Small Car Performance

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  Justin Hutchings
10 months ago
Very friendly and professional, helped me through the process of getting my 68 VW Beetle back on the road. Prices are fair and they outlined everything very clearly before you approve any work. Brought my car in because it lost the rear driver hub while driving they replaced rear drive shafts along with hubs and brakes. Also had them tune my carbs and the beetle has never ran better, very impressed. I plan to return if I need any future maintenance I'm not capable of doing myself.

  Bert Baker
a year ago
Small Car Performance performed a Subaru swap into my father's 86 Westfaila Syncro. They did a phenomenal job. Their staff are very friendly and knowledgeable.They performed some diagnostics and recommendations that we were hoping to receive. Their expertise shows in their high quality of work.

  Ben Faulise
2 years ago
Andy, Austin and the whole Small Car Performance team are awesome! Had our '87 Westy full camper in for the full drive train upgrade back in December. We loved the authenticity of staying all original, but were looking for the peace of mind and reliability of a 21st century motor and drive train for the many trips we take each year. Subaru EJ25 conversion, German Transaxle turbo rebuilt automatic transmission with limited slip differential, new drive shafts and the big brake upgrade fort the front brakes. From the beginning, they answered my every question (and I asked a lot) and treated me like family. Scheduling was easy and I was only without my beloved Westy for two weeks! It drives and shifts smooth as silk! Not only does the EJ25 look like it was meant to be there from the beginning, but its hard to tell that it wasn't an original option as there were zero issues with the transplant. The installation looks clean and it turned our camper into a whole new beastie. This being my daily driver, it also has transformed my commute and brought the fun back into the daily grind. It also squeezes out a few more MPGs as well. Thank you all so so much for being so amazing and treating our Dharma with such great care. I'd give them 10 stars if I could! #leftlanedriving

  John Gribben
3 months ago
This is the go-to for Vanagon, and VW van/bus work. The staff is knowledgeable and passionate about what they do, and they do it well. Setting trends and creating new and exciting ways to make you fall in love with your old van is just part of the magic happening here. Want to swap in a Subaru motor? Go here. Want to have a 500hp electric van? Go here. Want to get your old pig running right again? You know

  Charles KC Honaker
4 years ago
It is a love hate relationship. They love my money and I hate to spend it. I will say that you get what you pay for. I have put over 40k miles on their Subaru motor conversion, big brake kit, complete suspension and every other small part that was 30 years old. We have had a few hiccups but they have always made it better in the end.In the last 3 months I have traveled 13,000 miles and only had an issue with a brake caliper which I'm positive was a manufacturer's defect.I live in Vancouver, WA next to Portland, OR that has multiple VW shops and still choose to drive 2 hours for all of my work to be done.Last item I would like to mention is customer service. Brian is the best, two weeks ago with a full shop he was able to squeeze in myself and another customer that were on the road. In two hours my brake issue was resolved and I continued east across the US.Thanks to all of the great staff and mechanics.

  Mark Jones
5 years ago
Small Car Proformance did an absolute phenomenal job on our build!!! After spending the last couple years taken my van between a handful of mechanics, I have finally found the one. Their knowledge from O.E. to the most advanced new mods is immense!!! Super professional, easy-going, and honest. Loved how they took pictures of the work done (great images), so I could reference them later. Did a thorough walk through of the vehicle and provided some good suggestions. Was done ahead of schedule. I could not recommend them more! Stop by and talk to Brian or any of the mechanics in there and see for yourself. Thank you guys so so much!!!

  Broke Bucket Compound
3 months ago
Passionate and friendly shop. They are pushing the boundaries of VW Vanagon swaps, and an ever growing aftermarket niche for your adventures.Highly recommend checking them out.

  deanomavro
10 months ago
Very happy with purchased product. Shortened oil sump pan for VW Subaru converted bay. I ve been riding round with a home made shortened pan for a few years all the while really wanting one of these from small car performance. If anything they are over engineered, very robust and well made, really cool finish to the conversion too. At a cost of �700 shipped to the UK they are not cheap but I have to say the actual $500 price tag for the part is worth it purely for the engineering that has gone into it.The only negative I have found is lack of basic info Included with the part. Simple clarification information regarding capacity and simple mods that may be required. Just a few words on a piece of A4 would ve been ace.Overall very happy with the product. Would definitely recommend.

  Jen Svrcek
6 months ago
Smallcar tried to charge us $10,000 for a repair that wound up costing us $169 to fix. When we didn t want to pay the $10K for the repair, they insisted we sell them our van. When we didn t want to sell them our van, they charged us $1200 to clean our van, a cleaning we didn't ask for. When we paid the $1200, they immediately pushed our van into the street so it would get impounded by their friends who own the tow yard in their parking lot so they could buy it from them (the girl at the front desk said the owners were friendly with each other) because they knew we were in Berlin when this was all happening and they thought we couldn t get it out of impound in time. Austin, the owner of smallcar, is a psychopath.

