**Bad VW part vendor WARNING list**

Toby_B

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Location
wilmington il
TDI
2000 audi tt alh swap, 2014 chevy cruze diesel that replaced 2012 jetta tdi, 2008 dodge cummins
I'm not sure which vendor you were referring to, but Metalman is a great vendor, we all make mistakes.

great vendor or not my experience with them was far less than great, they said they cannot get the new injection pumps anymore but they still have them listed as available on the website, if you dont have it dont list it for sale period.
 

TDIJetta99

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
TDI
03... Faster than yours =]
great vendor or not my experience with them was far less than great, they said they cannot get the new injection pumps anymore but they still have them listed as available on the website, if you dont have it dont list it for sale period.
I'm sure it's a situation where his supplier is out of stock.. If it's no longer available (discontinued etc..) it wouldn't be on the site for sale still..

My local dealer can't give me an ETA on that particular new part number either.. Just said it's on some sort of backorder.. I can have a reman on Tuesday though LOL..
 

normalicy

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
Location
St. Louis, MO
TDI
2000 Beetle
Well, add me to the list. I bought a Beetle from a guy who had one of their turbos professionally installed 1000 miles ago & it sucked up all the oil up & spat it out thus seizing my engine. Pissed is a mild way of explaining how I feel.

Oh, but they did offer to replace the turbo... not that I'd consider putting it in another engine of mine.
 

SuburbanTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2004
Location
Midwest
TDI
Beetle TDI, and two Jetta TDI
I've added a handful more from Proethe to the masterlist on page 1. He's quite slippery:

turbosandparts westgermancarparts airoilandfuelfilters ford-trucks-power-windows
 
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beantown

Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2006
Location
North Carolina
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
WOW prothe's business is less than 15 minutes from where I live. :eek: Glad I found this thread. Even happier I didn't buy anything from them. Bumping this back to the top for more visibility.
 

Scott_DeWitt

Vendor
Joined
Apr 7, 2004
Location
Texas USA
TDI
2000 Audi A4 1.9TDI quattro
People who solely shop price will get what they pay for. I can't fathom how he can stay in business.
 

Icecream

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Location
Calgary
TDI
1999.5 golf
Fingers crossed, but I bought my pistons, rod bearings, and lifters from him before I ran across any of the bad publicity for this dealer. I have nearly 5k miles on my rebuild so far, and all is running fine. Hopefully I got lucky.
One year ago I purchased a rebuilt VW ALH Turbocharger from him,had it installed by my trusted VW mechanic and I'm happy to say that the turbo works very well. Checking his feed back on eBay, it shows 68 negatives out of 8471 transactions,which amounts to less then 1% in total.Most car part suppliers with that many sales,have about the same amount of negatives.Just to make it clear,I don't know the guy,I live in Western Canada and gain absolutely nothing by defending this company.
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Checking his feed back on eBay, it shows 68 negatives out of 8471 transactions,which amounts to less then 1% in total.
Look a bit deeper into what type of items he sells the most... the non-mechanical items (cards, decals, etc.) would never result in any calamitous failure that would engender serious disputes...

Caveat Emptor.


Yuri
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
In addition, a lot of people leave feedback when they receive a part. Unfortunately, you can't change that feedback down the road if the part fails.
 

Got Bearings?

Veteran Member
Joined
May 5, 2007
Location
SoCal
TDI
2001 Golf GLS
One year ago I purchased a rebuilt VW ALH Turbocharger from him,had it installed by my trusted VW mechanic and I'm happy to say that the turbo works very well. Checking his feed back on eBay, it shows 68 negatives out of 8471 transactions,which amounts to less then 1% in total.Most car part suppliers with that many sales,have about the same amount of negatives.Just to make it clear,I don't know the guy,I live in Western Canada and gain absolutely nothing by defending this company.
In addition, a lot of people leave feedback when they receive a part. Unfortunately, you can't change that feedback down the road if the part fails.
THIS!!!

