like a completely different vehicle. The way it accelerated and idled was obviously messed up. Dan said he never drove it untill after he worked on it, so he doesnt know how it drove when i brought it in. Dan made me pay up front for the parts, which made it easier for him to keep my vehicle for 4 months. Then sign a contract saying he wasn't liable for how the vehicle left upon departing from his shop. I don't see who else would be liable.. What a snake.

[RTT]

the reason i emphasize the way it ran is because even though I can't prove it had good compression in all 4 cylinders.. which it did. It shoudl still run at least as good as when i brought it in there. which it doesn't BY FAR. "sometimes starts and sometimes doesnt'" "doesnt idle properly"

. It's like you think I brought my car to you in the shape i left there with it in.. To me it's about the time.. Time is Money. If I had no compressioon, and I needed a rebuild back in february before ever even coming to you, i would have done that then so i could be using it now.


There is nothing I'd rather be doing right now than driving my bus

[RTT]

There is no reason you should have to tow your bus home from the shop after spending 1000$ there and a nice chunk of that on stuff for the motor. There is also no reason you should have to sign a waiver to get your vehicle back from the shop you take it in to.. IF i were running a tight shift i wouldn't be worried about being sued left and right.. there's this old saying, it goes 'the buck stops here'

[keifernet]

Well, I may have mis-interpeted parts of the post... sorry...was the 1000 you say you paid only for engine wor?k, or were the ball joints and other stuff done too?

Like I said not taking either side here, and maybe I should not have posted at all, but some outsider has to ask some questions or comment or it's only you two posting.

Not trying to start shit with anyone, just trying to air the story out some more.

[Vintage Auto Werks1]

To clear things up about what Ryan spent on his engine work here is a break down.

Plugs $10
Wires $25
Distributor Cap $6.50
Rotor $6.00
Electronic Ignition $60.00

Labor for replacing above parts $100.00

If I did my math right that is 207.50

That is no where near $1000 for engine work and all the parts that were put on can be put back on a different engine so you are not out any money as far as parts go only out $100 in labor.

Looking at the bill it looks like I didnt even charge Ryan for the valve adjustment to take care of his lifters that were making noice cause someone tried to adjust the lifters before. He had hydralic lifters which shouldnt needed a adjustment.

I also replaced the front shocks, front and rear brake hoses, ball joints, brake propotioning valve bleed brakes. Parts total was $279.40 Labor total was $365

Replaced a few vaccum lines, and blower fan hoses. Parts total was $29 no labor charge

Total bill was about 880 plus tax minus 100 core deposit that was left for the ball joints put his final bill at 802.00 after tax.

Front end alignment was done which cost $50 and $20 gas charge was added since no gas was in vehicle when it came in. Kinda hard to test drive anything without gas. This was on a seperate bill.

He had one more bill that had a total of 125.96. This bill included replacing wiper blades, replacing cracked fuel lines, vaccum lines, also installing his spare tire on his bus since the tire he had on there was flat. The bus couldnt be drove with a flat tire.

Ryan spent some money here but I don't think my prices were out of line for the work that was done.

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to read this.

[keifernet]

[DeathBus]

[Vintage Auto Werks1]

I suggested doing the lifters cause they were noisy even after the bus was warmed up. It was like someone tried to adjust them thinking they were soild lifters. That is why I suggested to have them adjusted. If they didnt need it I wouldn't of suggested it to him.

[keifernet]

[DL West-Wiperguy]

I sent payment to Dan for NOS hood crests 2 of them for a total of $68 shipped and have not seen them. And Dan should refund my payment back to pay pal or send what I paid for! DL West

[Gary]

I responded to ads of Dan's on two separate occasions regarding merchandise he was selling. After the initial e-mails, he never got back to me regarding shipping or total cost. I have lost interest in ever purchasing anything from him.
_________________
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)

[DL West-Wiperguy]

received USPS tracking# from Dan today. 3 days later they showed up. Dans alright! DL West

[tasb]

I had purchased a repop mirror and drivers visor set for my oval from Dan. When they arrived I determined that the visor was not for the drivers side but for the passenger side. I sent Dan pics and explained the problem. He responded that he saw the problem and would have to get back to me.

Well its been several months and several emails exchanged and Dan never resolved this problem. I will not be buying from him again.

[mattg]

well, I took my bus up to vintage auto werks in what I believe was 2002. Dan at the time said he had a body man that could do some body work for me. The bus was dropped off in february. The bus did not return until the third week of june and when it did return the paint on the areas that were worked on were so horribly matched. Poor quality painting - not even close in matching. There were lines in between the og paint and the repaired areas. the welding was ok but had a few gaps. During this whole nightmare there was a rift that developed with dan's body man. I couldn't get the body man to commit when he was going to have the bus done and when I tried to talk to dan he was nice in telling me that he doesn't know what is going on but seemed to want nothing to do with the situation. needless to say I was dissapointed in the outcome of the whole situation. When I got the bus back - the guy who did the body work did deliver which I thought was nice because it took so long but I didnt pay his whole bill - because the quality was poor - and he didnt argue a bit because he knew it was crap. It cost me more money to have the areas resprayed at a later date to make up for the initial miscue. I felt like sharing this story after reading the earlier post. I cannot vouch for vintage auto werks mechanical work but I can say I was dissapointed in the body work. I have talked to dan once earlier this year and he tells me he has a new body guy and hopefully for dan's business he does better work than the guy he was using 4 years ago.
_________________
85 Westy Weekender

[Vintage Auto Werks1]

There is no doubt that the body guy I had a few years ago was a bad choice on my part. The shop was The Speed Shop. I got taken by him just as Matt did. I would take work there and it would not get done. I would watch others work leave but mine would still be sitting in the same corner. When it came to using this body shop I just had the customers deal with the shop directly so I wouldnt be a middle man. In the end I was still the middle man even though I was making no profit from it. I took a car there to do heater channels and after 4 months the car had been cut apart and nothing put back together. I paid money up front to have the work done and nothing but hack work was done. Had to finish cutting everything out and do the job over.

The body shop that I now deal with and work at is called Vintage Works Auto Body. This shop is located in Marengo,Il. The owner Tony has produced many show winning jobs over the years. The latest car he did the paint work on that you may have seen pictures of was a Type 34 drag car. I am sure it will be in the mags soon. We have a great crew and the quality of work is much better then what I used to have. Currently we have two 21 Windows two more waiting to come in one 51 split beetle and a handful of beetle and bay projects. Here is a couple links to some of the work. Sorry some of the pictures aren't clickable right now.

http://vintageautowerks.com/1965_sunroof_beetle.htm

http://vintageautowerks.com/claudes_1965_beetle3.htm

You can also check my gallery on here for some of the current work we have.

I have came along way since I started doing VW's. I have learned that one guy can't keep up with the workload of restorations, answering e-mails, calls, selling parts and getting them all shipped out in a timing fashion. I have helped out hundreds of people all over the world and made a few people upset at me cause I am not always as prompt as I should me. In the end I have made things as right as I could.

Dan

[DL West-Wiperguy]

Dan is a good guy. He just a one man show. And has limited help. DL West