Timing belt damage bought from emiata.com (Prothe)

South Coast Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Location
Mattapoisett, MA
TDI
2009 Jetta TDI wagon
Everyone (including me) looks for a bargain when buying car parts. Why do we find it so hard to believe that quality pars and work cost money and are cheaper in the long run?
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
This compilation leaves me speechless:

For those that cannot click the link above, here's the Rothenbacher thread first post:

In honor of "Prothe" also known as "Proethe" who seems to have single handedly destroyed more TDI's than anyone else -

See this current thread -> http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=314980

and http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=310437

And plenty elsewhere ... http://newbeetle.org/forums/feedback-forum/47214-warned-www-volkswaparts-com.html,

or here http://www.myturbodiesel.com/forum/f5/rothenbacher-enterprises-turbo-3720/

More are linked here, just lower on this tread: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3433761&postcount=18

And who creates fronts seemingly on the fly to escape his bad reputation:

www.bmw-cabrio-heckscheibe.com
www.bmw-convertible-window.com
www.cabrio-bmw-heckscheibe.de
www.central-locking-system.com
www.chevy-power-locks.com
www.clear-vinyl.com
www.convertible-window.com
www.convertiblewindscreen.co.uk
www.dieselvw.com
www.dieselvw-canada.com
www.emiata.com
www.ford-power-locks.com
www.hansautoparts.com
www.hansautoparts.co.uk
www.HansAutoTeile.com
www.hanscarparts.com
www.hansautoparts-charlotte.com
www.hansersatzteile.com
www.hansdieselparts.com
www.hanswagen.com
www.honda-power-locks.com
www.inductionrange.net
www.injection-pump.com
www.krautwagenparts.com
www.krautwagen.co.uk
www.lunette-peugeot-cabriolet.com
www.mazda-miata-window.com
www.Mercedes-Diesel-Parts.com
www.mtdiinjectorpump.com
www.parking-sensor.net
www.passat-parts.com
www.power-trunk.com
www.rothenbacher.us
www.rothengine.com
www.sauerkrautparts.com
www.stuttgart-parts.com
www.tdi-parts.com
www.tdi-engines.net
www.toyota-power-locks.com
www.volksdiesel.com
www.volkswaparts.com
www.volkswaparts.co.uk
www.vwdieseltools.com/
www.vwersatzteile.com
www.vwteileaususa.com
www.wagenparts.com
www.waterdistillation.net
www.westportparts.com
www.wobparts.com
www.wolfsburgparts.com

And which is owned by:


Pete Rothenbacher
Rothenbacher Engineering
5005 Smith Farm Rd.
Matthews, NC 28104
This is just southeast of Charlotte, NC about a mile off of Interstate 485 & US74 (Independence Blvd)
Phone Number: 1.704.684.1237 FAX: (267) 350-8978.

Also uses phone number (704) 684-1235, and can expect he owns a number of related numbers in that tree (704) 684-12XX. (I'd even bet that 684-1234 rings his desk directly)
http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=5005+Smith+Farm+Rd.%0AMatthews,+NC+28104&fb=1&gl=us&hnear=0x880fb0447ae71d6d:0xe95d217a6e46c8ba,Des+Plaines,+IL&cid=0,0,17081778655225536722&ei=Mp7vTaqBDufh0QGyq-z0DA&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQnwIwAA

Facebook for company http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rothenbacher-Enterprises/115638871830781

Owners Facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002435566739&sk=wall

EBay http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/prothe/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

http://forums.tdiclub.com/member.php?u=87399

I've created this thread in order to list the "Bad" ones.
........
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Shouldn't we be a little suspicious when someone offer the same service or product as a significant discount?
A bit of skepticism is, of course, in order, but there are many instances of people who overcharge... for a variety of reasons...

A friend recently paid $12 at the dealership for a replacement battery for his key-fob... I sincerely doubt that the battery will last any longer than the ones I get at the Dollar shops... (3 - CR2032 batteries per card...)

