Leaving VW

[callis]

I think a lot of it is down to the dealership. Up here in St Andrews, they adjusted my lights free of charge when it went in for my MOT, gave me plenty of coffee and biscuits and also dropped me off and picked me up later when MOT was done. They also kindly jet washed my car.

Again, never had any issues from that dealership, always helpful and willing to sort stuff out. I only have the one rusty wing, however it has been repaired by the previous owner so vw wont touch it. Will get the wing replaced myself after Xmas.

However the wife has just left VW as she wants a Ford, S MAX titanium X Sport!!! 

[Markyed30]

Good luck but do you think any others will be better there's always bad garages??  Ps don't touch Renault

[GTI power]

Good luck but do you think any others will be better there's always bad garages??  Ps don't touch Renault

Won't be touching anything French.. I'm thinking of going either Ford (ST) or honda (type R)

[xjay1337]

Ultimately if you don't like the dealer that's one thing but to lock yourself out of a quality brand because you won't pay £485 (and trust me you can get it done for half that if you want...)  to have the car fixed?  

That's like my Dad who refuses to use Halfords because this one time they did something wrong.
He's making his own life harder by not using a local store that has in stock what he needs. Same thing for you, now you're moving away from a brand you're comfortable with (and probably going to end up getting a worse car.. Focus or a Civic, really?)


While I ultimately had my wings done FOC as I paid for other bodywork, while the BODYSHOP were crap the woman from VW who I was dealing with was very friendly all things considered and did check up regularly...

[GTI power]

Ultimately if you don't like the dealer that's one thing but to lock yourself out of a quality brand because you won't pay £485 (and trust me you can get it done for half that if you want...)  to have the car fixed?  

That's like my Dad who refuses to use Halfords because this one time they did something wrong.
He's making his own life harder by not using a local store that has in stock what he needs. Same thing for you, now you're moving away from a brand you're comfortable with (and probably going to end up getting a worse car.. Focus or a Civic, really?)


While I ultimately had my wings done FOC as I paid for other bodywork, while the BODYSHOP were crap the woman from VW who I was dealing with was very friendly all things considered and did check up regularly...

You see, it's not just that one thing. It's a myriad of issues.

Including, but not limited to;

Being told not to set foot back in a dealership - because I changed my mind on a purchase.
Having my car broken by a dealer and being told they would not fix it and it was not their fault.
Being lied to about finance.
Being told I'm not a valued customer.
Being basically told "Sorry sir, go elsewhere then" by VW UK (NOT THE DEALER).
Having my recommend a friend bonus rejected on numerous occasions for unexplained reasons (£100 voucher). I've sold 3 cars for VW to 3 friends.

Finally, although I'm GTI mad, I think the term "quality" is over used. No VW I've ever owned has been quality. They just look great and are refined. Quality? No.

Overall it's not about £250. It's the principle and more than anything it's being told I'm not a valued customer. They weren't saying that when I was handing over £16,500 for a 61 plate Polo SEL TSI. Arrogant, greedy fools.

[winrya]

I agree with the original poster. You'll be very lucky to find a dealer after June 2013 who who will give more than a 50% contribution. On something that is a design floor on such expensive cars it's disgusting.

Add to that common issues such as rusting sills, rusting boot handles, failing coil packs, cam followers,  abs pumps, corroding wheels, splitting cv boots etc and these aren't a great advertisement for vw quality.

I didn't suffer any of the rust issues on mine but felt like it's a ticking time bomb. I also voted with my wallet and can't see me buying VW any time in the future

[Tortaruga]

I'd do the same as you OP. I'd have no qualms after being treated in such a poor manner. 'The customer is always right'.

Good luck with your next choice of car.

[simonp]

The peeps stating that VWs are quality cars need their bumps felt!

[phil1975]

Sounds like you have made up your mind and you have to vote with your feet and change marque.

I experienced a certain amount of arrogance from some dealers when trying to trade my mk5 gti for a mk6 gti, dealers not replying to messages or taking the pi55 with part ex values, I just kept trying different dealers until I got the response I wanted.

I don't believe Volkswagen to be the quality they might try to tell you they are, but for me at the moment they have the product I want. However I would have no qualms about shifting marques if they had something else I wanted.

