Golf 118 TSI Engine Failures and Service Campaign 24S4

**tigger73** · 04-11-2016, 05:36 PM

I don't disagree that someone has to pay for the work carried out.

You would know better than most if you're up front with the customer about how much a job is going to cost and they give you the go-ahead then nobody is upset. The customer has the opportunity to go somewhere else if they don't like your price/offer.

I just think it's not very good customer service to offer people some hope and take them through a process only to tell them that by the way nothing is going to be covered by goodwill. The only reason people have taken their cars to the VW dealer in the first place is that the carrot of goodwill repairs has been dangled and they're expecting/hoping that VW is going to come to the party.

My point all along is that people need to be made aware of the (likely) costs upfront so they don't find themselves $2k into a $10k job.

The whole engine pull-down is in my opinion totally unnecessary if VW is not going to cover the costs. The only reason that the dealer is doing the pull-down is for warranty/goodwill repairs claims. If VW is not going to be covering any of the repairs bill then this "work" should never be carried out. It's only adding unnecessary cost to the job.

A lot of heartache could be avoided if VW was upfront with the customers about what was going to be offered in terms of goodwill before the job was started. It shouldn't be that hard.

**Umai Naa!!** · 04-11-2016, 05:56 PM

The dealer can't submit a goodwill claim without thorough diagnosis, and this includes procuring evidence of the failure and where possible, how it occurred.

The dealer will tell you in the first instance that you'll be liable for parts and labour, if a claim is denied. They may also give some indication of the likelihood of the claim being accepted at all.

**tigger73** · 04-11-2016, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by Umai Naa!!

The dealer can't submit a goodwill claim without thorough diagnosis, and this includes procuring evidence of the failure and where possible, how it occurred.

No point going to all the expense if the claim is just going to get rejected based on age of car and/or service history. These things are known things that takes 5 minutes to check before starting an expensive goodwill claim.

Originally Posted by Umai Naa!!

The dealer will tell you in the first instance that you'll be liable for parts and labour, if a claim is denied. They may also give some indication of the likelihood of the claim being accepted at all.

I don't think the dealer would make any promises on likelihood or otherwise of a goodwill claim.

Anyway it's a pretty crappy situation to be in with a relatively low km car having a blown engine even if it is 6-7 years old. I'm not sure what I'd do in that situation. Obviously a second-hand engine would be the go as long as you could find one.

**Umai Naa!!** · 04-11-2016, 07:54 PM

But it's always the car owner that takes the gamble, even when they're advised that any chance of assistance will be slim.

VW will want a full, and complete diagnosis of the fault or failure, including photos and diagnostic logs, as part of a goodwill request before any assistance will be considered.

**tigger73** · 04-11-2016, 08:25 PM

Yeah the problem is these cars are only worth ~$10 so cost of investigation is 20% of the value of the vehicle. Repair cost is around the value of the car. It's getting close to a bin job.

**Umai Naa!!** · 04-11-2016, 08:30 PM

That's up to the owner of the car to decide.

**Transporter** · 04-11-2016, 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by tigger73

The whole engine pull-down is in my opinion totally unnecessary if VW is not going to cover the costs. The only reason that the dealer is doing the pull-down is for warranty/goodwill repairs claims. If VW is not going to be covering any of the repairs bill then this "work" should never be carried out. It's only adding unnecessary cost to the job.

It shouldn't be that hard.

I agree with you.

**Achan** · 06-11-2016, 08:15 AM

Hi guys, another unfortunate golf tsi owner here. A couple of weeks ago whilst driving home the car started rattling and so I immediatedly drove to local European car mechanical who replaced the coil and spark plug and advised major engine work required. I am in shock, the car was purchased new in 2010 and only done around 60,000 kms to date. Female driver and driven only mainly for weekend use. What should I do, can I trade it in at a dealership, can I continue to drive it?? If I should consider replacing the engine, where should I ever go? Thanks in advance, as you can I am really lost as to what to do. Never thought this could happen to such a strong European car brand!

**tigger73** · 06-11-2016, 10:05 AM

Suggest doing your research - this thread is a good start.

Options are to replace the engine (you have to be lucky finding one at a wreckers as they are in short supply) or rebuild current engine if the damage is not too severe.

You have the choice of going to a VW dealership if you want to attempt to get VW to pay $ towards goodwill repairs or to an independent workshop but you'll be up for the entire repair bill this way. Though the investigation/goodwill warranty claim at a dealer will cost ~$2k which you will have to pay if they deny the claim. Current experience is that more people have had goodwill repairs denied than accepted.

If you wanted to take the gamble on goodwill repairs you would need to have a faultless service history with every service being done exactly on time or km (preferably before) and be prepared to fight for it. It is a bit of a battle to get VW to part with any money at the moment as they are flat broke due to having major cost/bills/fall-out from all the dieselgate issues.

It can be done but you may have to go down the path of getting lawyers involved (or at least the threat of legal action). My guess is that legal costs for VW to fight a battle in court is going to be more than the cost for them to repair the car so they're actually better off to pay the cost of the repairs. It seems the standard first response is to pay no goodwill repairs for any vehicle and see if the customer accepts this and goes away. It seems that the ones that do get some payment for repairs are the ones that are prepared to fight for it.

Whichever way you decide to go good luck!