Business ProfileforBuny's N' Bugs Independent Volkswagen Service

My 76 Bus lit on fire and Buny and Bugs contacted me and assured me they have worked on Buses that have had fires and I should bring it to them. When I finally got it back I paid extra for them to remove the rust from the engine after it sat with water in it for months. They told me they would refurbish the current engine as it tested well on compression and replace the fuel injection system as well as anything that needed replacing. This is a $6,000 job. Once I drove it, there were so many issues that I brought to their attention. They either ignored me or blamed the issues on me. The fuel economy was down by 50% (I know as I have taken methodical mileage over the last 20 years of owning this bus), they didn't replace any seals on the engine and there were now a lot of oil leaks, they put the wrong alternator belt on, the fuel filler neck is wrong and can't get a gas gun into it properly, gas gauge doesn't work, after only 5,000km the brand new alternator they put in failed. I had to take it into another mechanic to fix all the issues as well as getting the engine out (again) to replace seals and I finally found out the poor fuel economy issue - it was a faulty fuel injection system they installed. I emailed, phoned repeatedly, giving them invoices from another mechanic fixing their issues to get them to remedy the issue. They refused, were condescending and thought up amazing *******. Its taken me a long time to write this review, as I don't write reviews and I believe if you have an issue you go back to the company so they have the chance to fix it. But this was incredibly terrible service and people should be warned. I've owned my bus for 20 years

Dear BBB, thank you for the opportunity to respond to this review. The person whom wrote this review first contacted us back in 2017 after she had a fire in her 1976 ** Van. We agreed to perform the repairs required as per her direction. The van was not brought to us until the early spring of 2018, we worked with the customer and insurance company to perform the repairs as required. After the repairs were done, the owner had her parents pick up the van in June 2018 and drive it from Chilliwack to their home in Kamloops where it was to sit for an additional amount of time before she picked it up and drove it to The Northwest Territories. While the van was here; we performed a multitude of work and repairs for the customer with her consent. The van was in good running order when it left our repair shop in June 2018. There were many opportunities for the owner or her parents to contact us if there was problems along the way however we did not hear from her until after she had made it home then went to another repair shop in October 2018 and had further repairs completed. At that time she wanted the costs of those repairs paid back to her. My assistant and I spoke with her multiple times on the phone and I spoke with her as well online. In November 2018 we sent her a registered letter with our response to her requests. There was no response from her. In November 2019 she posted in a ** Forum online (that we belong to). The information post however was not completely factual to the events that happened. The following is our response to her post on the ******** forum: Hello (** Van Owner) and Everyone… I would like to clear the misinformation that has been posted with this thread. We did NOT rebuild your van engine. You originally contacted me because you did not want to have your engine rebuild and asked if it was possible to save it as others told you it must be rebuilt. We left the long block intact the way it was delivered to us. As you are aware, you had a fire in your engine compartment. It was on top of the engine and not in the engine. You asked us to repair the fire damage and to keep costs as low as possible. You told us that the van was in great running condition and you had been traveling it for a while before the fire happened. We received your van many months after the fire occurred; once you and the insurance company were settling. Your engine bay was covered in fire retardant as well as battery acid from the melted / burnt battery in that area. The side door was no longer attached (fallen off) and was being held against the van with collision wrap. We removed the valve covers to check for water present and there was none. We drained the engine oil to also to check for water and there was none. We then removed the engine from the van so that we could perform a compression test as well as have access to the intake manifolds to check for internal damage from water used in suppressing the fire, luckily your engine had no damage at all. The compression was good and all even, with in spec on all four cylinders. At this time; we contacted you again to report our findings and get permission to carry on with the repairs needed as we found no damage from the fire to your engine. The only damage we found was water intrusion into the bell housing which caused the clutch / pressure plate to be sitting in a few inches of water for several months and needed replacement. We also spoke with you about now being the time to take care of all the remaining fuel related issues and replacing all the fuel lines, hoses, vents etc. on the fuel tank and filler neck as this was the time to access it while the engine was out as well as replacing the remaining old fuel lines on the van that were not burnt. We performed the work required to remove the fire retardant from the engine bay (3-4 inched in some places). It took to what seemed liked days to clean, wire wheel, scrape, sand and finally paint the area. We also encountered the pieces of wood and chunk of scrap metal sitting where the battery tray should have been which ment we had to repair this area properly in order to secure the new battery back in place. The engine required all new fuel injection components including the cold start valve, breather tower, breather tower hoses, fuel pressure regulator, crank case breather, cylinder head temp sensor, all new relays in in the engine compartment, heater hoses, battery, battery cables, side marker lenses, tail lights, accelerator cable, engine compartment seal, nuts, bolts, gaskets, air flow meter, air filter assembly, seals, new fuel injectors, fuel injection wiring harness, distributer assembly, etc. As well as all the engine tin, intake manifold, throttle body, air plenum etc. had to be removed, scraped, cleaned, bead blasted and repainted. Anything that was metal or plastic had to be cleaned, replaced or repainted. We also replaced the alternator as it showed signs of corrosion damage from the water, battery acid and fire retardant on