Volkswagen **Resolved**

[heliosuk]

I take it that you are obviously dealing with an approved VW outlet as often cars on lease have agreed service/repair arrangements with dealers outside of the actual VW dealer network.

 

In relation to rejecting the car....forget it. There is a legal requirement for the car to display to MPH and KMH (at the same time) which is covered by what you think is an analogue display.

 

In this case it is obvious that there is a fault in the dash control module so as they are doing they are going to replace. The lead time unfortunately is dependant on the supply of parts. One thing is for certain that the supply will depend on the demand from the production line and this will always be in productions favour.

 

When you complain to VW you do not actually complain to VW but a subsidiary company. What you need to do is drop an e mail to a guy called Martin Winterkorn at VW GMBH. It then gets filtered back to the actual people at VW GB who are far better placed to deal with the complaint.

 

Once done, expect action very quickly.

[heliosuk]

That's the problem, the models they have in the showroom don't match mine exactly and apparently there is only one other beetle in the whole of the UK matching mine exactly and as far as they are aware there have been no problems reported with it.

 

I did not even test drive the exact model of my car, I test drove a slightly different model as mine had to be ordered from Mexico but I was told at the time that there were only a few features different and the model I test drove did not have the 'case of the disappearing clock!'.

 

I've emailed Martin Winterkorn now, so hopefully he will be in touch.

 

Cheers

 

Ooopps!

 

Now this is starting to ring alarm bells.

 

It might be that you do not have a UK spec Beetle but one for another RHD market such as South Africa or Australia. This is one way of driving down the cost of the lease package. They source via various means.

 

Do you have the V5? What does it say in terms of the declaration? It would also explain the delay in getting a part.

 

Check with the lease company exactly where they got the car from. This could have quite complex implications in terms of warranties etc as if sourced from outside of the EU then your rights could be severely compromised with regards redress against VW.

 

The dealer should be able to tell from the full vin number I think.

[heliosuk]

Can i do anything under The Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act at all if I don't get any joy from VW?

 

Depends from you tell us in my previous post. If not a UK spec car then from VW probably not but you will have redress against the supplier i.e. the lease company.

[heliosuk]

I wouldn't worry about it as it could actually work very well to your advantage. This could turn into an interesting game with the lease company if I think what has happened has!!. Don't over react. Get the data first so you know what you are dealing with and are on solid ground.

 

Don't forget that if the log book shows Ireland (Eire) then technically it is not a UK spec car as will be declared as new by VAG in Milton Keynes. Seen many of these before.

[heliosuk]

Whoa lads!

 

I can see the funny side and it did make me smile!

Ching....go with the flow so to speak. Hammy is a wise old owl and probably like me gets fed up with the same daft old things on here as I do but your case is slightly different. Some of the experts here get derided because of the criticism of constant referral to taking action in the courts and expecting a champagne car for beer money so in some circumstances you can expect a cynicism.

 

Moving on though, the fact you have had a response from Winterkorn is significant.

 

In the UK, if you buy a VW group car and have cause to complain, the number you call is not actually VW UK. It's a subcontracted outfit who are probably paid on the number of issues they can deflect. The best way to deal with this and speak to the people who can dictate what goes on is to go to the top such as Winterkorn. This will then get referred back down to the people in the UK who can make the decisions and this is where you are at. In fact this is quitequick compared to normal butatleastnow you are dealing with VW UK in Milton Keynes and not some other company.

 

So it's following the route I said it would.

 

What's happening now is that they are looking into the full history around the car, where it has come from etc. They will also be talking to the dealer who has done the diagnosis.

 

As the car is in its standard warranty period they will either react with Yes it is standard and that's how it is which you will have to accept, or it will be a sorry it's treated as a personal import and you should take it up with the supplier, in this case the lease company, or a sorry, get it into a dealer and we are monitoring what is going on. and will feed back.

 

If it's the latter then VW are pretty good in supporting now you have got to the people who matter. If it's the middle version then the game changes considerably. If the former you might have to accept it.

 

As regards the V5 does it say under section 3 as "declared new at first registration" ?

[heliosuk]

They are probably doing what is known as "a line pinch" where they take a part off the production line which is destined for a future car. Anything that gets in front of Winterkorn will have to have a full investigation without the previous people being involved so is technically independent so to speak.

 

If Leeds (somewhat surprised it has been referred back there) don't get back to you on Tuesday then pm me and I'll help you draft a note to him which will get some very swift action. Which e mail address did you use to contact him?

 

It does though seem a bit odd that they would produce a car in Mexico for the UK market but then this is not unusual in VW as they cart bodies for Bentleys, (incidentally built in the old Trabant factory) across Europe for final assembly in Cheshire. You'd think it made far more economic sense to build in Mexico for America. But then that's globalisation for you and why European cars cost more!!

 

Give it a few days and then you are in a position to hammer them.

[heliosuk]

Well you got to the right bloke and address. There is another though. Interestingly there has obviously been a major shake up in the way VW handle complaints from the UK direct to Das Varterland.

This has been confirmed now by not too recent publicised shake up reports regarding VW's customer service whereas the not too recently appointed head is apparently so good the said person now sits on some national board as to how it should be done!!

From memory, the Leeds office is not in fact VAG UK but Mondial, the subcontracted out company who deals with breakdowns and complaints ,the same said people who you dealt with in the first place so it will be very interesting to see what happens tomorrow.

 

Whilst I appreciate it's a major issue to you it's something if you play your cards right you could have a bit of fun with unless of course VW actually confirm that is how the car is which I can't see in reality.

[heliosuk]

This is the problem CaChing, it's not VW you are dealing with. The good thing is that they are on your side. I can see this being referred back to VW. Research the website motortrder.co.uk under new and VW and you'll find the wonder woman who has supposedly sorted out all the customer relations issues at VW GB.

 

VW are a bunch of muppets when it comes to sorting out basic customer complaints as you are finding out.

 

Perhaps you ought to drop into the conversation that you now intend to reject the car and as they are involved makes them jointly liable with the dealer. I wouldn't go this route myself as it puts them on the defensive and just takes longer to resolve the problem and has implications in it's own right.

 

Just stick with it for a bit and then go for the fun side of it if you can spare a bit of time to hammer them.

[heliosuk]

I just don't get this. If it was a feature then VW UK should know and so should SKF. So why the delay? Why the fix suggestion has taken so long. The fix they suggest is implausible in my opinion as what they are saying is that they will re-programme the car to what is known as federal requirements. You need to ask them that by doing what they are doing complies with EU homologation requirements.

 

Something does not tie up. There has been no UK technical manager visit and if the issue was that rare and had been seen before would normally trigger a visit especially as customer services and a letter to Winterkorn are involved.

 

I notice the dealer is not that far from me and I can explain why none of this makes sense to me and offer the level of support should you need it.

 

See how it goes tomorrow and if it's fixed then all well and good but you need to check it's been done correctly and is UK compliant.

 

At the moment the fix suggested is on a par with an ABS fault flagging and the dealer removing the bulb!!

[heliosuk]

Now that's just being silly. How would that work in the UK?