From: toad@cellar.org (Tony Shepps)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.vw
Subject: Re: Driving Cars to the ground (and GTI mpg)
Date: 16 Oct 92 05:02:25 GMT
Organization: The Cellar BBS and public access system

ptrei@bistromath.mitre.org (Peter Trei) writes:

>      I may have exagerated the cost a little, but it's probably at
> least $2000/year.  Part of the high cost is that I get it all done at
> an official VW dealership - I don't have the experience to evaluate
> the local mechanics, and I'd rather pay extra and be reasonably sure
> of having something done right than have the car die under the hands
> of the untrained (no slight on the good independent mechanics out
> there, but I can't tell them from the scuzzballs).

Peter, no offense, but what you're *probably* paying for at the VW
dealership is not actual competence but rather the marketing to provide you
with a false sense of peace of mind.

It's certainly not true of ALL Vee-Dub official dealership service
departments, but the dealers in my immediate area are just as scuzzball as the
worst scuzzball independent mechanics.  I hear stories.  Also, my fiancee
decided to get an oil cooler for her 'rocco.  She called 3 dealers; they
didn't know what an oil cooler IS (turns out that it COOLS your OIL).  The
independent guy knew where to get them, which ones were best, which hoses to
use, etc. etc.

Now, this won't take much time.  Whenever you find someone with a vee-dub,
ask them where they get it serviced.  Sooner or later you'll run into
someone who deals with an independent garage on a regular basis because THEY
have either taken the time to evaluate it or they know someone ELSE who has
evaluated it.  Then take your car there for something small, at first.  See
how they treat you. 

You don't have to worry that they'll wind up destroying your car.  (Hey, you
use Jiffy Lube, right?  There's more chance that the infamous J-team will
destroy your car than any mechanic who does a basic tune-up.  I use Jiffy
Lube myself, but I feel really *bad* about it...)

After you've found a garage you can deal with, they will save you money for
sure and they may save you time as well.  Example: my garage offered me a
spare wheel for free while getting my bent wheel repaired for $75.  The
dealer offered me a $320 new wheel (that's not including labor!) but said
I'd have to wait and wait and drive on the donut spare until the part came
in.  With the indepdent garage I was driving on a real wheel on the same
day, because they CARED about me and my situation.
 
>      I suspect that there are many drivers like me; we're not
> technologically illiterate, but simply don't have the time to do their
> own auto repairs or sit and watch a mechanic long enough to evaluate
> his skills.

I agree, but do understand the price you're paying.  Drivers like you are
paying for those nice carpeted dealership service waiting rooms.  (While my
garage offers you a pet frog named "Slimehead" in a fish tank to look at
while you wait.  Personally, I think the frog is more interesting than
back-copies of R&T from 1988 with favorable Jetta reviews, but that's me.)

--
Also, I think Washington, D.C. should be destroyed.
Tony Shepps toad@cellar.org
Preferred address: toad%cellar@tredysvr.tredydev.unisys.com
Public access and thoughtful conversation:  The Cellar BBS  +1 215 654 9184 
Newsgroups: rec.autos.vw