Trusted TDI Mechanics - By State

I too took the drive to OH (on my way to KS for a long weekend) and dropped my car off to Ksmitty244 for a TB change, and glowplug harness. All I can say is he is a top notch tech with great customer service. He went over and above what was needed and treated my car like it was his own , hell the car was cleaner after I picked it up than it was before. He was very patience with me and my "well do you think you could also do this ? " which I asked several times. Kurt ended up doing the TB, Glow plugs, GP harness, ABS sensor , oil change , fuel filter change, adjusted my parking brake , and a bunch of other stuff that he noticed.
It is the first time in 3 years that my CEL has not been on ! I highly recommend him. Hopefully I will be visiting him again in the future for a 5th gear swap and a 11mm pump.

Lansing, MI - University Foreign Car Repair

Hello,

I've been taking my TDI to this mechanic since June 2011, and have had several very good experiences. I was referred to them by Martin Bergel in Fowlerville, MI, so I felt pretty good about going to them. They have responded not only to my emails, but also my really stupid questions (I am a NOOOOBEEE in the worst way). They are honest and do really quick work. Their prices seem fair, as I've verified and compared the costs of both parts and labor to parts stores and other mechanics. On Monday morning, my MIL came on, so I called for an appointment on Tuesday. By 11 am on Tuesday, they had diagnosed the issue and had completed the repair (wiring harness). They seem to have good access to parts. They have also repaired my key fob, done oil changes, and shown me parts that needed replacing, such as the cabin filter. Although I haven't asked yet, I do know that they provide rides to both MSU and the airport, although they said that I would probably have to get a ride back. They're open Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, and they also have a drop box for after hours key drop-offs. They have always provided me with a precise quote in advance. To a girl who appreciates her TDI, but doesn't have the knowledge or experience in fixing it, this place is heaven sent.
Here's the information.

University Foreign Car Repair
2621 E. Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48912
517-484-3111
universityforeigncar@gmail.com

I think it'd be cool if you let them know that you got this information on the TDI Forum.

Hope this helps!

jwlionking said:

Click Below :

Looking to be added to the Trusted Mechanics List or have someone you want added ? Click me

Trusted TDI Mechanics - By State List

Trusted TDI Mechanics By State Map

Disclaimer and suggestions for finding a mechanic for your car:

TDIClub is not responsible for the quality of work performed by a mechanic on this list. This list is a compilation of recommendations from other users. Due to the large quantity of shadetree and professional mechanics in our community, we cannot verify the accuracy of all information contained in the list. Skill level varies widely and the onus is on the end user to do his or her homework to determine whether a particular recommended mechanic is qualified to complete said work properly. Finally, be sure to get warranty claims in writing!

A member considering a mechanic on the list should search throughout TDIClub and elsewhere on the Internet for all the information he can find.
Then the prospective customer should thoroughly question the mechanic regarding his equipment, techniques, and the parts he uses. Here is where it's important for the customer to be educated and informed, so he will be able to recognize BS answers when he hears them.

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Bump for Davidson's Import Automotive

This man saved my butt on many occasions. Quality work, decent prices, kept me safe, but wasn't a salesman. I moved to MI, otherwise I'd still be taking my car to him. He is a class act!

CalPauley said:

OHIO (Dayton area)

Davidson Import Automotive
519 W. Main Street
Fairborn, OH 45324
937/878-7464

They have serviced all my family's VWs for over 20 years, from aircooleds to TDIs, and we trust them implicitly.

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Mary June, have either of these shops done timing belt related work for you? That's one of the major litmus tests for getting on the trusted list -- how a shop performs a timing belt change and whether or not they have the correct tools.

yup

Davidson's did two complete timing belt jobs on my car. He kept all the old parts to show to me. He is very quick, current with his equipment/tools, and did an excellent job for a fair price. I almost had the second timing belt done at University in MI, but wasn't up here yet, so I had Davidson's do it. I was very pleased both times.

VeeDubTDI said:

Mary June, have either of these shops done timing belt related work for you? That's one of the major litmus tests for getting on the trusted list -- how a shop performs a timing belt change and whether or not they have the correct tools.

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maryjune67- Do you know if they replaced all recommended TB parts?

Just a suggestion here... It might be a good idea if we had a few good gurus that would volunteer to give these newly submitted places a call and get a feel for them before adding to the list.

