So as many of you already know from this thread, my car was shipped to Rhode Island for a 6-speed swap along with a 2.0l engine transplant that I purchased from Doug. The official date the car was shipped was March 11th, and it was in Jake at Do Werk's possession since. Our initial contract was to accomplish this project in the duration of 6 weeks upon my cars arrival at Do Werk. Which quite honestly, is more than enough time to accomplished this task, granted we ran into a few road blocks. However, time although was an issue, it wasn't my main concern. It was the quality of work and service I got that I have gripe about. Here is a quick list of things we have done in the past one and half day since picking up the car.
List of things we have fixed or need to be fixed after we picked up the vehicle from Dowerk
- Clutch Pedal starter switch interrupt. The clutch pedal assembly I purchased did not contain this switch and my car did not contain the wiring for this assembly. I received my car with a toggle switch zip tied to the underside of my dashboard (and my lower dashboard cover was not installed). I was told that in order to start the car I had to turn the key to the 'on' position and then flip this toggle switch. [Solution] Doug figured out a solution I was comfortable with (jump two terminals across the clutch pedal starter switch interrupt circuit to bypass the clutch pedal switch) in ten minutes by looking at the wiring diagrams we provided to Jake MONTHS ago.
-Head unit not powering on, and lost navigation functions, my GPS antenna wire was also cut (Jake replaced it, but with some cheap replacement that barely gets reception) [Solution] I rewired the unit, so I can use it to get home and temporarily stuck the antenna on the roof. I ordered a direct replacement of what I had so I can place the antenna in my dashboard out of sight like I originally had it.
-Driver side brake light not igniting [Solution] Brake light fixed, Jake claimed my car had a driver side brake light issue, and it won't ignite under any circumstances, he even tested the voltages and said my taillight was dead, (actually the wiring harness was just not popped on tight enough in the tail light assembly…)
-My headlights would turn on if i applied the brakes, and if i turn on my fog lights while applying the brakes it will turn off. [Solution] - Removing Jake's ghetto starter switch may have fixed this electrical gremlin, possibly from clearing all the codes as well. This issue is not present anymore after the tail light was fixed and the clutch pedal starter switch interrupt circuit was jumped out.
-Exhaust manifold bolts loose or fell off due to reusing old fasteners or improper torque down. We aren't talking about a few, we are talking probably 8 of the 13 were loose or have fallen off [Solution] Buy new fasteners from the dealer, bend my own wrench, take turbo out and put new fasteners in.
- Coolant leak from Turbo lines [Solution] Not solved yet, as we had no supplies for that.
- Head gasket oil leak, Jake claims it is not his responsibility even though his machine shop did the head work and admitted perhaps he may have not torqued them down properly. Although the bottom end was built by Bob @ QED, he denies responsibility thinking it isn't his issue; quickly blaming Bob@QED for improper machinework of the block. [Solution] Not solved yet, as we have no supplies for that either.
- Transmission fluid LOW, The transmission made plenty of gear rattles from the bearings, we found out that it was not filled properly [Solution] Doug and I filled one FULL quart of gear oil into my transmission before I left Connecticut for my drive home. Meaning we've been driving over 300 miles with my transmission with very little oil. Yet another negligence on Jakes part.
- Heat shield that covers the passenger side front axle from heat so the boot doesn't get exposed to the massive amount of heat from the open down pipe that Jake just decided to saw saw off. Keep in mind this front axle is brand new as it was the solution to a previous noise in the transmission prior to me picking up the car. [Solution] Not fixed yet, because he kept my bolts.
- Open downpipe exhaust. My car had a full exhaust when delivered to Do Werk. I was told the downpipe I had did not fit and clear the manual transmission rear crossmember. Jake's solution was to cut the downpipe out and leave the car with just a testpipe and 2ft of open downpipe. A recommendation of fabing up a new downpipe for the manual crossmember was not provided. Not sure if it was because I said I am going to get a new exhaust made once I get home or if he just didn't want to do the job. [Solution] Doug was worried for my hearing on the 13hour trip home with no exhaust. He was also concerned about my new engine's longevity given the other assorted issues we could not fix. As a result, he removed the open downpipe and installed Greg's (actlsub9) old MTM exhaust on my car since Greg's car was at his house and is currently being parted out due to an accident that totalled the car out.
