Complaint Rating:

On December 15, 2009, my wife brought her 02 VW Beetle with a broken timing belt to them and had to push the vehicle into the bay! None of those technicians was courteous enough to help. All that Alan’s wanted to do at first was to put a new timing belt on and “see what happens”. So much about the “high-tech diagnostic equipment is what sets us apart from other independent repair shops” (as they claim on their website). Alan quoted us a price of “$1, 379 for belt, water pump, some other stuff”!

I had my concerns since I know that there must have been valves that were damaged when the timing belt broke. I raised my concern with Alan and he assured me that a VW Diesel Engine would not break when the timing belt snaps (never mind that the pistons and valves collide). On December 18, 2009 I called Alan’s again and he said that “there must be something wrong and we need a replacement engine”. Alan quoted me an used engine located at Ft Collins for $3, 700. I checked on line and found an engine in Denver for $2, 400. I called them back and told them, just to have Alan tell me that we “would know more on Saturday morning”, when they look at the VW. We waited all Day Saturday until about 2 P.M. and then called Alan. The person who answered the phone told me that they have not looked at the engine yet and will not look at it until Monday morning December 21, 2009. On December 21, 2009 at noon I called Alan’s and asked what the status was. Alan told me that they have to take the head off to look at the valves and they are doing this right now. On my way home I decided to stop at Alan’s. Alan was at the office and I asked him what the status is. He told me that he does not know and they are looking right now. He told me that 3 hours earlier and he informed me that they “have to take the engine out to remove the head and look at the valves”. I told him that our car has been with them for 1 week and he acted surprised and asked if we are in a hurry(?). No! I am being sarcastic here when I say we walk 20 miles to work and do not need a car! Then he blamed their delay it on the cold spell! Since our car was in your shop, the temperatures were in the 40s (high) and 18s (low). It is downright insulting to use this excuse. I also criticize their lack of resources to find replacement engines or parts! As far as the engine needing to be removed to do the work; I checked with several sources and found out that the engine does not need to be removed to take the head off to look at the valves. Granted, it is a lot more comfortable to do that but an outrage to try to charge the customer for this!

On December 22, 2009, I decided I am going somewhere else to have the problem fixed. When I stopped at Alan’s, parts were removed from the vehicle and, according to Darrell it was in a towable configuration. For all this they charged me a $125.00 “Diagnostic fee” which is unjustified.