URGENT Help required VW Dealer

[Mr_Drozz]

Hi all

I need some urgent advice.... I own a 2001 VW Bora 4motion, I stopped taking it to Bunbury Volkswagen about a year ago as they where doing some dodgy things in regards to my car services and my sisters car repairs, so I was driving it to Perth to Golfwagen for services. I heard they where under new management/ownershis so I decided to give them another go.

So last Thursday I got my car serviced at the VW Dealer in Bunbury, I picked it up paid the bill all was good.

The next day I was driving it and it started losing oil pressure, so I turned around and went home. As I was driving onto my driveway I saw a big puddle of oil on my new drive way.

I rang VW in Bunbury and told them what had happened and they sent someone out, he looked at it and got it towed back to their workshop. They gave me a loan car for free for the long weekend and sent an apprentice to try clean my driveway. I was a bit annoyed with what happened but very happy with the way they handled it so far.

I get a call this morning saying that the problem was not their fault, and now I have to pay for the whole lot, ie towing, call out fee for mechanice and apprentice cleaning my driveway.

They are saying the oil filter holder on my car had previously been repaired and has given way thus the leaking oil. Now if this is true, I have no problem paying for it to be fixed but am I wrong in thinking it should have been picked up that it was broken when it was serviced?

Any advice on what to do next would be much appreciated.

[Mr_Bob]

messy driveway, messy situation!

Do they have pics of the previous repair that has caused the damage?
If they can determine that this is the cause, then the damage should be visible...

the description sounds to me like they have forgotten to remove the old oil filter seal,
The new seal doesn't seal against the old one, they slide apart.
It might seal for 30sec, or maybe 10min, but when it goes, you'll lose 2-3L of oil in 60sec.

[Mr_Drozz]

thanks Mr_Bob

I just rang Joe from Golfwagen he asked me to get them to take pictures of them and he will have a look and tell me what he thinks. I wish I took it to Joe in the first place. Geez his a good bloke I recommend him highly to anyone.

[Manaz]

It should have been picked up at service. This is what happens when apprentices work unsupervised on customer cars, and is one reason (of many) I don't use dealer servicing.

Regarding who should pay - unless you agreed in advance that you'd pay should they provably determine that the issue was not of their doing that you'd pay, tell them to get knotted, and you're happy to pay for a replacement oil filter holder and the labour to fit it, nothing more.

[McDub]

If it was some sort of hairline fracture, you can't really expect them to have noticed though can you?
But obviously it wasn't leaking oil before, and after installing the new filter, they broke whatever previous fix was put in place.
Bit of a hard one if you ask me.
But I defenitely would NOT pay for the apprentice cleaning your driveway.
He cleaned your driveway on the presumptiom that it was their fault.
If you had known it was not their fault, you wouldn't have paid them to clean your driveway, no way in hell (unless you are super lazy)

[Dyldo]

I'd be fighting them mate, for sure. +1 vote for the missed oil seal.

[Mr_Drozz]

High guys thanks for all your replies.. a quick update

After about 10 phone calls back and forth, They have dropped all other charges and I just have to pay for the parts and labour, which I am quite happy with., not stoked but I think it's fair.

I think it may have been just unlucky ie a hairline crack, but my point is paying such a high price for a minor service, I don't excpect to have a huge oil leak.

I hope people don't think I paint a bad picture of Bunbury Volkswagen, because they seriously bent over backwards to please me on Friday.

[Manaz]

And the end result is fair I think. That's to be commended.

What's a shame is that they tried to get you to pay for everything.

[Dyldo]

seems like a case of the journey being ****house but the destination being pretty good.

[Umai Naa!!]

It should have been picked up at service. This is what happens when apprentices work unsupervised on customer cars, and is one reason (of many) I don't use dealer servicing.

Invalid point is invalid.

Unless I've missed something, there was no mention of an apprentice working the car. Secondly, private shops have apprentices, too. Thirdly, usually by their 3rd or 4th year, they're working unsupervised on most tasks. Finally, I've seen technicians of over 30 years experiance make similar errors before.

Point is; humans make human errors.

Anyhoo, good to hear the original poster's concerns were rectified.