Date:         Tue, 05 Mar 1996 18:40:46
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         EXPRES@gnn.com (RON SALMON)
Subject:      Fwd: Re: GEX update


>Date:	Tue, 05 Mar 1996 18:38:55
>From:	EXPRES@gnn.com (RON SALMON)
>To:	ray.hale@santafe.cc.fl.us
>Subject:	Re: GEX update
>
>
>>Date:	Mon, 4 Mar 1996 09:30:51 -0600
>>From:	"ray hale" <ray.hale@santafe.cc.fl.us>
>>Sender:	vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu
>>To:	Multiple recipients of list <vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu>
>>Subject:	GEX update
>>
>>     I now have 5000k on the rebuilt motor from GEX (1600SP) and 
>#4 is a 
>>     low 105 PSI.  Motor is HARD to start, cuts out while running, 
>runs 
>>     rough, blah, blah.  So, I called GEX on friday and explained 
>that
>> this 
>>     head was cracked around #4 valve guide when I got it but on 
>the
>> advice 
>>     of GEX at that time and my own impatience at getting the bus 
>('66 
>>     standard/camper) on the road so I could put my Moto Guzzi 
>down for 
>>     extensive repair, I put it together and crossed my fingers.  
>Stupid!!
>>  
>>     Before installing I photographed the cracked case and sent 
>pics to
>> GEX 
>>     with a cover letter.  
>>     
>>     Ok so here we are 5000k later and the motor comes out again 
>(I'm 
>>     getting good at this!).  I'll pull the head tonight and 
>inspect and 
>>     send back to GEX regardless, due to the crack.  I'll also be 
>looking 
>>     at rings, etc.  My hope is that I can get a decent head this 
>time and 
>>     that I won't have to mess with htis again for a long time.  
>While I'm 
>>     waiting I need to replace seals in the tranny and rebuild the 
>
>>     starter/solenoid.  Stay tuned for the story on how GEX 
>handles the 
>>     problem.
>>     Ray
>>
>
>Had really bad luck with GEX myself.  Bought a 2.0L type 4 motor.  
>Paid more than from some other advertisers because of GEX's 
>reputation.  Motor had strange noise (knock) from day one. Warranty 
>was supposed to cover replacement plus labor (reimbursed to my 
>local repair shop).  Called GEX immediately, they said "send it 
>back and we'll decide if it's warranty."  I said "of course it's 
>warranty - it's brand new!"  They said that it might not be covered 
>if they decide that it overheated due to improper installation.  
>Had to take VW to two other shops and get in writing that engine 
>was installed and adjusted properly, and that it did have a strange 
>noise, before GEX agreed that they would PROBABLY replace.  Even 
>then, lots of hedging, etc.
>
>Then came the question of - if I send the motor back (2 weeks from 
>east coast) and they then send me a new motor (2 more weeks), what 
>do I drive for a month?  My bus is my daily driver.  Offered to pay 
>in advance for 2nd motor, then get credited once first one was 
>returned.  They agreed.  (Why not?!)
>
>Took two weeks to get them to send replacement motor - kept 
>"forgetting" to ship it, even after they had billed my credit card. 
>Finally spoke to shipping guy, who said warranty guy had never even 
>given him paperwork to ship it (even after assuring me it had 
>already shipped!!).  He agreed to ship motor - but charged my 
>credit card for the same motor a 2nd time when he shipped it!
>
>When GEX finally got the bad motor back, they tried to refuse to 
>warranty it ("overheated"). If I hadn't gotten those 2 shops, plus 
>the original installation shop, to put in writing that the engine 
>was installed by the book, with factory parts, and bad from day 
>one, GEX would have refused to warranty it at all!!  Then it took 
>me almost a month to get them to correct the double charge on my 
>credit card, and credit me for the first motor. It took a call to 
>the President of GEX, and the intervention of American Express 
>(who, in my support, withheld payment to GEX), before they finally 
>credited my account - a month later.
>
>Oh, and the labor they reimbursed only covered about 2/3 of the 
>charge for replacing my motor, so after a month of waiting and 
>literally 15 or 20 calls to GEX, the whole ordeal still cost me 
>about $150.
>
>A month later, my transaxle went.  Taking the GEX president at his 
>word that my ordeal was highly unusual, I made the stupid mistake 
>of ordering a new transaxle from GEX.  Shop put it in - it was bad 
>right away, just like the motor.  LOUD hum in 1st & 2nd.  I then 
>learned the hard way that even though the trans was dead out of the 
>box, GEX does not cover labor reimbursement on transaxles.  After 
>talking to the president again, and only because of my long story 
>of woe with GEX, they agreed to cover $100 of my $180 bill for R&R 
>of the defective trans.
>
>I don't know if my experience with GEX is typical, but I got 2 bad 
>products out of 2, and trying to deal with them for warranty was 
>the biggest red-tape/beaurocracy hell I've ever experienced.  
>Personally, I will never purchase anything from GEX again!
>
>Ron Salmon
>
>
>After putting in the 2nd (good) motor