Mightily Miffed Bora Owner

[b-vectis]

Feb 2003 bought a brand new VW Bora TDI 130.

It has a full service history and has done just 48,000 gentle miles trundling round the Isle of Wight where we have exactly 0.8 miles of dual carriageway.

2 days ago the car went 'bang!' and lost all power. Had it dragged to the nearest VW dealer thinking 'cambelt' and turns out the flywheel has disintegrated and taken the clutch, gearbox and part of the wiring loom with it. Best estimate £4,500 to fix.

Ring VW Customer Care - "car's out of warranty".

Now... a quick visit to the Vosa website shows over 30,000 TDi's recalled for flywheel issues (not Boras but includes Golfs (same thing!), Golf +, Sharan, Passat) plus Skodas, Seats and Audis in the last 3 years. Also, in the USA VW offer a 10-year drivetrain warranty on this exact car.

I'm a bit miffed.

Views?

[Eshrules]

Feb 2003 bought a brand new VW Bora TDI 130.

It has a full service history and has done just 48,000 gentle miles trundling round the Isle of Wight where we have exactly 0.8 miles of dual carriageway.

2 days ago the car went 'bang!' and lost all power. Had it dragged to the nearest VW dealer thinking 'cambelt' and turns out the flywheel has disintegrated and taken the clutch, gearbox and part of the wiring loom with it. Best estimate £4,500 to fix.

Ring VW Customer Care - "car's out of warranty".

Now... a quick visit to the Vosa website shows over 30,000 TDi's recalled for flywheel issues (not Boras but includes Golfs (same thing!), Golf +, Sharan, Passat) plus Skodas, Seats and Audis in the last 3 years. Also, in the USA VW offer a 10-year drivetrain warranty on this exact car.

I'm a bit miffed.

Views?

ok... first of all you have a few things on your side,

your the only owner, you have kept it fully maintained in accordance with the manufacturers guidlines and there was a major recall for the entire VAG group for the fault that your car has suffered from.

if i were you, id write to them, clearly stating all the above and asking for an official stance on the matter... you may have to pay some of the final bill, but you should not be expected to pay the entire ruddy bill....

as for the dealer that stated 'out of warranty' utter tosh to that.... complain, complain, complain if that doesnt work, complain some more, threaten bad press.... you will get help towards the final bill if not all of it settled for you.

anything you buy has to be fit for its purpose and as such, must last long enough to justify the price charged... VW could not possible justify selling such an expensive car and then stating that you can expect a £4500 failure 3 years down the line.... they'd never sell any cars....

kick there rear end and always ask for the most senior person you can...

[Tonye]

I would advise you to keep every single bit of debris from the engine and if you can, get a metallurgical examination carried out. This may show that there was a fault with one of the components and help to sway VW. This can be expensive but you may find someone near you who will look kindly on you.

Tony

[b-vectis]

Thanks guys for the comments :beerchug: . I've managed to get someone at VW UK customer care assigned to "look into" the case, so I'll hold off posting until I get some movement there one way or another.

[b-vectis]

Well after 3 weeks and a LOT of wrangling, I've gotten VW customer care to meet 35% of the bill and the local VW dealer a further 10% plus free labour on the next service. So basically 50%.

Funny how the diagnosis changed from 'flywheel failure' to 'gearbox failure' once I pointed out that I knew all about the various flywheel recalls and threatened legal action...

That's it. I'm done with VW now. I've had two recent models (02 Polo 1.9TDi Sport and 03 Bora 1.9TDi ST) and both have had major problems. The dealership here on the island is the only one, and they are the most obnoxious and unhelpful bunch of @rses I've ever had the misfortune to deal with.

Car's going to be sold and I'm turning Japanese.

Thanks guys for your helpful comments and all the best with your VWs.