Yuri
 

Bobt250

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Location
Pittsburgh
TDI
1998 Jetta, 2000 Jetta
I bought a complete head and a turbo from him 5 years ago. 90k later and still running strong. I need another one for a different car and plan on buying from him again.
 

oldpoopie

Vendor
Joined
May 14, 2001
Location
Portland Oregon
TDI
2001 golf gl, 2006 jetta, 1981 ALH swapped rabbit pickup, 1998 beetle
I bought a complete head and a turbo from him 5 years ago. 90k later and still running strong. I need another one for a different car and plan on buying from him again.
There is always one lucky guy.
His stuff is garbage
 

smelly621

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Location
Sonoma County, CA
TDI
2001 Golf, 2003 Tacoma
Bobt250 - I've now seen you singing the praises of prothe in two threads now today. You seem very concerned with upholding the reputation of a vendor who has proven time and time again to sell crap to unsuspecting TDI owners which in turn frequently causes them significant grief. Let us know how your second roll of the dice goes.
 

Windex

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
I bought a complete head and a turbo from him 5 years ago. 90k later and still running strong. I need another one for a different car and plan on buying from him again.
Please - three different threads after 5 years of inactivity - Shill much? :rolleyes:
 

Bobt250

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Location
Pittsburgh
TDI
1998 Jetta, 2000 Jetta
I apologize for what appears to be a shill. The reason I was looking around is that I am in need of another head and was wondering what the word on him was now 5 years later. That's all, I'm not a shill, just stating my experience with him. I was planning on going straight to him (if I could find him) for another one but you guys have me concerned.

If I was a shill I would have been defending him years ago.

I only bought the head and turbo from him. I bought a timing belt kit from someone else that had a Conti belt. I've had good luck with those belts.

Can anyone say if they had a problem specifically with a head from this guy?

I seriously want to know because I need a head for an ALH
 
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truman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 18, 2000
Location
columbia,MO,usa
TDI
'05 Passat Variant, Still miss the 03JW
I think you should double down and report back on the result. Maybe you will get lucky twice and save some money.
 

Windex

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
C'mon. If you were looking for a recommendation on an ALH head, your post would have been about that.

Instead, it was about blind adulation with no other context, in three different threads in three different sub-forums, all within 15 minutes after a five year absence.

Shill. :p
 

Bobt250

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Location
Pittsburgh
TDI
1998 Jetta, 2000 Jetta
The only reason I said anything positive about the guy is that I thought it to be valuable information. Don't you want to know everyone's experience with a seller? I sure do. I'm looking for as much information as possible. As for a head, what I found 5 years ago was used VW heads for 900+ and the Prothe head for a little over 400. I was afraid of it because it seemed too cheap. Actually I passed on it and when I couldn't find what I thought was a reasonably priced head anywhere else I decided that a car with 232k miles on it was a risk worth taking. It worked out nicely. I'm sure that even you can imagine not every single part anyone sells will instantly fail...seriously ..it is possible I'm simply telling the truth.

Think me a shill if you want, I'm telling you that the one time I bought something from him it worked out. Maybe I'm lucky. I will look into the other guy you suggest.
 

Dimitri16V

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Location
DE
TDI
01 Golf, 04 Golf
The only reason I said anything positive about the guy is that I thought it to be valuable information. Don't you want to know everyone's experience with a seller? I sure do. I'm looking for as much information as possible. As for a head, what I found 5 years ago was used VW heads for 900+ and the Prothe head for a little over 400. I was afraid of it because it seemed too cheap. Actually I passed on it and when I couldn't find what I thought was a reasonably priced head anywhere else I decided that a car with 232k miles on it was a risk worth taking. It worked out nicely. I'm sure that even you can imagine not every single part anyone sells will instantly fail...seriously ..it is possible I'm simply telling the truth.
Think me a shill if you want, I'm telling you that the one time I bought something from him it worked out. Maybe I'm lucky. I will look into the other guy you suggest.
Chinese have always issues with materials engineering . They can't make metals or plastics as good as others
They have a "stealth" aircraft but no engines for it since they can't get the compostion of criticals metals properly . They have to buy engines from Russia

They can put a lot of other things together that perform so and so

Why you think the majority of commercial espionage originates from China ?
 

