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I drive a beautiful newly painted spruce green 96 Eagle Vision TSI with polished aluminum wheels. It has a slow transmission leak. I took it to several places to get estimates. Everyone said probably front pump seal leak. I made a selection and left it for two days with shop. On second day, when I called, I was told that they had replaced the seal. They test drove the car and it began leaking again with the new seal. Probable cause: faulty torque converter. I had to pay for the first work, full charges, and will have to pay to remove and repair torque converter. Of course, the car is the same as when I took it in to be repaired. My question is: Is this typical approach? Should I find a new shop or keep working with this guy? Would it be normal and customary or typical to demand some sort of negotiated rate on the unrepaired repair that did not fix the problem? This is not about 10 or 20 dollars which sometimes sends us into orbit if this were a retail store. This is hundreds for guesswork and unresolved problem. This is not one of those situations where something was repaired that didn't need to be repaired but the customer is told he needed it anyway. This is exactly the same as when I took it in except my wallet is hundreds of dollars lighter. I want to be informed and civil. I also want to make sure I am being treated according the highest ethics and standards....if such exists in auto repair. (that last comment is based on my experience with mechanics and shop owners who promise alot and deliver little.)

[hiroshi]

Most good shops will make an adjustment if repairs have to be performed on the same problem. i.e. Charge you for the new part but, labor free. Sometimes as close as someone looks, it hair line crack on a converter hub is hard to detect. Then again, if someone is in too big a hurry, it just plain gets overlooked. I personally owned a transmission shop and I wouldn't even think about charging a customer over again for something that we should have caught the first time as far a labor is concerned. I belive it's time to look elsewhere. Bad workmanship is bad workmanship and there's no excuse. That shop should have stood up and do what was right. This is one of the reasons that there is so much distrust in the automotive field. Hope everything turns out well.