My son has a Mk 4 VW R32 ,( Fast Golf ) and as well as being a long term project in keeping it standard and in tip top condition ,it is also a money pit , but he loves the car .

His latest project came about because of a leak from the sun roof ,.

The leak caused staining and other damage to the head lining ,so having replaced seals to the sunroof , using the cars VIN number he ordered a new headlining , which was special order from the factory

The replacement head lining material is not a match to the rest of the interior trim ,” A” posts “B” posts and sunroof inner panel etc ,

VWs answer is that there may have been a specification change to the head lining , and could not guarantee that if he ordered the rest of the interior trim it would match the finish of the headlining .

Here is the crunch ,due special order ,

VW will not accept return ,

even though there is a mismatch with existing interior trim .

There was NO indication on the official VW parts list the dealer used to order the headlining to indicate that there was a change in specification or material type ,so at present my son has shelled almost £400 for a useless part .

Not fit for purpose ? or any other reason we can persuade VW to accept return.

It is a awkward situation as my son has ( up to now ) a good relationship with the dealership , having bought many parts to keep his pride and joy looking its best .

If it was custom made then yes

But I feel by using the word special order

I think they might be trying to kid you that cra does not apply

It seems to me that if there is a change of specification then it is implicit that the new specification will relate not only to the headlining but all the interior trim which would normally match if the vehicle had been new.

On this basis I think you have two possible arguments for saying that the supplied headlining is "defective/not fit/not matching description".

Firstly firstly is the fact that the VIN number relates to a particular specification and if the specification has changed away from the original then the part they have supplied does not match the description – the description being inherent in the original specification for the VIN number.

The second position is that there is an implied term that if the specification of the headlining is changed then so also has the specification of the associated matching parts – because otherwise who on earth would want to buy mismatched interior trim.

Clearly if the specification for the headlining has changed then there is not much your son can do about it. That will be the only part which is available to him. This means that he will have at least two compromise by agreeing to buy the remaining interior trim to match the headlining. If they can't supply matching headlining then I think that they are in breach of contract and this would be the way forward.

As for the good relations he has with the supplier, he may have to kiss that goodbye – although it would be unreasonable for the supplier which has a pride in its business to be non-sympathetic with somebody who simply wants to keep a vehicle looking good with matching trim.

If they want to fall out with him about this then it shows something about their general attitude that they can be lovely people when the weather is fair

Not custom made , standard VW part

Thanks for the quick reply BankFodder ,

My son is heartened by your reply ,

The Dealer has agreed to supply the rest of the trim at cost , the only stumbling block is again “special order “ and the problem of matching

I have suggested to him to make it a condition of the order , that any new parts of trim supplied should match the already purchased head lining , and if there not a match , to refuse to accept the parts.

To be continued

Firstly firstly is the fact that the VIN number relates to a particular specification

Although some digits within a VIN number refer to more general vehicle type and specification, a full VIN number is unique to one specific vehicle. There can be no two the same - otherwise Registration authorities would not accept or use VIN numbers as an identifier.

That being the case it seems the fault is not with the OP's Son or the Dealer but with VW themselves. VW, and only VW, created the vehicle, production records and VIN number. So either -

- VW production records were incorrect and did not match the vehicle they produced, or

- VW cocked up the order, or

- the VIN number was incorrectly transmitted between the Dealer to VW.

Assuming it was not the last, VW's 'smokescreen' response of a "special order" is irrelevant and just an attempt to squirm out of it. VW appear to be the cause of the error and the consequences falls on them.

Just as the Son doesn't want to sour his relationship with the Dealer, the Dealer depends on VW for his livelihood.

However, if it comes to a legal fight, the Son legal relationship was with the Dealer and the Dealer's legal relationship was with VW.

I think the OP's Son and the Dealer should conduct a combined approach to/against VW accordingly to obtain the correct specification part at no further cost.

If VW can no longer supply this they should admit their error and seek some satisfactory resolution with the OP's Son (via the Dealer).

As others have said really. Special Order does not mean Custom. It's a standard VAG part so there's nothing custom about it. The fact that it has to be ordered from Germany, special order or not, has got nothing to do with it. The dealer and/or VAG are trying to bamboozle.

they dont want to be left with a part they cant use so will tell any story they think will be believed to keep the money in their hands.

I recently ordered a "special order" door interior trim for my 20yo VW and they sent the right part.

I don't think your son's headlining has been discontinued, they simply made a mistake in sending the wrong one and don't want to admit it.

Common sense would dictate that if the new cloth couldn't be guaranteed to match the old one, this should have been indicated at point of order. I agree, they are trying to pull your chain. Keep at them.