Recently Steve took his Volkswagen Beetle to the dealership for an AC problem. When he got the diagnosis, the service advisor informed him that he would need a new ac compressor, and both fans. The bill was over $1500! A friend had suggested that he take his car to us at German Car Depot to have a second opinion. We looked it over and gave him a better deal. Thanks Steve for letting us “cool” you off

On a routine oil change service on his Audi A4 1.8 at the local Audi dealership, the service advisor said that Phil needed a CV axle replacement. He had not heard any strange noises or felt any vibration when he brought the car in. A coworker suggested that he take his Audi to us at German Car Depot to have a look. We discovered a broken CV boot, and since neither excessive play nor noises were present, we suggested to Phil to have us repack the joint and replace the boot, which saved him hundreds of dollars! The dealership did not even give him this option! Here at German Car Depot we are an honest shop and now we have Phil returning to us for all of his Audi’s needs

Laura had oil drips in her driveway and was so upset she took her car to a Broward County VW dealership and was quoted $2000 for repairs. A friend of hers recommended our shop called German Car Depot. Our mechanics told her that at the top of her motor, her valve cover gasket was leaking and her Timing chain tensioner seal was also leaking. We suggested doing the highest gaskets first, cleaning everything, and seeing if there maybe another issue. Once the repair was done and everything tested, we showed her that the gasket leak was what was putting oil on her other components. This saved her a tremendous amount of money. Thanks to our knowledge, experience and honesty she is now a customer forever

Every time we see flooding in South Florida, the cars VW and Audi start floating in. The sooner the water is removed from the interior and / or the engine, the lower overall repair costs will be. Call Richie or Tania now at 954-921-1515 There is a lot of localized flooding in Broward and Dade counties. The most important thing to remember is, if you must drive through water, drive through extremely slow. Most Volkswagen’s can stand about 6 to 8 inches of water at slow speeds without having problems. Issues arrive when you encounter those 1 foot puddles and water is sucked into the engines intake system. Because water will not compress inside the engines combustion chamber, serious internal engine damage could occur. We had 5 cars towed in this week, 3 of them were easily fixed with a simple carpet removal and drying out of the spark plugs, air filters and computers. I expect to see more cars come in with water damage. Audi A4 And Audi A6 for some re ... read more

Dave noticed the transmission on his Audi was hesitating then banging hard as it shifted gears. The shifting problem seemed worse in the mornings, when the engine was cold. When his transmission warmed up, the Audi vehicle shifted smoother. So he took his Audi to the dealer and was given an estimate to replace the entire transmission. Looking for another opinion, he drove to a local transmission repair shop that supposedly specialized in transmission repairs and was told the same bad news. Dave was very upset until his friend Curt recommended he have the experts in service of Audi vehicles at German Car Depot give him a third opinion, telling him at the least, GCD would save him money on any repair. The GCD technicians took the time to discover the problem was transmission fluid leaking from the axel flange seal and once they replaced the seal, the fluid level was ... read more

Julie U.’s Volkswagen was making a ticking noise so her first thought was to take it back to the local VW dealer who told her the engine was bad due to oil sludge and quoted her an outlandish price to replace it. Julie did her homework on Google and saw that German Car Depot had excellent reviews by many satisfied customers, so she took her car there for a second opinion. German Car Depot‘s VW vehicle repair specialists discovered the tick was the result of low oil pressure. Once the experts at GCD desludged the engine and fixed the oil pickup tube and oil pump the ticking noise stopped. The GCD crew was surprised the oil light and oil buzzer did not come on with all the sludge in the pick up tube found in her 1.8T engine. Richie, her service manager explained to Julie that VW / Audi autos require Oil Standard 502.00 / 505.00 / 505.01 Approved Oils. Julie was happy she took th ... read more

Carol S.’s late model Audi A4 was just outside the original factory warranty by a few hundred miles when she felt jerky acceleration and deceleration as well as a shuddering every time she drove her car. Her local dealer, Audi of Pembroke Pines, told her she needed to replace her transmission at a cost of over $6500! Distraught at having to spend this much money on a car that was still relatively new and trouble she called German Car Depot for a second opinion. GCD’s owner personally asked her a few questions, most importantly, “did you bring your car in to Audi of Pembroke Pines for any similar issues while it was still under warranty?” Alan “Ollie” Gelfand, president and founder of German Car Depot suggested to Carol that she fax or email her story to the Audi Dealer’s Service Manager, m ... read more

Bob K. was at the end of his rope over a persistent battery drain in his 2006 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. After taking his car first to the Volkswagen dealer, then to a local shop, he received expensive estimates for what was diagnosed as “major electrical” problems. Luckily for Bob, his neighbor was a long time satisfied German Car Depot customer, who assured him that GCD wouldn’t try to gouge him. Bob was relieved when German Car Depot’s technicians, experts in the repair of Volkswagen vehicles, found the simple problem: the trunk light was staying on, causing the continual drain on the battery. Why? The micro switch inside the latch was bad. For less than $100, Bob’s Jetta was running smoothly and Bob learned what countless customers already knew: only a technician with experience in Volkswagen vehicle problems of this nature would even know where to look to avoid cost ... read more

For weeks, Sheldon J. had been hearing tire noise every time he drove in his Volkswagen Golf. After long waits to find the source of the tire problem, both a general automotive shop and a national chain outlet told Sheldon he needed expensive front wheel bearings. Sheldon scheduled a convenient appointment with German Car Depot who put his VW Golf up on a lift and showed him the uneven tread wear on the front tires (commonly known as “chopped tires”). GCD advised Sheldon to get new tires before spending unnecessarily on wheel bearings. After getting new tires the noise disappeared! By caring more about Sheldon saving money German Car Depot earned another customer’s loyalty

Brian N. took his Volkswagen Beetle to the Volkswagen dealership for an A/C problem. After waiting two days to get a diagnosis, Brian was told by the dealer’s service advisor that he needed a new compressor along with both a main and auxiliary cooling fan. The estimate was over $1800 and Brian was told the repair would take another 2-3 days. Brian’s good friend, Dr. Sheldon, suggested he get a second opinion and recommended the experts at German Car Depot, who quickly discovered the entire problem was the fuse box on top of the battery needed replacement. This was causing the fans to stop working which in turn affected the compressor. For under $200 the problem was fixed and Brian was back on the road the same day. Brian joins the growing ranks of South Florida Volkswagen drivers who recognize t ... read more