  Gary Harris
a year ago
For all of you VW T3 affecionados out there, I'd like to give a serious review of appreciation to Austin and his team of experts at Small Car Performance. Austin and team at SCP continue to provide well engineered and thought out solutions for the T3 + community. Many seemingly impossible obstacles have been thoroughly fleshed out for us that are performing upgrades to our T3's. SCP is approachable, available, and incredibly knowledgeable on any problem I've had thus far. They're fantastic! Keep up the magic SCP!

  Carol Smith
2 years ago
Small Car Performance, especially Warren, went the extra mile for us with outstanding customer service. We have an old VW camper van and drove it across the country. The speed sensor failed, which resulted in sudden loss of power at freeway speeds. Small Car Performance had one in stock and express mailed it to us, so we could return home on schedule. We had not used this company before, but now we will be customers in the future. Thank you!! You saved us from a miserable 3000+ mile trip home.

  Trevor Downing
3 years ago
Brian and the team at small car are unmatched when it comes to the services they provide. You can tell that they have spent years striving to be where they are today. Clean, organized, detailed, affordable. The way they can fix a 30+ year old van, in a timely and predictable way is truly incredible. Can t say enough about these guys. I will be shipping my van 6hrs north from now on to have all work done. It s hard to believe but I save money and have a true peace of mind doing this vs. having a local mechanic work on it.

  Maverick X
3 years ago
I've had good luck buying parts from these guys. First I purchased a used set of Vanagon wheels that they had for sale. The next year I called and purchased the vanagon AC setup they sell. Its a very nice kit, well laid out. They include a detailed installation manual as well as a stack of photos that show you each step in detail. The photos came In handy during installation.I've never used their shop for mechanic service as I perform all my own work

  Kevin Ridnour
5 years ago
I've owned my 1984 Westfalia for 25 years so I've been through all the pitfalls of Vanagon ownership. In 2015 I took my van to Small Car and got serious about the mechanics of the vehicle. I had a 2.5 2012 Subaru engine installed along with Small Car's in house transaxle and a new gas tank.First off my buying experience was exemplary. Brian talked with me personally and put together exactly what I was looking for. My finished van was beyond my expectations. It's so amazing to be able to drive with confidence anywhere. After the initial engine break in I drove from Tacoma to Glacier National Park and back without any problems and realized what an enjoyable driving experience I was going to have to have to get used to. Every time I drive it to this day I'm reminded of what a good decision it was to take my van to Small Car! I really can't say enough!Thanks to everyone at Small Car. Hopefully I'll be enjoying my van for another 25 years to come.

  Casey Davis
6 years ago
I had read the good reviews for Small Car so, even though they were 1.5 hours away I figured I'd give them a shot. I needed the gas tank sealed, front heater valve replaced, upgrade rear brakes, and possibly new coolant pipes. I dropped it off on a weekend for a week due to the distance. They determined the coolant pipes didn't need to be replaced and instead cleaned a mouse next out of the dash and heater box instead.When I picked it up the following weekend, the lights had been left on so the battery was dead. All of the screws and washers for the dash were not install but rather found in the cup holder and on the floor mats. Wires were left visible and hanging out of the fuse block and instrument cluster and the analog clock was no longer working. The stereo was not installed back into the dash and not all of the stereo cables were reattached. The choke cable knob was missing and quite a bit of dirt was left on the floor mats.After jumping the car and getting it back home I discovered of the next few weeks that the gas tank was still leaking, the heater valve was leaking more than it did before they replaced it.I let them know all of this and they asked that I bring it back in and "make it right" for me. They couldn't take care of it immediately so, I scheduled again 4 weeks out to leave it there for a week again.I've had the van back for a little over a month now and the heater valve is not leaking, the gas tank still leaks a small amount when filled full, the clock works, and now a new problem is they forgot to reattach the fresh air vent tubing to both the vents in the dash and the connections in the dash. I'll have to take the dash apart to fix that now.So, thousands of dollars and four 3 hour round trips later (all with wife and three kids under 5), the van is still not as it should be. I wish they had lived up to their review as I was looking for a shop that could perform many other upgrades I'll be looking to do over the next few years. I guess I'll keep looking.

  Carol C
8 years ago
Small Car is the best. They have been maintaining our 1987 Weekender ever since my husband had Brian install a 2.5 Subaru engine in the Vanagon back in 2003. What an improvement it made to the van. Better gas mileage and better performance, especially for getting on to the freeway and going up hills. We have taken the van on 6 cross country trips so far and it has away runs great. My son liked our van so much he went out and found a 1991 with a Small Car Subaru engine in it too!

