horrible stealrship story

[jetta 97]

I just had customer who travel from New Jersey to Lewisville ,TX to see his family.
One day he went to store and when he come back to car ,car did not want to start. So he left car over there and come back other day and car starts. He drove car home ,turn off and again car don't want start and he call dealer tow car there .
They called him back and told him he needs Injection Pump.That his pump not delivering fuel and it will be around $2000.
Luckily he found me on forums and I called him and he ask me can I do any better price on pump. I told him yes I can do way better then that price but I want to check car first before start replacing pump.
So I went straight to dealer and on parking check car and find out 109 relay is bad. Customer has spare relay in car and I put relay in it and miracle. Pump start pumping fuel at injector lines but unfortunately car did not start. I see lot of smoke coming out of exhaust and I told guy that possible timing is bad or they may be right about pump but did not explain good to you.
So we call towing and got car at my place.
I start checking timing with tool and there is perfect alignment between crankshaft and camshaft BUT IP is way out.
Here is coming funny part.
I put mirror to see what is going on and BOOM. You can see fresh marks on IP and someone recently retard IP and put all the way to the end of adjustment. I loose the blots and put on marks where they originally was and BOOOOOM.
Car start that on half key. Adjust timing and car is start every time when you try to start it. Running very good.
So technician in dealer new what is going on and retard pump on purpose to take advantage of this guy for $2000.

I still can't believe this.I can't believe someone can be like that.
And probably they were thinking this guy is from far North and he has no choice and he will go for it, But fortunately and luckily we have this forum and He found me.

 

[Shastapk]

Unbelievable......please name names.

 

[leicaman]

I be the dealer or the tech had a boat payment due...

 

[bayshorecs]

Any takers on if the pump would have actually been replaced or just a 109, reset the timing, and a big fat bill!

 

[dieseldorf]

So technician in dealer new what is going on and retard pump on purpose to take advantage of this guy for $2000.

 

[AndyBees]

That's really sad!

I've only had "one" experience at a VW dealer....I'll make story short.

1999 on the way to Alaska, my '83 Vanagon developed a slight mis-fire. Compression check by me showed that #3 cylinder was about 70 psi.

Well, the VW dealer at Grande Prairaire, Alberta Canada repaired the engine in record time and at an execptionally good price.

The exhaust valve seat was beginning to move and causing the valve to not seat properly. That is a common problem with the Air Cooled 2.0 engine with high miles.

 

[DoctorDawg]

Unbelievable......please name names.

+1. Please name the dealer. This is larceny.

 

[touaregv10tdi]

Stealership

Here is a good one, Oilhammer knows exactly location of this dealer...


Bommarito Vokswagen of St Peters
4190 N Service road
St Peters, MO 63376
(636) 928 2300

One of my 2005 Jettas was leaking boost at the inter cooler hose, I took it to the dealer because it had less than 50K miles, I thought , hec warranty will cover it.

After the "Job was done" My sister took the car from the dealer , Jumped on the interstate ( I-70 ) she heard a thumping noise , the car goes on a limpy mode.

When she finally made home, with a CEL on, I raised the car, removed the bottom pan, just to find out they replaced the intercooler hoses and the turbo hose but did not put the clamps back on. NONE !

I took pictures, went back off course they denied it, but when I demanded the clamps, they gave it back to me the used ones I had, So I told the service person, if you put back the clamps as you claimed, how come you just gave me a bag containing all my old clamps ? Dooohhhh
I put back all the clips, issue resolved. Few days later I got a quality call from VW of America .... omg ! They heard it all, I also sent a letter to the dealer with photos as well as a nasty-gram to Volkswagen of America , with photos names etc. I never heard anything back from them.
Bottom line for us here around St louis, if you have any TDi related issues, take to Oilhammer. He is " Da Man" .
Never ever bring it to Bommarito Volkswagen....

 

[diesel4ever]

Buddy of mine has 2001 Jetta. One day leaving his work there is sudden loss of power as he got on the throttle and lot of smoke out of exhaust. Fortunately (he thinks) the dealer is only a couple of blocks away. He limps into the dealership and they perform the diagnosis. They claim there is a faulty temperature sensor and could be something else, but they can't complete the diagnosis since the EGR is blocked off and EGR pipe removed. Also, he had a glow plug broken sometime ago, the original fix wasn't the best and they claimed that there was insufficient compression on cylinder #2. They showed him the blow by around the GP. They charged him $600.00 and the car still had hard time starting and only about half the power.
He drove it to my place, hooked the VCDS and voila, the timing was way off. I tightened the GP to the proper torque, reconnected the temp sensor and $60.00 later he was all set. That was six months ago and he is still OK. No wonder we call them stealerships.

 

[Windex]

As far as the clamps, that's just idiocy.

For the IP in the OP rolleyes: ), It's possible that the tech was just incompetent rather than nefarious. If the guy did not know to look for the CEL on key-on, then he may have attempted to check the IP timing before seeing if there was fuel coming from the injectors. Once advancing and retarding the IP through its travel was ineffective, he probably cracked a fuel line, and made the assumption that there was a bad pump due to no fuel at the injector.




...or he might have been a scumbag.

