*** VW - RUST & WARRANTY *** RESULT!!!!

[Snoopy]

Robin,
Why not DIY clean it down to bare metal, paint it then waxoyl it, that way it won't spreed onto the outside of the wings were it will really bug you. Either that or find somone with a bead spot blaster and blast that bit to get all the rust out then paint it, as its in the arch it does not have to be perfect but imo anything is better than just leaving it to spread.

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Good idea 

I'm in the process of talking to a friend of a friend who is a friend of a professional who does 'private' work and is reputed to be very good 

[RedRobin]

.
I popped by my friendly VW dealer yesterday and they said they'd always help me if they could but my wheel arches aren't rusting and it's a paint problem. Rust has a 12 year warranty and paint issues only have 3 years. As they would have to provide photographic evidence to VW UK we couldn't realistically hide the fact that my arches are mildly modified. To be honest, it's what I was expecting and there's no point in feeling down about it.

[Gtiain]

I have rust on my door sill, (drivers side) so I'm taking it to the dealers tomorrow for the pictures to be taken and sent to vw. First problem is it's an 06 car which I bought less than a year ago so is still within my one year warranty I got from the dealers but paint I've heard only gets 3 years? So how does this work? Secondly, from my untrained eye I can see it's been repaired before and is starting to rust again, but they deny any knowledge of this prior to them selling me the car.

And finally it looks like it's being caused by friction between the door and the sill if this makes sense, there's Rubbing marks as well as the rust. Has anyone encountered a similar problem? Thanks for your help guys

[hellotherejack]

Hey Folks,

ive just noticed a small rust patch and paint blisters on the wheel arch.

Im taking this to the local VW dealership tomorrow as pair their instruction where their "warrenty" guy will check it over.

assuming the worst im going to write to watchdog and the local sunday newpaper "The Judge @ The Sunday Post"

where are we on the vote for this? i have read that some cars have been repaired under warrenty and many not.

anyone in the Glasgow area had any or got any useful advice?

cheers

[golfman]

I recently found 2 bits of rust
one on the top of the passenger side wheel arch and the other bit between the rear bumper and the drivers rear door!!
took it to my local audi dealers as vw does not have a body shop anymore
the one at the back the guy from audi took photos and sent them to vw uk for a yeh or ney(still waiting to hear back)
then he told me to take the car down to vw as he said that the one on the wheel arch was a mechanical failure as the wheel arch liner has been rubbing against the paint,and said i should ask for a goodwill gesture as i have been going there for everything done on the car,anyway i went down to vw and the guy took photos and sent them to vw uk.
then i phoned vw to find out if there had been a decision and was told the guy that deals with the warranty was finished for the day so he would get him to phone me the next day,then amazingly i got a phone call ten mins later telling me that vw uk said no goodwill and they would not fix it BECAUSE......
my second service was 2 months too late even though i still went there and got it done
so they were trying to tell me that if i had got my second service done at the correct time i would have no rust (iv'e never heard so much sh*te in all my life)
so i have complained to vw uk and they have put my case on record and now someone is dealing with it so fingers crossed(if its still no then the letter will be next)

rant over

scott

[Boothy]

I really must get my finger out of my a*se and sort this  . Just been sooooooooooooooo busy! I need to email VW and see what they say.

[Boothy]

Finally manged to compose a letter for VW about all my woes. Its first draft but thought I'd post it if anyone would like to read it, offer any pointers etc.....bit lengthy though!

Dear Mr. Craft.

It is with great regret that I write this letter for your attention but I really am sickened by Volkswagen and your dealerships.
 I have been driving for many years now and have been an avid lover or cars for even longer. Throughout this time I have owned many cars of varying ages ranging from twenty year old to three years old and all have been cared for and looked after like any true petrol head would.
 In December 2008 I can my search for a Mk5 Golf GTI for a number of reasons including reliability, build quality and the fact that it is rated as being the best hot hatch since Volkswagen released the Mk2 Golf GTI. Not too mention that in my opinion it is by far and away the best looking hot hatch of its time.
 All of my cars including my GTI are lavishly cared for and my GTI is hand washed weekly without compromise and is then treated to a full polish and wax, by hand.
I must have over £200 pounds worth of car wax alone which I hope goes someway to assuring you that my car is extremely well looked after.
 I am also a member of quite a few VAG owners clubs as well as a number of detailing enthusiast websites.

