Trusted TDI Mechanics - By State

[mikezoldi]

I just had my 2010 Jetta TDI w/ DSG serviced by JA Autowerks at 40k miles and paid $550 not including tax. John is very knowledgeable. Hope the major difference in price has to do with the transmission service, otherwise I am happy with the quality. It wasn't a savings from the dealerships I priced, but I didn't worry about the quality of service.

I want to make it clear, John did an outstanding job on my service and I will highly recommend him. I used this forum the best I could to vet out the mechanic I would go to. It still is rolling the dice, I may not get along with some and others they may not want to do work for me. All in all, a large majority of us do not know each other personally, we are still acting on blind faith going to any of the recommended mechanics. I got lucky with this one.


JA Autowerks
193 Newman Springs Road
Shrewsbury, NJ 07702
732-707-1773
http://www.jaautowerks.com
Shop owner is John

 

[Dallas1]

needed seasoned TDI mechanic in Missoula, MT area

Help need someone to eval my TDI. I've been threading Oilhammer on the problem and have come up with some possible fixes. Need a Knowledgable Mechanic.

 

[jeffinstereo]

Dallas, you should check/Post the Regional forum.

 

[fillies]

New Orleans TDI Mechanic

Anyone know of one in the New Orleans area? I'm in the area for a few months and don't want to visit the dealer.

 

[TornadoRed]

Anyone know of one in the New Orleans area? I'm in the area for a few months and don't want to visit the dealer.

You might check with this guy. He was recommended a couple years ago, but then no word about whether he's really great or even if he's available to work on TDIs.

If he does some work for you, report back with your opinion.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=2317571&postcount=579

 

[tditom]

I need to provide a negative review one of these "trusted" shops:
Fast Enough Performance
710 Downs Ave
Lexington KY 40505
859-258-2015

My daughter took her disabled 01 Golf there because it would not shift into gear. First they diagnosed the transmission as needing to be replaced along with the master and slave cylinders. When I questioned the need for a master/slave cylinder replacement they came back with a DMF failure diagnosis and quoted OE part pricing for replacement. Seems to me a "trusted" vendor on this list would source their parts from any number of reasonably priced, high quality parts provided by the many vendors on this forum.

They also charged her an hour labor on her driver's seat being stuck forward. When I did her timing belt earlier this year I was able to get the seat to move backward after messing with it for 5 min. I didn't have time to fix it then, but was really surprised when they charged her an hour labor just to tell her it needed parts.

I guess the two hours labor they charged her for diagnosing a failed DMF included the earlier false diagnosis of a failed transmission when it really was just a DMF. Their labor rate is $78.75/hour. She paid them the $236.25 and took her car to another place to get the clutch and flywheel replaced for about $500 less then Fast Enough quoted.

I would not recommend this shop.

 

[fz1miller]

What about San Diego? Anyone here?

 

[Losha]

Tditom, not knowing all details of this incident nor how knowledge this shop is with VW/Audi's vehicles. Can say one thing charging her an hour of their time to fix that stuck seat is pretty fair, depending on what broke on seat or if its pin just stuck in, can easily kill an hour of your timing trying to repair the problem. I had to fix driver seat seized up locking pin for slider and it was pitta to reassemble everything. On this golf all needed was just to clean / lubricate locking pin which requires to removal of it.

As far as diagnosing failed dmf is another story, for experienced mechanical in VW/Audi seen good share of failed dmf can determine failed flywheel in matter of few min and could spend hr to verify it's failure by eliminating bad slave/master cylinder is by bleeding system. Failed flywheel can cause cracked pressure plate, shattered disk, and thus causing transmission stuck in gear or not be able to shift into any gear with engine running. With failed dmf also suggested to replace the slave cylinder and throw out bearing guide sleeve, sometimes slave cylinder can get destroyed when dfm fails (mostly on Audi's )

 

[bhtooefr]

But we're talking about an 01 Golf, which is an 02J, and you can easily get at the slave and see whether it's been damaged.

 

[Losha]

But we're talking about an 01 Golf, which is an 02J, and you can easily get at the slave and see whether it's been damaged.

Yes, I know 02J transmission slave cylinder are easy accessible and can be replaced in minutes if vehicle is completely stock. I was pointing out as in general VW/Audi vehicles and referring to as max amount of time possibly needed.

