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Garagistic - Now offering e24 odometer gears!

17K views 53 replies 9 participants last post by  swhill 
#1 ·
We wanted to start this thread regarding one of our small products currently out that most e24 owners seem to be intrested in. Odometer gears. They are the solution to your broken odometer/mile reading.

These are basically the gears that always go bad and the odometer/trip stops working. These go for $25 to $40 on ebay which doesnt seem right.

This include the 12 tooth gear, the 12/48 gear, and the e3 gear which is usually either 19/48 or 17/48 gear. (19/48 seems to be the most common e3 gear for e24 cars, please check yours before ordering to make sure your car has this gear!).

If you have a different third gear count let us know and we can get that to you as well.

E24 odometer gears can be purchased here (we only accept paypal payments at this time):

http://store.garagistic.com/ocart/bmw-e30-parts/e24 odometer gears

COMMON QUESTION REGARDING COMPATIBILITY: For US market e24 vdo gauges the most common third gear count is 19. (the first two gears are the same in all e24s. However there are some cars that have a different third gear count (sometimes 13 or 17). By default we send the 19 count gear. If you turn out to have the less common gear count and it doesn't work for you, let us know and we will make it right. We take care of our customers.

Instructions can be found here (these are for e30, but the process is the same)

http://garagistic.com/index.php?page=vdo-odometer-gear-repair-instructions

 
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#35 ·
We take care of our customers.
Here‘s how Garagistic “took care of me” as a customer.
In 20 years I’ve never written a negative review about a company. This is a first.
The problem with the E24 gears they sold to me is they are made in a way where the third gear can “walk” on the shaft.
So, if you’re lucky they will stay meshed for a while.
Mine did for 2 miles.
So I took it apart, thinking I assembled something wrong.
Put it back together and again, it worked for a mile or so.
So I ordered a set from odometergears.com and took my cluster apart a third time.
With the odometergears.com gears in hand, I could see the problem. The Garagistic third gear is too “thin” in profile, it is a freewheeling gear not secured to the shaft, so there’s nothing to hold it in place or stop it from walking and disengaging from the gear set.
The instructions reference a spacer, amd specifically say “don’t forget to use the spacer.” Yes, with a spacer in place the gear would likely be held in place. But my set didn’t include any spacer, they would not provide one, and said “we’ve redesigned the gears so they don’t need a spacer.”
So I installed the odometergears.com gears, and they’ve worked flawlessly. As I could tell they would because they’re made properly and the gears are securely held in place.
I paid $25 for the Garagistic gears.
I notified them of the problem within a week of purchase and asked to send them back in return for my $25.
Surprisingly, the response I got back was “We don’t give money back to customers.”
Wow! They wouldn’t take back their gears and give me back my measly $25.
i would recommend against doing business with them. If you have any issue, don’t expect them to take any responsibility.
Also, if you look at the quality of their gears compared to odometergears.com, there is no comparison. Odometergears.com gears have much finer, well defined teeth and are clearly a higher quality product.
Yes, they’re more expensive, but IMO this is a case where you get what you pay for.
So IMO and in my experience, buyer beware of Garagistic.
 
#36 ·
EVERY SET I've gotten from Garagistic (4 sets so far) have had the spacer included, and worked perfectly when installed correctly. I can't understand why they wouldn't take a return and refund your money (a good reason to pay with Paypal or a credit card).

I've bought brake hoses, suspension parts and other things from Garagistic beside odometer gears, and been satisfied every time. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with them.
 
#37 · (Edited)
Yes, I have no doubt it would have worked correctly, IF they had included the spacer. The spacer is what keeps the gears from sliding away from each other, it keeps them in contact. Without it, there’s too much “slack” between the gears, and eventually they move away from each other, the teeth lose contact, and the odometer stops.

Their instructions also specifically warn that the spacer must be used. Yet, when I asked them why my kit didn’t have it, they insisted it wasn’t needed.

Yes, I wish I would have used PayPal or a credit card. But I was there in person in their shop and I never thought I would need the protection of a credit card for a $25 transaction. So I just paid cash.

Also, I didn’t mention it in my post, but I brought my speedo with me and THEY assembled it while I was standing there at their counter! It was assembled correctly, but if it wasn’t, they’re the ones who did it! (But again, it was assembled correctly, the issue was the missing spacer).

And yes, I’m shocked that they have, in my view, elected to steal my $25. Simply amazing.

Esp. In light of their public posts about how much they care about their customers and their reputation.

They promised “If your not pleased with quality for whatever reason. We will refund your money. Simple as that.”

”If anyone who ordered gears is not completely satisfied, we will refund you your money, simple as that.”

I guess talk is easy, but it’s not quite “as simple as that” for Garagistic and Mattson, the temptation to keep $25 from a customer is just too much for them to resist. Stunning lack of ethics and judgment. They should be ashamed of themselves.
1026518
 
#39 ·
Amazing that a company in this day and age appears to be so dumb about maintaining a positive social media presence.

Given their stated policies, their position is indefensible. But even more notably, this isnt 2015 where vendors dont understand this whole "your reputation on-line is important"...

Sure is an odd one.... wonder if there is another side?
 
#40 ·
Sure, it’s reasonable to wonder that. I welcome them to come here and present their side.

Explain how “Money back for any reason, simple as that” isn’t so simple for them.

All for $25. On a couple of plastic gears that probably cost them $2.


I’d love to hear their explanation as to why they are so hell bent on making themselves liars about their “simple as that” promise, and treating a customer this way.

All for $25. (I shudder to think what these people would do for $100). All I’ve ever asked of them was take their gears back and give me my $25 back. That puts them back where they were last week and doesn’t cost them a penny. They would have had a happy and loyal customer.

So yes, please come here and explain. I’ve asked them in emails to explain, but they can’t/won’t.
 
#41 ·
Maybe something is going on there or has changed recently. I noticed they used to generally get decent reviews, but in Yelp they’ve gotten 4 bad reviews, all in the last 10 months. All similar issues to mine. Bad parts. No refund. Blame the customer. Wasting time. Non responsive or non existent customer support.

1026539
 
#48 ·
Yoda,
Thank you for your comment. I’m honored that you took the time to register etc. just to respond to this. Thank you.

Yes, I agree it is sad when a company behaves unethically and forces their own customers to the Internet. There aren’t a lot of other “sanctuaries” available, as you point out.

As an auto parts professional yourself, do you have any suggestions as to how I might get them to comply with their “not satisfied with the gears for any reasons whatsoever, we’ll send you your money back, simple as that” promise?

Thank you.
 
#49 ·
I've been on here for ages. I just tend to make throwaway accounts when I come across these types of threads for the sake of keeping the peace. I don't know your situation, but I have dealt with the guys at Garagistic, specifically Mattson, through email and over the phone many times before and they have always been a pleasure to deal with. I just feel there is always two sides to every story based on my experience. Did they offer you any kind of compensation?
 
#51 · (Edited)
Well, then, I’m even more honored that as a long time participant here you found my $25 plastic gear issue important and explosive enough that you felt it necessary to create a fake anonymous account just to respond. Thank you for all that effort. I certainly would not want the peace breached here, so thanks. And as also an auto parts professional who I’m sure is unrelated to Garagistic, but has coincidentally dealt with Garagistic and Mattson many times, I appreciate your input.

The promise is “if you are not satisfied with our gears for any reason whatsoever we will give you your money back, simple as that.”

I was not satisfied with the gears.

I asked for my money back.

They refused.

There is only one form of compensation, and that is my $25 cash. “Simple as that.”
 
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