it. Also we replaced all the complete wiring harness and electrical in the whole back of the vehicle. We also cleaned all the top of the cylinders and oil cooler of debris to make sure it was getting proper cooling while all the engine tins were off. We were asked to perform a whole host of repairs that were not fire related such as re installing the sliding side door, replace the muffler/ header assembly onto your old exhaust pipes, replace all the fuel filler lines in the van, the vent lines, the sending unit etc. We were also required to perform an insurance inspection for your insurance agency which followed up by freeing up the front end, steering box, center lever, put on new tires, plus you asked us to add new electrical so that a camping battery could be added at a later date. You have said that your van has 25% less fuel economy, poor compression, oil leaks, fuel gauge doesn’t work, filler neck doesn’t fit the gas pump, wrong alternator belt, crappy taillights that leak and we had to de-rust your engine. -We do not know how you track your fuel economy. How your van was set up before the fire etc. - Poor compression and oil leaks noted by your mechanics > With the information given from your mechanics it looks like to us that the motor has been over heated since it has left here. -Fuel gauge does not work right > we do not know what you are experiencing as this is the first time we have heard mention of it on the ******** forum -Filler neck not fitting the gas pump> makes no sense to us since it is your original filler neck with opening, we replaced the gaskets and hose not the van part. Again this was first just mentioned to us on the ******** forum. -wrong alternator belt > we put on the stock size alternator belt 10x965 as per factory -crappy taillights > we installed the best aftermarket options available with new bulb holders; I’m not sure why you are saying they are leaking or what you are experiencing as this has not been mentioned to us before the ******** forum. -de-rust your engine> we did not de-rust the engine however we did remove all the corrosion & debris from on top of the engine, engine parts, van engine bay etc. There was no water or rust damage inside your engine from the fire or extinguishing the fire. After the work was finished and the van was in proper running order; we test drove the van and double checked our work as per our normal way of doing the job right. It was running on all four cylinders and had no problems at that time. Example; no loss of power, no smoking etc. Your parents picked the van up many weeks later and drove it to Kamloops for you. We did not receive any notification that there was any problem with it at that point. I understand that the van then sat in Kamloops for some time before you could pick it up and drive it back home. You said that you know this van and had been operating it for the past 15 years. We would expect that you would then had noticed a lack of power while driving home (if the plug wire came off while driving) and stop to get it looked at / taken care of en-route. Driving the van in this way would cause engine damage. We never received any phone calls or notice that there was a problem until after you were home and had taken the van to your mechanic. Your report from your mechanic when you arrived back home states that he found the cylinder 1 spark plug wire off, head bolts were loose, compression leak present and a few other sentences that did not make sense in his report. These items were not present when the van left our shop. All of these are symptoms of engine overheating. We performed the repairs to your van as you requested when it was here. We test drove and double checked the van before it was released. We had not seen and did not know the van / engine before your fire. We can not attest to the condition of it at that time however we did know that it had good compression and was running in good condition when it left here; otherwise we would have spoken to you about further repairs. Your warranty was one year from the date of completion / payment. We heard from you, from your mechanic before your warranty expired about your low compression, plug wire and belt. As we talked to you at that time said there was nothing we could do as we did not do any work to the inside of your motor. The next time you had contact with us was after your Alternator was replaced without prior contact or authorization from us after the warranty with us had already expired. The other items we have not heard of until the ******** forum (November 18,2019) which is long past the completion date of May 31 2018. The Van was in good running order when it left our shop. Your mechanic noted problems that could only be caused by overheating which would have happened on your trip home. When an engine is overheated it can cause many things such as oil leaks, plug wires come off, head bolts loosen, engine damage, low compression, poor fuel economy, poor performance and many more. We are not responsible for the way possibly the van was driven or the lack of attention or quality of maintenance that was paid to it after it left our shop. We have tried to work with the owner, responded to the customer and replied to every online / social media post that she has made about us that we are aware of. This is now 4 years after the fact and she is still trying to find new ways to discredit our shop. We have all the documentation in order for all the contact that we have had. We have not changed our opinion nor are we willing to do anything different then we already have. As I have stated the van was in good running condition when it left our shop. Since the van left our shop it traveled many roadways, highways and mountain passes (over 300 kms at freeway speeds) to reach the customers parents house in Kamloops. We did not receive any phone calls or hear of any problems at that time. It was not until after the customer reached her home in The Northwest Territories (approx. 2000 kms away) then went to another mechanic before the customer contacted us. Every time that this person posts or tries to discredit us there is new accusations and problems that have not be mentioned previously. We are not willing to warranty, repair or pay for any ongoing or new problems as we have stated many times in the past to this customer. If the ****** ******** ****** would like to receive copies of our files, letters warranties etc. We would be happy to provide them. You are welcome to look up the ******** forums from November 2019 as well as they are part of public domain. If I can be of any further assistance in this matter please feel free to contact me. Sincerely Clara H*****, President Buny’s N’ Bugs Auto Repair Ltd.