- Numerous tabs from different electrical harness broken, ECU clip that holds ECu down, coilpack harness (although he did tell me he repined one of them with my original harness, however i checked my original harness to find all of them intact..) [Solution] Replaced the ECU clip etc etc.
-Center console cigarette lighter disconnected because he forgot to plug it back in when he was installing shifter [Solution] Haven't had the time to deal with it yet.
-Recode ECU to manual settings so it stops looking for the TCU (transmission control unit for the automatic trans), but Jake doesn't even have a genuine copy of vag com, or any wiring diagrams that can help you diagnose anything. [Solution] Doug and I tried recoding the ECu with my genuine copy of VAG-Com but did not have a workshop log-in to recode it. Doug made a few phone calls but could not get the log-in until I was halfway home.
-IAT sensor DTC, don't know what went wrong, the car was fully operational with no fault codes from the engine when I gave it to him. We will see if this code is still present once the ECu is reprogrammed for a manual transmission.
-Thermostat DTC, the engine has a temperature issue currently that triggered this code, something else I have to look at.
So as you can see, I was a little frustrated after waiting 17 weeks with all the parts given to him, the least I can expect is a SAFE car for me to travel in back to Michigan. Clearly not the case here. Perhaps I am over anal, and some of the things on that list are smaller, however when I pay a shop a large sum of money to do something (imo a large sum for this project), I expect them to do everything, and do it correctly. Not pull it out, and leave it out and provide me with a car that is in worse shape than when I provided it to them.
Service Issues
So besides the quality of the work done as shown above, here are is my service gripes. Initial contact with Jake wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy. Granted he doesn't have a receptionist, or a operator to answer their phone calls, chances are you get his voicemail, and he calls you back. But the overall communication between a customer with him is absolutely horrid. On more then one occasion you would not here from him for days even if you need to get in contact with him immediately about certain parts, or expect updates. You would think when one has $20,000 of your possession, they would be a little more responsible, but what do you expect from a young guy with absolutely zero business sense? Wait, he did call me a few times, only to ask for funds for the labor in advance. I have NEVER heard of any shop requesting me to pay for labor before the vehicle is done.
0 Advice on the build
Moving on, as we progressed through the project, we ran into multiple road blocks. Some new parts that we found out were different between a manual and automatic cars besides the drive train that I purchased.
- Like the radiator (the radiator is physically the same size no matter which transmission is in the car but the automatic trans cooler is built into the side panel of the radiator for cars with an auto trans. Typically, in a conversion like mine, the trans cooler is just plugged but it was demanded that I get a manual transmission radiator); which I immediately purchased for him new to minimize downtime.
- A engine wiring harness, because he said it would be "time consuming" to rewire the three plugs that go into transmission (car speed and reverse light); which I sourced for him. Again, to minimize downtime.
- And finally, the bell housing spacing problem that we ran into with the 01E transmission and 1.8T engine. Which may I add, he never gave me a solution to the problem. The only reason why we could have made this work was because Tyler (Nein-Reis) had his build coincide with mine. Tyler's mechanic figured out a solution to the dilemma we had. Never did Jake once tell me to order any parts to make the transmission work. Or heck never did he even order or help me source ANY of the parts for my vehicle when it was in his possession. He simply claimed he was "too busy" to go look for them.
Besides the work being done, I asked Jake if it was possible to tighten my waste-gate actuator rod so I can hold a little more boost. That way I can take advantage of the built motor I had put in with my current setup. However Jake simply refused to work on my turbo, because it was internally wastegated. I'm asking myself what kind of mechanic refuses to do work, when a customers asks him to. It isn't because Jake was not competent enough…although I do wonder at the moment if he really is. But to me that was outrageous, considering how his shop brags that they can do anything.
