This is for the Service Dept.
Getting work done at a dealership is always hit or miss, and I've had my fair share of bad experiences over the years. This is the first truly amazing one. After recently moving to the area, I noticed some noise in the clutch and some general sluggishness shifting in the low gears. I did my research and figured it would be about $900 or so for labor on this, but the work should've been covered under the power train warranty. Hanlee's Hilltop Volkswagen is practically in my backyard, so I brought it over. Turns out, I was mistaken about the length of the warranty and was no longer covered. And my initial estimate of $900 or so was actually going to be $2850. The entire clutch assembly needed work.
This is where Gary comes in.
I told him that I simply didn't have that kind of extra cash lying around, but that I needed my car to get to work every day. So as I'm trying to figure out if I can get partial work done or something of that nature, he tells me he'll look into getting me a WISE claim, which is essentially a goodwill claim through VW for part of the repairs. He said they might cover 50% of the repairs if approved, but he would work with his rep to push it through for as great a percentage as possible. I agree to this, as I'm unlikely to get a better price anywhere else, if he can make it happen. No guarantees, but I figured it was worth a shot.
Gary calls me a few days later telling me the claim was approved...for 100% of the repairs. Parts, labor, everything. I had my entire clutch assembly replaced, outside of warranty, and didn't pay a dime. And the work was done pretty quickly as well, I might add. Now, I've never heard of anything like that before. It's fair to assume that an outcome like that is pretty rare. So I don't want to suggest that others coming to this service department can expect the exact same results, but I am convinced that it was Gary's diligence that made it happen for me. If you need work done on your vehicle, you absolutely want someone like him in your corner. He just locked me down as a customer for the life of this car.
