front wing corrosion

[JimC64]

Thank you and I wish you the best of luck.............DON'T GIVE UP!!

[JimC64]

The car was dropped off yesterday for the repair and was given a Citroen C3 1.4Hdi...........decent enough little car ( little being the operative word ) just glad its the wife driving it and not me.....lol
Hopefully should have the car back early next week, all sorted n lookin good.

I'll update of course........

[JimC64]

Ok, so got the car back this morning and all is well.

They had the car on Thursday morning first thing, we had a Citroen C3 1.4Hdi to use in the meantme. All in all including the weekend they had the car for 5 clear days, the wings are replaced and painted and look like a really good colour match, so I'm well pleased..........eventually!

Took a long time and a lot of research, phone calls, emails, as well as the threat of court action to get there, but all done 100% under warranty ( Goodwill accordng to VW ) in the END











Thanks so much to all who helped and in particular chipped3, much appreciated

If I can be of any help to anyone else in this matter please don't hesitate to contact me

Jim

[JimC64]

Many thanks for making this a sticky Chris...........It will be a big help to those in future who will no doubt be in need of this valuable info

[ianhayter]

So now my journey begins!!

Noticed a couple of weeks ago that my wifes car had a bubble on the drivers side front wheel arch and when checking found rust had already come through on the passenger side.

Took it to the local dealership service department today who have in the past been very good (in my experience) when it comes to supporting the customer. They have previously told me to buy a replacement key fob for my Passat off eBay, get it cut where they go and then only come into them for the immobilser coding, a saving of about £80. While in for the coding they also checked whether any of my coil packs needed changing and replaced two. Seeing myself on a roll, I took my wifes car in for the coil packs to be checked the following day. They replaced two and stated that the other two had already been replaced. They had, by me, during the previous three months, so I asked whether VW would refund me the cost of these two. It took about 6 weeks of repeated phone calls and I had to submit the invoices twice (VW Customercare mislaid half of the first submission) but I did eventually get a full refund of the claimed amount. Only about £75 admittedly, but as the saying goes, every little helps.

Back to the rust, the service department sent me to their paintshop at another branch (as I expected) and there pictures were taken and measurements made. The Bodyshop Manager seemed quite positive about VW accepting liability, his only negative comment being that it looked as if it had been rusting for 2 years and why hadn't I noticed it earlier. I pointed out that the weather recently was probably speeding up the rusting process and that it certainly wasn't at all visible 9 months ago when the car was purchased. He didn't comment at that, and his only reaction to my comments, that we had 6 Passats in the immediate family, that my first Passat was a MK1 bought in the 70's and that I had recently sold on my previous one with 210,000 miles on the clock, was that he wasn't really a car man!! Waste of time there then, may have to bring up all these sweetners (and more) later on, depending on how the claim goes.

Should hear back within a week I'm told, I'll let you know how I get on.

Ian

Update

Didn't hear anything for a week so phoned the Bodyshop Manager who said he had heard nothing but was sure he'd hear from Head Office soon. A further week passed and still no call so rang the Bodyshop Manager again, only to be told that according to the system it was still flagged as pending. Told him I would contact Customer Care the following day to see if I could find out what was happening.

Called Customer Care and spoke to a very helpful lady called Mary Anne who couldn't understand why it was taking so long for my claim to be processed, but suspected that it hadn't been submitted correctly and was never going to change from pending unless it was resubmitted. She offered to speak to the bodyshop and, having tried both direct and switchboard numbers, eventually tracked down the Manager on his mobile phone. She apparently explained the correct procedure and asked the Manager to get back to me within 48 hours. She also suggested that I would need to take in the V5 to allow them to update their records and intimated that I could expect a contribution offer of perhaps 20, 30 or 50%.

2 days later the manager phoned back, "When would you like to bring the car in, they've offered you a contribution of 100%" he said with a degree of surprise in his voice. We've agreed on this coming Monday and there is no need to take in the V5 ("why would I want that" he asked), only paperwork needed is both copies of my wife's license for insurance on the courtesy car.

Assuming all goes well, I should have a rust free car back this time next week. Will then hopefully post a final report on what has been remarkably easy so far................or am I missing something?

Ian


Under Warranty

Car dropped off this morning, refered to as "the warranty repair" by the gent checking it in, the paperwork that my wife had to sign was headed "Warranty" and it was stated that no payment was required. No mention at all of it being a goodwill payment by VW, have they perhaps conceeded at last that it should be covered by the 12 Year perforation guarantee I wonder?
Will take about 3 days apparently, wife has nice new Polo to drive around in, in the meanwhile. Hopefully one more entry here at the end of the week and I'll be done.

Ian


All Done

Wife received a phone call on Wednesday, car's ready, come and collect it. I looked at it when I got home late on Wedneday night (the joys of the M4 closure), lovely job, both wings replaced, perfect paint match, good shut lines all round. Amazing the difference when you run your hand over a new paint job versus what looks like unmarked (but aged) paint, the new is so smoooooth!! Would love to post some pictures, but having the car to hand in daylight and it not raining seem to be mutually exclusive at the moment.

Only oddity was a lack of paperwork proving that it had been done, I'm a great believer in having history with a car, both when buying and selling, somehow think it proves that the person cares about their car. Rang the dealer who agreed that it was a little odd and promised to post me a copy of the workshop job card and proof of payment by VW when he receives it.

All in all a very satisfactory outcome to what I had feared would be an ongoing battle. A big thank you to all on here who have written up their experiences before me, quite possibly by the time I had to do it you had worn down VW, making my claim so much easier.

For reference, the helpful local Dealership is Martins of Camberley in Hampshire and the Bodyshop is at their Basingstoke branch. The Bodyshop Manager is called Cyril and the person who assisted us was called Nick.

Thanks again.

Ian

[JimC64]

Ian, thanks for the post and what looks like a great result for you.

You really are very fortunate to getthrough this process so quickly and unscathed, kudos to you my friend.
Looking forward to pics of the completed repair and hearing that all is well with your car.

As you're on a roll, have you considered the lottery tonight???

[bricam1]

Should have updated thread sooner but I have been busy.

Anyway my story is very similar as JimC64 so I wont repeat what has already been said. VW agreed 100% replacement under warranty. But will not move on 70% goodwill of my bootlid. I have a copy of the Technical bulliten released by VW release date 11-May-2011 regarding the bootlid. So VW know there is an issue.

[JimC64]

Bri - great news about the front wing warranty and 100% free fix, but not so good on the bootlid.
So the question is my friend, are you taking the bootlid offer or fighting your case?

Jim

[bricam1]

Jim,

VW are not moving on 70% and I will not be accepting. Rust may be coming from the inside out and VW have no way of knowing other than fully inspecting my car. All they are going on is a photo. Taking advice from my Solicitor and CAB to see if I have a valid case to take this to Small Claims Court (Scotland).

[rogerjames]

Congrats for this win... so at the end VW feel ashamed in front of their customers and pay all amount of money.Battle of Wills was over now with this decision