Now that we have the whole clutch issue resolved after I spent another $1300 on a new clutch setup, he proceeds to tell me that there seems to be an issue with my transmission. And that the 01E has 1st and 2nd gear collar issues. Obviously I don't blame him for that, however I will blame him for the delay in installation as my warranty for the transmission itself has expired. He was telling me the center differential is broken. It turns out the front passenger axle CV joint failed. If I don't blame the time schedule then perhaps I can blame him for not FILLING my transmission gear oil when I was leaving for my trip home to MI (after I repeatedly asked if the trans gear oil was drained and filled with new oil and was told that happened). Now I'm out a transmission, and Jake expects me to pay him in FULL for the work that he didn't even do completely, correctly, or in a timely manner. When I picked up my car I could not even start my car with a key, i have a ghetto switch because Jake doesn't have the proper wiring diagram to figure out which relay to close the loop for my clutch switch. My dashboard is lit up like a christmas tree. My lower dashboard was not installed. I had no exhaust. What kind of shop am I getting myself into?
Disrepect
What is even funnier? He raced my car against a forum member, to do some 3rd gear pulls (His response was, "what difference does it make? I needed to break in your motor)"…There is a drastic difference between breaking in a motor, and being a little street racer with your Vdub friends. Means that you are putting my car in jeopardy of the POLICE when you get caught for street racing, with a potential impound. I see this action as a lack of respect, as one shop should never take their customers cars for personal use.
Lack of Tools
Finally another problem that has come to my attention is Do Werk doesn't have genuine vag com cable that can recode my ECU from a tiptronic to manual car. I don't know how one owns a shop that works on Audi's and VW's specifically, but does not have any diagnostic tools. On top of that, I don't think he has the ability to read any wiring diagrams, as we spoon fed him the information on how to jump the relay for the clutch switch, yet he just settled on his two prong light switch in my car…
Threats
I'm usually not one to be so critical, however this situation has escalated beyond my comprehension. On the evening we picked up my car (when we were not aware of all the problems), I told him I didn't just bring a large chunk of money on my trip and ask if he takes credit card. Apparently the infamous Dowerk garage doesn't even have a CC machine, so I told him I would paypal him either tonight or the day after, as I had a long day on the flight, waiting for him to get to the shop, and soon to discover all the problems with my car. Jake had the audacity to send me this text message the night of.
Doug's dog woke him up at 6am and he saw an unusual vehicle in his driveway that he did not recognize. It scared the shit out of him seeing as he has a lot of money in cars in his driveway (3 modded B6s and a few other vehicles). Turns out it was Jake and his friend sitting in Jake's mother's car waiting for us to wake up so he can watch me pay him. Doug did not have a text message or voicemail from Jake explaining that he was outside his house so Doug almost called the police before he realized who it was. Jake said he was not going to ring the doorbell but sit in the driveway until we came outside to work on my car. Can you say creepy or even better… paranoid?
I had no intentions of not paying the bill, and both Doug and Tu can attest to that. With that said, you can see his professionalism in the industry.
Conclusion
Three words "Do Werk WRONG"
So thats my experience with Dowerk, But, with all that said, there is a silver lining to the situation. We have a GREAT community here, and we shouldn't have people like this ruin it. I met two of the most helpful people I know on this trip, and they made my trip enjoyable. First and foremost I have to thank Doug, he is the man that made it possible for me to get home. And for that matter, make this project work. He even graciously opened his house for me to stay, a car for me to borrow to get parts to fix my car, and physically helped me work on my car (before and after he got off work), and diagnose the issues to make sure I have a safe trip home. Dougs attention to detail in two days far exceeds the work that Jake @ Dowerk has shown me in 18 weeks.
The other person is Tu. He offered to pick me up at the Airport without me even asking, it was a great opportunity for two asian legends to meet. Haha. But not only did he pick me up, took me to dim sum, and drop me off at the shop, he chilled with me at the shop waiting for Jake, and helped me move all my left over parts to my car, stuck around to make sure a fellow ziner didn't need help, and ofcourse voiced his opinion on the situation to shed some light from a 3rd party perspective.
Much love AZ, thanks for all the support from everyone on here.
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