 

[oldpoopie]

I just had customer who travel from New Jersey to Lewisville ,TX to see his family.
One day he went to store and when he come back to car ,car did not want to start. So he left car over there and come back other day and car starts. He drove car home ,turn off and again car don't want start and he call dealer tow car there .
They called him back and told him he needs Injection Pump.That his pump not delivering fuel and it will be around $2000.
Luckily he found me on forums and I called him and he ask me can I do any better price on pump. I told him yes I can do way better then that price but I want to check car first before start replacing pump.
So I went straight to dealer and on parking check car and find out 109 relay is bad. Customer has spare relay in car and I put relay in it and miracle. Pump start pumping fuel at injector lines but unfortunately car did not start. I see lot of smoke coming out of exhaust and I told guy that possible timing is bad or they may be right about pump but did not explain good to you.
So we call towing and got car at my place.
I start checking timing with tool and there is perfect alignment between crankshaft and camshaft BUT IP is way out.
Here is coming funny part.
I put mirror to see what is going on and BOOM. You can see fresh marks on IP and someone recently retard IP and put all the way to the end of adjustment. I loose the blots and put on marks where they originally was and BOOOOOM.
Car start that on half key. Adjust timing and car is start every time when you try to start it. Running very good.
So technician in dealer new what is going on and retard pump on purpose to take advantage of this guy for $2000.

I still can't believe this.I can't believe someone can be like that.
And probably they were thinking this guy is from far North and he has no choice and he will go for it, But fortunately and luckily we have this forum and He found me.

This must be member whitebelly, he's an old friend from NJ. He sent me a message on facebook, and found you by the time I responded. Glad it worked out.

 

[turbocharged798]

I think if my car broke down right in front of a VW dealership, and I could not fix it there on the side of the road, I would pay somebody to tow it back to my house or the nearest guru.

 

[jetta 97]

This must be member whitebelly, he's an old friend from NJ. He sent me a message on facebook, and found you by the time I responded. Glad it worked out.

Yes it is .He was telling me about you.All good stuff

 

[jetta 97]

+1. Please name the dealer. This is larceny.

VW Lewisville,TX

 

[big_worm81]

Wow, unbelievable!

 

[Shastapk]

I just sent their service dept a note. Maybe some of you would like to as well. Man, this pisses me off.

http://www.lewisvillevolkswagen.com/

 

[VWBeamer]

This why the cars get a bad rep. But it''s not just the dealers.

Friend bought a 98 TDI a bout 2 years ago, the PO had just paid $4500 for a turbo!!! This was a local import Only repair shop.

For me it's a GURU or me. No one else touches my cars except to put tires on it.

 

[oldpoopie]

Yes it is .He was telling me about you.All good stuff

Good. Glad he found you. Pete is one of the old guard. He hosted some GTG's way back in 01 and 02 at his place. Lots of fun.

 

[far_cry]

for god sake why they did not give him other tool to hold that's give more inspiration ,i doubt if he know what size that wrench duh
besides ,that a 18mm wrench

 

[jetta 97]

Good. Glad he found you. Pete is one of the old guard. He hosted some GTG's way back in 01 and 02 at his place. Lots of fun.

He is very nice guy. He did not even want go back and complain about it. He just said let it go. And I was about to start war in that dealership.

 

[DoctorDawg]

It's possible that the tech was just incompetent rather than nefarious. If the guy did not know to look for the CEL on key-on, then he may have attempted to check the IP timing before seeing if there was fuel coming from the injectors.

I thought that checking for codes was the only thing techs know how to do....

 

[KROUT]

I had one towed to me last year they said he need an ecu and it was the 109 relay.
Had another towed from the dealer a few weeks ago they said bad injection pump. I resealed the QA adjuster and replaced the fuel tank sending unit(sucking air). They wanted 2000 in repairs and the car still would not have run. He was out the door at my shop for under 250.

 

[whitebelly]

He is very nice guy. He did not even want go back and complain about it. He just said let it go. And I was about to start war in that dealership.

Hi all,

Thanks for all the responses.

Yep, it was me and my car in question... I just wanted to say thanks to Marin (jetta ,97) for his help and hard work! He saved me about $1800!

Also, thanks to this invaluable forum group and community. I can't believe I didn't think to check here FIRST!!!

For anyone who might be in north Texas, reach out to Marin for your car needs! He's an excellent technician, and a really great guy. I'll be going back to him from now on.

Thanks again Marin! Thanks also to Justin, and to everyone here on TDIClub!

 

[jetta 97]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the responses.

Yep, it was me and my car in question... I just wanted to say thanks to Marin (jetta ,97) for his help and hard work! He saved me about $1800!

Also, thanks to this invaluable forum group and community. I can't believe I didn't think to check here FIRST!!!

For anyone who might be in north Texas, reach out to Marin for your car needs! He's an excellent technician, and a really great guy. I'll be going back to him from now on.

Thanks again Marin! Thanks also to Justin, and to everyone here on TDIClub!

Thank you very much Pete.

 

[rmchambers]

That's what makes the TDI and it's community the best

Reading stories like this it breaks my heart to know the stealerships either through design or idiocy are ripping people off and doing the shoddiest work I've heard of.

Unlike many car brands, this community of TDI enthusiasts looks out for each other, has trusted reputable people scattered throughout and really makes having one of these cars an all around good experience.

If anything can make up for the bad feeling I get from reading dealership stories it's reading the happy ending stories from finding a trusted guru and having everything work out.

I've learned a lot and saved myself a ton of money so far following the advice and suggestions and how-to's in this forum.

 

[Holdnerj]

Was fortunate enough to check this forum when my 2004 Jetta wagon TDI started having problems. Called Marin and got appointment to fix car. Followed his recommendations on fixing things that could go wrong shortly. When I picked up car he sat me down and explained everything and showed me the old parts and the evidence that supported his recommendation. He also gave me a list of things that I should be using in support of maintaining this vehicle. What a fantastic attitude and work ethic. I recommend him to everybody for anything needing help.