BES Auto Repair, Kailua HI

Terrible mechanic! Had our van for almost a year and it’s even worse than when we first gave it to him.at least then we could drive it.now we can’t even go a mile up the road without it stalling without warning.asked him to do an engine rebuild and now its the only working part on the van.somehow my turn signals don’t work and a toddler can hold their breath longer than this battery will hold a charge.absolutely unacceptable!

Brought my VW Bus to the island with a Subaru Conversion, car was running great but I was looking to build a relationship with a local VW expert to help me further restore the bus, so wanted to start with a small job such as repairing the steering column or etc.

Brought it to this place from a tip from a restaurant supply store on the other side of the island, but did not check the yelp reviews which I now deeply regret.

Learned from a local that this place had quite a history, and rushed to get my bus back, however the damage had already been done. It's unclear if it was from truly poor communication or just poor workmanship, but the radiator protective cover was removed/cut down without my approval, I only asked that a plan be put together for possibly moving the radiator. This left the radiator vulnerable to rocks, at which point it was damaged and caused the engine to overheat, destroying a brand new Subaru engine resulting in thousands of dollars of damage.

*Picture is of getting towed a few days after service

Dealing with VW Buses is problematic anywhere as they are un-reliable vehicles, and of course a non-standard bus like my own requires extra care in addressing. I would caution anyone looking to repair their VW Bus to heed the warnings here about the quality of the communication and the results of repairs in other reviews.

In general I try to interpret even poor interactions as generously as possible, as my need for great local support and contractors is high, so I was extremely disappointed with this interaction. The benefit though is that many locals who have had this shared experience have pointed me to better options.