Gtd problems continue....

[Nairn1980]

Hey guys.

As you know I picked up my GTD to find a scuffed alloy and tyre. This was repaired and we had a few days in our GTD.

However a whining noise from the front near side of the cars steering/suspension has the car back in the garage. My wife took it in to be told "if you haven't booked we can't see you"

After my phone call to them saying this brand new just bought 26 grand GTD needs to be seen, they took it seriously. 2 days later and it is still in the workshop awaiting VW technical telling them what to do. They can see the fault but don't know how to fix it.

My wife was then offered a VW UP as a courtesy car... When I called I was told UPs were all that was offered and the car is a courtesy. When they found out I wasn't happy they agreed to a golf... However the golf they gave us is a 1.2 85hp basic golf with wheel trims.

My wife is absolutely gutted after waiting 6 months for this GTD she is now driving a hair dryer while her beloved GTD sits up a ramp at the garage (while she pays £400 a month for the privilege)

I have now logged a complaint with VW customer services... 24 hours have gone by and no call so I have just chased them to say they have a 48 hour wait for a return call.

So.... I was concerned about moving from BMW and Mercedes to VW and I was right to be!!!

[Sootchucker]

Feel for you mate. Have they told you what the issue is (they say they can see it ?)

[Nairn1980]

Sorry I mean they can hear the issue but can't tie it down to a particular part. Looks like it will all be stripped down etc

[mcmaddy]

I don't understand this thing with people and courtesy cars. you can't expect a gtd or gti when you take yours in and any car is better than nothing surely. I know it's not ideal but for heavens sake you can't just turn up and expect a car of similar spec. makes you appreciate your own anyway 

[Sootchucker]

Whilst I agree with you to a point Chris, I think if you take Nairn's case as an example, someone who has just taken delivery of a £26k car after waiting 6 months for delivery, should at the very least expect that if the car develops a fault very soon after delivery meaning it has to stay with the dealer for some days, the owner should at least be able to get a car of similar size. Obviously if it's just for a few hours whilst your is repaired, then fine, an Up will normally suffice for a couple of hours.

Obviously no dealer would have a fleet of GTI's or GTD's at their disposal as courtesy cars, but if you need to have a courtesy car for a number of days, and have a Golf, then you should get a Golf / Jetta / Passat etc. i.e. something of at least comparable size to what you have, even if it's of a lower spec and engine size. People quite often choose a car because of the size they need for their daily life (i.e. carry kids or equipment around regularly, so (as the women say), sometimes size does matter  Who knows, perhaps if dealers were forced to keep more than a VW Up on their books, you might see some frenetic action in trying to get the issue sorted ASAP to get their own car back !

[johanr77]

Think a bog standard golf is ok as a courtesy car. I was an offered an Up! and ended up with a golf estate, it's not rapid but I can't complain.

[monkeyhanger]

The trouble is that the knowledge seems to have gone from fixing cars at least at the dealership level. Some "techs" don't seem to know how to take a car to bits without exact instructions and bulletins from VW. I can understand this when it comes to the electronics, but basic mechanical components and trim for rattles etc seem to have plenty of techs stumped.

I wouldn't expect a like for like courtesy car every time, but if you're willing to jump into a Jetta or Passat then usually most dealerships can do better than provide an UP!

[stuart.cameron]

I don't understand this thing with people and courtesy cars. you can't expect a gtd or gti when you take yours in and any car is better than nothing surely. I know it's not ideal but for heavens sake you can't just turn up and expect a car of similar spec. makes you appreciate your own anyway 

Took a Range Rover Vogue in for warranty work once. Came away in another Range Rover with a better spec, shame it was a weird colour!

Also took a Nissan Nivara in for a service. Came away in a........ Micra!! 

[monkeyhanger]

I don't understand this thing with people and courtesy cars. you can't expect a gtd or gti when you take yours in and any car is better than nothing surely. I know it's not ideal but for heavens sake you can't just turn up and expect a car of similar spec. makes you appreciate your own anyway 

Took a Range Rover Vogue in for warranty work once. Came away in another Range Rover with a better spec, shame it was a weird colour!

Also took a Nissan Nivara in for a service. Came away in a........ Micra!! 

I suppose it all depends on what you’re driving. If you are driving something towards the lower end of the dealership’s spectrum (like a Range Rover Evoque at a Land Rover dealership, or an A1 at an Audi garage), then you’re likely to come away with a courtesy car at least equalling what you drive. Buy towards the top of the spectrum of supplied cars, like we do at VW with GTIs and GTDs, you’re likely to get a lesser courtesy car.

[Nairn1980]

Hi guys thanks for all your comments.
We have just got the car back fixed- delighted!!!

The dealer have worked hard in having the car fixed as a priority.

I appreciate your comments on courtesy cars, I've seen both sides of it as when I worked at Mercedes we gave a class courtesy cars. However we also kept a few c classes for customers requiring a bigger car. Merc UK would hire equiviilent cars if they were involved so customers were kept happy. Also all of us salesmen had nice c-classes and If a customer of ours had an issue or there was a problematic customer we would give our cars and drive whatever we could find that night - customer is KING!!

I just feel that running a fleet of UPs and not much more isn't ideal. If our car was going to be in for longer I would have asked VWUK to consider providing a vehicle. Before Arnold Clark took over the dealership I used to use them for my company golf TDI estate. When I made a booking I would explain that I carried a lot of stuff and needed a slightly bigger car - they were great about it and I would always have a Touran or a golf estate and they were generally SE spec and normally diesels.

So I'm not being unreasonable and expecting one of their "GTI fleet" but a bit of flexibility goes a long way!