EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE! - VW Mobile Servicing is AWESOME!

[Screwdriverone]

Hi All,

I just wanted to regale you the tale of my recent boys trip to a mate's place up near Mudgee.

I was itching to take the R36 for a spin through the mountains and up the Castlereagh Highway, which was great, right up until the last 5kms when I turned off the tarmac and onto the tracks leading to my mate's "lodge".

For the most part, the tracks are well maintained dirt, with only a few rough sections with washouts that you need to take quite carefully, but with my previous 4WD experience, and due to the fact I had been up there 4 times before in my 2002 VY Commodore sedan, I thought there shouldn't be too many issues, even with the lowered, sporty R36 wagon.

I even remembered to bring my fire extinguisher from home, on the off chance, the grass in the middle if the track got caught on the hot exhaust. I didn't want to hurt my baby, or watch it go up in smoke!

So, the farm tracks were negotiated, slowly and without incident and we opened the gate for the last 1km into the bushy area where my mate's lodge is located.

Talking to my mate's son who was with me, we drove around 20-30 km/h down the bush track for around 200m, when suddenly we heard a "bang, bump, bang bang bang as something like a rock hit the underside and got spat out after a few metres.

With shock and horror we looked at each other and stopped, I jumped out and stuck my head under the car and at first, saw no obstruction or damage, then saw some drips from the bottom of the engine, slightly leaking, like the aircon was dripping, or so I hoped.....

We continued driving down to the lodge, with no further incident and as slow as possible. The car was not complaining, nor were any warning lights showing on the dashboard.

Pulling around to the front of the house, I turned off the car to start unloading and looked underneath, to see a TORRENT of engine oil pouring out of the sump....

Attachment 32238

OH NO!.

A quick look under the car, after jacking it up, showed a 3 inch gash in the oil pan (sump).



Here I was, 3 hours from Sydney, at a mate's farm, away from Tuesday 2nd to Sunday 7th January, so not much hope in getting my R36 fixed without dropping a couple of grand or MORE on towing / recovery / parts and labour. Not to mention the time delays IF I can find a replacement part and there is no other damage.

My mates and I push her out of the way, while I try to think of a solution....



So, after unloading, a beer (for better thinking) and some google searching, I thought "Hang on, maybe I should ring Dean from VW Mobile Servicing and ask him what I should do"

Dean had performed my first R36 service not more than 5 months before at my house, and I was very satisfied with his service at the time, including his suggestion to drain and flush my radiator and replace it with the "red stuff" as the green wasn't recommended.

I rang and left a message for Dean, telling him the story and hoping he wasn't on holidays or god-forbid overseas during this time.

Less than 5 minutes later, Dean calls me back and we discuss the options.

There are only 2 in the country. I can get the oil pan from either Sydney warehouse, Melbourne, or failing that, Singapore! Oh Sh*t.

With the tools on hand at the man shed I was at, we thought it could be done by us, my mate had a car trolley jack, fairly extensive tools, car stands etc....

Speaking with Dean a bit more, we figured out that as it was late Tuesday afternoon around 4pm, ordering the Sydney part today, would mean dispatch would only happen on Wednesday, for delivery on Thursday to Orange, Bathurst or Dubbo VW dealers, then we would need to pick it up (from Orange - closest dealer) get some oil, some gasket goo, a spline drive bit to fit the car, drive back to the farm, then hope we could get everything off and back on again without breaking anything further....

In desperation, I jokingly asked Dean if he would be able to give me a price for him to come to me (VW MOBILE servicing after all?) and knowing he lives in Marulan, thought I was pushing the proverbial up the hill in a leaking wheelbarrow. 4 HOURS DRIVE.......I wasn't holding my breath...

Dean said he would call me back and I would chat to my mates to discuss whether we thought the DIY option would fly....

After 15 mins, I rang him back and asked again for a quote, considering travel time both ways, and obviously his availability.

Dean said he had time free on Friday and would pencil me in IF I wanted him to come and do the job. FOR AN EXTREMELY REASONABLE RATE, including oil, gasket goo, the oil pan (a $700 ish part by itself!!!) travel labour etc all rolled in.

