# Humorous VW Service Invoice from 1979 **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Tags:** volkswagen\ **Created:** [August 30, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557 "2023-08-30T00:48:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sageyounger33\_186645](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sageyounger33\_186645](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sageyounger33_186645)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/1 "2023-08-30T00:48:53Z")
![VWScan 11024_1](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/7/f/7f2b204b3531508ba12c400b9e8d2d1eea3fe2cb.jpeg) This is a xerox of a service invoice from a Volkswagen dealer from 1979. I found it in a crate of VW service manuals that I bought at an estate sale. One very unfortunate Louis Union of 32nd & Indian brought his three-year-old Volkswagen Sirocco in and got some bad news. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/2 "2023-08-30T01:35:53Z")
Towed in, towed out. Back then that would have been another $20. Keep digging though, might be another one in there for $1200. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/3 "2023-08-30T18:01:13Z")
Poor car, one of my favorite designs of that era. I owned a '79, here’s a '76: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/b/7/b7234d99bf32a9a1570efbe26502c80ea5d0faa0.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/4 "2023-08-30T18:27:15Z")
I had a 59 and any time it went to the dealer it was $50. I could have afforded $20 but had to call home for $50. ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/5 "2023-08-30T19:30:57Z")
That was around the time that the Rabbit and the Omni shared an engine and styling… ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/6 "2023-08-30T19:33:10Z")
Yep, I went from the Scirocco to an '83 GTI. Fun car. ---
**Author:** ![TheWonderful90s](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/thewonderful90s/32/29584_2.png) [@TheWonderful90s](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TheWonderful90s)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/7 "2023-08-31T13:44:53Z")
What does out mean on that estimate of repairs? ---
**Author:** ![sageyounger33\_186645](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sageyounger33\_186645](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sageyounger33_186645)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/8 "2023-08-31T17:45:52Z")
My interpretation was that the electric circuit for the thermo-electric switch (presumably to kick on the fan?) was “out” (non-functioning), thus causing all of those issues. ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/9 "2023-08-31T19:38:17Z")
> [@TheWonderful90s](#): > > What does out mean on that estimate of repairs? See the check mark in front of the word ‘out’? It’s their shorthand for ‘check out’ or ‘checked out’. ---
**Author:** ![bcohen2010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bcohen2010](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bcohen2010)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/10 "2023-09-01T15:33:25Z")
What is so humorous about this? It says that the engine was severely overheated, and needs to be rebuilt or replaced. I am sure we can find many repair invoices saying the same thing, from the 1950’s all the way to the present day. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/11 "2023-09-01T15:42:54Z")
> [@bcohen2010](#): > > What is so humorous about this? Thank you! Finding humor in someone else’s misfortune might be an enjoyable pastime for others, but I fail to find any humor in that old invoice. ---
**Author:** ![eddo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/eddo/32/2594_2.png) [@eddo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eddo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/12 "2023-09-01T15:47:14Z")
i find it very interesting to see old stuff like this, but also did not see any humor in it. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/13 "2023-09-01T16:11:43Z")
> [@eddo](#): > > i find it very interesting to see old stuff like this, but also did not see any humor in it. Yup! Interesting? Yes Amusing? I don’t think so… Would it amuse people if I posted pics of the receipts for the _many_ repairs to my old Volvo’s electrical system and its mechanical fuel injection system, or the _many_ fuel pumps that I had to buy? No, I don’t still have that old paperwork, but if I had felt that it would amuse people, maybe I would have retained them… NOT. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/14 "2023-09-01T19:42:45Z")
The humorous part was that the owner seemed to receive the benefit of a lot of diagnosis from shop, but was only charged $20. I owned a similar car, VW Rabbit, in that same time frame and never received that low of a shop invoice for anything. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/15 "2023-09-01T20:33:48Z")
> [@George\_San\_Jose1](#): > > The humorous part was that the owner seemed to receive the benefit of a lot of diagnosis from shop, but was only charged $20 Yes, but let us not forget that the median annual salary in the US at that time was less than $17k. When things were a lot cheaper, almost all of us made a LOT less money than we do today. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/16 "2023-09-01T20:38:27Z")
I dunno. Sure it is not funny to tell someone their engine is shot, but seemed like the customer had absolutely no clue what if anything was wrong. Just wouldn’t run I assume. So the mechanic just spelled it all out so it would be clear to anyone. Kinda like someone driving with a wheel missing asking the shop why it was steering funny. Still I hesitate that the cooling fans were the proximate cause of the engine failure. Should not cause calamitous over heating unless something else is wrong. Maybe coincidence that the fans quit some time before, but of course there are no coincidences. Seems to me the coolant had to be lost first causing all the rest of the damage, but there was no detail on, hose, radiator, etc. damage. Maybe the water pump froze or something. We will never know, no? Gotta go water the flowers. Bye. ---
**Author:** ![Jerome-Silverman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@Jerome-Silverman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Jerome-Silverman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/17 "2023-09-04T20:43:51Z")
If that car was of the era where the engine was shared with the Omni, that engine was notorious for sudden failure due to loss of oil through the valve guide seals. I had an Omni of that era but fortunately did not have any engine problem. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 10:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/18 "2023-09-04T22:11:40Z")
I just found an online “conversion” website and that $20 bill would supposedly be less than $85 in today’s money @George_San_Jose1 is correct . . . that’s a whole lot of diagnosis for the amount charged ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/humorous-vw-service-invoice-from-1979/192557/19 "2023-09-04T22:16:29Z")
I’m sure the $20 would be applied to the eventual repair, besides.