Shonky Dealer practice

[Swallowtail]

It's the way the car is SUPPOSED to be setup when the VWA approved towbar is dealer fitted. If they code the car's electronics properly, then the car knows when a towbar is fitted, so when you attach a trailer it disables the rear parking sensors and displays a picture of a trailer on the right hand side of the OPS screen. If it doesn't do it, take it back and tell them that several Passat owners that you know have it working properly (apom or I can probably send you a pic), and that for them it was a simple coding change that took all of 10 minutes to do.

[tryingavw]

and hows the comparison so far?

well i really love the wifes passat wagon over the bmw528i- same room/ comparable finish but the passat has the dsg + diesel economy- we get 8-9 around town compared to 12-13 for the bm.

and i went from a 2002 7series to a merc c320 cdi. not missing the bigger size at all and loving the drive. the merc is great but not in the same value league as the passat.

so spoilt for choice!

the thing is with bm as they get older get expensive bits starting to go wrong. so the new plan is get nice cars and roll em over at 4-5 years old max.

[apom]

Is this a factory fix for the trailer problem? How did they do it? Firmware??About to get car serviced for 15,000km and need some ammo to get them to fix it. Have asked them about it when I first bought the car and got no reply!

He did a firmware check and it showed the latest available option. I tried to sit in on the process but the WHS knob said going into the workshop was an area off limits to the public (rather ironic given I work in the HSE area in the oil and industry that makes these workshops look like accidents waiting to happen)

[apom]

..so the new plan is get nice cars and roll em over at 4-5 years old max.

yep, cant see myself wanting to be around when high KM bills starting rolling in on an R36!

Last car was the Monaro, Had it for 5 years, only did 40,000 kms on it and never even had to replace the tyres or the brake pads.

[tryingavw]

yep, cant see myself wanting to be around when high KM bills starting rolling in on an R36!

Last car was the Monaro, Had it for 5 years, only did 40,000 kms on it and never even had to replace the tyres or the brake pads.

I had the 7 series for 6 years/70000k and it cost.. a lot...... eg a coolant leak required the engine cover and radiator removed for access- intial quote was 8k!

[apom]

I had the 7 series for 6 years/70000k and it cost.. a lot...... eg a coolant leak required the engine cover and radiator removed for access- intial quote was 8k!

<shudder> Almost as bad as the engine detonation I had in a 850 T5 I once owned. The replacement value was going to be more than the car was worth!

[V6Passat]

Now back on topic, does anyone know?

How to get Patricks to release the car within 14 days?

so got in contact with Patricks Autocare today and after not too much shuffling around have left a message with the National VW liason person, i guess the Account manager or similar. From some early information i got the impression that if Patricks do not have to do any work on the car, then it should not take 14 days.

Anyway, i will follow up lunch time tommorow with their VW person and see what can be done.

Stay tuned.