So in reallity we are obviously left with only one real option bend over and take it .
Well VW Australia have come to the party and will cover part of the replacement cost of the new box under the good will claim, and the non VW dealer will cover the remainder under the statutory warranty. I'm still looking at another week or so before she's back on the road, so that's a total of four weeks off the road in the six weeks that we've owned it.
Thats some good news for a change sad that it took so long to sort out .
Good news bluefin!
I have recently purchased an '01 T4 from a dealer (Toyota!) with 180ks on the clock. I first noticed a vibration throught the steering wheel when going 100 and took it to a local mech to get them to give it a once over and they balanced tyres to see if that would solve it.
No luck so i rang my VW guy (Lawrence at German Autos - top bloke! Always serviced ,my '89 T3, sadly now sold ) and he diagnosed a transmission fault over the phone. Took it back to the dealer under stat warranty and they had transmission 'repaired' among other things and to their credit it must have cost them a fair percentage of what i paid for the Caravelle.
Turned out there were a few other things that needed doing too and i was without the vehicle for about 6 weeks.
Upon receipt everything seemed good until a 'knocking' noise turned out to be a screw loose from a CV which had trashed the joint and it needed replacing. Got this done at German Autos as it was there to be diagnosed and i didn't get a timely response from the dealer. Cost to me unfortunately.
Recently noticed dead grass under the van and smell of petrol - assumed fuel leak, diagnosed as a transmission fluid leak and faulty fuel cap. Returned to dealer to be repaired under the warranty.
Drove down there last night to collect - 2 hour plus round trip. Pick up the keys and drive out of the yard when a k or so down the road the revs start going to the red-line. Driving ok occassionally, then would not change gear and would over rev unless i took foot off accelerator and tried again which would usually seem to resolve the issue. I didn't drive for long though, turned around, expressed my disgust to the dealership and drove their courtesy car back home again.
Any thoughts and advice on what my rights are from here? Seems the work has been done at Russells Auto Transmission on the Gold Coast - anyone with any experience of them??
Any ideas, opinions and words of solace greatly appreciated.
jon
ps. Sold my T3 to a bloke from Darwin who drove it there faultlessly from Brisbane in about 3 days - he loves it! Only bought the T4 to 'upgrade' for the wife and family
'01 T4 Caravelle (Auto) - Great to drive - when it's working!
While it wont help with your situation I would wonder what was done [ Took it back to the dealer under stat warranty and they had transmission 'repaired' among other things and to their credit it must have cost them a fair percentage of what i paid for the Caravelle.]
We had the same model bought new in 2000 , thank goodnes the auto never played up but it was a mongrel as it was an adaptive model which learn,t different driving styles . The wife drives very differently from my self and you would have to drive it harshly to get the thing to change gears for my driving style after she had been using it all week . Now all I can comment on was that whilst at a VW dealer in Brissie I saw the mechanics removing an auto from a T4 and was told it was $12000 for a new auto !!!!! Thank goodness ours diidnt play up , but I speak too soon as our T5 has been playing up as you would have read about already , it seems that VW transmmisions are not all as satisfactory as we customers would hope .
Happy to report the van is finally back on the road. Dealer informed me that the new box is covered by a 2 year warranty.
Excellent outcome for you nice to hear of a good result .
Yep, good result, however no explanation from VW as to why the original A/T failed having traveled less than 60k. Some comments like VW have upgraded to larger valves, or identified and changed common failed components would have put my mind at ease. I might fire off an email to VW Australia.
Who's to say the new box won't fail even with regular fluid/filter changes?
Still, nice to have the van back and finally a chance to enjoy it.
I would also be fitting temperature gauge, making sure it doesn't overheat.
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