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Model specific boards => Golf mk5 => Topic started by: aahgolf on 28 June 2005, 14:45
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I took delivery of a new GTI on June 11th. It broke down with severe misfiring and rough running the same afternoon. VW Assistance eseated an ECU connector and fixed it, only for the same thing to happen 2 days later on the M25...
VW now (after changing knock sensors) reckon it needs a new ECU, which is on back-order from its manufacturers, and I won't see the car again until maybe July 12th.
Anyone else out there had anything like this? Apparently there's a tech bulletin which recommends changing the ECU with these symptoms. I'm not convinced it will necessarily fix it, as I think they've run out of ideas.
The two days I had it and it was working, it was really good. But this problem, and the dealer attitude (the most I can get out of them to replace it right now is a bog-standard 1.4 Golf) leaves a very nasty taste...
aahgolf
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Sorry to hear the problems you are experiencing, some dealers do have an attitude, but at the end of the day you have bought a new car in good faith and they're are not cheap. If it was me I'd be kicking and screaming and insisting they sort it out quickly and maybe threaten them with seeing someone to take this further. I've heard that threatening VW dealers with a call to their head office usually does the trick. If it goes that far try to speak to someone with authority and try to claim some money back, you might not get anywhere and they might only throw in a set of mats for you but it's worth a try. You've had to part with a lot of money for nothing at the moment. Good luck.
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Firstly, if this was me I would be kicking up big time to get it sorted, I assume like most people you had to wait for weeks in the first place to get the car and to have it break down after a few days is completely unacceptable.
Secondly, if they are so sure it is the ECU, why can't they take one from another GTI immediately and see if that works, if so you will be back on the road straight away, or at least know the faulty ECU is the problem.
Good luck getting it sorted, it will be worth the wait either way as the GTI is a great car, but I'm sure you might not agree just at the minute. :sad:
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Thanks for the replies. Yes, I had to wait 4 months for it, so to have this happen is very disappointing. I've suggested things like swapping the ECU from a demonstrator to prove that's the part needed, but it all falls on deaf ears. When I've pushed on this point, that's when they told me there was a VW tech bulletin describing the symptoms, and so they are confident it's the part needed.
I've written some pretty strong letters and emails but to no avail yet. I've now written to the MD of VW UK, and am hoping he (or someone in Milton Keynes) will respond.
When I had the call the Friday after getting the car from the marketing agency wanting to know what my new Golf experience had been like, I scored the whole setup pretty lowly. That feedback has already got back to the dealer. Not that it's made much difference yet!
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The letters are a good thing in that it is written down etc but I think you should still try and get through to someone as high up as you can at the VW head office and tell them about your experience etc, you can say you are a member of a well known forum and can reach a wide number of people very quickly across the internet if required etc etc , if you kick up enough stink they'll be onto the local stealer to kick some @ss and get it sorted. :angry:
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The letters are a good thing in that it is written down etc but I think you should still try and get through to someone as high up as you can at the VW head office and tell them about your experience etc, you can say you are a member of a well known forum and can reach a wide number of people very quickly across the internet if required etc etc , if you kick up enough stink they'll be onto the local stealer to kick some @ss and get it sorted. :angry:
Agree with that, always a good idea to get someone in authority and explain your side of the story. Don't know why it should fall on deaf ears, makes perfect sense to me.
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Have to admit mine has been back a few times with ECU problems that has now led to a replacement, and the dash computer has gone up the swanny so is due to be replaced also. Have so far had a Beetle and a Polo as loan cars and if my car was actually off the road for more than a day serious VW ass kicking would have followed. What was annoying was being told that we had to pay for any fuel used, soon put them right on that!!!
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That's a sorry tale. VW build a GTI that everyone is buzzing about and the dealer experience fecks it up. Can appreciate that all new cars will have some kind of problems but it's down to the dealer to sort out a lot better than they have here :undecided:
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Latest update is that the ECU won't be in the country for at least another 10 days. Apparently it arrives as part of a bulk shipment in a lorry from Germany, then gets unloaded into a depot in Birmingham, then gets shipped to the dealer. When I asked the obvious question about someone putting the part in a bag and Fed Ex'ing it instead, I was told that never happened. I find that hard to believe.