  Stephany Brandt
5 years ago
BEWARE!!We have had our Smallcar-performed Subaru conversion for 3 years now, and have experienced more catastrophic failures and stranding incidents in the years post-conversion than any of the years prior to the conversion. All of our failures have been due to Smallcar using cheap parts or old/recycled parts that failed--the most recent being this weekend when the recycled hose they used to connect to the fuel pressure regulator split wide open down the center. We were extremely lucky this happened in our driveway, otherwise our van would have burned to the ground with us in it.We have experienced the following failures, all of which Smallcar has refused to honor under their "warranty:"Bad Relay Fuse - Caused the engine to die mysteriously while driving when you started slowing down. I almost got rear-ended on I-5 when this happened at 70 MPH. This same issue stranded us for 2 days in the middle of nowhere, as well as so many failures at stop lights I quit counting. We took it back to Smallcar literally weeks after the conversion, and they failed to find the issue, said the van was performing "normally." We put up with the problem for over a year until we were stranded in a place with no services for 2 days (had to get towed over 200 miles.) We took it to a local shop who diagnosed the fuse, and when the fuse was replaced we never had a problem with the van dying again.Loose Fuel Pump Hose - Came off when I had to go to work, spilled fuel all over our driveway. Had to get the van towed. This happened 2 months after our conversion.Incorrect length coolant hose and loose connection - Failed on our way out of Yellowstone Park, left us stranded on a weekend but we fixed it on the side of the road ourselves. They used a hose that was too short to actually make the full connection and also the wrong diameter, so they'd jury-rigged another hose to partially cover it. Essentially a 2-hose connection when you really just needed 1 hose to cover the length.Reused/Recycled Fuel Hose - Failed this weekend (7/14/18) and spewed gasoline all over our hot engine/exhaust. We were very lucky our van didn't burn.Improperly Installed Propex Heater - They never sealed the holes they cut to make the heater install, and our underseat box would fill with dust/dirt. We had the Propex rep look at it and he had to fix the install.We live 6 hours away from Smallcar, so we invested a lot of time and lost work hours every time we took it back to them, only to hear that our issues were supposedly in our heads - then the van would fail again as soon as we got home! They were also unhelpful when we would call for advice on how to address the concerns.All I can say is, for the money you pay for this conversion, shouldn't you get new hoses on critical structures like the fuel system, fuses that aren't bargain-basement cheap, and fuel pressure regulators that aren't knockoffs of higher-end equipment?I guess this is how the owner paid for his new building and Tesla...We highly regret using Smallcar for our Subaru conversion and encourage people considering them to also look at some of the other providers out there. Smallcar used to be one of the best at this, but it's clear now they're just in it for the money.(On a positive note, we have learned to fix many things by ourselves now thanks to Smallcar. Thanks, I guess?)

  Steve Wilhite
4 years ago
It's been over two years since my conversion from diesel to 2.5 subaru. It's by far the best Vanagon decision I've made. Smallcar does it right. The reason I'm writing now is that I've continued my relationship with Smallcar since the conversion. This week, I asked them to take a second look at an oil leak that had returned after they made the repair. They repaired it again and discovered that the leak was from a faulty cam seal that I had installed when I replaced the timing belt. They did not charge me for the second repair when it was clearly my mistake. I feel like Brian is a good guy that's got your back.

  Eric Paulus
7 years ago
I just did my own conversion with all the kits from Smallcar and it's all worked out great! From the main conversion kit to the little stuff all the products have been excellent quality and fit.The service has been terrific and Mao in parts is super helpful.I have a 86 Syncro Westy and installed a 2000 2.5l. It's a real pleasure to drive now. And my gas mileage has improved too!I own a repair shop in Seattle and it's been a pleasure working with another shop that has the knowledge and resources to keep the vehicles we love on the road.

  Gene Nunn
6 years ago
I bought the DIY in-dash AC system from Small Car. It performs well, and I am very happy with it, but that's not why I write this review. I expected and got quality, just as I have with other parts I have ordered from them. It is the after-the-sale service that has been so impressive.Their instruction book guided me through the installation of the parts included in the kit and the few questions I had during that phase of the installation were answered expertly over the phone.Because I live several hours from Fife I selected a local Vintage Air associated shop to install the hoses, safety switch, condenser, and dryer ..... I should have taken the drive to Fife.It took about a year of work, failure, waiting, more work, more failure, more waiting, and more work, to finally get the local shop's part of the installation correct. Through it all Brian and Small Car provided excellent assistance over the phone and at one point even participated in a conference call with the local shop manager and tech. I'm certain what took more than a year locally would have taken a day at their shop.I cannot be more complementary or appreciative of the quality of their products and especially of their after-the-sale support.