 

[tditom]

Tditom, not knowing all details of this incident nor how knowledge this shop is with VW/Audi's vehicles. Can say one thing charging her an hour of their time to fix that stuck seat is pretty fair, depending on what broke on seat or if its pin just stuck in, can easily kill an hour of your timing trying to repair the problem. I had to fix driver seat seized up locking pin for slider and it was pitta to reassemble everything. On this golf all needed was just to clean / lubricate locking pin which requires to removal of it.

As far as diagnosing failed dmf is another story, for experienced mechanical in VW/Audi seen good share of failed dmf can determine failed flywheel in matter of few min and could spend hr to verify it's failure by eliminating bad slave/master cylinder is by bleeding system. Failed flywheel can cause cracked pressure plate, shattered disk, and thus causing transmission stuck in gear or not be able to shift into any gear with engine running. With failed dmf also suggested to replace the slave cylinder and throw out bearing guide sleeve, sometimes slave cylinder can get destroyed when dfm fails (mostly on Audi's )

If they had actually fixed the seat there would be no problem. Instead they charged her an hour to tell her it was broke

Strange that the need for replacing master and slave cylinder went away AFTER they figured out the DMF had failed. So I guess in this case it was NOT destroyed.

 

[Lindamh]

Timing Belt

Thanks, again, for this listing of mechanics. My 2002 Jetta Sportwagen is due for a timing belt. The dealer quoted $1300 and Bob Mann quoted $700.
Guess where I'm going?
BTW - even worse was the Lexus dealer (traded used Lexus for 2011 Jetta Sportwagen) who quoted me over $1800 for rear brakes and calipers - local guy did it for under $400 (we supplied the rotors).
Linda

 

[UBUGME]

Scott Krout Jacksonville, FL

I just want to thank Scott Krout from Jacksonville. FL (Palm Coast, FL) for working on my New Beetle. He installed a Single Mass Flywheel, resealed the injection pump and did an intake manifold and EGR cooler removal and cleaning. While he was at it, he noticed that my engine was leaking oil from two seals. He replaced them and to sweeten the deal, he washed the engine.

Scott is a professional and he will treat your car as it was his own. Highly recommended.

 

[paramedick]

I need to provide a negative review one of these "trusted" shops:

Fast Enough Performance
710 Downs Ave
Lexington KY 40505
859-258-2015
.

Sadly, things are not what they once were. I now have to think carefully before I send anyone to them. This is the second customer of mine that has had problems.

 

[fase2000TDI]

Sadly, things are not what they once were. I now have to think carefully before I send anyone to them. This is the second customer of mine that has had problems.

I have worked on cars that Paramedick worked on last, and I'm happy to say that if I didn't know otherwise, I'd have assumed the car hadn't been touched since leaving the factory. Recently changed the radiator on Riofrio's (Jose's) 96 Passat - and everything went smoothly - it's clear that you took care when performing that service years ago. Thank you paramedick.

 

[Bob_Fout]

Sadly, things are not what they once were. I now have to think carefully before I send anyone to them. This is the second customer of mine that has had problems.

My SouthBend clutch experience with them a few years ago was marginal. I wasn't totally happy, but wasn't wholly disappointed.

 

[paramedick]

.....make that 3
I've been searching for an alternative. Pickings are slim.

 

[jasonTDI]

I've had good luck with south bend, so far...

 

[Bob_Fout]

I've had good luck with south bend, so far...

Ya, my clutch/flywheel was warrantied through SB by Fast Enough Performance, they [Fast Enough] are the ones I took exception with.

 

[SUPDan]

I have to say...

Martys VW & Audi Service
203 Center St
New Milford, NJ 07646
(201) 261-4244

is AWESOME! Extremely helpful and full of knowledge. They have earned my business when I am in the Tri-state area. Very honest and up front...so much that they knew what they said would save me money and let them earn less. You have to respect guys that aren't worried about trying to make a few extra $$$ and would rather give it to you straight.

 

[pint pilot]

another vote for Chris Zanis

(TDI club handle GTiTDi) to be put on the trusted mechanics list.

