The wife's VW is having some issues with the AC. The system is charged and works fine occassionally but other times not. I'm guessing it's a switch or a relay somewhere in the system but I don't have the time or knowledge to chase it down.

First I called a repair shop in my little town which was highly recommended by my neighbors. My first question is if they will work on a foreign car. Three messages and no response in three days. Hmm.

Then I contact an old guy who specialized in VWs. He never answers his phone so I drop by. We set up an appointment for today so I arrange to get a ride the rest of the way to work from my boss. When I go to drop it off I was told I couldn't park the car where I was trying to, I'd have to park it in back where the VW guy works. The back is fenced off and the gate is closed and locked. This guy tells me the VW guy typically doesn't get in until noon. So I just drove to work, I'll probably not take it back to him, I hate when people show they are unreliable on even the small stuff.

So, I shudder and call the VW dealer service department. They say they can book me in next Tuesday...... I guess I'd better call them back soon before Tuesday gets booked up too.

The rub is the wife is going to Denver late next week and we need to have it fixed and ready to go by then. If the repair will require ordering parts from who knows where I don't know if it will be done in time unless someone can start the work yet this week.

ARGH!

Sounds like trying to get an electrician in Memphis. 90% won't even return your call.

I don't want to work on VWs either!!!

a couple months back, i wanted to put dual exhaust on my fairlane, i was out running errands and went by a shop several times, each time his two bays were empty and he was out front smoking. i finished my errands and pulled in, he was standing there smoking, still both bays empty. i walked up, and asked if he could put some duals on the car, he tells me, saturdays are appointment only, and he's going home at noon. i walked next door to a midas, and they took me straight in and had the car ready in less than two hours.

i always try to give the mom & pop shops, first shot, but if your cigerette is more important than making $, i'm down the road.....

Seems like most of the repair shops are very busy right now.
I guess when you have too much work, you can be picky.

Well, I found another shop that specializes in imports that typically takes the overflow from the dealership (which must be a good steady stream of business) that can take it in tomorrow AND give me a ride to work. The guy on the phone sounded like a real car guy and seemed to already have an idea of what to look for. I hope it works out as I HATE having someone else work on my car even if it's someone I know and trust. It's always uncomfortable "going on that first date".

First I called a repair shop in my little town which was highly recommended by my neighbors. My first question is if they will work on a foreign car. Three messages and no response in three days. Hmm.

maybe on vacation.. some shops close for a week

Then I contact an old guy who specialized in VWs. He never answers his phone so I drop by. We set up an appointment for today so I arrange to get a ride the rest of the way to work from my boss. When I go to drop it off I was told I couldn't park the car where I was trying to, I'd have to park it in back where the VW guy works. The back is fenced off and the gate is closed and locked. This guy tells me the VW guy typically doesn't get in until noon. So I just drove to work, I'll probably not take it back to him, I hate when people show they are unreliable on even the small stuff.

might not have enough work to start at 8am.. might have kids(god forbid)
or might just have another job..
how is starting at noon "unreliable"
plus , you got that from "this guy"
maybe he doesn't see him till noon..


So, I shudder and call the VW dealer service department. They say they can book me in next Tuesday...... I guess I'd better call them back soon before Tuesday gets booked up too.

The rub is the wife is going to Denver late next week and we need to have it fixed and ready to go by then. If the repair will require ordering parts from who knows where I don't know if it will be done in time unless someone can start the work yet this week.

ARGH!


it's summertime, some shops, work short days..
the vw guy around here.. opens at noon.. is fair on price, and fixes it the first time.
and doesn't just through parts at it. till it's fixed..
when your GOOD you can make your own hours

it's summertime, some shops, work short days..
the vw guy around here.. opens at noon.. is fair on price, and fixes it the first time.
and doesn't just through parts at it. till it's fixed..
when your GOOD you can make your own hours

Well, if shop #1 is on vacation they should change their phone message to say so. Pretty simple and good for business. It's a big enough shop though so I can't imagine they would have to shut the place down just because one or two guys are on vacation.

Why is guy #2 unreliable? He told me to drop it off in the morning yet didn't make provisions for me to be able to do so. If he doesn't get in until noon, what are the chances he'll be able to get it fixed by the end of the day? I have to work too, I can't get the car to him at noon. I don't live in the town in which I work so I need my car back at the end of the day and I don't want to have to bring it in twice. He's old enough if he has any kids they are long since grown and taking care of themselves. In the few times I've been in his shop he's never actually had another car in there that he was working on so I'm not sure how "in demand" he is. If you want the business, you can make reasonable efforts to accommodate your customers with things such as a place to park the car and a place to securely drop off the keys. He could also start by actually answering his phone. Doesn't matter really, I won't ever be calling him again anyway...

Rich:
In general, how has your experience been with VW's and repairs? Jeremy says above that he doesn't want to work on VW's either. (I'm assuming he's a mechanic and not just goofing!)

I ask because with the gas prices being so high I've considered a used VW. The dealership near my job has a few nice ones on the lot. But if they are trouble-prone/expensive to fix then I will keep looking.