Windex

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
The information in threads like this is all about identifying trends.

In the grand scheme, my opinion does not matter, nor does yours.

Only in aggregate do all of the opinions / posts matter and form a trend.

As in statistics, one data point is meaningless. For your sake, It's a good thing that your head seems to be bucking the trend.

That said, the trends laid out in all three threads with your duplicate posts are clear - Prothe has left a long trail littered with wrecked engines in his wake. Worse, he does not stand behind his product to offer any kind of compensation when substandard parts cost honest people hard earned money - that to me is the worst part. If you read just this thread, that will be clear to you. Read the other two, and you will find the same.

If you choose to ignore the trend in this and the other threads, that is up to you, but don't post:

Originally Posted by Bobt250
I bought a complete head and a turbo from him 5 years ago. 90k later and still running strong. I need another one for a different car and plan on buying from him again.
Under the guise of seeking information about your ALH head requirement. By what you have written, you have clearly made a choice to ignore the trends in all three threads despite the ample information contained within.

"You can lead a horse to water..."
 
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Pat Dolan

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2002
Location
Martensville, SK
TDI
2003 A4 Variant, 2015 Q7
Chinese have always issues with materials engineering . They can't make metals or plastics as good as others
They have a "stealth" aircraft but no engines for it since they can't get the compostion of criticals metals properly . They have to buy engines from Russia
They can put a lot of other things together that perform so and so
Why you think the majority of commercial espionage originates from China ?
Chinese companies and people can make anything just as well as anyone else on the planet...IF they have outside supervision.

The culture of the country revolves around the language - that is contextural. A contract, specification, procedure, discussion, etc. can mean one thing (to them) one day, and something completely different another. Add to that being exceedingly materialistic and results oriented (due to a half century + of severe deprivation) and you can understand how the part they chose to make on Monday could be a very different part by Friday.

If you have ever flown on a new business jet, chances are a good size piece of it came from a shop in Shanghai. BUT: it is made with 100% supervision, QA/QC from a Western client.

Before getting too smug about Chinese quality, talk to someone who had to deal with Chevies from the old Lordstown, Ohio plant! Or, maybe spend a few dozen hours taking apart a vw CCTA engine from 2009 or 10 that has demonstrated pretty much the longest list of engineering f-ups in any one single engine that I have ever seen (EA888 family).

That said: I sure as hell do not buy my VW or Audi parts from Prothe/Chinese sources.
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
Chinese companies and people can make anything just as well as anyone else on the planet...IF they have outside supervision.
Supervision is important, but even more important is payment. If you want quality you have to be willing to pay for quality. Chinese manufacturers are more than capable of making top quality stuff. However, they are also quite willing to manufacture crap if that is all you are willing to pay for. I have never heard anyone complain about the manufacturing quality of an iPhone because Apple is willing to pay for (and demand) quality. I know a guy who went to China to see about getting some parts made there. He showed them the drawings and asked how much it would cost to make the parts. He was surprised when they asked him whether he wanted the parts manufactured to Chinese, American, or European quality standards. The price went up with each option.

That said: I sure as hell do not buy my VW or Audi parts from Prothe/Chinese sources.
Same here! Prothe does not pay extra for quality.

Have Fun!

Don
 

Pat Dolan

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2002
Location
Martensville, SK
TDI
2003 A4 Variant, 2015 Q7
Don: so true about "getting what you pay for" in China. Very few Chinese buy junk, they just export it. One of my translators once asked me why did I think Chinese people bought such expensive small things - to which I replied "you don't have a lot of space, and you still appreciate a long-lasting purchase, since in the old days, you would only get one of something for life". She thought about that for a few minutes, and told me I probably had it right.
 

wilcharl

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2010
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI BOUGHT BACK 23 NOV 16. Now owner of 2016 Jeep Cherokee
I am thinking prothe is going to be like a vulture circling over any TDIs bought back and "reccled" as part of the buyback program. He could have parts stock for years
 
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