2006 POLO with misfire diagnosed as ill-seated valve neccessitating removal of cylinder head, main dealer repair £800!

[dorismax22]

How doe they justify these charges But they dont have to becos we poor owners are a captive clientele once the vehicle is in their workshop stripped down! My polo developed a misfire and two AA patrol men tried first a new coil and then new plugs but to no avail The dreaded VW Diagnostic test at £85+VAT suggested an ill-seated valve in the second cylinder which meant removing the cylinder head to investigate! Four hours labour costs! A further test at a local specialist would confirm their diagnosis OR NOT ( more money !) before reassembly, and another 4 hours labour charges? So far, without any more parts, the cost is ESTIMATED at £800! And all this on a 2006 POLO which has done only 24K.
VW "Goodwill" (what a joke) rejected an appeal from the Garage so I may have to contact them myself.
Having owned about 14 VW cars over a period of 40 years, I am very disappointed with this vehicle which I have owned since it was 6 months old and had done only 2K,and the treatment I have received from the VW "Goodwill" department.
It could be the worst and last VW for me!

[a8 tech]

Burnt valve seats are either caused by cheap fuel or sticking valves allowing combustion gasses to pass the valve seat,is it a manufactures defect or is it cheap fuel causing poor lubrication who knows but i remember asking customers where they purchased there fuel and 99% who suffered this issue used local super markets so coincidence or the cause.Feel for you but surely you were asked for permission to remove the cylinder head to confirm diagnosis from a cylinder leakage test or compression test

[dorismax22]

40 years of loyalty to the VW brand counts for nothing with the so-called "Goodwill" dept. of Customer Services. Because I did not have the first and only service on my 2006 Polo at the main dealer and had the audacity to use supermarket petrol, they have dismissed my appeal for a rebate on the repair bill of £859. I think I have bought and now sold my last VW!

[pon]

Some people never cease to amaze me.
Second hand car, never VW main dealer serviced, out of warranty and want help from VW to pay towards repairs.

[aqualung]

I don't know about "second hand car - out of warranty" VWs but I've owned and serviced many many many (non VW) cars in my time and I can't remember one ever developing a "badly seated valve" fault because of using supermarket fuel. Thats a con if ever I heard one.
Anyway, we all know that Main Dealers charge exorbitant (like £75 per hour) labour rates and that some (many) of their technicians are incompetent but it sounds like VW are worse than most. Thats why I always do my own repairs.
When they use their superlative diagnostic skills and equipment to diagnose a fault - change a part - and it makes no difference, shouldn't it be on a payment by results basis, i.e. no result - no charge.
Sorry abot that, I just needed to get that off my chest.

[a8 tech]

Sorry that's a load of crap,and slanderous with out proven evidence vauxhall and ford suffered from similar issues as well as the 1.4 16v polo,golf and A2 materials changed for the valves and as most vag petrol engines are designed to run on fuel like shell optimax not cheap supermarket fuel it seems this has a factor when assessing the valve seat and surface its quite noticeable that burning/wear has occurred and this down to lubrication and that is a property of petrol.

[Crasher]

Do you know what, if more VAG dealer technicians had the balls to say what A8Tech says there would be far less misunderstanding between dealers and customer’s. Part of the valve seating issue is the salesmen at dealers “neglecting” to inform customers that their cars should be run on Super Plus Unleaded as if they did they would lose 50% of their sales. Designing a shopping trolley to use 99RON is bonkers, why do VAG do this?

[aqualung]

All the supemarkets where I live sell genuine Shell or BP or whatever so I don't buy thet excuse.
I certainly remember the problem a few years ago when there was some contamination of supermarket and non- supermarket fuel and engines were being wrecked, but it seems this person's problem was very recent so wouldn't you agree that its possible that the VW dealership/workshop are probably either guessing, clutching at straws or just trying to avert suspicion that there is a problem with the design and/or reliability of the car.

[a8 tech]

Again your talking rubbish without any knowledge on the subject your digging a big hole and embarrassing yourself from lack of knowledge or any evidence of qualification as i have held full ata accreditation for many years as well as being a fully qualified master tech with some 21 years hands on experience in these matters,Crasher also is well respected and quite clearly a cut above also confirms my thoughts to the most likely source of the complaint which is not contamination it is insufficient lubrication from inferior fuel which again caused many issues with the fsi power train eventually leading to the removal of the original combustion process which fsi technology was designed for because incorrect octane fuels were used in the uk market causing nox cat failure and excessive combustion noise.Fsi branding still exists but not in its original design concept

[aqualung]

Lets not descend into the "my dad's bigger than your dad" syndrome, but I assure you, I am probably more technically highly qualified than you.
Anyway, if, as you point out, the technology was withdrawn, why would VW mechanics continue to blame the fuel? unless they are guessing at the cause, as I suggested earlier.
Steve