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View Full Version : Car problems off the boat


Mary
November 2nd, 2011, 10:02 PM
Please forgive me, I am typing on a tiny smartphone screen as our internet hasn't been installed yet. I used the search function, but didn't find what I was looking for. Before we shipped our car (2005 Kia Sorento) we purposely got the 90,000 mile maintenance done, even though the car wasn't having any problems, because I didn't want to get to Germany and have something preventable go wrong. We shipped the car 5 days afterwards (drove it about 200 miles in that time with no problems), and yet today we went to Kapaun, picked up and registered the car, and on the drive home the oil light came on and the engine started knocking. My husband checked the oil level, and it was fine, so he decided to take it to the Kia place right across from Pulaski Barracks. They called us earlier and said they would charge €600-800 just to diagnose the problem! Of course the shipper says they are not responsible for mechanical problems! So we called the Auto Hobby on Ramstein, they have no appointments for 2 weeks. Basically we need to have the car towed (without costing a fortune) to a reliable place that won't expect us to pay them €600 just to tell us the oil pump is bad, or a valve is blocked, etc. Any suggestions? Wish we had gotten ADAC before we picked up the car!

JOFTAA
November 3rd, 2011, 07:32 AM
Call Frank Roth of Autohaus Roth. 0631-363330. Pariser Str. 342 67663 Kaiserslautern. He's right across the street from Vogelweh's main gate near Schnitzel Haus. He's great, and won't kill your wallet.

Mary
November 3rd, 2011, 08:01 AM
Thanks!!

spencers revenge
November 14th, 2011, 04:31 PM
The other hobby shops are not as busy as Ramstein from what I gather.

I needed tires put on for inspection a couple weeks ago. I went to Ramstein first and they told me it was a 3-week wait since everyone was switching to winter tires. I asked around and was told to try Kapaun. They got me in the following Monday/Tuesday and the place was empty that afternoon.

They may not be able to diagnose it the same way as a dealer or repair shop but if it is something simple you may save a ton of money.

JOFTAA
November 14th, 2011, 04:55 PM
Pulaski is usually pretty fast, too.