front wing corrosion

[powerband]

Looks like a victory for Lookers and VW as I part exchanged the car today, it may start all over as I have purchased another Passat. I'll be keeping a close eye on the wheel arches and will be recording every single communication if they go.

[VWTrevor]

I have a 04 VW Polo and have developed dreadful rust on the driver side front wing.

This is the first Polo case I have found but am currently going through the same headache as everyone who has gone before with their Passats and Golfs.

I contacted the dealer around a month ago and told them I wanted to start a 12 year anti rust through warranty claim. I booked the car in for their body shop to have a look and was offered 70% good will gesture first time. I told them I wasn't happy with this and was under the impression there was no point arguing with the dealer so went to VW customer services.

I told Customer Services in no uncertain terms I wouldn't pay a penny and quoted the "free of charge" bit of the warranty page in the service book. They called back and left a voice mail saying VW had refused to pay any more due to the high mileage and service history of the vehicle. When I rang them back they said they would speak with the "retailer" which means dealer but came back to say as I hadn't had the vehicle serviced with them they wouldn't increase the good will gesture.

I asked Customer Services where to go from here as I have rust not just on the arch but all around the wing including by the headlight, bottom of the wing by the door and also the join from the wing to the body that can only be seen when the door is open. They said I would have to take it back to the "retailer" for a thorough inspection.

I did this last week and they said the wheel arch corrosion was caused by the foam. Note on the Polo this sits at around 10:30 on the drivers wing. When asked about the rest of the rust he said the wing had probably been replaced at some point. They would complete a report and send the photo's away then someone would be back in touch. I expected this to be VW Customer Services...

Today I rang VW Customer Services and was told it will be the technical department that decide on the cause and the dealer will decide on any good will gesture! She spoke about Milton Keynes as a third party so it seems VW Customer Services are just the Mondial people I have seen mentioned in another thread.

Now I didn't believe the wing has been replaced so took it to an independant body shop who said straight away it was a replacement wing. Interestingly the readings taken by the dealer/bodyshop on my first visit were all within spec.

I just wondered if anyone has any wisdom for me? I guess as there's a high chance the wing wasn't original I should snap the 70% goodwill, agreed?

The whole thing has been a total waste of my time and energy and I can say for certain this has opened my eyes so I won't be buying VW again!

Thanks for all the advice posted in this forum.

[chipped3]

Your VW Warranty is without any conditions as to mileage or Service history. I have not heard of Polo's being affected but VW seem to have agreed yours has been caused by foam too.
If the wing is a replacement it will not be covered. I don't understand why your wing has so much rust in different places? Presumably the rest of the car is OK? Are you using a VW Approved Bodyshop as it is only them that can make decisions and it is they who will measure the paint thickness. Have you asked for/received a complaint Reference number and do you have the names of the person dealing with your case?

If the rest of your car is in excellent condition I would battle on and give them a set time in which to honour your Warranty without you having to make a contribution otherwise you will seek redress through the Courts. I suspect that the cost of wing replacement is loaded so as to cost the Dealer very little if you accept the 'goodwill contribution'. Your efforts so far have not been a total waste of your time as at least you have an offer towards the cost but your comments do indicate that you feel that accepting the offer is preferable to fighting on?
Take the offer after you have found out if it represents a reasonable cost to you. There are some very well finished cars from the Far East with excellent Warranties that will be making ever increasing inroads into VW market share so you should have plenty of choice in the future.

[JimC64]

First of all - on behalf of all here, I'd like to say a huge "thank you" to Chipped2 / Chipped3 for persevering with this thread all the way through and the excellent advice given to all, this backed up with the TSB from VAG too..................top notch!!

Anyhow - my wife's Passat, 53 plate Highline has the rust bubbles primarily on the drivers wing, I noticed them maybe a few weeks / month or two ago, but Jeeesh they've really spread. Having a quick check on the passenger side it looks like perhaps there's the start of the same issue there too!!

I'm going to re read through this thread, save & print off the TSB and note all necessary references and the great advice as offered by Chipped2/3.

I'll be looking to initiate proceedings in a day or two and will of course report back here for the future benefit of all

EDIT - Ok so I've copied the TSB on to my pc and also created a word document with all replies from chipped2/3 as well as a few others to use as info for backup if required.
Be prepared I say and have the answers to questions they haven't even thought to ask yet. I always find ( as mentioned here ) when something doesn't necessarily go your way and becomes drawn out.......when you can tell them that you spoke to Diane about this issue on the 18th January at 2.35 pm and she advised that they'd get back to you......they realise that they're dealing with someone who knows what they're talking about / keeps records, isn't going to take no for an answer and will annoy you on a daily basis if required until a satisfactory conclusion is reached.

I located the nearest VAG bodyshop to me, around 25 miles away and called them re the issue. I've arranged to call in as soon as is possible for them to look at the car and the issues. The guy I spoke to, Graeme, already mentioned that they are aware of this problem and have already had one or two vehicles in for this in the past, so far so good.
I hope to get it down to them in the next few days, perhaps on Sat if needed.

Thanks guys

[VWTrevor]

Thanks Chipped you and others have been excellent in motivating me to keep pushing on with the matter.

To answer your questions:
Presumably the rest of the car is OK? Yes no other marks anywhere.
Are you using a VW Approved Bodyshop? Yes and they measured the paint thickness which came out between 79 and 114.
Have you asked for/received a complaint Reference number and do you have the names of the person dealing with your case? Yes I got case a reference to quote everytime I call customer services.

To clarify, on second inspection the body shop manager said the foam caused the rust however when pushed on why it was rusting away from the arches too he said the paint seemed more "orange peely" in appearance and suggested it was a replaced wing. Asked if there was a way of proving it he said there may be a sticker on the inside but couldn't be certain. As an independant bodyshop told me they also think its not original its kinda burst my bubble. So £170 seems like a fair offer for this.

