I don't believe it...

[ralferoo]

So, after waiting 19 weeks for my new car, I went in to collect it today and ended up leaving empty handed...

I'm frankly amazed that it got through VW quality control, then past the dealer and actually presented to me. What's particularly galling about this is that apparently the dealer has had the car for the past week whilst I've been on holiday and so could easily have discovered these problems themselves.

* On the near-side front wing, there were 5 defects - 3 that looked like badly touched up rust spots and 2 problems with the lacquer layer.
* On the near-side door right near the wing, there was another bad blemish that looked like someone had touched it up badly.
* On the near-side roof just above the door there was a problem with the lacquer layer.
* On the driver's side rear door by the door handle there was another problem with the lacquer layer.
* On the driver's side front wing, there was a white scratch (presumably below deeper than the paint layer)
* There were 3 places where someone had obviously been over enthusiastically polishing and scuffed the lacquer (although this would be easy to fix with some t-cut)
* There was some liquid spatter on the near-side rear door plastic sill (probably could be removed by solvent, but still should have been spotted as I noticed as soon as I opened the door)

Of these, the defects on the near-side door and wing they've said they're going to get fixed under warranty but that they won't be able to fix anything else. And they reckon it's going to take at least 2 weeks to get the car fixed.

They then had the gall to suggest that I should pay for the car anyway and have a courtesy car whilst it's being fixed. I told them that I certainly wasn't paying them until after the paintwork was repaired. However, I not sure where that would leave me with the warranty as a few people have said here that work done after it leaves the factory isn't covered by the normal warranty.

The funniest line the dealer came up with was "I wish you'd told me that you wanted to inspect the car before we registered it" as if it's usual for people just to stroll up to the car and say, "Gosh, what a pretty colour!" before getting in and driving off...

Naturally, I'm pretty cheesed off right now. I'm not even sure if I should just reject the car outright due to the fact it'll have been resprayed before I even get it and there will still be problems with the paintwork after that... Any ideas anyone?

[james_tiger_woo]

Unfortunately before rejecting the car, you have to give them a fair crack at rectifying it - then you need to put that in writing.

I'm not sure where you stand legally as they have the car and are presenting it to you for you to reject it even though the contract probably just says "We will give you a car" and not in what condition.

As for them saying "I wish you'd told me that you wanted to inspect the car" - that's rubbish - I'd be talking to the manager or the like to complain....

[ralferoo]

It was the manager who agreed that the work on the wing and the door was sufficiently bad that they'd get it done "to my satisfaction" before I paid for the car.

I've also e-mailed VW to ask if this will affect the warranty. If it does, I guess I have good grounds to reject it on that basis alone.

Gutted though, as I took this week off work so I could drive around in my new car...

[ptolemy]

Tell the dealer that you have contacted What Car who are running a piece on bad new car experiences.... It's no more dishonest than they will have been to you.

[ptolemy]

Body rectification done prior to delivery does not affect the warranty. It is processed as transit damage (as long as it was recorded by the dealer on delivery) and paid for by VW UK.

[Gilesme]

Are you going to name and shame the dealer ?

(Wasn't Wolverhampton, was it ?)

[ralferoo]

Body rectification done prior to delivery does not affect the warranty. It is processed as transit damage (as long as it was recorded by the dealer on delivery) and paid for by VW UK.

By "delivery", do you mean delivery from the trailer to the dealer? If so, I'm guessing they didn't record the damage then as they acted surprised when I pointed it out. However, the car had clearly been polished in preparation for my arrival (there were still odd bits of wax all over the paint), so I can't understand how they didn't notice the paint blemishes...

I actually went into the showroom to collect the vehicle, so there was no actual delivery to me involved. There was around two and a half hours of bus journeys involved as I didn't want to leave my old car there, but that's another matter...

Are you going to name and shame the dealer ? (Wasn't Wolverhampton, was it ?)

No, the dealer wasn't Wolverhampton nor Hinckley where I guess a lot of you end up getting cars from. I'll hold off naming them until they have a chance to redeem themselves, just in case...

[ralferoo]

Unfortunately before rejecting the car, you have to give them a fair crack at rectifying it - then you need to put that in writing.

In the end, I formally rejected the car on the 3rd time it was presented to me, still with faults. The salesman's manager was still pretty awkward, even "refusing to accept that I was rejecting the car" although a letter to the MD clearly setting out the facts, explaining how disappointed I was with the whole process and that I no longer had any faith in the garage or the bodyshop in carrying out satisfactory repairs seemed to do the trick. I was given my deposit back today.

Basically, the first time the car was presented to me, there were a lot of paint blemishes, mostly around the nearside front wing as well as some minor scratches. When the car came back from the bodyshop a few days later, only half the blemishes were repaired and the car had acquired a dent and some serious scratches. Another two weeks later, the dent had been repaired although there was some paint damage where the dent had been and there was still one problem around the nearside wing, both of which they deemed "acceptable" and one of the major scratches remained which the garage agreed wasn't acceptable.

By that point, I was well and truly cheesed off and felt that rejecting the car was the only sane option, although the dealer was strongly fighting against a rejection despite the obvious problems.

Are you going to name and shame the dealer?

I'll hold off naming them until they have a chance to redeem themselves, just in case...

As they didn't redeem themselves, I'll identify them: Spirit Volkswagen in Leamington. I've since been told of a number of other bad experiences by people at work who've also vowed that they're never going there again...

It's doubtful I'm going to bother getting a Golf from anywhere else now as I'm certainly not going to spend another 6 months waiting for a new car, so it looks like VW have lost a sale for good on account of poor dealer service. If they'd done their job properly, the faults could have been discovered in the week before I came in to collect the first time (I was on holiday for a week after they took delivery) and failing that they should have been able to get it fixed first time, rather than presenting an obviously damaged vehicle to me multiple times.

Thanks to everyone who offered advice on this forum, both from the need to check the car carefully on delivery and for advice about rejecting the car.

[Dave B]

At least you have your money back.

Don't leave it there though, write to the CEO at VW uk and also the CEO at VW Germany, its not good enough.

Garages should have their franchise taken off them if they behave like this.

[elvismiggell]

Yeah, you should push for some compensation for time wasted, trips to dealer etc.