Constant Battery Failed On New VW Tiguan - Adelaide

[Sanman]

Where does it say the dealer was aware of the problem? I really doubt that a dealer would sell a car with a fault like that.

Read what I quoted. The unit had a flat battery episode when the dealer tried to deliver it to the owner at the showroom. You can pretty much guess how the legals would go:
1. was there a fault present when you PD'd the vehicle that was the indicative of the owners complaint? yes.
2. Was this a major fault? (the car didn't go). Yes.
3. And you chose to release it to the owner knowing it had a major fault? Yes.
4. Would you agree a vehicle with a major fault was not of merchantable quality? Yes.
5. Then, all costs, inconveniences suffered by the customer are a direct result of you knowingly releasing a car with a major fault. Yes.

In the US, they have 'lemon laws' - basically if the same fault is presented for rectification 3 times, then the auto mfr is obliged to buy back the vehicle. Makes the dealers very interested in fixing the fault.

[Maverick]

Read what I quoted. The unit had a flat battery episode when the dealer tried to deliver it to the owner at the showroom. You can pretty much guess how the legals would go:
1. was there a fault present when you PD'd the vehicle that was the indicative of the owners complaint? yes.
2. Was this a major fault? (the car didn't go). Yes.
3. And you chose to release it to the owner knowing it had a major fault? Yes.
4. Would you agree a vehicle with a major fault was not of merchantable quality? Yes.
5. Then, all costs, inconveniences suffered by the customer are a direct result of you knowingly releasing a car with a major fault. Yes.

Again where does it say the dealer was aware of this fault? A flat battery once is hardly a sign of a fault with the car before it was delivered.

[Blitzen]

Again where does it say the dealer was aware of this fault? A flat battery once is hardly a sign of a fault with the car before it was delivered.

Actually its a very good sign. It could be any number of things that causes a battery to go dead, not least the radio.
If the dealer cant start the car in the first place, Its a pretty good indication that he knew about the fault.

[baron]

Hi.
Just a thought, a mate at work has a GTI and when he turns the engine off a separate electric water pump runs for a little while to provide cooling for the turbo. Check to see if your car is fitted with one, if it keeps running it wont take long to drain your battery. Cheers.

[Maverick]

Hi.
Just a thought, a mate at work has a GTI and when he turns the engine off a separate electric water pump runs for a little while to provide cooling for the turbo. Check to see if your car is fitted with one, if it keeps running it wont take long to drain your battery. Cheers.

The problem was the headunit not the water pump.

[Umai Naa!!]

sounds like Duttons got to the bottom of it in the end, from friends experiences they are good when issues like this crop up, but sometimes it takes time to go through the process of elimination - unfortuantly the customer suffers while this occurs. I'd say lemontailing did a pretty good job of busting their balls, whether it was warranted is another matter

I couldn't agree more.

Bending the dealer and manufacturer over forwards does not get the problem fixed quickly. All it does is tarnish the relationship between the customer and the dealer. For Christ's sake, trust that the dealer WILL fix the issue, even if it takes a while. The hardest part is, the customer already has their opinion on what the problem is set in stone, and will usually only give information that they think is relating to that. So diagnosis drags on and on, until the ACTUAL cause is found, and can be diagnosed.

In regards to the topic at hand, VW batteries rarely 'just die'. It's usually relating to component failure, or incorrect installation of an accessory. I recall earlier this year, a Tiguan that was on it's third battery within a month of the customer purchasing the vehicle. Basically, what would happen was the CAN-bus network kept 'waking up', and drawing substantial current. To cut a month-long story short, the CAN-bus gateway had failed at some point after the car was built. Once replaced, the customer has never been happier. No stunts were pulled, no outrageous demands, just a mutual understanding that all measures will be taken from the dealer's end that the car will be fixed and returned to the customer as soon as possible.

/rant.