As someone who started driving 21 years ago and can remember proper rusty wrecks of cars and buying all manner of rust treatments, I certainly don't believe that 8 year old cars with original paintwork should be rusting and find it completely unacceptable!

Problems will always happen FACT!! it how companies choose to deal with them is what counts, when I hear from customers at work about how our customer services have been, its always complaints about how they feel they have been treated not about the original problem!!

Good luck with whatever you get next, and I hope you get better service.

[xjay1337]

Ultimately if you don't like the dealer that's one thing but to lock yourself out of a quality brand because you won't pay £485 (and trust me you can get it done for half that if you want...)  to have the car fixed? 

That's like my Dad who refuses to use Halfords because this one time they did something wrong.
He's making his own life harder by not using a local store that has in stock what he needs. Same thing for you, now you're moving away from a brand you're comfortable with (and probably going to end up getting a worse car.. Focus or a Civic, really?)


While I ultimately had my wings done FOC as I paid for other bodywork, while the BODYSHOP were crap the woman from VW who I was dealing with was very friendly all things considered and did check up regularly...

You see, it's not just that one thing. It's a myriad of issues.

Including, but not limited to;

Being told not to set foot back in a dealership - because I changed my mind on a purchase.
Having my car broken by a dealer and being told they would not fix it and it was not their fault.
Being lied to about finance.
Being told I'm not a valued customer.
Being basically told "Sorry sir, go elsewhere then" by VW UK (NOT THE DEALER).
Having my recommend a friend bonus rejected on numerous occasions for unexplained reasons (£100 voucher). I've sold 3 cars for VW to 3 friends.

Finally, although I'm GTI mad, I think the term "quality" is over used. No VW I've ever owned has been quality. They just look great and are refined. Quality? No.

Overall it's not about £250. It's the principle and more than anything it's being told I'm not a valued customer. They weren't saying that when I was handing over £16,500 for a 61 plate Polo SEL TSI. Arrogant, greedy fools.

Ridgeway VW in Newbury told me to stop moaning, told me I was arrogant, blackmailed me into getting the other work done (which I did not originally want at the time as I was thinking of selling the car) , stalked my online forum profile, phoned me up to complain that I said negative (but absolutely true) things, tried to force me to attend a meeting in my own personal time), told me I was fussy about my paintwork, to stop complaining, and that the excuse for paint runs and sanding marks was "it's not a rolls royce" and "it's a mass production car". And I paid my £460!

But why would I leave something I LIKE because of something someone else has done.. that is your own loss.

I'd do the same as you OP. I'd have no qualms after being treated in such a poor manner. 'The customer is always right'.

Good luck with your next choice of car.

Trust me, the customer is not always right.

[edd666999]

Customer is so often misinformed and not right.

[Tortaruga]

Yes, but the phrase is used to mean that the service provider should bite their tongue when the customer is wrong.

[Scottymon]

The Mk5 GTI is my first VW and tbh, all things considered I don't think I'd buy another one, not next anyway... nothing to do with the dealers (haven't used them), but the product, it just isn't as good as it's made out to be.  Mine has had so many parts I've literally lost cost... luckily I've DIY'd them all with little real knowledge, otherwise it would have cost me A LOT of money.

I have no error codes at the moment and the car is running strong, perhaps it's time to sell.

[garrardrj]

Aren't faults built into cars nowadays to keep the industry going ? If cars were perfect we wouldn't feel the need to replace them , would we ?

All cars have faults , like everything else nowadays , they are made to a budget and are too complicated , bearing in mind that the speed limit around the world is generally around 70mph why does every new car have more power than the previous one ?

[Scottymon]

If this was true mate, why are parts revised... I think the original Throttle Body I yanked out of the 2006 GTI was an C variant... I replaced it with a Q!   I agree they are built to price like everything.

Regarding making cars more powerful is manufactuers having to keep up with each other because they believe the consumer wants more power, it is quite crazy though, as the speed limits haven't changed, yet cars are HUGELY quicker than they used to be.

But with that speed has come other advancements such as cabin quality, noise reduction, safety features, emissions reduction... etc.

EV's will bring about A LOT less things to go wrong.