Problems with VW

[RedRabidRabbit]

I have been trying not to post this, for the slight hope it might actually work out. I am just so fed up with the whole thing.

I just sent this letter to VW, hopefully someone cares enough to respond. I just need to vent. The thing that gets me is if the car is not done tomorrow, I am gone for 2.5 weeks and the car will have to stay there all that time, which I am not comfortable with.


To whom it may concern,

I purchased my vehicle (2007 Rabbit) at Capilano Audi/VW in North Vancouver in February of 2007. The car was great for nearly two years until recently when I had to bring it into the dealer (Langley VW, Langley BC) for some electrical issues I had been having. I took the car there three seperate times and left the car there all day for two different issues. The fourth time I went (to repair the second issue) was February 19th. Today is March 11th, the car is still there. I have also agreed to pay $600+ out of my own pocket for issues the dealer says are my doing, which I really do not understand. The dealer cannot pinpoint the problem with the car. I have been hearing the same story for over two weeks now about trying to diagnose the issue. They have had a "head Vancouver area tech" look at the car three times, who also cannot figure it out. I do feel the employees at the dealer are doing their best, doing a good job and being professional, but this is beside the point. I do not feel it is fair to have to go put up with this kind of thing on a new car. We buy new cars to avoid these stuations. I realize problems happen, but a total of 24 full days and counting for a car to be in the shop for one issue is ridiculous. I was very happy with the car up until this point. As and much as I like the VW/Audi brand I must say it is going to be hard to buy another after this experience. I also feel it is unfair to be paying a car payment on a car that I am not able to drive.

If anybody can talk to me about this sitution, it would be greatly appreciated. I can be reached at 604-961-xxxx anytime, or at the email address provided.

Thank you.


:frown:

 

[Si Killer]

that's so messed. good luck dude :thumbsup:

 

[KingOfJericho]

Never agree to pay anything. You have a warranty for a reason. What was the issue that they blamed you for?

 

[V8snack]

wow thats some bulll

 

[LeesburgMKV]

that sucks big time dude. Sorry to hear about it.

 

[PhillyB]

Not to be an ass or anything, but things happen. you can't always figure out the problem immediately. Being a tech myself i've seen situations similar to this. Personally i would not want to give a car back to the customer until everything was properly fixed. also you mention that ou shouldn't have to put up with things like this because you have a "new" car. If its 2 years old its bound to brake once in a while. every car brakes its a fact of life.

and for what its worth, there's a kia sorento sitting in my shop that's been there since January 10th

 

[RedRabidRabbit]

Never agree to pay anything. You have a warranty for a reason. What was the issue that they blamed you for?

Ok, sorry this is long.

When I bought the car, I turned the DRL's off and activated the window/sunroof control with the fob through VAG-COM. It worked fine for two years. One day a few months ago my hatch stopped working, the switch wouldn't open it. After replacing the latch and the switch in the "VW logo handle" (five seperate trips to the dealer), the lights started going all wonky. After the second trip, my DRL's were on. When I took it back the third time I asked them to turn them back off. The service writer and tech both insisted they never touched the VAG-COM programming. They dug into it a little more and determined the car needed whatever module controls the lights (they call it the comfort module). When I picked the car up, The DRL's were still on (they were not turned back on in VAG) and the outside taillights stopped working as both tails and brake lights, but they worked as the turn signals. Another week later and the next trip back, they replaced the module, which apparently corrected the lights, but messed up the locks, which still to this day are not working properly.

What they are saying is that when they originally changed the switch in the hatch, because it communicates with the ECU and the ECU was altered (when I made the changes) it would not communicate properly. This caused the ECU to start changing the long coding trying to get it to work, which is what caused the lights to stop working properly. When they changed the light module, it caused the locks to stop working properly because of communication issues again. When they finaly diagnosed the car as having a long coding issue (almost three weeks ago) they told me they would have to charge me a couple hours labor to find a sister car and correct the long coding. I was fine with that. I went in two days later because I had to have the car back, the buddy I was carpooling with was going on vacation in a couple days. They presented me with a bill of almost $800 which included the price of the lighting module and all labor for that. I was never told I was responsible for this. I was furious, told them it's not right for them to mis-diagnose the car and charge me for it. Service manager came out and had the bill reduced to around $500. I told him I was pissed because the car is still not fixed, the locks were still foobarred. He said to leave it with him and they could have it fixed in another 60 - 90 minutes. They were busy that day (Saturday) but could do it on Monday. I left it there because I just wanted it fixed.

The car is still in the exact same scenario today as it was that day. They have corrected the long coding but the locks do not work properly. They replaced a lock module as well as the driver door actuator which has done nothing. The dealer is actually being pretty good about calling me and giving me updates, but there has been zero progress in 2.5 weeks. Last time I was there was about 12 days ago when they gave me a loaner. The service manager stated I am not responsible for anything more financially at this point because it's not my fault if VW supplies them modules that aren't compatible with the rest of the car. He asked if I have ever had problems with the locks in the car before, and I told him about 50% of the time when you press the unlock button twice on the fob, the passenger door wouldn't unlock. He said that makes sense and is probably a pre-existing condition. I just figured I wasn't pushing the button well enough or was too far away or something, but the Jetta loaner I have works fine so I guess there really is/was a problem with mine.

I am just frustrated, this whole thing has just turned into a huge abortion over something so stupid. If VW offered to buyout the car at this moment in time I wouldn't hesitate for a second.

