Dealer created problem on 4th service

[simonpolly]

Just had my 4th service at 16,000 miles and the car had started to mis fire, EPC light has come up on the display,we took it back and it turns out its cylinder 1 and 3 playing up
Talking to service manger he says there is a adaptor between the leads and plugs due to the plugs being so deep down and they have broken at least two of them while changing the plugs !!! anyone else heard of this ? or is just a heavy handed numpty technician ?  and is this likely ?

Part is on order so have to leave it with them over night which pisses me off as last time they had it they scratched the bumper and tried to buff it out and not inform me, 5cm wide and 10cm long scratch which they ended up fixing at their cost .

Car is 10/2013 golf gti pp.

[kalimon]

Having any work done on your car is becoming increasingly stressful
Hope it gets sorted to your satisfaction.

[fredgroves]

Have a look at this:

https://youtu.be/HESJEQBFGyI

That shows you how to do a spark plug change.

Nothing particularly odd there - per cylinder coil packs, only he snaps one (6:15).... I'm guessing they did the same, or at least damaged it internally causing an internal break.

[fredgroves]

BTW, these sort of coil packs aren't remotely a GTI specific feature, pretty much every modern petrol car has a similar design of top mounted cylinder coil packs with a big long nose to reach the plug deep down.

I can't remember the last one I swapped plugs on that had it any different - maybe something from the 20th century?

This is just a design fault with the coil pack like the youtube dude says.

[mcmaddy]

It's still bad crack on the dealers part for trying to hand a car back that clearly wasn't or isn't road worthy. Did they not road test before handing back??

[simonpolly]

Have a look at this:

https://youtu.be/HESJEQBFGyI

That shows you how to do a spark plug change.

Nothing particularly odd there - per cylinder coil packs, only he snaps one (6:15).... I'm guessing they did the same, or at least damaged it internally causing an internal break.

Thank you ,thats all most certainly what they have done on two of the 4.

[simonpolly]

It's still bad crack on the dealers part for trying to hand a car back that clearly wasn't or isn't road worthy. Did they not road test before handing back??

No and it was the first major service outside of warrenty and you know how much the robbers charge.

[tictap]

Happened to mine on it's 4th service, two of the rubbers split changing the plugs, dealer phoned to say they had ordered me replacements and they would cover the cost.

[fredgroves]

If you google around, its not a VAG specific problem and quite common (i've never broken one myself but probably only luck!).

I guess being plastic deep in the engine block the heat eventually degrades it.

Is it something the dealer should pay for if they break it? I think to be fair, no. In the same way as a rusty bolt sheering...

[mcmaddy]

It wasn't broken before it went in for a service so it shouldn't be broken when it's returned and if the part is that femur then it's not built to last.