Something happened to Volx German. Perhaps they have changed management and/or have gotten greedy, but they are not the honest people they used to be. I have to wonder if they ever were in retrospect. I have had two bad experiences lately with them lately: one horrific, and the other luckily avoided.
First, the horrific one had to do with my daughter's 1997 VW Cabrio. The transmission started slipping a few months ago. They did a service which amounted to changing the transmission fluid. $400. Next, they said two of the transmission pan seals were leaking. $450 to replace the front, $750 for the back.
A few weeks later, the transmission started slipping again. Since these transmissions are sealed, there is no way to check the fluid, no dipstick. I did some research and found out where the drain plug is. I looked in, and the drain plug was missing! Meaning, most of the fluid had leaked out. They had obviously forgot to put it in, or did so loosely and it came out.
By now, the transmission was slipping so badly that I had to have it towed.in Hawaii, there are a lot of tow truck scams. My daughter called her insurance, Gieko, who said a truck was on the way at 9:00 AM. Four hours later, a tow truck arrives. They tow the car to Volx German and demand $185 cash, or they were going to take the car. I called Hawaii 5-O, who didn't want to be bothered and told me to work it out with the towing company. Remember, this is Hawaii, and no, they would never get away with something like this in the mainland (neither the tow truck company nor the police). But trust me, if you live or have lived in Hawaii, you know what I'm talking about regarding tow trucks and what they get away with. Volx German wrote the tow truck company a check for $185. Then, Volx German tacked $50 on to it, charging me $230 for the tow! How cruel, insult to injury. Marking up a tow bill $50. That is really, really bad. But what happened next is worse.
Volx German would not admit to doing ANYthing wrong regarding the transmission, and even charged me another $91 to tell me they analyzed the transmission and the plug must have cracked and come out, " and the transmission was "bad all along" and named off some part that was leaking. I did more research and learned that those drain plugs have safety valves that stop them from coming out, even if they crack. They said they could rebuild the transmission for $4,200 and that's a discount! Everyone knows you can get a transmission rebuilt for $2500 or less. So, over $2000 later, I have a car that barely limps. I had to pretty much give it away.
Here's my next sleazy experience with these people. Volx German said I needed $850 worth of brake work on my other car. For what I asked? Pads, rotors, master cylinder, kit. The brakes seem to work fine to me, but it had been awhile since I had the back done. I found a great freelance mechanic, who looked at it and, indeed, all it needed was pads in the back ($45 plus labor), everything else was fine. No warping on the rotors, no master cylinder issues. Nothing.
They also charge double the regular rate for oil changes ($75) and pretty much anything else you want done. Stay away. They'll do something very nice in the beginning, like fix something very easy or cheap and make you think they are honest. They are not.
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