Problem sounds like what some call the 'binary' valve. Senses both low and high pressure. You jump it to charge the system....... Older Corvettes have them and they're a pain. Most of them you see have been "jumped" for good. Its in the power circuit for the clutch and screws into the refrigerant line. Don't know if VW uses them, but worth a look.

No, I'm not a mechanic, but my wife has a 2004 VW bug which has caused me to spend hours on the internet becoming familiar with the slew of problems it has had in order to repair.

Oh yeah, and we just got a recall on the airbag sensor!!

The last repair, (I couldn't fix this one, after a few attempts) was the window regulator. The cable was completely shredded, this car has only 80,000 miles on it and those are all highway. That was a $365 fix. I even diagnosed it for them by handing the guy the old broken one, so that cut down on the diagnostic bill. They use this weird cable system to work the windows.

I'm sure there are some good models, but this one isn't much good, and I know of other unhappy customers.

http://www.myvwlemon.com/

Rich:
In general, how has your experience been with VW's and repairs? Jeremy says above that he doesn't want to work on VW's either. (I'm assuming he's a mechanic and not just goofing!)

I ask because with the gas prices being so high I've considered a used VW. The dealership near my job has a few nice ones on the lot. But if they are trouble-prone/expensive to fix then I will keep looking.

We didn't buy it new, we bought it last October with about 25,000 miles on it. We got all the repair records since it had been a lease car from that same dealership. It has had a little warranty work (wiper motor and another small thing I can't remember). A few cosmetic things were repaired before we picked it up like a fogged side marker lamp and a broken cover on the rear wiper arm. The gas tank door had been replaced because it had been broken off by the previous owner.

Since we've had the car we've had no problems with it other than when the power steering hose moved around, got a hole rubbed into it by a nearby pulley and began to leak. I replaced the hose but I could have repaired it (and did temporarily until the new hose arrived) and called it good. Based on this one small experience I've found VW parts to be expensive even when compared to Honda and Toyota parts which are already somewhat more expensive than Chevy parts.

Research I've done on VW's since we got it (should have done my research BEFORE we bought it) shows that they are only rated average and tend to have slightly more electrical problems than average. This doesn't surprise me since EVERYTHING is electrically controlled on our car and it has a lot of fancy features that are nice but hardly necessary thus creating more opportunities for problems (automatic climate controls, two kinds of traction control, heated seats, heated mirrors, super whiz-bang stereo which automatically adjusts the volume based on how loud the interior noise is, etc.).

It is a solid feeling little car and a blast to drive, lots of power and great handling. I'm just hoping we do better than average since we tend to keep our cars nearly forever and VW parts prices are high and I'm just not as familiar with them as my other cars. I very much like the car though.

Problem sounds like what some call the 'binary' valve. Senses both low and high pressure. You jump it to charge the system....... Older Corvettes have them and they're a pain. Most of them you see have been "jumped" for good. Its in the power circuit for the clutch and screws into the refrigerant line. Don't know if VW uses them, but worth a look.

I'll check into that, thanks for the tip. The shop I'm taking it to tomorrow sounds like they know what things to look for on these particular cars. He even mentioned something about a switch that measures pressure.

And as far as not being thrilled about going to the dealership service (which I'm not doing in the end) I should add that they didn't impress me when we first bought the car. The dealership agreed to do some basic maintenance such as replace a few damaged items (side marker, wiper arm cover) and change the oil. When we got the car home I found the crankcase was over full. I drained probably two quarts out of it before I got it down to the tip top of the full range! This engine holds nearly 7 quarts of oil so you'd have to really work hard to overfill it by that much. If all they do is work on VW's all day, don't you think they'd know how much to put in? On top of that, the owner's manual says that overfilling the crankcase can severely damage the cat and THAT could get expensive in a hurry (the cat on this thing is well over $1000). It's bad enough to charge me outrageous rates for parts and labor but through incompentence or neglect to cause even further damage is way beyond unacceptable. The car runs fine, so apparently I caught the oil overfill issue quickly enough.

They use this weird cable system to work the windows.

A lot of new cars have gone to that cable system and away from the old gear and scissor regulators.

A lot of new cars have gone to that cable system and away from the old gear and scissor regulators.

it's probably lighter

I just take my junk to the dealer to be fixed (in the rare case like you, when time/knowledge is best left to the "experts"). And yep, my local Chevy dealer requires an appointment. I don't bother with other shops because the dealer gets you in and gets you out and usually is good to your car. I like GM or AC Delco parts as well. Plus, if problems arise, there's always CORPORATE to complain to. Large cities and/or dealerships seem to operate the service department on a first come first serve basis each day. Also, it's been my experience that a good dealership service department can fix a vehicle in less than two days. One day to diagnose the problem and one day to fix, with parts being delivered on the second day. Now dealers in large cities or near a distribution center can fix your vehicle in one day usually.

I'd book that dealer for Tuesday, just in case!

A lot of new cars have gone to that cable system and away from the old gear and scissor regulators.

My brother has replaced the regulators in his Durango about 4 times. Their design is pretty damn poor. He even bought an aftermarket version that had metal brackets instead of plastic ones (a selling point apparently) and it didn't even last a year.