sometimes things just never cease to amaze me.

i have a friend in sydney with a kombi. now this person has been to a couple of VW specialists and over time has had service done and parts bought from this particular one. this person goes along to make time to get a pink slip for rego, trusting that if something is not right that this VW specialist shop will be able to sort it and all would be sweet. but not really expecting any real hassle.

anyway this person goes in and is told by this well established sydney VW specialist...

"i would suggest that you jsut go to a local garage and get a pink slip rather than here, as i am a known VW specialist and there fore expected to be more stingent!"


wonder what happens when times arnt so good, and these shops need poeple like my friend to return.

[ Edited on 24/8/2006 by twoguns ]

what the???
why would someone say that if they didn't have faith in their work? or want a return client???
Blow that!

time for a new VW specialist

There is a "Catch 22 " here. if he does a through check and comes up with a big list. your mate will say he is only trying to get extra cash off him and if he does a half arse job and something fails your mate will say he should have picked it up at the inspection because he is a specialist. maybe he should just treat it as a 2nd opinon and move on.

he can always ask for a 'pre rwc check'

the specialist gives him a list of things he should fix, and he decides what he wants to do after that. Whether he lets the specialist fix it, goes elsewhere for another report, or starts gettings things fixed by someone else, bit by bit.

I know I had this done in qld.

I took blue belle to Micks, who only do what is needed at the time, tell you of anything else that might need addressing, always check before doing the work...and dont charge like a malley bull. THEY also made sure it would pass the RWC.

THIS is what his specialist should have done.

NOT SAID 'go elsewhere'

I took my VW to a specific VW specialist in the south east suburbs of Melb. He passed my bug for RWC but at the time (did not tell me) snapped a bolt on a wheel hub on the front of the bug. I sold the bug not long after. New owner was driving down the road and the wheel fell off and rolled down the road. They traced it back to the VW specialist and he told them that I had changed the rims,hubs, bolts etc and to take civil action against me. To their credit they did not buy the story and threatened to take him tp court. I never went back and was disgusted with the behaviour.

I always ask for a pre-RWC list and my new mechanic (non VW) does the same thing that bugeyesbabe said that Mick Motors do. I would change specialist. Stuff that.

C'mon make it a little more interesting and tell us who it was

I think the VW specialist was trying to do him a favour, wasn't he? Isn't he saying, the local "pink slipper" down the road is prob not going to be as fussy as he would be. Therefor it would prob be cheaper going down the road.

If you have enough work, you dont want to do a pink slip, its not worth the money. My guess is thats what has happened here.

Sounds like there is more to the story than your friend is telling you.

Was the car roadworthy ?

Can you ever have enough work if you are a workshop ?

I think like others already in this post that the shop may have been trying to do your friend a favor and not fail their car.

I would ask your friend if they were told why the shop asked them to go to a local garage ?

My rego was $30.00 this Febuary even though it failed on two items. Mechanic spent 20 minutes doing the inspection.

Wish I could earn $30.00 in 20 minutes. I dont think it would have been a money thing.

My mechanic friend only does pink slips in the hope that he gets repair work from them plus the chance of repeat business. Otherwise it wouldnt be worth the hassle of people wanting dodgy slips done. When I worked at Hellbug I think labour was $70/hour. The 2 pink slips you can do in an hour are worth $28 each(are they $30 now?) Whereas if you are doing a brake job, theres labour, markup on parts, markup on brake fluid. We used to charge for the tiny amount of neverseize on the adjusters!

The mechanic the topic of this thread might have a different opinion he might love them. Maybe he was just hungover, had a fight with the missus, maybe he just couldnt be bothered on that day. Its all speculation.

exactly....all speculation...but if he doesnt want the work, he doesnt want.

If it were me, and i werte told this by my mechanic...i'd say..."sure no problem and find another...and wonder why he figures his own work wont pass a rwc...surely he's (the mechanic) not that BAD at holding a spanner"

Me, I now use Micks...but it sure is a long way for ur friend to be using my mechanic..

I have seen this before. When businesses start up up they will take on any work, once they have have been established for a while and can afford to be choosie they drop some customers like hot potatoes and only want the cream work, if they have an attitude like that would you really want them working on your car anyway? It would be like, "dont worry about that car too much just bodgy it up to get it outa here" go to someone who cares about you and your car.
Rob...

I specially take my buggy to my VW mech each year for two reasons. Number one, he knows the car. Most people would have a nervous breakdown when confronted with mods on top of mods like on a buggy. Second reason is they actually notice key VW things. So if a link pin is going, they can tell me 2 years before I need to replace it. Your average repairer would just say, "mate your front end is %&$#ed" on the day of inspection and then I am stuffed, coz I'm stuck having to go back to him to get it ticked off.

I'd say this situation is dissappointing at best. Maybe it's worth booking the car in for a tune and a pink slip at the same time. But then, if you're a regular customer, you'd think they value the repeat business enough to help you out. I certainly would anyway.