The Motor Works of DeKalb, Inc.

A couple of years ago, I purchased a ** *** ***rThis was a project van, one that I wanted to put time and money into, a rather romantic and foolhardy venture, perhaps, but I’d always wanted a pop-top VWI live in *** ***, Iowa, and every shop I called refused to work on EuroVansToo esoteric and temperamental they demurred; too rare and no parts available they complainedSo I did a little research and through *** found this little shop in DeKalb, ***Although DeKalb is over miles from *** ***, this wasn’t much of an issue, at least for this initial overhaul; I planned to give my mechanics time to sort out all the issues and make my EVC roadworthy, so a one-off five hour drive was of little concernI emailed Motor Works, and Leslie, the service manager suggested I give them a callI spoke with owner Marty *** and was immediately won over by his warm demeanor and obvious knowledgeI set up an appointmentWhen I dropped off the van, Marty showed me files of other project and classic cars he’d worked onHe also showed me the astonishingly voluminous and detailed reports he wrote for his customers, with extensive photographs and notesThis helped to solidify my trust in the man who would have my van for the next yearAt the same time, my nephew, who’d come from Chicago to pick up my wife and me asked Marty—as an aside really—about his VW Passat he was having issues withMarty asked him a few probing questions about the issues he was havingMarty then proceeded to spend an hour with the car, including a half-hour test ride with his protégé Mark and a computer scannerThey came to the conclusion that the transmission was failingThey also fixed a few wayward cables that could have posed immediate problemsFor this, Marty asked for no money; just a consideration of further business should he decide to stick with the car and have it repairedI decided right then to completely trust Marty and give him carte blanche to make all necessary repairs, and take as much time as he needed to do soMarty had the van a week and sent me a very detailed assessment of the myriad of issues he’d uncovered, with screen shots of his scope tracings of the engine, as well as compression readingHe also included estimates of the various repairs needed to get the motor running smoothly and with proper powerAfter this, there would be the work on the transmission and other problemsSince he assured me the engine was in excellent condition, I gave him the green light to fix everythingThe transmission, the notorious Achilles’ heel of the ’93-EuroVans, was the most problematic repairIt had to be sent to a specialty shop in Chicago, completely stripped down and refurbished, and then sent back to Motor Works then sent back twice more for other issuesFor all of this, beyond the cost of a replacement computer, there were no additional labor chargesOne last anecdote indicative Marty’s bloodhound pursuit of bugbears: There was a mysterious wind noise coming from somewhere in the hood areaMarty spent a good eight hours tracking down the source of the noise, which he eventually found (associated with the new transmission cooler)He charged me for only three hours of laborThrough all of this work, time and again, Marty capped hours, and didn’t charge a cent for all his many hours of background researchI feel that Marty might have actually lost money of my little project, and yet he was always suggesting ways he could save me moneyFinally, Marty and his concern stay with you after you leave the shopIn two instances, Marty helped me find mechanics to help with problems on the roadSuffice to say, Marty *** is a consummate mechanic, a true professional who stands behind his work, and an all-round menschWhile I still hope to find a local shop who is willing and able to work on my EVC, I take comfort in knowing Marty ***, as well as Leslie, Mark and all the other good folks at Motor Works, has my back