Well, I almost fell off my chair. Here I was, 300km from home, 5km from the Highway, NO oil in my car, NO way to get the car to Orange, save NRMA platinum (or tow truck - see $$$$ for bothway journey), staring down a delay of perhaps a WEEK or more to get the car fixed and the prospect of a very likely divorce once I eventually got home!

HE WAS COMING TO ME TO FIX IT ON FRIDAY!!!! WoooooHOOOOOOO!

My mates could not believe it either. "Sh*t mate, what a legend!" and "Jeez you are a lucky bugger" etc etc.

So all I had to do was sit back and relax for two days (as was the original plan) until Dean arrived around lunchtime on Friday.

Friday rocks around and at about 1130am, we head out to the Highway to guide Dean in, and next thing you know.......

MY CAR IS FIXED!!!!!

A couple of hours later, my beast is running again. It drank 6 litres of the good stuff and was purring like a kitten. Dean even cleared the fault codes on the Cabin Air Quality sensor...

Unfortunately, even though we offered him copius beers and tried to sweeten the deal with some Lamb cooked in a smoker which would be ready later that afternoon, Dean said he had to get back to Sydney (or home) to finish some work, so he packed up, and we guided him back out to the Highway for his four hour journey home....

I have attached some further photos below, showing the prick of a rock that caused it all, which has now been immortalised in my mate's garden as a permanent fixture called "Chris Rock" with my broken oil pan underneath, showing you exactly how it happened.

I am SO lucky that Dean offered to save my backside, by driving 8 hours return to bail me out of a SERIOUSLY bad situation, that so easily could have cost me SOOOO much more than it did.

I have worked in customer service in IT / Telecommunications for 25 years, and I know, that it is service like this, that keeps customers for life.

So, thanks for listening to my tale of woe, with my saviour in the white van - Umai Naa!! from VW Mobile Servicing riding into the country to save my sorry ass.

Dean Williams, you have secured my business for life. I cannot thank you enough and I hope this post generates MASSIVE amounts of business for you as I will be regaling this tale to anyone who will listen for a LONG time to come.

Seriously folks. If you haven't given Dean a go for servicing your VW, PLEASE do me a favour and book in your next service with VW Mobile Servicing. He is very competitively priced, EXTREMELY knowledgable, and a top bloke to boot. You definitely won't regret it!

Dean, mate, you are a BLOODY LEGEND. Thank you so much.

Cheers

Chris

[sn809]

Great to hear a good story and happy ending. Its just a bit of bad luck the way the stone edge was pointing upwards.

[Screwdriverone]

Great to hear a good story and happy ending. Its just a bit of bad luck the way the stone edge was pointing upwards.

Yeah, we saw where it was buried half in the dirt and had been sitting hidden like an iceberg in the track. A freak really. The real name I called the rock also starts with C and rhymes with hunt....

Cheers,

Chris

2008 R36 Reflex Silver Wagon

[Passat R36]

good bloke, always answers my PM!

[Kachingg]

Damn wish he was in Melbourne we have transporter in Adelaide and Dean in Sydney ...

Anyone know of a good bloke like these 2 in South East Melbourne? Someone who comes to you and loves your car is better than dropping it off getting picked up/dropped back ect ect (tho they do do a good job)

[Cossor]

Good Gosh
A VW expert at Marulan
A mobile expert even!
AND at outskirts of Southern Highlands where I live.
OK, local VW dealer I have no complaint, Drives me home, services the car, takes me back to pick up the car, Serviced and given a wash.
But still a day out of my routine! In addition I wonder if service carried out by apprentice?
Lots of little niggles.
So what are contact details for VW Mobile Servicing?

[kamold]

Good Gosh
A VW expert at Marulan
A mobile expert even!
AND at outskirts of Southern Highlands where I live.
OK, local VW dealer I have no complaint, Drives me home, services the car, takes me back to pick up the car, Serviced and given a wash.
But still a day out of my routine! In addition I wonder if service carried out by apprentice?
Lots of little niggles.
So what are contact details for VW Mobile Servicing?

Dean is fantastic.

http://vwmobileservicing.wixsite.com/home

[Joey]

I'll keep this guy in mind next I visit NSW on holiday. I'm totally blown away by that story!

[Mggs1]

Does anyone have current contact details for Dean?

[ve66rt]

Does anyone have current contact details for Dean?

I had used Dean previously, he was great. Tried to reach him post Covid and no response.