Caddy High Level Brake Light Cracking

[wai]

Interesting, Ive changed quite a few of these for being cracked, always thought they'd been hit.

Will be interested to see the rest of the responses

I have had a few responses from people on the Caddy2k forum. I don't know if you either still have the cracked ones, or took photographs of them. If you have them and/or photographs, it would be good to post them here as I am putting together an album to send to VW Australia.

[wai]

Changed about 10 this year. Usually on older caddy's ....thought it was more to do with age and sun damage...causing the plastic to get weak and then all the slamming of the back door finishing them off....VDUB...

I have had a few responses from people on the Caddy2k forum. I don't know if you either still have the cracked ones, or took photographs of them. If you have them and/or photographs, it would be good to post them here as I am putting together an album to send to VW Australia.

[wai]

Just come back from getting my Sunday newspapers where I was parked two cars down from a silver Caddy Life. I noticed the lower right corner of the high level brake light was missing, so I approached the driver to try and get some information.

He was extremely angry because at firse he thought I'd done it, and then as had just (a few months ago) replaced the light because it had cracked, and he put it down to being hit by a scaffolding plank. By the way this was not the first time it had been replaced. He had lost count of the number of times t had been replaced at just under $200 each time by the dealer.

I asked him if I could take a picture of it after explaining why, but he declined, so no photograph.

[wai]

Just a follow up.

I was on my way down to Bendigo when I got a call from VW Customer Care following up this issue. The lady was toeing the company line and trying to deal with it as a "warranty claim" insisting it was a "one off" failure. I explained that I have had had TWO fail in exactly the same way. She then said that VW do not act on photographs and so I have to now have the vehicle inspected. I have to do this when I return to Sydney.

I'm going to be careful as I can see them wanting to take all the evidence and then claim "it's standard for that type of vehicle".

Before coming to Bendigo, I was at the Toongabbie shops where there was a Caddy Maxi. Checked the light and it was cracked. Spoke to the owner who was annoyed as he had no idea it had cracked, or how long it was cracked.

While driving down, there was a pink Mk 3 heading to Canberra that passed me, and its brake light was cracked. I stopped at a rest area where there was a coffee vendor operating out of the back of a Caddy Maxi van. The brake light was cracked. Driving down the main street of Yass there were two Caddy's parked up and both had their brake lights cracked. It has now reached a point where just about every Caddy I see has a cracked brake light.

What amazes me is that VW are persisting with the line that it is a "one off" failure. They must be replacing these in the holding yards before being sent out to dealers, and dealers must be replacing them prior to sale.

One thing about the Germans is that they have a habit of keeping meticulous records, so the spares supply records will clearly show the number of replacements.

Anyhow, I'll keep you posted. It's almost like the line about motorcyclists. There are those who have had an accident, and those who will have an accident!!!!! Just so you know I don't hate motorcyclists, I am from the first group and a pretty serious encounter with a car

[psyone]

i just checked mine and it has small cracks all through it. its harder to see them because i used Nightshade paint to tint all rear lights but they are there. must be a flawed design not suitable for aussie sun perhaps ?

[wai]

i just checked mine and it has small cracks all through it. its harder to see them because i used Nightshade paint to tint all rear lights but they are there. must be a flawed design not suitable for aussie sun perhaps ?

No, not the sun, just a flawed design, and it is actually the cold that causes the failure.

The light is designed with a mounting piece an lens and an LED strip. They all clip together and are mounted via the mounting strip.

Unfortunately, the mounting strip is EXTREMELY flexible, and the assembly appears rock solid because the mounting strip hooks into the lens.

Next, the lens mounting surface is flat, however the door/tailgate mounting area is curved. When it is installed, the tendency is to make it sit flush all around. This load is not taken by the mounting strip, but by the lens. The lens is permanently under stress.

Now all you need is some cold weather, and the hooks on the mounting strip pull down hard at either end (there are 3 hooks at each end). This causes the lens to crack in the middle, and then as it fails, the load is put on the ends which also develop cracks.

When all this happens, large parts fail at the mounting hooks and end up in the door cavity.

The lens is simply NOT designed for these loads. Even doing the screws up finger tight will see the lens crack. The only way to try and reduce the incidence of cracking would be to replace the light just finger tight on the coldest of cold nights where the Caddy, the light and the screws were all at the near zero temperature. Even then it is not guaranteed.

The thing is that VAG, VGA, and EVERY dealer around the world will know this is a problem, but they keep using the light because it generated revenue. If you get it done in Australia by a dealer, look at something approaching $200 (this is what I was quoted). If you import the light, it will be something under $50, plus your time to remove the cracked one and fit the new one. If you have a tailgate, you will need a stubby phillips head screwdriver. Then if you do not want to hear all the bits rolling around every time you go around a corner, you will have to remove the trim panel, vacuum out the remains and then re-fit the trim panel. Remember, this will have to be done every 6 to 12 months, depending on when you replace it.

I have a few days to kill, so I'm going to send the information to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport and the ACCC.

All the while, this light is covered by ADR60!

[wai]

Things have been hectic, and was only able to get to a dealer this afternoon at lunch time.

As I went to leave from my client's offices, there was a tradie who had a Caddy Maxi (Mk 3). As he was standing by his Caddy, I went up to talk to him. I asked him how many times he had replaced his brake light, and he said "never". He never had reason to check the brake light. I told him that it was designed to fail so we went to the back of his Caddy, and you guessed it, it was cracked. Nothing too drastic, but there was a clear brake across the middle, and cracking at both lower corners. He was extremely ticked off. After all, he had no reason to thing it would have cracked, and he had no idea as to how long it had been cracked.

He is going to take it up with VW Group Australia.

The dealer who inspected it was also surprised, but the thing is that there is no reason why anyone would even think of checking it. After all, it is assumed that such units have been designed properly, and that short of suffering impact damage, it should be OK for the life of the vehicle.

So, it is beginning to look like there are two types of Caddy around...those who have had their brake lights crack, and those who will have their brake lights crack.

So, if you do have a Caddy, check your brake light. If you know someone who has a Caddy, then get them to check their brake light.

So far, I have a 100% "success" rate, and it covers both those with a tailgate and those with barn doors.

[fmflex]

Hi Wai

How did you go with this dealing with VW Australia?

I checked mine again today and its not cracked as far as I can tell though it's only 18 months old.

[wai]

Hi Wai

How did you go with this dealing with VW Australia?

I checked mine again today and its not cracked as far as I can tell though it's only 18 months old.

Both the dealer and VW Australia have now gone very quiet after initially appearing keen and eager to help resolve things. It is now just short of a month since the vehicle was inspected, and a report provided to VW Australia which could not find any external impact to have cracked it, however nothing from either since. I have tried to call both, but no one seems to be available. I have tried telephone and e-mail.

Looks like they are ignoring things and hoping it will go away.

I am pushing because if it was a clear cut case of accident damage, I would have been told as much by now. It would not take just under a month to do this.

[Tonz]

Dept of Fair Trading/ Consumer Affairs etc maybe???