I thought I could trust Tom? I was doing a refresh on my motor plus adding a dry sump kit, that I supplied everything but the lines. He took advantage and did things I did not ask him to do. He never called me for authorization of his many added items? 2000.00 estimate , then I finally got through to him and he said it would be around 4500.00 the final was 6900.00???? No estimates up front??? Then it won't idle??? He came and adjusted it, took to the desert for testing and it leaked 2 places, clutch was malfunctioning, then the electronics failed, found a bad connection causing a spark believed to cause short. Very bad communication and then overcharged me, then little inefficiencies! Damn! read more

Buggyworks - My sandrail, rear engine VW, Ocotillo Wells. - Auto Repair Near Me - Santee, California

I bought a new 2276 vw engine from buggy works for 7000.00. I am a 68 yearold guy and retired heavy equipment operator. I operated equipment for 30 years and don't want to offroad anymore. I just cruise locally on city streets. They installed it in my myers manx.I am past my go fast days of my youth. I got 3300 miles on the engine before the cam failed. In those 3300 miles it broke down 4 times and had to be towed. They washed their hands of the responsibility. These guys are thieves. read more

I wanted to say thanks to Erik the new owner, and crew at Buggyworks, they did an amazing job in rebuilding my engine on my 1971 VW Camper Bus. They have restored the joy of driving it, so my wife and I can have a normal conversation and not be drowned out by the racing engine that was made for me by another place. And we can finally get my 91 year old mom to go on a little trip down memory lane with us. My father had passed away earlier in the year. And he had always wanted to get another VW camper, which we had taken from San Diego all the way up to Vancouver, Canada back in 1986 for the world's fair. That was the longest road trip we had taken as a family. It was so fun and filled with great memories that I wanted to bring those memories back for my mom and I to remember my dad. So my wife and I bought this 1971 VW camper van in honor of my dad we named it, KoenigsBal. Koenig is the German word for king and Bal is short for Baltazer, which is one of the 3 kings. The crew at Buggyworks had completely torn down the engine and rebuilt it with so it would provide: the power, torque, as well as heater boxes, brake booster and most importantly a quiet running motor. They had replaced the straight cut racing gears and the headers, which were just far too noisy for my wife and i to hold any kind of normal conversation. It was so loud that we had to shout to be heard over the engine noise. But after 3 weeks later, KoenigsBal was back and in perfect running order. Thank you again for bringing back the joy of driving the bus. Now all we have to do is to try and convince my mom to take a drive with us. Then after that my wife and I can finally go take a camping trip somewhere. read more

Oct./2024 Am age-89 homeowner in SerraMesa-92123, and amongst a trove of other cars, have a beloved 1970/VW-'Bug' sedan, -which standard 1600cc Air-cooled dual-port engine was showing it's age. So hired a talented VW-Bug Mobile-mechanic named- 'Pepe' Suarez -located Imp.Beach SanDiego (-recomended by Robert at the 'Vee-Parts Store' in Nat.City SanDiego). Well, 'Pepe' arrived promply at my home, backed-out the VW-Bug, and proceeded to drop the engine, and methotically dismantle it's external components. ( First he found the ancient cloth'covered rubber Fuel-line was cracked and dangerously leaking, -so he readily replaced it with a superior Hy'tech Fuel-line having the same inside-diameter, -and new clear-plastic Fuel-filter.) Next 'Pepe' discovered the Oil-seal facing the Clutch was agressively-worn, -and he advised that the engine-Case needed to be Align-bored & new oversize-Bearings fitted.! After an extensive Internet-search via phone-calls i finally found "VW-BuggyWorks of- Santee SanDiego" where Owner-mgr. 'Eric' agreed to take-on the VW/Crank-'Case' machine-shop repair. Unfortunately, they found it was to-far worn to enable repair (-drat); -however Eric said he has a 'used' VW-1600cc Engine taken-in from a customer that wanted a larger-displacement Air-cool'er, --Eric quoted me a 'refreshed'-price i could afford; -and their 'Juan' delivered it to my home-garage a couple of days later, -with chrome-plated Oil/Dip-stick.! Then 'Pepe' said that likely the excessive-wear of the previous VW-Eng. was due to 'overheating', -as he found the Air-cooling 'Dog-house' and steel/Oil'cooler-Tower was inadaquate from a earlier 1500cc-engine; -so 'Pepe' installed the larger 1600cc Air-cooling system (-with proper wider-Fan and more efficient Alum./Oil'cooler-Tower inside the Dog-house (-along with all of the proper sheet-metal pieces needed to make the necessarily 'sealed-flow'Air-cooling system function efficiently) -in conjunction with the Air-inlet 'hash-marks' arranged across the base of the rear-window, He also showed me the Outlet-port which finally releases "Hot-air"from beneath the Dog-house radiator; -a very effective 'waterless' Cooling-system, -when properly installed. Being a Calif,-car, we decided to eliminate the Comfort/'heat-collectors', opting for just two new 'J'-pipes feeding exhaust from the two opposed-forward Cyl.-heads. Accordingly, i am thrilled at the notion of having my '70.VW-Bug brought back to life, -by the combined skills of Mobile-mechanic 'Pepe', & 'Eric' of VW-BuggyWorks in Santee. ThankYou for your mutual skills at keeping these Ol'German-cars preserved for novel motoring enjoyment; -they only built some 21-Million+ of these Air-cooled vehicles, -which are becoming a rare sight.! Note that a new long-lasting 'galvanized' exhaust-Muffler #AC-251420 $90.oo from Kairous-parts, ChulaVista Calif., -tonally has a nice heafty-'Bark'! Also soon see more accompanying Photos of this '70/VW-Bug..! ~Robt. Vonheck -owner. read more

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Tom is the GOAT, that's all you need to know. They will fix anything highly recommend

Built me an 2007cc engine. Reasonably priced and warranties. Cool shop with cool people won't go anywhere else

The owner is very unprofessional and they charged me for work that they didn't do and I asked for my parts and the owner talked crazy and was using profanity and refused to give me my parts. I will never patronize there business again. read more

I have a 1974 Thing. Tom installed 2 new Weber Carburetors, rejetted and balanced them for me. Engine sounds and runs like a top. I know he had more time in it then he charged for. They returned all old parts and the car was kept clean. Thank you! read more