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Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Craig16v on 02 August 2020, 08:43
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Morning guys
I have not been on the forum for a while but recently purchased another VW after many Years away from them. I bought myself a 2016 Golf gti.
I have only had the car for just over 6 months and have been loving it, however it has recently developed a few issues. Firstly the airbag light came on, then I had issues with a flat battery. I had VW assist out as I had a years cover to get the car started, which they did and advised that I replaced the battery. The tech also scanned the car for the fault with the airbag and it came up with the fault B10001b. He told me it was a faulty clock spring in the steering wheel.
I booked the car back into the main dealer I got the car from to have it repaired, I still had the remainder of my das welt auto warranty in place. As the battery wasn’t covered I had to pay £185 for it as they price matched Halfords.
When they investigated the airbag fault they told me it was a fault with the wiring harness and not the spring as the assist tech had said. As the wiring is not covered under the warranty I would have to pay for it. This would be another £200+ for the repair. The car is with them this week, they have replaced the wiring and contacted me to say it has not fixed the fault, they have now told me it is the clock spring that is causing the issue! The spring is getting replaced under warranty.
They are telling me the wiring had to be replaced, but if this did not fix my airbag fault. Should i still have to pay for the replacement of the wiring? I am rapidly losing faith in VW after sales service after forking £17k for the car with a warranty, 6 months later I am already having to spend over £400 in repairs.
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Is the airbag light still on? You get many random codes when the battery is on the way out that may never appear again. If it is a one off then I wouldn't worry and leave it as they would have scanned it and had the same result.
Not sure where they got the price from for the battery but Halfords AGM is £127 or £106 with trade card and takes 5 minutes to code in. As usual the Dealers are ripping people off.
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Yeah the airbag light is coming back after being reset every time, suggesting there is a fault?
The price for the battery is what Halfords are charging on there website fitted, VW wanted £270 before the price match.
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I wouldn't be paying for the wiring harness at all. VW assist told them what was wrong and they ignored it and thought they knew better. Get them to put your original wiring back on if they say anything as clearly nothing was wrong with it. Which dealer is this so others can avoid.
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Yeah that’s what I’m thinking👍 It’s VW up in fife.
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As mcmaddy says, they should have replaced the clock spring first and then asked you if you wanted to pay for a wiring harness if the new clock spring didn't fix the issue.
You shouldn't have had to pay for the wiring harness, the misdiagnosis was their mistake and they should pay for it.
I wouldn't be happy with that level of customer service at all. :angry:
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Even if it was the wiring harness, they cannot legally say that it is not covered by the warranty, so yiu have to pay. By law, a product must last a reasonable amount of time. No reasonable person would expect the wiring harness in £25,000 car to last 3 years before needing to be replaced. You might have to go through the small claims court (a faff), but yiu would win every day of the week and it would be a miracle if anyone turned up to defend the case.
As for paying for a harness you don't need, jog on! What if they had diagnosed a new engine, but that didn't fox it?
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Stories like this are getting all too common. Not sure whether VW procedures are to blame or ineptitude of the techs.
Dealership techs receive the car to repair...
Are they duty bound to plug it into the computer and replace whatever the computer tells it to replace, or do they take it upon themselves to ignore VW Assist diagnosis?
I also find it incredible if true that the Das Welt warranty excludes wiring, unless it's been butchered to fit some aftermarket device and they made you aware of that butchery before you bought it.
1. They shouldn't have made you pay for the wiring harness, it should be under warranty, it's supposed to last as long as the car, it's not a consumable.
2. It's their diagnosis that caused wiring harness replacement to happen, whether it should've been covered by warranty or not.
Although it may be completely useless to do so, you should get onto VW UK and report your treatment to them. They should confirm if Das Welt warranty should've covered wiring and if not, you can convey your dissatisfaction that the wiring harness was not a fix recommended by VW Assist and it didn't fix the reported fault, therefore it was unnecessary work.
I suspect that wiring is covered, when required and the deslership did unnecessary work that VW UK won't pay for therefore they're passing the cost to you.
Speak to VW Fife management first (get all the facts written down in chronological order to guide you). If you get no satisfactory resolution (no charge for the wiring loom), tell them you are going to VW UK to lodge a complaint. If they don't back down then go to VW UK. If VW UK prove themselves to be as useless as recent personal dealings with them leads me to believe then go to the small claims court.
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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. :angry:
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So how come some people are having batteries replaced under warranty and I got my centre resonator pipe under warranty on my last car. Is Das Welt different to new car warranty. Either way they've replaced a part that didn't fix the issue so they can't expect the OP to pay and if it was me I wouldn't be paying for it.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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Yeah that’s what I’m thinking👍 It’s VW up in fife.
Are they an Arnold Clark
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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. :angry:
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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.