So I've been in the states since April 10th and I was only supposed to be here for 2 weeks but while Sean and I were driving to Tahoe city I lost 5th gear in my car and quickly started to lose 1st and 2nd as well. Luckily we were only like 40miles past Ashland so we were able to nurse it back in 4th gear. Now it took us a few days to find a mechanic to look at it and then a few days more to have the car actually end up at the shop. Like we thought it was my transmission so I tried going over my options. The initial quote was way lower then what is at now so buying a new car wasn't really an option because of the trouble of importing it back into Canada and the quote was around 1000$ and he told us it could be done the day after he ordered the transmission in. So we said to go ahead with it, put a downpayment and he ordered the parts in. Not 1 but like 3 days later he calls me saying that the clutch should be replaced too which I'm all for because its cheaper to do the clutch as well with the trans out and because of the no sales tax in oregon it helps further but it brought the total cost up to about 1500$. A day or two later he calls and is like "Well, your starter is completely rusted and we broke the bracket off while we were taking out the clutch, we'll have to order in that part for it and it'll be another $130 with no labour" Okay sweet whatever so the cost is up to about 1600$ and it should have been done today.
ANYWAYS just got a phone call this morning with him saying that it was all put together... but something doesn't feel right so hes going to take it all the way apart and redo the entire fucking thing.. but is closed on weekends Its been since April 25th that I've been dealing with this car and getting fixed and now I am completely worried I'm going to get charged for them having to rebuild it again. Is this fair? Should I have to pay for the second round of labour? Doesn't seem right in my mind. He also went on to say it "might be because its a canadian version of the car" but its a vw... its made in the same factory in GERMANY as the american models.
I am super super super upset about this whole ordeal and figured ns was my only venting option at moment due to the fact I can't call anyone and I'm stuck in Ashland Oregon. My car isn't even worth 2 grand. Its a 1990 VW Jetta with 414,000kms on it. The only thing is has going for it is brand new brakes, awesome snow tires and a super strong engine.
I'd also like to mention that my roommate k2skipunk is the best person in the entire world for looking after my super retarded cat because I am stuck in america. MITCH YOU ROCK.
Please please please tell me your mechanic stories so I can feel a little bit better.