Today though I sought to push forward as much as possible. Customer services rang back to say they had spoken to the retailer and they wouldn't budge on the 70% as they had not seen me before. She said the dealer send their report direct to VW at Milton Keynes who make the judgement. Customer Services are just there as mediators and to make sure the dealers are acting correctly!

So I rang the dealer to find out what the official come back on last weeks viewing was. They basically said the situation hasn't changed and 70% was still the offer. I expressed my displeasure politely and will now contact the dealer Aftersales Manager who is the person that has the say on what good will they offer.

I feel its time to quote the Technical bulletin and have a last throw of the dice. I'm wary about pushing too hard especially if the wing isn't original. I was suprised the readings were in spec if the wing is a replacement but it seems this is possible even painted outside of the factory.

Oh and a side issue is I'm due my 8th service which will cost me £269 for the Major service, plus cambelt £439, brake fluid £69 and air con £89 totalling £866

Photo of wing

[Dave Elcome]

I had a call yesterday from the dealers, albeit after having chased them 6 times during the past month since I took it in for inspection. The end result is that VW have pulled the usual stunt and stated that its not a corrosion problem, but a mechanical one caused by the under shield, but they have magnanimously decided to pay 70% of the repair cost as a goodwill gesture.

I expected my claim to be thrown out initially, as the vehicle hasn't been into a dealers since I bought it 6 years ago, because I do all my own servicing and maintainance, so I was pleased that it wasn't, but if as they state its not a corrosion problem, then why offer anything, other than they know full well they have a problem and think this will lessen their guilt!!

[chipped3]

Be quite firm in stating that you have a 12 year anti perforation Warranty which you expect VW to honour your warranty with no cost to you and will no further delaying tactics. You do not want any GOODWILL GESTURE as you already have a legally enforceable Warranty that specifically covers the problem that you have within the time frame that the Warranty covers.

Ask them to provide their current goodwill offer in writing stating their reasons for not honouring your Warranty agreement. Let them know that you are aware that many owners have received a full 100% contribution to the repair of their vehicles under the anti perforation clause. I have many old Passat brochures and can download the wording of the Warranty which shows it is without condition should you require it. Give them a date to agree to meet your claim in full otherwise you will have no choice but to take the matter further. Record your letter to VW Warranty Dept with a copy to your dealer giving your claim reference number etc.

[caldirun]

I have got a 2005 mkV golf gt tdi which had very small rust bubbles on the off side front wing, I found a post on this forum regarding this corrosion problem which alerted me.
After discovering it I contacted VW customer services who pinged me on to my local VW dealer who pinged me on to a VAG bodyshop. I printed off a VW workshop data sheet (supplied by this forum),
when my vehicle was inspected I showed them the data sheet. At which point the bodyshop chap said they had seen the issue before and would put a claim in for both wings (I insisted that both were to be replaced).
A few days passed and I was notified that VW would pay 100% for the replacement of both wings.

My car had full service history but only 80% VW, it had also done over 100K miles both of which had nothing to do with the design fault of a foam pad pushing the wheel arch liner into the inner of the wheel arch. I is VW's problem and not yours.

Stick to your guns and insist on 100% payment. VW are well aware of this issue. It may be a good point to bypass the VW dealers and go direct to the VAG approved bodyshop who after all will push for the work to be done, after all if you make it crystal clear that you are not paying a penny then it is in the interest of the bodyshop to get the work.

Good luck to you all

I have just discovered the problem on my 2005 Highline, I have contacted the bodyshop, will see how your suggestion works out.

[JimC64]

Hey guys - just a quick update......

As I said I took my 53 plate 1.9 Tdi Highline to the Verve VW bodyshop and showed them the rust on the drivers wing which had appeared and taken hold quite rapidly, as well as showing him the start of the same process on the passenger side.
I got into conversation with him and quite quickly got him to agree that it was a known and common issue that they had seen before. I explained that I knew this and and of the existence of a TSB out about this very problem.

He stated that they would take pics and send a claim through to VW but that it could take 2-3 weeks and that they may offer some goodwill or similar as they had done before, He also mentioned about service history as a possible requiement.

I very quickly explained to him that I was not claiming under any goodwill scenario and that I was claiming under the 12 year anti perforation warranty as supplied with the car from new. I also then explained that the car had partial service history but that didn't matter as it wasn't a requirement of the warranty.
In further discussions I said that I wouldn't be accepting 40% or 50% goodwill or whatever and that I was looking for a 100% fix free of charge and would accept no less.

He seemed almost taken aback that I was so prepared and in discussions about the wings said that brand new replacement was best even for the wing where it had only just started.

Oh - and as an incentive I asked him about some paint lacquer peeling on the leading edge of the bumper / passenger mirror housing and an idea of a cost to do these whilst it was in for the warranty claim for the wings........He gave me a decent price of around £200 (I had already asked a local bodyshop who I trust close to me and they said around the same price )
I said in all likelihood if / when the warranty work went ahead we would give them this work too just to finish off the look, as its the only part that lets the car down.

I reckon, for what its worth that I have him on side, so we'll wait and see how that goes.

I'll keep you informed of any progress or not as the case may be.

[caldirun]

I have just discovered the problem on my 2005 Highline, I have contacted the bodyshop, will see how your suggestion works out.

I received this reply to my email,

Hi John

With reference to your VW passat with corrosion on the front wings, If you can call down with the vehicle so I can take some photos & paint depth readings, I can then submit a claim to VW warranty for you.

You don't need an appointment for us to view the vehicle just call in in any day Monday-Friday between 8am & 5.30pm

Many Thanks

A good result, will take the car in asap.