Does anyone know anything about the VW Vanshack in Eynsham, Oxford? - http://www.vanshack.com/ Am looking to get some working done in the near future - clutch, whining gearbox (hopefully one of the main bearings!), and knocking noise from engine (think it might be one of the lifters) - and being that they are my nearest VW "specialist" am trying to find out if they are up to the job or not. If anyone has any feedback on them it would be much appreciated. Feel free to PM me if there is anything you'd rather say in private! Also, can anyone recommend anyone else in the Oxford area for looking at my 2 litre type 4 FI engine and gearbox? Thanks. Nick...
Thanks guys. Will keep them in mind, however really looking for someone a bit closer to home so that I can easily pop in to see how things are going etc.
Can't recommend Kim and Paul at van shack enough. Work they do is fantastic and no messing around either, as for gearbox, BEARS Motorsport in Birmingham. Again top notch service.
Thanks Pow - good to hear that. Out of interest, what have you had done by them? and are you local to Oxford?
I've used Van Shack. Contrary to others experiences I found them useless. I say useless, they could have just pegged me as a new owner and tried to fleece me for a re-con engine when simply re-fixing the idle jet would have worked perfectly. I have to point out this was 8 years ago and the engine still pulls like a train. Personally I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.
Ps. They clearly do know what they're doing as they sponsor and maintain various race cars. This to me makes it worse than if they were just a bit crap!
Yeah we're Wycombe way. They sorted out our front doors so they close properly, got the sliding door closing properly (some of the repair work on ours leaves a little to be desired!), did a gearbox oil change, did a little welding and undersealing, changed front brakes, fitted a r and r bed, did some work to the steering box (made it much better as I was correcting all the time at anything above 40mph) and supplied, painted and fitted bumpers for our early (very hard to find rust free early bumpers!), fitted my supplied tyres. They explain everything too me, they show me the old knackered parts and most importantly they give accurate time estimates. He has also hung around late for me to pick the van up as they are a good 40 minute drive for us to pick the van back up again! Personally (and I'm aware others will have other opinions) they are the ONLY VW 'specialist' (I hate that term) that I'd go back to unless they really fobbed me off with something. They are the only people who have delivered what I've asked on time. I had a guy who fitted my engine quote 3/4 weeks and took over 3 months. As I'm TDI powered they are slightly more reluctant to touch the engine buts that's okay as I'm skilled in the art of VAG TDIs!
Thanks Baysearcher and pow for your feedback - much appreciated. Does mean that is now one all for for and against them! When I'm ready for the work to be done I'll hopefully have diagnosed exactly what it is that needs doing and so this should make quotes and time estimates much easier. Perhaps the thing to do would be give them the benefit of the doubt and try them with a smaller/simpler job and see how they get on. Think my clutch is going to need changing soon and so that should be a simple job for someone as I don't want to do myself! Have had a couple of people mention Scotty's Van Centre in Bicester to me recently - anyone any thoughts/comments on them? Thanks again. Nick...
I'd heard that too... Pea soup, PM me, I might be able to help. I don't normally do VW's, but the work you need doing isn't beyond my means... Failing that, Scotty is an absolutely top bloke who I'm sure will be able to help.