They also told me (again new information they could have given out before) that they cannot swap in an ECU to my car from another one as it has to be married to the car, the dashboard and the keys, so you can't move them around. I am not so sure about that, as you could probably reprogramme it, but at least it's some explanation.
So I called VW UK to speak to Paul Willis, the MD, who I'd written to a week ago and not heard from. I did not get to speak to the man himself, but spoke to someone in customer liaison. She has promised to phone me back tomorrow once she's had a chance to review the case. When I explained the short version, she was very apologetic, something the dealer has never been. I will update this post when I hear more, but unless something happens soon I'm going to reject the car. As ever, I have to do all the chasing. Not all manufacturers are like that!
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Good luck with it, hope you get more joy out of VW drect because by the sound of it your dealer doesnt sound too interested. :sad: Persist, it will be worth it in the end but its a pity it is spoiling the initial excitment of picking up a brand new car.
How about a call to What Car, they love sticking stories like this in, and it is surprising how quickly the dealers move when the s**t hits the fan!!
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How about a call to What Car, they love sticking stories like this in, and it is surprising how quickly the dealers move when the s**t hits the fan!!
thats a good idea what car seem to make the car companies remember who buys their cars.........US!!!!!!!! :angry:
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Well I got it back today, ECU replaced and it seems to run fine. Last I'd heard it would be next week, but the escalation I instigated by calling VW direct seems to have got the part to the dealer earlier. I had a 3 hour drive home (all kinds of traffic problems in the Thames Valley today) and it did not miss a beat. Let's hope that it is truly fixed.
I am sending my letter asking for compensation to the dealer tomorrow. Will update this post when I hear back from them...
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Good man. Sometimes just sitting and letting things take their course is not the right thing to do, if you complain like you have, then they want you off their backs asap and push to get it sorted. Keep us informed.
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Good stuff....................................and enjoy the car!! :smiley: :smiley:
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Good news and bad news. The good news is that I got it back last Thursday and it was great, just as I had hoped it would be. The bad news? It broke down again yesterday morning, huge lack of power, intermittently, which is the same root symptom as before. So I called VW Assistance again and got them to take me to the dealer for a meeting. The car was taken to the dealer later.
I've told them I have no confidence in that car, or in their ability to fix it. Was it the ECU? I don't think so, I don't really think they fail like that. It's done < 700 miles and broken down three times! So I am waiting to hear the dealer's proposal to me. I would like a GTI, as I said at the beginning, it was a great car, and I don't know what else I would buy, but on the other hand I've had a pretty bad experience both of the dealer and VW.
Amusingly, the customer services person from VW who had been dealing with me rang, I think to check how things were once the car had been fixed. That was at the exact time I walked into the dealer, the car having failed again! Needless to say she was somewhat shocked.
I will keep you all posted.
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Doesn't look good does it. :sad: Really hope you get it sorted out this time and keep us informed.
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From my experience of new cars ( any make ) I would  always be wary of buying the first of any line of a new model there often seem to be teething troubles which the manufacturer seem to overlook despite the so called exhaustive testing that they do on the prototypes.
Some time its down to the quality of the parts from their suppliers e.g some of the mk3 golf autos had a whistling noise coming from the gearbox, the supplier couldn't cure it ,so VW ended up building the gearboxes in house themselves(so we were told)
Often when I've replaced parts eg the dreaded mk4 doorlocks :angry: the new locks came from a different manufacturer .
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Thats really bad news :cry: :cry:
Hope you get is sorted ASAP but forget about the car you have, sounds a lot more serious thann just an ECU.
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I'd be tempted to reject the car.
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That's really unfortunate, and what a huge let down after waiting so long for the car. You seem to have done all you can so far with the dealer but dont let them mess you around any further, stand your ground, the balls in their court and they have to fully satisfy you concerns from now on. Unwanted press releases on unreliable Golf Gti mk 5's wouldn't go down that well at VW HQ.
Hope it all goes well, and at least you dont own a new £30-£60k + sports Porsche with the problems these are suffering with the RMS ( Rear Main Seal) problem!
