I emailed Koch's after the discussion concerning their restored steering wheel quality. I received the reply below.I had a phone conversation with them today and the person I talked to was familiar with the case of the 74 steering wheel. That job was taken on with no expressed warranty or guarantee. The newer wheels are made of plastic and provide an unreliable base material for their 2 part epoxy repair. They still took the cracked wheel back and attempted another repair.
The bat wing steering wheels are recast using a mold that duplicates the original,so you are getting a new batwing wheel for your $450. To have my cracked 67 beetle wheel restored would cost $150, and since the old wheels are made of a bakelite material, their epoxy repair would work fine and they would guarantee the results. Mrs. Koch asked me in her email to post her reply to this group to dispel any negative references to their quality or customer service. They make recast wheels for 56-59 beetles and also some bus steering wheels.They seem like genuine,honest people,providing a much needed service to our hobby.
Teresa Koch's reply:
Thanks for letting us know. I am sorry this person had a problem and felt that he could not contact us directly. We warranty all of our work. We will continue to restore the wheel or refund his money. We do everything possible to make the customer happy. Teresa Koch
---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 22:50:17 EST