@Burger81 - sorry to hear of your experiences. There does seem to be a reluctance by VW to honour their corrosion warranty in many instances, and an inconsistency of approach by VW / dealerships on individual cases. Historically, quite a few owners of VW’s from the early 2000’s experienced front wing corrosion, with varying degrees of success when claiming for rectification under the corrosion warranty (apologies for my lengthy ramblings below, which gives some background to those cases
).
Corrosion on the front wings along the edge / wheel arch flange of the upper section of the wheel arch wasn’t uncommon on early 2000’s VW models. VW’s standard response in many instances was that the rectification of the corrosion wasn’t covered under the corrosion warranty, as the rusting was caused by a ‘mechanical defect‘.
The corrosion on cars from that era was caused by poor design of how the plastic wheel arch liner was fixed / fitted to the car, resulting in vibration and slight movement of the liner, and the edge of the liner rubbing through the galvanised layer on reverse side of wheel arch flange. This allowed road dirt and moisture to corrode the edge of the wing from the reverse side, and by the time paint bubbles or visible corrosion was evident on the outer surface, corrosion was usually well advanced. It was the action of wheel arch liner rubbing against the wing that VW considered to be a mechanical defect.
Foam filler blocks fitted between inner and outer wings on early 2000’s VW’s is also a known cause of corrosion.
Owners who had one or both of these problems and asked for repairs under warranty tended to get one of four outcomes;
- Warranty claim was denied on the basis of the corrosion being the result of a mechanical defect and not rusting-through from the inside out of the affected panel(s) as a result of ineffective corrosion protection
- Warranty claim denied, but VW contributed towards the cost of repairs if the car had a full VW service history
- The corroded panel(s) was (were) repaired under warranty
- The corroded panel(s) was (were) replaced under warranty
Since Dieselgate and the associated costs that VW have incurred, they are generally taking a much firmer line on warranty claims. So if there’s anything they can use to support repudiation of a claim, there’s a good chance they may do so.
In view of the historical inconsistent approach, you could try a different dealer to see if you get a different response and outcome.
