DSG woes in The Age

[team_v]

VWA PR person must be a beginner. This is damage control 101.

Or prudent PR work.
Obviously Fairfax don't care about any of the facts/proper investigative journalism or they wouldn't be running missleading articles and combinging issues that have nothing to do with each other.
So why should VW bother to respond when it is just going to be taken out of context or written up that VW have no clue what they are doing when there isn't a valid fix so they can't do anything?

[Transporter]

Or prudent PR work.
Obviously Fairfax don't care about any of the facts/proper investigative journalism or they wouldn't be running missleading articles and combinging issues that have nothing to do with each other.
So why should VW bother to respond when it is just going to be taken out of context or written up that VW have no clue what they are doing when there isn't a valid fix so they can't do anything?

I agree with you.

[AdamD]

Or prudent PR work.

I'm not sure I agree in this case.

Yes, Fairfax are proving once again that journalism in Australia requires no integrity and no facts - speculation, hearsay and dogged persistence will do.

But this stuff has hit the mainstream media and is gaining widespread public exposure, and there's nothing VWA can do to put the cat back in the bag now. As a good mate of mine (non-VW owner but a potential VW customer) observed, they should be in full damage control mode to at least calm the media frenzy, and protect the brand image. Even publishing a statement along the lines of 'We're liaising with our customers and our dealers to solve all these issues conclusively, and to everyone's satisfaction' would at least give them a reprieve.

In my opinion, saying nothing - in the light of what's been published in the media (whether true or not) - just comes across as conceited arrogance. Worse, some may assume it implies guilt. I am very disappointed in how VWA have managed this whole episode, and damaged VW's good name (not to mention all our resale values).

[brad]

My mate with the 6R Polo that I fitted Konis to... it goes into limp mode every few months. He calls it putt,putt,putt mode. He's had it back to the dealer three times. The ecu has stored fault codes. In his words

When our Polo goes putt-putt-putt (maybe once our twice a month?) it certainly logs a fault code. VW Sutherland acknowledge an issue but are unwilling to spend any money fixing it.

WTF?

[pologti18t]

My mate with the 6R Polo that I fitted Konis to... it goes into limp mode every few months. He calls it putt,putt,putt mode. He's had it back to the dealer three times. The ecu has stored fault codes. In his words "The dealership acknowledges there is a fault but refuses to spend any money to fix the issue."
WTF?

WTF indeed. VGA would pay for any warranty repairs. Ask him what the fault codes suggest. GTi??

[brad]

WTF indeed. VGA would pay for any warranty repairs. Ask him what the fault codes suggest. GTi??

2012 77tsi dsg

[BluChris]

Completely agree current PR advice is if you stuff up, admit it straight away and say what you'll do to fix it. But I can imagine the conversation at HQ: "So what will we admit? Let's see. If you have a twincharger engine, sorry but it will probably chew oil and may well end up requiring replacement (Polo GTI), or otherwise lose compression on cylinder 3 on the way to self destruction requiring an engine replacement (Golf 118TSi). The good news is that the Golf engine might die on you but at least the Polo won't. Hmmmm, what else? OK the 7 speed DSG is a world of pain for a number of our customers and sometimes we don't know how to fix it properly or it breaks again pretty quickly. At least we know for sure the 125 TDi injectors are dodgy and can leave you stranded so we will fix those, oh yeah and coil packs on some of the other engines, and yes some customers do seem to have weird shutdown or loss of power issues and..."

If I were VW I'd find it hard to come clean too because if they cop to all this the brand damage is likely to be palpable. While there are plenty of happy owners, let's face it if you saw the stuff on these cars posted here and in the media what would you think of buying a VW? If you're not a loyalist you probably wouldn't take the risk, especially with owners complaining about lack of VW support. If VW confirmed your worst fears in the media...

None of which excuses VW if they have not made every effort possible to address failures that can create safety risks for owners.

[team_v]

Completely agree current PR advice is if you stuff up, admit it straight away and say what you'll do to fix it.

The problem is that VW don't know what the problem is for the DSG issue and the rapid deceleration.
So how can they say what they are going to do to fix it when there isn't a solution yet?

[geeza]

I'm not sure I agree in this case.

Yes, Fairfax are proving once again that journalism in Australia requires no integrity and no facts - speculation, hearsay and dogged persistence will do.

But this stuff has hit the mainstream media and is gaining widespread public exposure, and there's nothing VWA can do to put the cat back in the bag now. As a good mate of mine (non-VW owner but a potential VW customer) observed, they should be in full damage control mode to at least calm the media frenzy, and protect the brand image. Even publishing a statement along the lines of 'We're liaising with our customers and our dealers to solve all these issues conclusively, and to everyone's satisfaction' would at least give them a reprieve.

In my opinion, saying nothing - in the light of what's been published in the media (whether true or not) - just comes across as conceited arrogance. Worse, some may assume it implies guilt. I am very disappointed in how VWA have managed this whole episode, and damaged VW's good name (not to mention all our resale values).

I agree - i don't think this is a good PR move at all....

I love my MK 6 GTI (no issues with my DSG) but i hate the thought of a company knowingly selling a potential dangerous car...(or 7 speed DSG gearbox) and re-calling in larger markets is just shamefull.

I think they've lost me as a customer as whilst i have a lot of brand loyalty - the thought of giving money to a company with those ethics is very off putting.

[wai]

Or prudent PR work.
Obviously Fairfax don't care about any of the facts/proper investigative journalism or they wouldn't be running missleading articles and combinging issues that have nothing to do with each other.
So why should VW bother to respond when it is just going to be taken out of context or written up that VW have no clue what they are doing when there isn't a valid fix so they can't do anything?

The thing is that it is perceptions, and the public are developing a perception (rightly or wrongly) that VW is not necessarily the manufacturer to be buying a vehicle from.

Put it this way. If you were in the market for a new car, and you did not have the knowledge we might have about VWs, would you be spending your hard earned money on a VW?

While driving back from a client's this morning, there was some discussion on the share price crash of Billabong. It was much the same there. problems with profit downgrades and no one wanted to respond to questions.

The really silly thing is that VW could stop all this by simply announcing that they have set up a register where those with issues (ANY issues) can report them. All issues will be investigated and the details of the investigation would be published on the register. Any appropriate action will be taken by VW to rectify problems that are the responsibility of VW.

With just that, all the negative publicity will be stopped, and they will be able to clearly state how they are dealing with things if they are the responsibility of VW.

Anyone who wanted to whinge would be asked if they had reported the matter on the register and if so had they a response and what it was. Simple; end of story.