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Volkswagen Owners: Dealer & Service Experiences
evfrank
Member Posts: 1
Does anyone have information about experience with dealers in the LA area?
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is there any one who can tell me his or her bad/good experiences with the vw. dealer in toronto area, i will appreciate that.
* The car burns oil rapidly between oil changes and requires maintenance
* My drivers side AND passenger side window fell into the door and after the secretary told me there was nothing they could do (mind you, it was raining and I had a 1 hr commute home) I had the manager help, if you call it that...I was charged $250.
* The sunroof is broken (its $85 just for VW to look at it)
* The Mass Airflow Sensor needed replacement at 40,000 miles ($550)
* There is a rattling in the passenger side speaker (dealer can’t figure it out but charges for checking)
* The dash board lights sometimes don’t come on
Please note that all of these problems are not due to misuse of the car...at one time I ran a car detailing business and I treat the car very, very well and have been disheartened by its problems.
VW service is horrible!! and the workers are very unsypathethic to any problems. Since its not one problem that recurs over and over I dont qualify for the lemon-law; a loophole if you ask me.
I will never buy a VW again.
Feel free to ask me any questions… jeffebay2000@yahoo.com
- Rich Redling -
Internet Sales Manager
@ Ourisman delarship -Laurel, MD
Response and action taken against me by the internet sales manager at the dealer where I purchased my new Jetta 02 six weeks ago, when I asked why the charged me $335.00 for the installation of splash guards when Driver Gear Magazine advertise those $25 per set of two. And also referring to the survey/rate I gave to VW for their poor service in handling my business.
Chapman's number: 480.949.7600
* The car burns oil rapidly between oil changes and requires maintenance
* My drivers side AND passenger side window fell into the door and after the secretary told me there was nothing they could do (mind you, it was raining and I had a 1 hr commute home) I had the manager help, if you call it that...I was charged $250.
* The sunroof is broken (its $85 just for VW to look at it)
* The Mass Airflow Sensor needed replacement at 40,000 miles ($550)
* There is a rattling in the passenger side speaker (dealer can’t figure it out but charges for checking)
* The dash board lights sometimes don’t come on
Please note that all of these problems are not due to misuse of the car...at one time I ran a car detailing business and I treat the car very, very well and have been disheartened by its problems.
VW service is horrible!! and the workers are very unsypathethic to any problems. Since its not one problem that recurs over and over I dont qualify for the lemon-law; a loophole if you ask me.
I will never buy a VW again.
Feel free to ask me any questions… jeffebay2000@yahoo.com
Thanks
I have "heard" that Santa Monica dealership has good mechanics but extremely busy. Need to make an appointment.
Pasadena VW told my auto shop that VW Glendale had installed the wrong part in the car. I called them since they were going to require me to take the car back to Glendale. Pasadena finally told me the part was correct and apologized.
Would be willing to buy again from Fox. Would NOT be willing to buy from Livonia, even though they are about 40 MILES CLOSER TO HOME. Recent experience with Sales dept while shopping for '01 Mazda - similar to that for Passat in '99 - suggests that their business practices are still on the somewhat shady side. Maybe you can put up with that when buying (if you are Sharp Enough), but you are at complete mercy of their shop when taking a car in. They tried fixing brother's Fiat many years ago: insurance company ended up totalling car after dealership left it out in rain & snow with windows Completely Open + claimed it was 'fixed' even though car body was Clearly not aligned with wheels; then they collapsed the gas tank of VW #1 while in for service; then they managed to break the parking brake cable of VW #2 while in for an oil change. So much for "New Management!" It will be a cold day in H*** before they get their hands on my Passat! (Not that we hold any grudges about past incompetence....)
Reviews suggest that the overall VW Dealer Experience is rather poor: ranking only slightly higher than for Toyota, and about the same as Honda.... This could be a problem for VW, esp in the face of less-than-stellar reliability. Fun to Drive is great, but the majority of the buying public are NOT willing to be as forgiving as owners of the older British cars.
Thank you
I wound up buying from West Side VW in Minneapolis. The salesman (Harris White) and I came to agreement on price over the phone, and he faxed me the financing paperwork. I agreed to complete the deal based on my final inspection of the actual car (which I hadn't seen yet).
Harris told me to come over for delivery and he'd have me out in 45 min. to an hour. I got there at 5:20 on a Friday afternoon. We looked over the car, he showed me the features, and sent me into the finance guy. The finance guy gave me papers to sign and said not one word about paint sealant, undercoating or extended warrantys. At 6:05 I was cruising down 394, headed home in my new car.
This place was no BS, everything the salesman said was true. Best car buying experience I've ever had.
Since the dealer, Bill Britt of Fredericksburg stonewalled me, I bought the replacement sender parts through a mechanic at which point we discovered that the two access panels to the tank below the rear seat aren't big enough to change the sender parts.
I had another dealer install the parts for me - very nice chap in the service, but it cost me $500 for the parts and service. The result was absolutely no improvement. Tech service was right. It's normal operation, but the normal operation is sad.