After many months of searching for an example that had been cared for already I eventually located a 2005 Mk5 Golf GTI in Tornado red with many of the extras.
 I was overjoyed with my purchase of what I though was going to be a reliable car but I was soon to be disappointed.

The first problem was the diverter valve which failed and was replaced at a cost of £100 pound. I am aware from speaking to many, many like minded Golf owners that this is a well known fault on and the valve has been updated by VW since.

The second and more significant fault occurred around July 2010 and compromised a total failure of the air-conditioning unit. This set me back nearly £200 pound to find out that it required a further £800 pound to have the entire compressor replaced. Again, information regarding the unreliability of the air-conditioning compressors can be found in abundance with a quick search on Google.
 The service manager however agreed to a small gesture of good will which resulted in securing the work with them and I have to say he has been one of only two members of staff at the dealership who have been polite.
 Throughout the three months it took your Wakefield dealership to get the required part in I was never informed about the progress of the order. Instead I was quoted ridiculous things such as “a 13% chance of delivery on such a date”. I ask you. What is the point of quoting such unhelpful and needless figures? What I found most annoying was the patronising condescending tone of the service staff at that dealership. After getting nowhere over the telephone I attended at the dealership to discuss the matter further and was left stood watching the only member of service staff conduct her own personal telephone call, chewing gum whilst I stood waiting patiently. I am not able to remember the exact conversation due to the length of time since the incident but remember hearing a conversation that you would not have with a customer.
 When the member of staff finally decided to tend to my query I was made to feel belittled by them. All she could do was give me sarcastic and unhelpful advice and gave the impression that she was looking down her nose at me throughout the conversation. I was so annoyed by this I told her I would take my business elsewhere which resulted in her immediately picking up the phone and trying to cancel the replacement part. No reassurance, no empathy, no professionalism and above all no manors! I regretfully had the work carried out by them but only because I would have to start waiting again had I reordered at another dealership.

The third issue to date and more importantly the most important is one of rust – on a car only five years old. I have rust forming on both front wings at the apex of each wheel arch. Now correct me if I am wrong but I believe all Volkswagen vehicles offer a three year paint warranty and a twelve year warranty on bodywork.
 At the request of the dealership I attended at your Huddersfield dealership which has a body shop so that the rust could be assessed.
 The body shop manager came out and checked the car for previous repairs and photographed the rust and whilst doing so he disclosed to me that this was a clear design fault with the Mk5 Golf and they had dealt with many a warranty claim for identical issues.
 I awaited contact from the dealership who eventually rang me back to tell me that Volkswagen deemed the rust to be “fair wear and tear”! The body shop confirmed that the area had not been repaired previously and there were no stone chips of any sort.
 I know for a fact that people with identical issues have had the repair covered under warranty and some haven’t so how do you decide what is warrantable and what isn’t when I, your body shop and many other people know that this is caused by the badly positioned arch liner rubbing through the arch to allow water to enter under the paint and cause rust?
 Since then I have developed rust around the rear boot badge where water gathers and two further spots just in front of the rear nearside wheel (see fig.1/2/3/4).
 How can a car from a manufacturer who advertises themselves as being of superior build quality be rusting in under six years after being looked after impeccably? Your television advertisements are always quoting “built like a Volkswagen” which clearly implicates that you build cars to a standard superior to that of you competitors. I’m not sure if you are aware Mr. Craft but this does not seem to be the case. I have owned a twenty one year old BMW that has been in my family from day one and that has never rusted?

