Dealer issue

[Guzzle]

Das Welt warranty is different to new car warranty. It's more like an insurance policy akin to an aftermarket warranty and is quite a bit less comprehensive.

[monkeyhanger]

I do think that with prices going up so much to the point that PCPs over 3 years is getting expensive and 4 year PCPs are becoming the norm, VW should get with the times and offer 5 year warranties - even the traditionally hugely unreliable Renault and Alfa give 5 years now.

VW did the opposite and pulled the comprehensive factory warranty extensions but Seat and Audi still sell them (naybe Skoda too).

[Guzzle]

Yep Skoda do the extended factory warranties too. Just VW that doesn't.

In the context of the reliability of a modern day VAG car, £280 for an extra years cover or £575 for an extra 2 years cover feels like it would probably be money well spent.

[Finglonga]

Think it depends on if you get a dealer. Not sure but "think" the dealer is responsible for the warranty not VW UK with the Das Walt Disney Warranty.

[barrym381]

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking👍 It’s VW up in fife.

Are they an Arnold Clark

[monkeyhanger]

From the warranty handbook....

What is not covered?

Replacement parts and labour will be paid for with the following exceptions:–
Routine servicing (all parts replaced associated with routine servicing are excluded)–     
All bodywork, glass (including heated) and seals –
Wear and perishable items as follows:–
All adjustments, cambelt timing, diesel timing or cleaning–   
Batteries     –     
Brake frictional material–
Bulbs and fuses     –   
Clutch frictional material– Coolant pipes and hoses–
CV boot gaiters–
Exhaust systems including diesel particulate filters (although catalytic converters are covered for internal failure only)–
Non-manufacturer’s original parts  or second hand parts–
Tyres and wheels–
Unencased drive belts–
Upholstery, interior and exterior trims–
Washer pipes and vacuum hoses–
Wiper blades, arms and washer jet
Wiring and connections (including HT leads and aerial coaxial cables)

So looks like they have covered themselves.

There are 2 ways to interpret that list:-

1. Read as you have read it, literally taking it to read all wiring.

2. Read the wiring comment as a sublist of excluded  "wear and perishable items as follows". Under that context, i'd expect HT leads (as given as an example) to be perishable/consumables and excluded from coverage, but I would not expect wiring looms to be defined  as perishable items.

I do think that the dealer is misrepresenting the intentions of coverage as written.

The trouble is, with dealing with VWUK in dealing with your case, it's a one sided argument. Dealership make a statement (often not telling the whole truth) and VW UK warranty decision maker does not allow you to make your case in response before they make their decision. The poor sap at the end of the phone who you vent your dissatisfaction to has no involvement in the decision making process and usually knows f**k all about cars.

In a small claims court situation, as said before by someone else, the goods are expected to last (at least 6 years for a substantial purchase). The car's wiring looms aren't consumable/serviceable items, they should last.

You can have the same argument with Currys for your £1500 telly that came with a 1 year warranty and died in year 2. They'll send you away with a flea in your ear but consumer law expects it to last 6 years and you can take them to the small claims court for a slam dunk win.

[Yusee]

Wiring looms may not be considered a consumable, but their argument will be it is a 2016 car- and you paid for it as such. The part has lasted 4 years from new, so that’s good enough. I don’t think you’ll win on that point.
The argument I would be going with is that you reported a fault and they did unnecessary work- at your cost- which didn’t fix the fault- so they should compensate you.

[SRGTD]

The OP could always follow the complaints procedure in the Das Welt Auto booklet;

- initially contact VW Warranty
- if dissatisfied with VW Warranty response, contact the Motor Ombudsman Service and Conciliation Service

Contact details for both are in the latest version of the warranty booklet.

So even if VW Warranty stand by their exclusion, there’s a still a chance the exclusion might be overruled in favour of the OP if it’s considered by the Ombudsman that a) the exclusion is ambiguous or b) irrelevant in the OP’s situation - the OP was unnecessarily charged for a new wiring harness that didn’t fix the issue.

https://www.themotorombudsman.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2017/08/The_Motor_Ombudsman_Consumer_Guide.pdf

[RM]

I would expect any court claim would expect you to have given customer services a fair chance of rectifying the problem, so that’s where I’d start.

If I were in your shoes, I’d contact the dealer in question and explain you’re not prepared to pay for work that wasn’t necessary and they arbitrarily decided to undertake against the initial advice. They’ll argue their point, at which point you say you’re still not paying but you’ll take it up with VW CS and the small claims court.

I’d then write to VW CS along the lines of ‘this is now going to small claims court, but I wanted to give you a chance to reply before I submit the claim later this week’ or something along those lines. In other words, I’m not asking, I’m telling and you have a fair chance to reply.

Fingers crossed you get it sorted. As already said, it definitely feels like a slam dunk for small claims so you just have to hope common sense prevails in the mean time.

[monkeyhanger]

Wiring looms may not be considered a consumable, but their argument will be it is a 2016 car- and you paid for it as such. The part has lasted 4 years from new, so that’s good enough. I don’t think you’ll win on that point.
The argument I would be going with is that you reported a fault and they did unnecessary work- at your cost- which didn’t fix the fault- so they should compensate you.

I'd still expect a non-consumable to last longer than 4 years, and the fit for purpose argument that would take it to at least 6 years should still stand. No car maker should be manufacturing cars that are designed to start falling to bits as soon as the warranty runs out - for the sake of the environment as much as for the sake of the consumer.

However, I do agree that the fact it was replaced needlessly is the main place to be going in justification for not paying. That argument is pretty much indefensible when taken to an authority beyond VW's influence.

The terms of that Das Welt auto are truly sh!te - unless an engine, steering system or gearbox failure occurs that isn't attributable to a consumable like the clutch, pretty much the whole of the rest of the car is arguably not covered.

This is VW's master plan to put the fear up everyone to keep buying new - they clearly don't give a shot about long term reliability reputation any more.