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

[Boothy]

Well I've sent the email so lets see what happens. Managed to do some last minute changes to it but I really did struggle to shorten it, partly due to the fact that it just did't read properly without the content that was already there. Not without leaving out what needed to be said  . Instead I included some bold subheadings and moved the rust part of it to the top of the page so that was what became apparent first.
 
I know its a looooooooooooong read but I've posted the final draft anyway for anyone who wants to have a read. Like I said though, not much difference other than a slight move around.


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 would also like to apologise for the length of this letter but I have struggled to highlight all the issues I have had in fewer words
 
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 began my search for a Mk5 Golf GTI for a number of reasons including reliability and build quality.
 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 and was overjoyed with my purchase of what I though was going to be a reliable car.
 I am also a member of quite a few VAG owners clubs as well as a number of detailing enthusiast websites.

Rust not covered under warranty
The most important issue I wish to raise 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 that 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 that 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?

Customer Service.
One of the faults I have had was 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. I understand that parts fail but 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 goodwill that resulted in securing the work with them. 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 but what I found most annoying was the patronising condescending tone of the service staff at that dealership.
 On one occasion I was left stood watching the only member of service staff present conduct her own personal telephone call, chewing gum whilst I stood waiting patiently.
 When the member of staff finally decided to tend to my query I was made to feel belittled by them and 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.

Paintwork damaged by the dealership.
Another recent issue refers to a recent recall on my vehicles 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 a member of 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 your customers? Once again I drove away, disappointed yet again.

When I got to my car I could see that somebody had apparently cleaned it 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.

Overview.
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 am able to provide multiple examples)?
-   Why I have to pay £200 to repair the paintwork damaged by the dealer?

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

[Fletch..gti]

Fingers crossed mate 

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Now you've added the bold subheads it becomes immediately clear what the whole letter is about before reading all the detail. That's surely got to help.

Keep us posted 

[SimonBash]

I have sent a much more sedate letter like this to BMW and Peugeot in the past and got what I wanted, so your letter will terrify them into rectifying the issues.

Very well done 

[Boothy]

I have sent a much more sedate letter like this to BMW and Peugeot in the past and got what I wanted, so your letter will terrify them into rectifying the issues.

Very well done 

Cheers bud 

[Five Alive]

I have some bubbling around my rear badge, having it looked at moday, from what i can see it where the water settles behind the handle

[Boothy]

 Let me know what they say dude

[whiteatom]

New to forum, but sign me up on this one. I have 55 plate GT Tdi 4 motion with rust bubble on passenger wing and starting on drivers side. V W warranty say NO !  Arrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[chrisinglis]

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum and joined up as I have the same issue as you guys on this thread with my mk5 54plate tdi. I only noticed it in the last couple of weeks so it has come up really quickly. See link for photos. Basically the front arches bubbled up quickly on both sides. After reading the posts in this thread, I went to the body shop at VW and asked about it. The guy who came out to look at it said that it is a common fault and took some photos, as he was feeling around the area he actually flicked a large section of the paint off!!!! see first photo. I said, "I guess I have a good chance of getting this done now on warranty!!".... He said I had a good chance as my service history is bang up to date. I will hear back at the start of next week. I will let you guys know. I also have the issue with rust on the rear boot release, just under the badge, he took photos of this as well. Does anyone know if they changed the liner design on the mk5 after these initial issues?? If so what year? I am looking to buy an R32 but I don't want to go through this again....

http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z439/chrisinglis1/VW%20Wheel%20Arch%20Issue/

[Boothy]

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum and joined up as I have the same issue as you guys on this thread with my mk5 54plate tdi. I only noticed it in the last couple of weeks so it has come up really quickly. See link for photos. Basically the front arches bubbled up quickly on both sides. After reading the posts in this thread, I went to the body shop at VW and asked about it. The guy who came out to look at it said that it is a common fault and took some photos, as he was feeling around the area he actually flicked a large section of the paint off!!!! see first photo. I said, "I guess I have a good chance of getting this done now on warranty!!".... He said I had a good chance as my service history is bang up to date. I will hear back at the start of next week. I will let you guys know. I also have the issue with rust on the rear boot release, just under the badge, he took photos of this as well. Does anyone know if they changed the liner design on the mk5 after these initial issues?? If so what year? I am looking to buy an R32 but I don't want to go through this again....

http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z439/chrisinglis1/VW%20Wheel%20Arch%20Issue/

New to forum, but sign me up on this one. I have 55 plate GT Tdi 4 motion with rust bubble on passenger wing and starting on drivers side. V W warranty say NO !  Arrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Make sure you tick the relevant boxes up top guys. I'm still waiting in a response from VW or the dealer.

[chrisinglis]

I can't seem to tick anything on the poll, but count me in!

[Boothy]

I can't seem to tick anything on the poll, but count me in!

It must be because you haven't made enough posts yet? Think you need 10+ before you can vote, sell or PM somebody.

[TimS996]

When I can, you have my vote on this too. Just getting my wife's Passat repaired under the corrosion warranty  - a common fault on the estates apparently, they rust through the numberplate light holders. Usual hit and miss affair though with some VW dealers refusing to do it. Luckily mine seems quite helpful right now. Keeping a good eye on my new Mk5 though....

Look forward to hearing your reply.

[chrisinglis]

Right, I had a response from VW today and they are doing the rust under the VW badge on the boot, bonus. They said they would also do the wings, however, they are only going to pay 70% and want me to pay the remaining 30%. They are also not going to give me a courtesy car, and even if they did there is not one available until may and the repair will have to be done in 20 days or I will have to pay to full amount. I was told that the cost to me would be approx 150 quid, which I thought wasn't too bad but this is just for a repair on the existing wings, they have to get the car in to look at it properly before they know if this repair will be acceptable. If they have to replace the wings the cost will be significantly higher.

Does anyone know if this is normal? Should I just bite the bullet and get the work done? Is the only option a hire car as I wont get a coutesy motor?

Cheers

[alan_n]

Has anyone experienced rust on the boot, just below the rear wiper in the groove below the window. I noticed a tiny bit of surface rust there it would be an easy job just to touch up myself though so not sure if it's worth the hassle of going through the dealer