 My fourth and final issue refers to the sub-standard quality of the coil packs fitted to my car – I say substandard because that’s what staff told me when I took my car down for a recent recall of said coil packs.
 I reluctantly attended at your Wakefield dealership after a short telephone conversation so that the items could be replaced. I arrived shortly after 0900hrs and was asked when I would need the car back. “As soon as possible please” I said so they offered to have it ready for 1600hrs? It’s a thirty minute job at most. Fair enough I though and went about my business for the day until I returned at 1600hrs.
 “Er, we haven’t finished doing it yet sir” I was told which was an understatement as the car had not moved from where I parked it some seven hours previous.
 At 1715hrs I was then approached by staff who informed me that they would “order the parts in straight away”? What was the point of my travelling to the dealership twice and waiting over eight hours just to have to leave and return at a later date to exactly the same process? The systems knows what coil packs are fitted and even if they were replaced elsewhere surly it would make sense to have the parts in before inconveniencing you customers? So away I drove, disappointed yet again.

When I got to my car I could see that it had apparently been cleaned by somebody at the dealership which I though was a nice gesture at the time but not the following day when the sunlight hit the paintwork!
 Scratch after scratch over my car! Everywhere I looked were hundreds of scratches ranging from small to large. I know my car inside out and can pin point every blemish on the paintwork without even being near the car so I no that this damage has been caused by the dealership. I immediately contacted the dealers in utter disgust and explained what had happened.
 I spoke to Claire from the service department who was very helpful and it made a refreshing change from what I had come to expect from previous experiences at this dealership.
 She informed me that I could come down at an arranged time and they would use a machine buffer to polish out the scratches. I expressed my uncertainty about allowing them to use a machine polisher on my paintwork explained that they were unable to wash it correctly, let alone be let loose with something capable of causing so much more damage if used incorrectly. Again Claire reassured me countless times and said that I was more than welcome to speak with the guy who would do the work to try and alleviate some of my fears.
 I have since attended at the dealership and whilst there I spoke to the guy who would machine polish my car. Before I did I consulted countless professional detailers and   familiarised my self with the correct process required to remove scratches. I have included a typical bullet point list of what a professional detailer would do below:
 

·    Vehicle is then washed via the 2 bucket methods (grit guarded) with PH neutral shampoo and wash mitts (Soft top cleaned and protected if applicable)
·   Vehicle is high pressure rinsed
·   Tar removed from paintwork
·   Paintwork clay barred to remove any bonded contaminants to make paintwork as smooth as glass
·   Vehicle is high pressure rinsed
·   Vehicle is dried with ultra plush drying towels.
·   Paintwork depths are checked with paint depth gauge to ensure that it is safe to machine polish (to check for low spots or repair work)
·   Window rubbers, vulnerable trim and other delicate areas are taped off to protect during polishing stages.
·   Stage 1 machine polishing process begins using abrasive polishes to remove defects such as swirl marks, RDS and light scratches from paintwork .
·   Stage 2 machine polishing process begins to remove any markings that the first stage as inflicted and level finish of paintwork
·   Stage 3 machine polishing process begins to refine the finish with finishing polish and correct pad combination to remove any remaining holograms and to refine the finish and ensure overall finish is as perfect as possible
·   Paintwork then gave IPA wipe down to ensure true correction is achieved and no oils remain


I asked the guy to talk me through what he would do in order to prepare and correct the paintwork. He said that they would wash it and buff it and by doing so would have likely caused more damage swirling contaminants already on the paintwork further over the car and paint.
 I explained to Claire that I wanted a professional to do the work and that I did not feel from speaking to the Valeter that he had sufficient knowledge to do the job correctly and I believed he would leave me in a worse position than I already was.
 I felt compelled to have the work rectified but after further though I declined the offer.

I am deeply disappointed with my Volkswagen experience to date and this last issue has really taken the biscuit. Please explain to me the following points:

-   How a dealership can be so poor?
-   How can staff be so rude and get away with it?
-   How I can have rust on a car covered by a warranty designed to cover rust and still not be covered?
-   Why some people have had there rust covered under warranty and some haven’t even though the same criteria are met?

