Rusty Wing - Robinsons Norwich

[dovejon]

Unfortunately identified the dreaded rust on the NSF front wing of my 05 plate GTI.  On the edge just where the whell arch liner ends.

After reading the issues lots have people have had on here I took it in to Robinsons Norwich to make my claim.  After picking up the car 30 mins ago I am pissed off (to put it mildly).  They promised me this morning to take pictures and get the claim sent off to VW UK.  I turned up to be told it was the wheel arch liner rubbing on the wing and therefore an external force and could not be claimed against.  I pointed out it was clearly a design fault and was I sitting on a time bomb with the other wings.  They just shrugged there shoulders and gave no explanation and said ring VW UK!  Thanks Robinsons Norwich.

Just rang VW UK and they were very helpful, have assigned a case to my claim and issued me with a case manager who will get photos taken of the car so it can be assessed.  They did not promise anything in terms of a successful outcome, but at least they took the time to listen to me and understand my concerns.

One thing is for certain, I will not be using Robinsons Norwich again, and quite frankly their idea of of washed and vacuumed car is laughable.

Anybody outthere had any simialr experiences of this rust issue, so I  know the best way to approach it?

Rant over......cheers!

[robern2]

not had the rust issue but did buy my ed30  from robinsons who were equally helpful when the car needed a service 4 weeks after purchase despite claims of it being completed.

[Eddie-NL]

Robinsons Lowestoft run by the same, Avoid them at all costs, if you think the service side is bad wait till you try the parts.
i take my car to Barnards

[dovejon]

VW UK have come back to me today and said they will pay for 70% and I will have to cover the rest, roughly £100.  Feel reasonably pleased with this as I was expecting them to tell me to go away.  Still does not make up for the shoddy service from Robinsons, if I hadn't been so pushy i could have ended up with a £400 repair bill!

[wagonboy]

For those of us that have not had this develop yet. Anybody know if anything has been done to stop the inner wheel arch liners wearing away the paint and causing the wings to rust. Is there a recommended remedy to cure this. Otherwise it looks like more and more of us are going to behaving this problem. Chris

[winrya]

Further to the above does anyone have any pics of how and where the rust starts?

[dovejon]

I don't just think it's the wheel arch liner rubbing on the wing.  Apparently there are some sponge inserts which cushion the liner against the wheel arches.  These get soaked with water and dirt that slowly corrodes the bodywork.  Not sure if anybody out there can confirm this?

At the end of the day VW clearly know it's a problem as they are prepared to cough up for most of the cost.  I guess they are taking the view that only a small number of owners are going to complain so not worth a national recall and huge costs to redesign and refit wheel arches.

Best thing to do is most probably take out the liner and check to see if there is any rubbing, then try and modify them based on what you are seeing.

[dovejon]

winrya - ususally at the top of the wheel arch, mine is just bubbling paintwork at the moment but if you look underneath the arch you can see the rust.

[leetdi22]

just spoted this on mine , what sort of warranty do vw offer ?
the car is a 55 plate full vw service but 145000 miles ?
cheers

[Eddie-NL]

thats good mileage, must be just run in now

depends on the dealer

[leetdi22]

  only just run in edd
 i think most of the car has been replaced now
 it was in for the small cooling fan yesterday and monday its in for a new turbo 

i will try the local dealer try my luck

[Frodo-anni]

Its also common fault on the mk4. As noted above there is a sponge like material under the arch liner, that holds water, this then allows rust to form and penetrate through to become visible under the paint.  VW have also told me that the arch liner can vibrate causing the rust problem.

Take your arch liners out, easy job, but you'll be surprised how much crap is under there. 

[Snoopy]

Further to the above does anyone have any pics of how and where the rust starts?

I don't just think it's the wheel arch liner rubbing on the wing.  Apparently there are some sponge inserts which cushion the liner against the wheel arches.  These get soaked with water and dirt that slowly corrodes the bodywork.  Not sure if anybody out there can confirm this?

At the end of the day VW clearly know it's a problem as they are prepared to cough up for most of the cost.  I guess they are taking the view that only a small number of owners are going to complain so not worth a national recall and huge costs to redesign and refit wheel arches.

Best thing to do is most probably take out the liner and check to see if there is any rubbing, then try and modify them based on what you are seeing.

Try a search these have been talked about many many many many times before.



Oh and a side note about the foam sponges
This is whats in the MK6
They made it even worse with the mk6 they added another sponge in there that is open cell that soaks up water. Its NOT fitted in the UK MK5
Heres how much water is in the NEWsponge on a mk6 after it had not been out in the rain or washed for over 2 weeks.

A nice recipe for rust to start right there imo....

Photo of that larger sponge thats not in UK Mk5 golfs but in Mk6 UK golfs.

^Thats NOT in the UK MK5

The photo below is of the other sponge thats in the mk6 but iirc also in the mk5 at the top of the wing and braces the wing its also at the location rust starts....