It appears to be a design flaw. How does one measure fuel in two sides of a tank?
Other than that, the car's fine and runs beautifully, but I'm going to get rid of it. I don't like refueling on a trip when the tank's half full, but reading a quarter. VW's response has been horrible including customer relations. The dealer won't even respond to letters. Tech service refused to send me the specifications for the system - guess there aren't any.
I bought the car at Boardwalk VW in Redwood City, right after my boyfriend returned the leased Jetta for his ex after the lease expired. They said, please sign here and here and here, and we'll take care of the paperwork. She ended up leasing another Jetta from them, and I bought my GLX from them after getting a better price from their fleet mgr. (Their sales mgr. was a little icky.)
However, a couple of months after sealing the sale, we get a notification from the DMV asking us to pay up on the expired lease's registration, or risk getting wages garnished! When we went back to them about this, we got the run around and "It's not our fault."
Now, I don't want to take the service business back to them. We've also moved to the East Bay. I'm hoping there are better service folks who know how to take care of their customers. Can you help?
Thanks muches!
'nette
I have had all the problems posted by jcp5 except for the broken moonroof. In addition I have had to replace the following:
trunk sensor
temperature gauge sensor
O2 sensor
catalytic converter
fuel relay switch
The O2 sensor, catalytic converter, fuel relay switch have all been replaced within the last 7 wks and now I have to replace the ignition coil pack. On top of that the airbag light has come on and apparently the entire passenger airbag unit needs to be replaced. The ignition problem should have been addressed when I initially complained about it in the first year I had the car.
This list is supplemented by the currently unfixed problems: driver's seat lever that doesn't work and a gas gauge that works intermittently.
Naturally, Gilboy Volkswagen's service department and general manager refuse to take responsibility for their ineptitude. And Volkswagen of America just laughs as they take my customer service complaints.
If you ever consider buying a Volkswagen--DON'T. If you make the mistake of deciding to buy a Volkswagen, go to any other Lehigh Valley dealer but don't go to Gilboy Volkswagen.
Sorry to hear of all the problems with the car. Have all these repairs been covered under warranty or not?
At least the car was returned without significant damage (one noticeable scratch across trunk lid; polished it 90% out...sigh... but car has numerous other surface scratches from 3 years driving), and it does run well - seems to have a tiny bit more 'oomph,' and the MPG is Perhaps up a bit, but don't really have enough time to tell that.
Am still impressed by the Passat - major problems are numerous paint chips (no rust, but the front end has dozens of tiny chips exposing white (?)undercoat) and more 'rattles' than seem appropriate, even though they (mostly) only show up on rough / uneven pavement. Beyond this, the car is going strong - ride, handling, performance, lots of creature comforts (a loaded GLS V6), and I still park at the back of the lot & walk away 'backwards'... Cannot say For Certain that it would get replaced with another Passat - there are a lot of very nice cars out there - but anything else would have to be Very Impressive: after 3 years this car has been nearly problem free, and is still a joy to drive Spiritedly (major standard of comparison: Taurus SHO, 5spd).
Alex
http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbumPhoto.asp?userid=JettaDude&album_id=103437&image_id=19
I bought my '00 VW GTI 1.8T brand new a couple of years ago from Flow Motors here in Winston-Salem, NC. Despite meticulous care and conscientious maintenance, the vehicle was nothing but trouble from the start.
Here's a brief rundown:
I had the car in the shop SIX times to have window problems fixed. (The passenger door glass was replaced twice due to deep scratches caused by the power window mechanism, and the easily broken "retainer clip" which connects the window glass to the door motor had to be replaced several times as well). Try driving 40 miles down the interstate back to the dealership with the driver's window stuck in the "down" position, and you you may appreciate my mood at the time. I had to use vacation time to take the car in for service immediately, as any precipitation would have ruined the interior, and my belongings inside the vehicle were unprotected from the elements, not to mention theft.
Virtually every exterior bulb -- headlamps, turn signals, and brake lamps -- burned out on this supposedly well-built "German" vehicle within two years of purchase. One headlamp burned out TWICE, despite having been replaced with a genuine VW bulb from the dealer.
The cheap plastic hinge on the glove compartment door broke twice. The whole door has to be replaced when this happens. (Hey VW, why not use a METAL hinge if you're going to spring-load the glove box for that pleasant "dampened" feel?)
The clutch went out after only 40,000 miles (a very costly repair). Bear in mind that I did not abuse this vehicle -- most of the miles were accumulated in fifth gear on the interstate.
The air conditioner started malfunctioning last summer, leaving me drenched in sweat more than once, but luckily started working again. Don't ask why. I hate to think what a new condenser would have cost.
The turbo blew an intake valve, causing a loud "fluttering" noise during acceleration. The "check engine" light came on as well. The turbo valve cost around $200 to replace, and the part was not covered by VW's touted 100,000 mile powertrain warranty (even though the VW salesman specifically told me that the turbo WAS fully covered by the extended warranty when I purchased the vehicle).