I have been thinking about this long and hard and have decided to take further action should a satisfactory resolution not be achieved. Therefore I have gathered over sixty people from three Golf owners clubs who are all willing to attend at selected dealerships and Volkswagen head office to conduct a peaceful protest. I have also liased with two major automotive publications who are quite interested in the story I and other people in similar situations have to offer.
 I have included a link to one of my favourite Mk5 Golf GTI owners clubs which shows some of the interest and stories people have had with rust as I though it might make interesting reading. Why don’t you sign up and then you could listen to what your customers are really saying for a change?

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,21537.0.html


http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,25918.msg336296.html#msg336296

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=205769&page=3

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Long but of course you need to give all the detail. Why not create some subheadings in caps or bold so that VW folks can easily refer back to specifics.

Spotted a couple of spelling mistakes on first reading:

• "too" should be "to" in your context (5th line: "Not to mention").

• "good will" should be "goodwill" (16th? line).

Otherwise good and not emotional ranting  You want their sympathy so no point getting excessively angry at them. You can wind up the pressure if you need to at a later stage.

[Boothy]

Cheers Robin. When I get back on the laptop I'll run correct the points you mentioned. I hope the email creates the impression of somebody who loves the car as I do and gets across the shear frustration that I feel. Hopefully it will get the desired results.

[RedRobin]

Cheers Robin. When I get back on the laptop I'll run correct the points you mentioned. I hope the email creates the impression of somebody who loves the car as I do and gets across the shear frustration that I feel. Hopefully it will get the desired results.

....Yes it does  . But see if you can shorten parts of it without compromising what you need to say.

Question: Do you actually need to tell them so much detail about how much you love your cars? Can you say it more simply with less words?

Treat this letter as a first draft, sleep on it and re-read the next morning. Imagine that you are the person receiving your letter and what it makes you feel and then revise accordingly if it helps.

[Boothy]

Ideally I would have preferred a shorter content but the majority of it does cover exactly what I've been subjected to. Like I said, first draft. I will fully read through it and see if it can be shortened into a more concise version.

[ub7rm]

^^ Its a good letter and it must be good for you to get all that off your chest, but as said its a bit long and in danger of becoming seen as a whinge with no specific point.  The main issue you are writing about is the corrosion and IMO you should focus only on that.  As it is there a lot of superfluous information which may detract from the main point and your real agenda.

The difficult issue for VW to defend is why they are allowing certain cars through under warranty and not others.  Thrash this out as much as possible and support with facts like you have a full VWSH and indeed the car has been well cared for etc.  Highlight (if?) you bought the car from a VW dealer, that you buy your oil from there, that you buy your screen wash in there ... anything to increase your value to them as a customer now and in the future.  If you want to use me as an example of a customer they did a repair under warranty I'm more than happy to give you my details by PM.  A specific why him and not me would be very difficult to explain all things being equal.

Its not unreasonable to expect some faults with any car, and to be fair re the coil packs they seem to be doing the decent thing.  I wouldn't include the divertor valve, coils or a/c compressor in your letter as these are in the past and take some of the spot light from your real beef.

I would write to the dealership about the customer services issue as a first port of call and then send it on to VW CS if you don't get any satisfaction.

Hope the above makes sense and doesn't seem critical - its not meant to be.  Fresh pair of eyes and all that ...

[Homer]

I cant seem to vote, is this cause I am new and my post count is too low? Well count me in anyway mate

[Boothy]

If you want to use me as an example of a customer they did a repair under warranty I'm more than happy to give you my details by PM.  A specific why him and not me would be very difficult to explain all things being equal.

Cheers mate. If you can send me details of yours being covered etc I will include it along with everything else.

I cant seem to vote, is this cause I am new and my post count is too low? Well count me in anyway mate

Not sure why you can't vote as I haven't locked it? I'll count you in anyway mate.

Thanks for all the input so far. Its been a big help and it will hopefully result in shorter, more concise letter.