Just call, ask the person if he has a few minutes to talk, explain that he's being considered being added to a list of approved TDI mechanics for a very large TDI owners forum, and ask him to describe, in his own words, how he does a timing belt change. Follow that up with some questions. No "do you do this", or "do you use this" (yes or no) questions. More like "how do you do this", or "what parts do you replace" kind of questions. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so, and it beats asking customers who aren't experts, specific questions.

If they are reluctant to talk, or give an attitude that they don't like having to explain things to customers on the phone, that will give a good indication of their customer relation skills as well.

K5ING said:

Just a suggestion here... It might be a good idea if we had a few good gurus that would volunteer to give these newly submitted places a call and get a feel for them before adding to the list.

Just call, ask the person if he has a few minutes to talk, explain that he's being considered being added to a list of approved TDI mechanics for a very large TDI owners forum, and ask him to describe, in his own words, how he does a timing belt change. Follow that up with some questions. No "do you do this", or "do you use this" (yes or no) questions. More like "how do you do this", or "what parts do you replace" kind of questions. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so, and it beats asking customers who aren't experts, specific questions.

If they are reluctant to talk, or give an attitude that they don't like having to explain things to customers on the phone, that will give a good indication of their customer relation skills as well.

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I have done this for a few shops before adding them to the list, but it is time consuming and I don't always have time to do it in a timely manner. If someone else would like to volunteer to do this, it would be enormously helpful!

@ tditom, I'm sorry, I don't know about that. I wish I were more mechanically inclined so I could ask better questions of these mechanics. Live and learn, I guess...

please list the parts used on the receipt. We should be able to tell from that.

maryjune67 said:

I've been taking my TDI to this mechanic since June 2011, and have had several very good experiences. I was referred to them by Martin Bergel in Fowlerville, MI, so I felt pretty good about going to them.
(snip)

Here's the information.

University Foreign Car Repair
2621 E. Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48912
517-484-3111
universityforeigncar@gmail.com

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Marty is a pretty good reference for this shop, though I wonder why he didn't just work on MaryJune's car himself?

Marty usually has a backlog of work... popular guy.

Hans Wittler
121 Elizabeth NE
Albuquerque, NM 87123
(505) 456-7890
www.hanswittlerauto.com
info@hanswittlerauto.com

Replaced cam & EGR for a very reasonable price. (06 BRM, Dealer said car was totaled Wittler's price was 1/4 dealer's quote.) While Cam work is beyond what I feel competent in, he replaced the EGR for less than the pain in the A** that working in that space would have caused me had I done it myself.

Specializes in European vehicles has a certified VW mechanic on staff & uses VAG-Com.

MkVer said:

.... Dealer said car was totaled ...

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Dealers often pull that trick, so that they can sell you a new car and not give you much for your trade-in. The VW dealership in Des Moines tried that scheme on a friend of mine; when I called them and mentioned a lawyer friend of my sister's, suddenly the dealership was able to fix my friend's Jetta TDI almost by magic and for only a couple hundred dollars, and it is still running very well six months later.

Hello all,

After enduring a huge headache and a huge mis-diagnosis on my 97 Jetta TDI at a VW dealership I'd like to post TWO recommendations.
1st of which is to keep your car as far away as possible from Valley VW (formally Rule VW) of Staunton, Va. They tried to sell me $3000 worth of parts and labor that wasn't needed.
2nd recommendation is to take your car to Tom (ninedee_golf_tdi) of Stafford, Va. If you live anywhere in the mid-atlantic states, it'd be worth your time to get your car to Tom if your TDI needs work. Thanks Tom!

exactly

That was exactly why. I've heard he's good!

VeeDubTDI said:

Marty usually has a backlog of work... popular guy.

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Thanks to the TDI Forum, I found a great mechanic "Mr. Roger Feldt" while reading on this website. Last year, my 04 Jetta TDI started to have excess black smoke and loss of power. I have taken the car to 5 different places (including vw dealership) and spent a lot of money for costly repairs (new turbocharger, EGR valve, MAF sensor, etc..) although none of which solved the problem. While reading the TDI forum a couple of month ago, I got the name and contact # of Mr. Roger Feldt. I emailed him about my car problem and instantly got a lengthy diagnostic email. I was thrilled with his knowledge and dedication. He diagnosed a worn cam and replaced a new one that restored the power and ended the excessive exhaust smoke. Honestly, I have never met such a great mechanic who works with passion, professional and very reasonable. I am really happy to share my experience with other TDI members, and strongly recommend residents of Atlanta and the surrounding areas to be aware that we have a good TDI mechanic.

