Small Car Performance

offer no support. will just sell you whatever and just say it works without providing any support behind their products. do not buy subaru conversion parts or kits from them. The instructions provided look like they came from a grade school art class.
Been restoring and servicing vanagons for over 20 years and have never seen a kit that comes more vague than this. Just did a 911 watercooled conversion to aircooled that took less time than this. All they will do is argue that you are wrong and continue to not provide solutions for things they shipped without labeling anything. Not only do we have to identify the majority of the wiring harness, we also had to re-​fabricate their engine mount system to mate up with the factory setup. Nothing worked. all they say is «yes it works» and talked to you like you have no idea what you are talking about.
send you a kit labeled for a 86 – 91 and want you to guess how it wires up to an aircooled. okay, we are quite smart enough for that but it is bit hard when the wiring harness comes unlabeled. waste of money. we will just decided to build our own harness and return all this garbage.

I have purchased multiple parts from Small Car performance.
I find the negative reviews hard to believe being mechanical and knowing many in the Vanagon community.
After multiple experiences I find them to be about as good as you get and meticulous with their products. Furthermore when there are issues as there are with anything mechanical, let alone Vanagons, they have been so forthright and honest about issues that it is truly refreshing.
Vanagons and perfect are an oxymoron and having just blown an EJ22 due to a non-​Small car oil pan I wish I had gone to them a lot earlier.
A dear friend spent a good deal with them and could not be happier.
Wonderful people and thank you for your help, again today!

DO NOT GO TO SMALL CAR PERFORMANCE FOR A CONVERSION!
I had my Vanagon converted over to a Subaru EJ 2.5 a little over a year ago and I have had nothing but problems with their work for that entire year. Let me say right off that the main problem is with the management, (especially with Chris) and their condescending, overpriced, lying, cheap corner cutting ineptitude they represent in their business practice. The only person that has been worth a damn is Mao. He has tried to answer any of the questions I have had and has really tried to help me solve them. That being said, I went with them for the conversion because of their guarantee on their products and their reassuring reliability towards any of the engines they had in stock. Before the conversion I asked Chris if he thought any of the engines that they had would need rebuilding and if any were better overall than the others and his reply was that «all of them are bulletproof, really only start breaking in at 100,000 miles, and will meet any of my expectations.» Well if I was expecting to have to drive back for an oil ring replacement after a thousand miles for excessive oil consumption, to have to replace multiple failed parts during that time, the fact it continued to race when I came to a stop, that it would randomly die on me at stops, and to be treated like they were doing me a favor in the process when I took it back for them to fix these problems, then I guess my expectations should have been met.
After they reluctantly replaced the oil rings, and getting treated like it was my fault for not buying a rebuilt in the first place from them, I made the initial 1000 mile oil ring break in period return trip home. During that time the engine was still dying erratically, racing at stops, and I was still adding ½ qt. of oil every 200 miles which only continued to get worse. Needless to say I called the owner Brian, (not Chris who lies and says he is the owner) only to have the runaround and his reassurance that the engine was not going to have a «catastrophic breakdown» and that the oil consumption I was experiencing was «within normalcy for some Subaru engines».
Deciding that I was through with their ineptitude and lies I decided to make the trip out to Colorado to have the engine rebuilt by real professionals. I only wish I had gone to them in the first place. They determined that the engine they sold me must have been overheated before it was used as my conversion and that is what was causing the oil consumption. The racing was due to their cheap and faulty fuel pressure regulator, and by simply disengaging the neutral safety switch the problem of it dying on me at stops went away. I have not had another problem since the rebuild. AGAIN, DO NOT GO TO SMALL CAR PERFORMANCE FOR A SUBARU CONVERSION! Believe me this is just the highlights from my miserable experience from them, do yourself a favor and pay heed to this review. If I could rate this shop with negative stars I would, one is too much for them.

I had Small Car replace my stock engine with a 2008 2,5 Subaru engine. They did it in record time. I left the day after receiving the car back on a 4000 mile road trip. I have no problems to report. I have been a mechanic/​tech for 35 years and now to old to do my own heavy work. It’s not a cheap shop but you get what you pay for. I will go back. I rate them an A+.

They did make it right. I do feel like it was a bit pricey and the attention to detail should have been done at the beginning. I will probably end up doing any other work needed on the Auto Skill Center on Fort Lewis or Mccord… which as everything you could possibly want.
These guys are garbage. 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!

I was driving in the area late Friday night and broke down on the highway. Called Small Car and they voluntered to stay late and help unload the van and get it inside the locked gates for safety. I had been thinking about doing the brake upgrade for a while and asked if they could do it while the van was there. Even though they were busy, they agreed. Had to call in an extra mechanic to make it all happen but acted like it was just another day. The repairs were done quickly and they even found some loose wires on the starter that they fixed for free «just because we were there already». Great service, I have found my new place for any work I’ll have done on the van.

My wife and I have taken our 1991 Vanagon Westfalia here for years. Small Car Performance fixed thngs that even the VW dealer couldn’t fix.
Several years ago, Small Car Performance replaced our VW engine with a Subaru engine – a job that has given us great satisfaction
Although we live in Seattle, we are willng to drive to Tacoma to have Small Car work on our van. The diagnoses and repairs have always been perfect