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Here's the latest update. The local dealer now think the problems are caused by a faulty brake light switch. The rationale is that this microswitch was closing randomly, making the ECU think that the ESP needed activating (as it detected wheels apparently moving at different speeds due to a braking input), and the ECU, when this is severe enough, will retard the ignition a lot to reduce power. The service manager has experienced the loss of power himself and he could alleviate it by lifting up the brake pedal so that the switch contacts were not closed. The power loss was so severe that I had to pull onto the hard shoulder three times last Wednesday, i.e. not enough power to even get 30mph.
The new switch arrives today and I have a meeting with them this afternoon. I am not totally convinced by their logic, but I'd rather it were a mechanical thing than some weird electrical problem that could never be properly found. I am also expecting an update on when they could get me a replacement car to the same spec - but I think we all know how long that will be!
More later...
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You really should reject the car under the Sale of Goods Act (however, I know that this option doesn't exist forever - you'll need to check exactly).
You have spent a LOT of cash to get your hands on this car - and lets face it, its one of the most desirable at the mo! Long and short of it though, you don't have the product that you have paid a lot of money for. A product needs to be 'fit for the purpose in which it was intended....'. Yours most certainly isn't!
If you speak to your local Trading Standards Office and outline your case, I'm sure you could get some proper representation. I have had loads of problems with my MK4 GTI TDi, and the dealers attitude was pathetic until you went out of the loop and bought the big boys to the table. You say you've got things in writing, this will help put your case across. I doubt very much that any arbitrator in such a case would not rule in your favour! Either that, or give those lunatics on Watchdog a call, might even open some doors for you!!
Let us all know how it goes.
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Build quality seems to be going down on Golfs since the mk4 :angry:
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Latest update: It's been working fine for 2+ weeks and more than 1000 miles. So it seems it was the brake light microswitch rather than some weird inexplicable ECU problem. I am waiting to hear back from the dealer regarding compensation, as usual they have not written to me when they said they would. I had a definite promise of a reply by last Thursday, so it's business as usual for them. They have also not phoned back when I left a message, which is typical.
What makes all this worse is that given that it was something so simple in the end, it makes waiting nearly 4 weeks for a new ECU a). seem ridiculous and b). a waste of time given that they could have looked for something else rather than just wait for a part that in the end was not needed.
I'm happy with the car, now it's fixed, but not at all happy with the experience of spending > £20K of my own money...
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Like most dealers they are the best in the world up till the point they have your money in their bank account.
Aftersales service is the true test of how good a dealer is- glad you got it sorted though. :smiley:
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Here's the final update on this topic. Car is still running fine, very quick and very economical and a brilliant drive. Anyone seen the article by Chris Harris in this week's Autocar? - "The best car you will ever own". I had to push the dealer several times to write to me with their compensation offer, which I have finally received and am happy with. I won't discuss the details on the board as it's a private matter, but they stepped up to the mark. :smiley:
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Thanks for the update and glad you got it sorted out. :smiley: I hate reading threads like this because it makes me really want a mk5 when you read and hear what is being said about them. Enjoy. :grin:
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Nice one mate; glad you're finally getting to enjoy it!! You jammy g!t!! :tongue: I'm like you Gibby; really want one too, just got no chance of affording one!! :cry:
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I'm aiming for one in a good few years time though, but they'll probably be "retro" by the time I get to afford one. :cry:
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Here's the final update on this topic. Car is still running fine, very quick and very economical and a brilliant drive. Anyone seen the article by Chris Harris in this week's Autocar? - "The best car you will ever own". I had to push the dealer several times to write to me with their compensation offer, which I have finally received and am happy with. I won't discuss the details on the board as it's a private matter, but they stepped up to the mark. :smiley:
Good to hear that the car is going well for you, I've put about 2k miles on mine now and enjoyed every one of them. Must check out that Autocar article. Hope the dealer looked after you well. :smiley: :smiley:
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Here's the final update on this topic. Car is still running fine, very quick and very economical and a brilliant drive. Anyone seen the article by Chris Harris in this week's Autocar? - "The best car you will ever own". I had to push the dealer several times to write to me with their compensation offer, which I have finally received and am happy with. I won't discuss the details on the board as it's a private matter, but they stepped up to the mark. :smiley:
Is that the September or October issue BTW?
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It's this week's edition, dated Sep 13th, page 57. The front cover has a picture of a future BMW coupé...
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It's this week's edition, dated Sep 13th, page 57. The front cover has a picture of a future BMW coupé...
Thanks M8.
R