 

[RedRabidRabbit]

Not to be an ass or anything, but things happen. you can't always figure out the problem immediately. Being a tech myself i've seen situations similar to this. Personally i would not want to give a car back to the customer until everything was properly fixed. also you mention that ou shouldn't have to put up with things like this because you have a "new" car. If its 2 years old its bound to brake once in a while. every car brakes its a fact of life.

and for what its worth, there's a kia sorento sitting in my shop that's been there since January 10th

Before I had this car, I had a 15 year old Civic. I drove that car for two years and around 25k, it had about 100k when I sold it. I had zero reliability issues with that car. None. I didn't pay $365 a month for that car, either.

I have modded cars and worked in the industry long enough to know things happen. The difference is, when it's a clutch, or something mechanical, it's generally a quick fix, something I can do myself in a day or two. I don't normally care too much about the financials, shit happens, it's down time that kills me. The electrical is the only part of this car I cannot work on which makes this even more frustrating. I shouldn't even have to work on it because it is a warranty issue, but three weeks is bad. If I knew this was going to happen I would have said screw the warranty and just leave it. Even little things I think about, the car has been started and shut off within 30 seconds three or four times a day now for 25 days.

 

[VancouverGTI]

That sounds like a terrible situation man, it really does. And frankly? I call bullshit on them blaming your VAGCOM changes. Seriously. Changing your DRL and keyfob behaviour is NOT, repeat, NOT going to cause modules to burn out and your ECU to try and reprogram itself.

Think about it. How many hundreds, if not thousands of people are using VAGCOM to make the exact same changes, right here on this site? And why would this problem happen over time? Computers are digital devices, with digital programs; they'll either work, or they won't in a scenario like this.

I'd look into the CAMVAP process, and have VW replace the car. I'd also insist that they pay your payment this month. And I'd demand your money back from Langley VW, and shame on them for trying to foist the blame on you in the first place. You can tell them there's at least one Lower Mainlander who's never going to do business with them after hearing what they've pulled!

 

[mose6161]

i love VW. i want to motorboat her tits.

 

[RedRabidRabbit]

That sounds like a terrible situation man, it really does. And frankly? I call bullshit on them blaming your VAGCOM changes. Seriously. Changing your DRL and keyfob behaviour is NOT, repeat, NOT going to cause modules to burn out and your ECU to try and reprogram itself.
!

I said the exact same thing to the service manager. I actually stated I think his tech is lying and was dinking around in the computer because every time I picked the car up from them something in the operation of the lights/locks/hatch changed. He said that is not possible because every time someone logs into VAG, it's logged, and he can see who was in there.

Think about it. How many hundreds, if not thousands of people are using VAGCOM to make the exact same changes, right here on this site? And why would this problem happen over time? Computers are digital devices, with digital programs; they'll either work, or they won't in a scenario like this.

I said the same thing again. He stated as soon as anyone with changes has to change an electrical component, they'll have problems.

I'd look into the CAMVAP process, and have VW replace the car. I'd also insist that they pay your payment this month. And I'd demand your money back from Langley VW, and shame on them for trying to foist the blame on you in the first place. You can tell them there's at least one Lower Mainlander who's never going to do business with them after hearing what they've pulled!

What is this CAMVAP process? I can honestly say if VW wanted the car back (lease) I would give it back no questions asked, I would just want to swap it back to stock first with the coils and steering wheel and a few other things in there. I am definately going to ask for my monthly payment, assuming they actually reply to my email. I haven't given Langley any money but I can't say I wouldn't give them the money just to be out of this ridiculous situation.

 

[VancouverGTI]

Above statements aside, I think they're snowing you. I'm not a VW technician, but the suggestion that any change would cause problems seems unbelievable to me. For that to be the case, GTI's would be dropping like flies. VW doesn't make a bad car, and their comment would suggest otherwise.

CAMVAP is the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan, which is a means by which a dissatisfied consumer can have their case heard by an arbitrator if they feel they're not being looked after, which is clearly the case here. An unreliable car, AND you're being charged for the inconvenience? Pathetic!

I'd go to http://www.camvap.ca/ and look into it all. I wouldn't risk "not paying" what Langley VW is demanding, but I would certainly argue the demand itself. If you can't talk some common sense into the service manager, then that would be another point of contention you could bring up with a CAMVAP arbitrator if you need to go that way.

 

[Khobin~]

Call me crazy, but they can wipe the ecu clean and reset to factory settings right? In which case shouldn't that reset the locks, lights, etc, therefore solving all the issues, if it really is something software based... :iono:

Is there maybe a different shop you take it to?

I know from my own experience that if you send a letter to VWoC, they will follow up... however that doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the issue resolved quickly, again from my experience. :bellyroll:

 

[RedRabidRabbit]

Call me crazy, but they can wipe the ecu clean and reset to factory settings right? In which case shouldn't that reset the locks, lights, etc, therefore solving all the issues, if it really is something software based... :iono:

Is there maybe a different shop you take it to?

I know from my own experience that if you send a letter to VWoC, they will follow up... however that doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the issue resolved quickly, again from my experience. :bellyroll:

According to the dealer it is not possible to do a master reset on the ECU. If you do, it doesn't reset any long coding.

They just phoned me about an hour ago, saying they were chaning another piece. They say they'll have it in the car within a couple hours, so we'll see if that does anything.

I'm not holding my breath about hearing back from VW, but I'm not going to just let it go, either.