Schnell Snail TDI Performance
25 Foster Howard Rd. #10
Pocasset, MA 02559
774-313-6478
dr.vdub@yahoo.com

I had recently moved to Cape Cod and of course the car starts running like crap, it was hard to start, had no power, would bog down when on the accelerator, made lots of bad noise around 2K rpm and the CEL came on (sorry don’t remember the code). After a bad experience at a local specialty audi/vw shop I called the closest (over any hour away) tdi mechanic on the trusted list - Chris Hill of Kraftwerke Autotechnic who was extremely helpful (diagnosed a faulty injector pump over the phone) and once he was aware of my location referred me to Chris Zanis.
The first thing that impressed me with Chris Zanis was the interrogation. In 20+ years of auto ownership I have never been asked so many questions by a mechanic, not just about the symptoms but what had been done to the car and even how it was driven. Anyway, Chris checked it out and found the injector pump timing was off, and there was some debris clogging it up. He sorted out the injector pump as well as cleaned the EGR/ manifold (which I knew needed to be done) and pop tested the injectors – one of which was bad, so got a new set installed. After this the car ran about as good as it ever had in almost 8 years of ownership. I have taken the car back to Chris to replace the tie rods, ball joints and control arm bushings as well as helped to get a chip tune. Now the car runs way better than it ever has, all thanks to Chris. Without a doubt I will take my car back to Chris when it needs service or repair and I would recommend that anyone on Cape Cod with a TDI do the same.

 

[stc]

Recommendations for SW Va (Lynchburg)

I see there are a few trusted mechanics within 2 -3 hrs.

Can someone recommend one of those for a BRM (PD) timing belt change near Lynchburg Virginia?

 

[94x]

Please update my location on the trusted mechanics list from Westhampton MA to Westfield MA. Email and phone are the same. Thanks!!

 

[South Coast Guy]

Closest to me is 2 hours drive which makes it hard to justify except for the most expensive work. Deal DSG service cost me $275. Guru quoted $180. Couldn't justify the savings versus four hours driving (and waiting).

 

[JSWTDI09]

Closest to me is 2 hours drive which makes it hard to justify except for the most expensive work. Deal DSG service cost me $275. Guru quoted $180. Couldn't justify the savings versus four hours driving (and waiting).

Going to a TDI expert is not always necessary. For major engine work, I would drive the 2 hours for a real expert. For more routine VW service (not TDI exclusive) I would be a lot less picky about who does the work. There are plenty of expert shops that specialize in VWs or Euro-cars and these would be fine for working on brakes, suspension, transmission, electrical, etc. DSGs are used in many non-TDI VWs also, so I would expect many shops to have sufficient knowledge and equipment to do DSG service.

You don't need the TDI experts all the time, but it is nice to know where they are for those times when you do need them.

Have Fun!

Don

 

[nathan_b]

EDIT:

Athens Euroworks LLC
DBA The Dub Doctor VW & Audi Service
11 Hudson Avenue
Athens, OH 45701
(740) 707-6210
email: nathan.brame@gmail.com
www.athenseuroworks.com

 

[spartan]

Removed, NOT a trusted mechanic.

 

[pawel]

JA Autowerks
193 Newman Springs Road
Shrewsbury, NJ 07702
732-707-1773
http://www.jaautowerks.com
Shop owner is John

Just brought my 2011 Jetta TDI 6-speed to JA Autowerks in Shrewsbury NJ for my 40K service. Ive been calling dealerships and local shops who deal with TDIs and have experience with our vehicles for over 2 weeks. By far he had the lowest price of $375 for a full 40K service directly by the book from VW. I actually got to talk to John for a good 45 minutes since i got there early. He is a very cool and laid back guy who knows his stuff. He was actually able to list everything the 40k service included without the need to look at the book. I could automatically tell that he has experience with TDIs before since had a few of them waiting for service outside the shop. He's very fair price wise and is a certified tech. Ill recommend him to anyone in the local area looking for performance/service work!

John did my TB service and yes, he is laid back type of a guy.

 

[pugman]

I was out and about yesterday and happened across a shop on hwy 82 East of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. There were about 15 VWs out side from Bugs to a passat with most being Jettas. Anyone on the list know anything about this shop? I would have stopped but it was closed and they did not post a phone number. Just curious.

 

[TornadoRed]

Just a reminder:
There are good repair shops that do not specialize in Volkswagens, but they can do general maintenance work like brakes, shocks, etc.

There are shops that specialize in Volkswagens and Audis, or sometimes Mercedes and BMWs as well, but they are not necessarily TDI experts.

And then there are the TDI gurus, who can generally diagnose and correct TDI-specific problems. Some of them do not have a shop -- they work out of their driveways or yours. Many of them do not want to be bothered with transmission problems or charging system problems or replacing bad wheel bearings. But they are the guys to see if you need a timing belt replaced, or your turbo is throwing the ECM into limp mode, or the engine is hard to start in warm weather or cold.