  Mark Barlow
7 months ago
Solid mechanics who know vw vans!!Highly recommend if your in the market for an upgrade to your beloved vanagon!!

  Sam Wilson
4 years ago
Highly recommended! I had an issue with my order when I misidentified the used transmission I was using and ordered the wrong clutch. Mao went far above and beyond helping me figure it out and get the right clutch into my hands. I couldn't be happier with the customer experience!

  � Michael Medina
6 years ago
I was Vanagon conversion number 4 back in August 2001 or so. It was not without it's hiccups. Idle, coolant system, ECU, and wiring problems from the start - but it ran better than a Vanagon. Well in the end, 16 years later, a few visits, and a few thousand dollars later, it all might be sorted out, finally. I believe the factory harness was defective or damaged which is not unexpected when you get a used engine from a junked vehicle.I don't live near Small Car and it's problematic for me to get there, but Brian has been very patient with me on the phone and has fit me in a few times for emergency repairs. We've had a long relationship and I can't say I've always been pleasant to deal with, so kudos for Brian and his patience. :DOwning a 33 year old vehicle with a different brand engine under the hood isn't exactly the most straightforward thing and it's not for the faint of heart, but these guys know what they are doing and can give you the peace of mind that a stock engine will never give you.

  Kirstan Fengler
3 years ago
2nd update: Alex and Brian delivered our van. It was above and beyond what one would expect. People are human and mistakes are made and today they showed us their willingness to try to make it better. Thank you so much. It was nice to see you both todaySincerity,Kirstan and DaveUpdate: Thank you Alex for the reply. I emailed you. Hoping to connect in the morning .Feeling more than just frustrated.We drove up from Portland to pick up our van on Friday night of a holiday weekend. They said they would leave it out and told us where to find the keys. We arrive at 7pm and the van is nowhere to be seen. We have called numerous times and left messages. This is beyond frustrating.

  Ahren Swett
8 years ago
Just got my 84 Vanagon, these guys have been super helpful! They gave me a used Vanagon manual and Spare tire for 60 bucks total! Along with always being willing to answer any question I have regarding Subaru Engine conversion and anything else my curious mind can think of!!! Absolutely love these guys!

  Ken Scholz
4 years ago
We have a 84 Vanagon Camper and live in the Boise area. Our Vanagon was dreadful in hot weather and made many trips difficult as we had to calculate if the weather would permit a comfortable trip. Brian and his people installed an AC system that looks and operates beautifully. We had some initial problems with some silly things that went wrong but Brian stepped up to the plate in every case and covered the repairs.

  Derik Hubbard
8 years ago
These guys are not great. They do not make the Vanagon community look good. I took my 86 Weekender automatic transmission in to have the transmission looked at and have the van given a once over before I take it on a long road trip to California. I just bought her about 6 months ago and I am in no means a mechanic. I also asked if they could replace my sliding door handle and rear view mirror, which they said was no problem they had some used ones at the shop and install a house battery, which they did. They called me and said that the transmission had metal flakes in it and needed a new rebuilt one...which was $2000 for just the tranny...not doing my research (which is my own fault) I later found plenty of local shops with great reviews that specifically rebuild Vanagon transmissions for around 1000-1400. They said my alternator was starting to go, so they replaced that...I did notice the flickering battery light. The heater was always staying on...so they replaced the valve. Total price for everything over $4000. Upon picking it up I notice that the neither the sliding door handle nor the rear view mirror is replaced. So I go back into ask them about it...and seems that no one wrote it on the paper and no one seems to remember that being talked about...when 3 people where there, 2 of which where there at check out. So driving home I now notice my gas pedal is all wobbly which was never like that before. Then the following day I say, hey...let me check the simple stuff every person should probably know how to check...spare tire(which is under the cab)...FLAT! Oil...very low...over a quart! There are metal shavings all over the rear passanger area of the vehicle from where they put the 12v outlet in. These guys are garbage. And unless the $3000 dollar transmission fails...I will never go back to this place!The did fix everything that was wrong and made it right! Thank you Brian

  Scott Sid Mertens
a year ago
Complete Subaru install, in dash AC, big brakes and suspension rebuilt. Runs great and just cruises on the interstate with no problem.

  William Church
7 months ago
I called twice,emailed pics as requested.I was told they'll get back to me. Never got a call back.Called again.Nothing.Decided to go with a different company .

  Victor Brown
9 years ago
Small Car have mostly maintained my Vanagon Syncro since it was new in 1987, and have also made major improvements in many areas. It runs and handles better than new.I have no connection with Small Car, other than being a satisfied customer.