The six-disc, trunk-mounted CD player was problematic, constantly jamming and generating a bogus "disc error" message. (I had the same problem with numerous newly-purchased CDs, so it wasn't the software.) I had to pull over, pop the hatch, remove the cartridge and "spin" all the discs to listen to any of the CDs. A nuisance to say the least, particularly while commuting or driving in bad weather.
Disgusted with the constant breakdowns, I threw up my hands and traded in my GTI on an '03 Subaru WRX after the last repair epdisode, during which I was bluntly advised by VW maintenance personnel that my inoperative driver's side window could not be repaired because no replacement parts were available anywhere in the country. (No replacement parts nationally for a '00 model! GET REAL!) It took calls to the general manager and regional service director to finally get the parts by special order, and I drove a rental for a couple of days while they replaced the assembly.
Now, after absorbing a loss on my trade to avoid more unforseen repairs, I get a letter from VW stating that they're generously extending the manufacturer's warranty to cover certain window problems. (The dealer advised me that VW has known about the problem for years, but refused to issue a timely recall, and will now have to spend a cool $100 million to replace thousands of defective power window assemblies in ALL models.)
Please, learn from my mistake and CONSIDER ALL YOUR OPTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE CHOOSING ANY VOLKSWAGEN PRODUCT. There are just too many other choices, folks, to be stuck with a sub-standard product that makes for a great test drive but provides poor reliability and dealer service down the road. If you find yourself sipping cold coffee and sitting for hours in the waiting area of your local VW repair shop while the same old defective part in your "German-engineered" vehicle is replaced yet again, you have only yourself to blame. This is a true story, and I have the service records to prove it. (I'm not alone: a friend of mine had a '00 New Beetle that needed a full brake job after only 15,000 miles and started belching black smoke soon thereafter -- another hurried trade-in.)
Look, I'm not a mechanic or race fanatic who spends a lot of time arguing about which brand is better than another. I'm just an ordinary consumer who expects a $21,000 brand new vehicle to have things like a reliable engine, working windows, a functional CD player and a useable glove box.
Don't let VW do the same thing to you -- do yourself (and your wallet) a favor and stay away from this "German-engineered" (and Argentinian built) brand until they make quality control and customer service a priority.
I run into this all the time on these boards - My GTI has been perfect - no regrets whatsoever.
Its unfortunate that some people get that lemon and then dont get help from your dealer. Its easy to get mad, but what real good does it do.
I have bought two cars a tony VW on Oahu and had my car serviced at Cutter VW maui.......
both cars were ordered models (02 got wrecked) and now have a new 03 three weeks old......the new one is much tighter than the last......
I had the other up to about 17k and the only warrenty issues were two DRL bulbs went out and the "rear window lock" switch stopped working.....all were replaced under warrenty No questions Asked. Oil change w/o coupon 29.95 with coupon 24.95 oil filled to second bend in distick above hasmark.....on michelin blew out around 15k with a slash in the side wall....other thatn that the car was great. not rattles squeaks or other wise...
the new one is even better......
....RBS
the invoice for the repair included two new original VW rotors at $92.00 each and there was a charge of $44.00 for resurfacing them also. when i questioned the shop asking why would it be necessary to resurface new factory rotors, the answer was: sometime they get deformed by sitting on the shelf and they resurface them routinely every time they put one on.
does anybody know if this is a justified procedure or is it merely a way of charging a little extra?
Now: this makes me worry. Simple economics: if someone has a monopoly on anything -- or close to a monopoly -- they have an incentive to charge more, slip in little extra fees, and give you worse service for the buck than someone who has a lot of competition. Esp. when it's something esoteric like fixing a car where the customer doesn't really know when he's getting ripped off.
But that's theory, at least as I understand it. Anyone have any experience or data to shed light on whether this should stop me from the Passat?
(P.S. Some personal info, since this consideration depends on personal priorities: (1) I have to drive a LOT more than I'd like, so the car will be past the warranty level of miles sooner than usual: (2) there's a dealer near where I work, but I live far away from work/dealer. If it broke down at home and no local mechanic could work on Passats, I'd be in trouble. (3) I try to approach cars like Mr. Spock. Too bad I'm attracted to the Passat! But I could live with a Camry, Accord, or Mazda6 if it were more rational. )
In the meantime, my fiance test drove a 2003 Passat GLS 1.8, loved it, and wound up buying it
that day. So the overall experience at the dealer (sales/service) turned out to be very good. The salesman was extremely helpful (without being pushy), and we wound up getting
the Passat for around $50 over invoice (It helps during the negotiations when my fiance is a purchasing manager who negotiates prices on a daily basis...:-)).
My gut feeling is that buying any VW is a mistake. It seems that if anything goes wrong VW is not in your corner as a customer. I also have the feeling that they do not care as to how poorly their dealers perform. Additionally it seems they are not as reliable as they used to be in the good old days.
I'd appreciate any feedback. Rightnow I think I should cut my losses and buy a Honda or Toyota.