2005 Golf - RUSTING ARCHES - Claiming on Corrosion Warranty

[shtu]

The (American) Tech Bulletin I've seen shows that the foam block is cut back from the wheelarch lip by half an inch, and the inside lip of the arch undersealed.

(rummages) Here it is,

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/a4/fender-rust-...

[Kevstergt140]

SavanP said:

All ready for dropping off the car on Monday morning. Went out today and thought I'd take some high-quality photos before they replace the wings.

Seems like in the few weeks since the first post it has actually got noticably worse! Glad I am getting it sorted soon now. Picture from today:

Now we are nearly in August how did you get on?

I asked because i had my first MK5 go through their workshop several times, mostly bad results. Sills, boot, bonnet, but mainly on the wings, one repaired, one replaced. Even when they were at their best they weren't to the bulitin linked above

Now have the same issues on my lastest MK5!

[tescor]

My 2001 Bora had this exact problem recently on both arches and VW Slough booked it in straight away for fixing, free of charge, as it was a known problem.

I was very happy

[SavanP]

Kevstergt140 said:

Now we are nearly in August how did you get on?

I asked because i had my first MK5 go through their workshop several times, mostly bad results. Sills, boot, bonnet, but mainly on the wings, one repaired, one replaced. Even when they were at their best they weren't to the bulitin linked above

Now have the same issues on my lastest MK5!

Sorry, I kind of forgot about this thread. They agreed to put 2 brand new front wings on free of charge as I bought the car from a VW dealer in May 2012. They gave me a nice Mk7 Golf as a courtesy car for 4 days, which was fun - but I had a puncture on day 2 so all in all the whole shebang cost me £20 for a tyre repair.

[matts4]

My wife's GTi (2005) just had sills repaired and one wing replaced under goodwill.
Initially VW offered 70% contribution, but within a day of sending an email to customer services, they agreed to cover 100%.

Very happy with the support, just disappointed that it has happened on the car to be honest.

[Juicetin1]

Matts4, or others for that matter, how did you initially raise this with VW, as I have just noticed a lot of bubbling on the arches of my 2005 GTI and want to approach VW about it. Did you just go to your nearest VW dealer and confront them? does it have to have had a full main dealer service history?
Thank you.

[matts4]

I initially rand my local VW dealer and they asked me to come in so they could see it/take pictures.
They then contacted VW cust services and got back to me within a week to tell me what they could offer me in regards goodwill.
Once I had the offer, I then tweeted VW CS on twitter and they asked me, via PM, to email them some contact details.
I did that with a covering letter to explain my annoyance around the fact they expected me to pay towards an obvious build issue/design fault.
I referenced the various posts on forums which point to it being a build issue etc.
Also that the early cars were suffering sill issues where a robot lifting tension issue in the factory had damaged corrosion protection.

Within 48 hrs I had a call from VW CS who offered to cover all costs. They were fantastic in the way it was dealt with/updates etc., it really re-enforced the brand assurance to me. (I've owned 2 Audis and my wife has had 2 VWs, which I referenced in the letter to them as well)

Good luck with your case.

[Irish_Stu]

matts4 - Could you post the email address that you have been using to correspond with VW Customer Services?

My Mk5 GTI is finally booked in for this Monday for repairs to both front arches for bubbling. I initially raised the issue in April and it has taken until now to get the car booked in, a bit slow if you ask me. They also called today to say they would only be covering 75% of the cost, which is unacceptable in my opinion.

[matts4]

Just checked back, and it was [e-mail]

[tescor]

I noticed the bubbling on one arch when I was washing the car. A few days later saw the same on the other arch and thought it was strange to be on both sides. I took it along to the bodywork person at my local dealer and within 2 seconds of looking at it, he knew what the problem was, and said that they would arrange to get it fixed, for free. This was on an 11 year old car, so I was very impressed with VW.

[Chipmunk1]

Amazing customer service there by VW, hats off !

[Irish_Stu]

I've been in touch with VW Customer Services and they are only willing to cover 75% of the repair costs for my bubbling front arches.

It's still better than nothing but I'm not sure why some cases have had 100% paid for and some not...

[Juicetin1]

Was the 75% offer after the garage/bodyshop had taken paint readings and sent a report to VW ? VW Customer Services telling me this is the procedure I need to take.

[Noonehere]

Slighly off topic, as I've got a 57 B6 Passat, but when undertaking it's first propper spit and polish of the year I've found a couple of small bubbles on two panels, one bubbling rear wheel arch, same again around the rear number plate light and a couple of spots next to the boot seal area (it's an estate). None of these have any paint defects or chips that I can see.

Thought I'd not see any corrosion for a good few years yet, pretty dissapointed. My old 120k 94 passat had less rust and that was 12 years old!

Worth going down the route everone has with their Golfs?

[cuprabob]

Noonehere said:

Slighly off topic, as I've got a 57 B6 Passat, but when undertaking it's first propper spit and polish of the year I've found a couple of small bubbles on two panels, one bubbling rear wheel arch, same again around the rear number plate light and a couple of spots next to the boot seal area (it's an estate). None of these have any paint defects or chips that I can see.

Thought I'd not see any corrosion for a good few years yet, pretty dissapointed. My old 120k 94 passat had less rust and that was 12 years old!

Worth going down the route everone has with their Golfs?

Yes, as the issue seems to afflict Passats too and VW have honoured warranty claims on Passats of your era.

[tanderson001]

So, my 55 plate GTI has just started showing signs of rust on both wheel arches, and also a random patch on a read panel which VW Cambridge confirmed was not a stone chip. The lady called up VW for me and gave them the details, and they have come back and said that they will only cover 50% of the costs, which is about £450. I said ive seen that this is a common problem and that other customers have had the full 100% paid for, and they said I should call up VW customer services to dispute this, they also said that they used to pay 100% but have changed it, which doesn't seem right, especially as its still guaranteed? They have taken photos and are submitting a report to VW.

Any advice on where I stand with this, as they have been confirmed the rust is not due to stone chips etc?

I want to be ready with all the facts etc before I call up VW CS and argue my case.

Thanks

[matts4]

My advice would be to wait and see what VW CS offer after seeing the images.

[Freedomfighter]

My 07 plate 1.6 fsi golf match had rust showing on the rear arch...I sold soon after I noticed. Poor form from vw IMO....

[tanderson001]

Hmmm... yeah i'll see what they come up with and take it from there. I'll post an update when i hear...

[tanderson001]

So, so heard back and they confirmed the problem was due to the lining under the wheel arches (design fault), but still only offered the 50%. Ive not called them yet though to try and more out of them.

Any tips on how to get them in increase this offer?

Thanks