I was driving today and went by a VW repair shop called Oval's Motorsport near Fife, Washington. Address is listed as being in Milton, WA on highway 99.

Has anyone in the TDI nation had an experience with this shop? Here's their website:

http://www.ovalsmotorsport.com/index.html

Please let me know if you have any info about this shop.

Thanks!
Moose

+1 On www.torquejunkie.com Great work.. Just had my car done new vn17 turbo, vr6 clutch , rocket chip , runs like a dream. Highly recommended very professional and knowledgeable.

San Diego VW Mechanics

Anyone have a good recommendation for a mechanics shop in North County San Diego? We just got a 2010 JSW TDI and are looking at getting the 40K maintenance done.

SD2010JSW said:

Anyone have a good recommendation for a mechanics shop in North County San Diego? We just got a 2010 JSW TDI and are looking at getting the 40K maintenance done.

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I recommend contacting Leonard Harview at Wild Rose Motors in Whittier. (His TDI Club username is Harvieux.)

Whittier is probably not as close as you'd like, but Leonard does good work and he can probably fit you in on a Saturday if weekdays are inconvenient. Plus it's a good idea to get to know him now, because you'll probably want him to do the timing belt when it's time.

www.vwtdionly.com

I have some transmission issues with my 2002 Jetta TDI Automatic. Has anyone had any experience with Rivercity Autowerks in Hudson Wisconsin?

1996 TDI Jetta

Just purchased a 1996 Jetta TDI. The car was just torn apart, the engine pulled and rebuilt then put back together. Wanted to make sure it was all put back together right. Anyone have a suggestion of someone in the twin cities who could look at the engine compartment and say everything is fine? Am in St Paul. A couple things I am seeing concern me.

Boondoggle said:

I have some transmission issues with my 2002 Jetta TDI Automatic. Has anyone had any experience with Rivercity Autowerks in Hudson Wisconsin?

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Contact Merkerguitars, he might be able to point you in a good direction.

bbb1007 said:

Just purchased a 1996 Jetta TDI. The car was just torn apart, the engine pulled and rebuilt then put back together. Wanted to make sure it was all put back together right. Anyone have a suggestion of someone in the twin cities who could look at the engine compartment and say everything is fine? Am in St Paul. A couple things I am seeing concern me.

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You can contact Deafbug or Merkerguitars also and they should be able to help you out.

I have left them both a private message, and no reply. They don't seem to be active any longer.

Boondoggle said:

I have left them both a private message, and no reply. They don't seem to be active any longer.

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They may not check in here all that often... I'll PM you some other (old???) contact info... You can also try Greengeeker in Cambridge...

However, the automatic transmissions on your vintage VWs aren't highly regarded, and when they start acting up, putting in an authentic VW rebuilt unit or converting the car to a 5-speed manual is the only fix...

Good luck,

Yuri

Yuri.. That's false.. There's nothing wrong with a used automatic.. The VW remans are $3500 plus install/tax.. used ones typically are under $1k.. I can also get reman units with a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty for like $2k...

Does the 2 year unlimited mileage warranty pay for installation of the replacements? Even if it does, though, that's only 2 years.

TDIJetta99 said:

Yuri.. That's false.. There's nothing wrong with a used automatic.. The VW remans are $3500 plus install/tax.. used ones typically are under $1k.. I can also get reman units with a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty for like $2k...

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Yuri is right, There is no sense of puting used transmission in TDI that is problematic, it will be waste of time and money. The used tranny in our region go for anywhere from 1400-1900 with mileage no less 100k. Rebuilding it you might get lucky if you find good knoweledgeable transmission shop that will rebuild them that will last you for maybe another 100k but its rare. So if you wan't most cost effective in long run way is to do manual swap or OEM rebuilt unit.

bhtooefr said:

Does the 2 year unlimited mileage warranty pay for installation of the replacements? Even if it does, though, that's only 2 years.

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Covers parts and labor for 2 years, unlimited mileage...

Last few used ones I bought were $700-800 and worked fine..

Losha, I just don't see it being worth it to put $4k+ (after install/tax) into a car that's worth about $4-5k even after it's fixed.. Less if it has a lot of miles..

A 5-speed swap is usually worth it after it's all said and done, but a lot of people just don't want a manual trans car...