EBay feedback is useless except for shipping product
 

gharris1100

New member
Joined
Apr 6, 2013
Location
monrovia Indiana
TDI
new beetle tdi alh
he got me! i bought a 2000 beetle a few months ago, searched the net for injectors and he was the first one i found, price sounded good. got them installed, 2 of them wont hold the cylinder pressure out. the piston is pushing air into the injector. there is no way they were pop tested. they might not have any springs in em. he probably wont give me a refund either, prob send another junk set
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
he got me! i bought a 2000 beetle a few months ago, searched the net for injectors and he was the first one i found, price sounded good. got them installed, 2 of them wont hold the cylinder pressure out. the piston is pushing air into the injector. there is no way they were pop tested. they might not have any springs in em. he probably wont give me a refund either, prob send another junk set
Try to get a refund, especially if you paid by credit card - perhaps through your CC company.

As far as his warranty is concerned, you'll just receive another set of crappy injectors. If the injectors cause your engine to fail, he will send you another set of injectors.

Real piece of work, eh?
 

gharris1100

New member
Joined
Apr 6, 2013
Location
monrovia Indiana
TDI
new beetle tdi alh
i emailed them, sent them back and was issued a refund. they may sell bad parts but they made it right. im having trouble being mad at them, i shoulda known with the pricso cheap.
 
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VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
i emailed them, sent them back and was issued a refund. they may sell bad parts but they made it right. im having trouble being mad at them, i shoulda known with the pricso cheap.
Glad you got your money back!
 

igiveup

Veteran Member
Joined
May 2, 2010
Location
Mississauga, Ontario
TDI
2005 Passat, 2009 Jetta
yeah hansautoparts.com recently screwed me. tried to buy a BRM intercooler from them. they sent out the wrong intercooler. The part number on the box was right but not what was inside.
And they are pawning this stuff as OE, I'm not convinced that the "made in China" Intercooler was OE.

They gave me my money back minus the $30 for shipping it back to them.

They are stricken from my list.
 

TDIJetta99

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
TDI
03... Faster than yours =]
Ya intercoolers are hit and miss with them.. I get a lot of radiators and radiator fans from them and so far so good.. believe it or not the quality is better than napa/autozone on those 2 items

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
 

steadyhand

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2008
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
TDI
Golf '05 GLS TDI
Dear Mr. Rothenbacher,

Thank you for reaching out and offering to make things right - I really do appreciate the good will.

Take care,

R-
 
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bhtooefr

TDIClub Enthusiast, ToofTek Inventor
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Location
Newark, OH
TDI
None
Ya intercoolers are hit and miss with them.. I get a lot of radiators and radiator fans from them and so far so good.. believe it or not the quality is better than napa/autozone on those 2 items
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
Huh. Then again, Autozone quality is really atrocious, so that's not saying much.
 

TDIJetta99

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
TDI
03... Faster than yours =]
Huh. Then again, Autozone quality is really atrocious, so that's not saying much.
very true.. The advantage to Autozone is the lifetime warranty on most anything.. I won't touch their axle shafts unless it's a real emergency, and when I do I get a new one so there's no core, and OE one gets sent to Raxles for a rebuild then goes back in the car it came out of..
 

draco76

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Location
Granite City, IL
TDI
99 NB(sold), 03 NB(sold), 100% bug free :) 99.5 4d Golf, 2004 GL Wagon
I almost got tricked by another of his bs webseites. This one looks professional not like the old ones did.

hansautoparts. Was looking for an alh turbo that one poped up for $525 with a 150 part refund, sounded good but then I saw who was running the website. Thanks god for TDI club.
 
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A5INKY

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Location
Louisville, KY
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI, 2002 Eurovan Westphalia VR6
I almost got tricked by another of his bs websites. This one looks professional not like the old ones did.

hansautoparts dot com

Was looking for an alh turbo that one poped up for $525 with a 150 part refund, sounded good but then I saw who was running the website. Thanks god for TDI club.
Please don't link his sites, it actually helps him even when it is to warn.

I was looking for a MKIV drivers door lock module and one popped up from that site for $29 vs. a lowest other price I found of $139. Fortunately I went to the about page because the price was too good to be true. At least he very plainly disclosed who he was.
 
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oldpoopie

Vendor
Joined
May 14, 2001
Location
Portland Oregon
TDI
2001 golf gl, 2006 jetta, 1981 ALH swapped rabbit pickup, 1998 beetle
Was it a busted belt or tensioner or what? Actually, I guess it doesn't matter....
 
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