VW mechanic near KCBM?

[Guest trouble t]

Need a good mechanic in Columbus, MS. Familiarity with Volkswagen or at least German cars in general is key. Anyone?

[contraildash]

Back in 07 my brother had to take his Passat all the way to Birmingham to have it worked on...

[amcflyboy]

Granted, I owned a Nissan when I was there back in 2004, and took my car to a foreign auto expert on the other side of town. I know it's not a German car, nor do I know if this garage knows German automobiles, but I sort of remember how to get there, but funny thing is is that I forget the name of the garage.

If this might help, PM me.

[amishflyer01d]

Just go to the VW dealership in Tuscaloosa. If you're looking for knowledgeable non dealer Birmingham is your best bet.

[Hammer]

Just go to the VW dealership in Tuscaloosa. If you're looking for knowledgeable non dealer Birmingham is your best bet.

amish flyer...isn't that kind of an oxymoron?

[Stunna]

amish flyer...isn't that kind of an oxymoron?

Depends on what kind of Volkswagen it is. If you're driving a Jetta or Passat or Golf that's at least Mark III then the local Vee-dub dealer ought to have competent mechanics. Even a Mark III they may not know all the ins and outs anymore. If you're driving anything else VW related you're probably better going to a German/VW specialty shop. They tend to know more about the car and can give you better work for a better price, not to mention they can find the OEM parts that the dealer doesn't keep in stock. I had a daily driver 1992 Fox for about 6 years and have a '78 Type 2 sitting in a garage needing restoration. Dealership mechanics didn't know how to find parts for the Fox in 2000, and it was only 8 years old then.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any VW shops in that area, good luck gettin her takin care of!

[ColoradoAviator]

On a similar topic, can anybody suggest a good place to take a BMW in Enid?

[yerfer]

I am a regretful owner of a modified 2001 GTI 1.8T. That car has been nothing but a pile... Kind of like the Nazi's that made it. I do NOT recommend a VW for the following reasons.

1. They are over priced to buy and if something breaks the parts are a arm and leg.

2. Just to fix the car yourself you will need tools made JUST for your VW. I have acquired many in the last year and those cost a load of money too. To make the heap of shit higher, fixing the car is brain surgery. Know what you're doing or expect to spend more money/time replacing something else that wasn't the problem.

3. Any general mechanic that tells you he can fix it is selling you a steaming load of shit. If you are insane enough to take what is going to be a fortune to a mechanic, you will need to take it to a experienced VW mechanic. They aren't always simple. When you run 50 codes from a VAG-COM and take a look at how to fix them all, you can buy a whole new car...

If you want to fort the river and fix it yourself, you will save money (assuming you know the problem and have the tools/time). I would recommend the VWVORTEX forum for deep issues. If they don't know how to help you, they'll point you in the right direction.

BTW, what appears to be the problem? Do you have any codes? If your car is still under it's warranty, you can usually take it to your local VW dealer and they are suppose to fix it, but if you aren't I caution you now. Dealer mechanics spend time standing around with their thumb up the ass while you pay for it. Something that'll cost $100 to fix on your own will cost you three times that at a dealership because they can and I have watched it happen.

Edited September 5, 2009 by yerfer

[Stretch]

I am a regretful owner of a modified 2001 GTI 1.8T. That car has been nothing but a pile... Kind of like the Nazi's that made it. I do NOT recommend a VW for the following reasons.

1. They are over priced to buy and if something breaks the parts are a arm and leg.

2. Just to fix the car yourself you will need tools made JUST for your VW. I have acquired many in the last year and those cost a load of money too. To make the heap of shit higher, fixing the car is brain surgery. Know what you're doing or expect to spend more money/time replacing something else that wasn't the problem.

3. Any general mechanic that tells you he can fix it is selling you a steaming load of shit. If you are insane enough to take what is going to be a fortune to a mechanic, you will need to take it to a experienced VW mechanic. They aren't always simple. When you run 50 codes from a VAG-COM and take a look at how to fix them all, you can buy a whole new car...

If you want to fort the river and fix it yourself, you will save money (assuming you know the problem and have the tools/time). I would recommend the VWVORTEX forum for deep issues. If they don't know how to help you, they'll point you in the right direction.

BTW, what appears to be the problem? Do you have any codes? If your car is still under it's warranty, you can usually take it to your local VW dealer and they are suppose to fix it, but if you aren't I caution you now. Dealer mechanics spend time standing around with their thumb up the ass while you pay for it. Something that'll cost $100 to fix on your own will cost you three times that at a dealership because they can and I have watched it happen.

Amen. 2001 1.8T as well and have nearly dumped as much money into it as I did to buy it used. Approaching 130K right now and fearing for my financial life- my supervisor just has his 2000 GTI shit the bed on him last month, and one of our NCO's just dumped almost 3K into his '02 for upkeep.

Absolutely correct on the general mechanic statement, but I'll go one further- I've never had competent from the "trained" VW mechanics either- days late, hundreds more, etc etc.

For a while now I've had a problem with the turn signal relay sending erroneous feedback to the four-way switch, causing the turn signal clicking noise to go off constantly. VW's trained and professional mechanics wanted $300 minimum to rip the dash out, replace everything, and take a full day doing it. A quick Google search reveals the real problem (copper pieces worn off from the turn signal mechanism and embedded in the lube grease creates a short in the switch, causing the feedback and the noise) and the $5.25, 15 second solution.

Run while you can!

Edited September 6, 2009 by Stretch