Right guys thought I'd bring this up to date and wrap it up!
The small leak I know a couple of you guys have had. It's a small drip that lands occasionally on your right leg (RHD cars
). VW have offered to take the car and fire a hose at it to try and find it but it is something I can live with I reckon.
The mirror thing has been sorted! don't know how but I'm happy
I have my plugs for the front wheel arches
The wet sponge - that remains! But VW have said they know about it and nothing bad should happen. At least I have logged my concern should there be future dispute
My paint: This was a big issue for me as a couple of you know. My car was peppered with stone chips (some pretty nasty ones - even my door handle got it!) and the general paint of the car looked as if someone had used a gritty sponge (although it was most certainly not me! - i am pretty careful with my cleaning equipment and techniques). Furthermore the wheel arches were beginning to lose their paint due to dirt coming off the back wheels.
The car went up to my dealer. They wrote a report which made me feel completely and utterly satisfied and I skipped home merrily. Er no. The report basically said that I wasn't happy with stone chips. VW central replied stone chips weren't a fault of the car so my case was rejected. I was not happy and asked the dealer to send a correct report documenting my original complaints (and noting that the first report was incomplete). VW responded to this by arranging for a German technician to come over and inspect my car along with some others. This was progress.
However the day before my car was due to see the technician I washed my car so he could see the paint. Although I washed it with a new Turtlewax shampoo. it was on special offer at halfords for £2 (60 washes) and I picked it up. All I can say is that I would pay alot more for it! the shampoo leaves a nice finish on your paint and the swirl/sandpapering marks on my paint were reduced. So much so that after another wash they have disappeared. My paintwork looks perfect. I know it is only glossing over the problem (bad joke I know) but it has solved the problem for now and I'm still on good terms with my dealer - which may or may not prove beneficial in the future.
the stone chips are still there however but I got some Tornado Red paint so I might try fixing them. Same for the rear wheel arches however the arches are for the most part out of sight (unless you are looking) so I might not bother.
Swirl marks are because the paintwork has been badly maintained.
Example: using a car wash or not hosing a car down properly and removing all the muck before soaping it. This is up to you.
Paint chips are due to stones being thrown towards your car by the vehicles in front and happen more often if you are too close to them i.e. tailgating!
Best of luck!
I completely agree with you about both points. The car is very well looked after. I always wash it very carefully and gently and make sure to get any grit etc off before I get to work on the panels.
I don't normally tailgate but I suppose the high number of chips is likely to be due to the terrible weather we had in the last 6 months and just happens to coincide with me getting my new car (disadvantage of getting car early build
)
A big thanks to the guys who have had input on the various threads I mentioned this on. All is well on the GTI front
