Mugged off by dealership?
Discussion
Hey guys this is my first post on the forum so go easy on me!
I've got an 09 scirocco which had an air bag fault. This all occurred when driving on a dual carriage way when I was cut up by some stupid women which nearly sent me in to the crash barrier, obviously I gave her a mouthful and hit my horn quite hard a few times. 2 minutes later I notice the air bag light on.
I took it to the dealers as its under warranty. after arguing and refusing to pay the £119 diagnostic charge they agreed to look at it. They came to the decision that the wiring from the air bag to the slip ring was faulty. I questioned them massively on how pressing the horn could damage wiring? They said it was the connector onto the slip ring, which I argued and told them was component rather than wiring so it shouldn't be chargeable. They changed their mind and then told me that they was just going to repair the single faulty wire. I thought this was ridiculous and asked how could they know its the wire and not the connector and they quickly decided to replace the whole loom even though the girl 5 minutes ago said they've never replaced the whole loom in the 8 years she has been there. I think I worried them a little as I knew what they were talking about, argued with what they were saying and showed knowledge which is also why I think they changed their minds on what they were going to change a few times. As MOT was coming up end of the month I had to bite the bullet let them do the work and clear the air bag fault.
I refused to pay them unless I had the old wiring loom back. I would in no way say I was a mechanic and I only have basic knowledge about cars. BUT I do repair boilers for a living, can do electrical tests, use a multimeter and work with wiring looms quite a bit. I've inspected it for physical damage, checked continuity all the way through it which is ok, is there anything else I can check? It's just a simple wiring loom which carries current to components, how much could go wrong with it except a break in a wire or a broken connector?
Do any of you guys think I have the right to complain? Does it sound like they just mugged me off 200 quid to replace it? Are they able to just reset the airbag light with their computers? I seriously don't trust dealerships, I've got a friend who works for a main dealer and he has told me all the things they try to get money out of repairs.
Any help would be great. thanks!!!
I've got an 09 scirocco which had an air bag fault. This all occurred when driving on a dual carriage way when I was cut up by some stupid women which nearly sent me in to the crash barrier, obviously I gave her a mouthful and hit my horn quite hard a few times. 2 minutes later I notice the air bag light on.
I took it to the dealers as its under warranty. after arguing and refusing to pay the £119 diagnostic charge they agreed to look at it. They came to the decision that the wiring from the air bag to the slip ring was faulty. I questioned them massively on how pressing the horn could damage wiring? They said it was the connector onto the slip ring, which I argued and told them was component rather than wiring so it shouldn't be chargeable. They changed their mind and then told me that they was just going to repair the single faulty wire. I thought this was ridiculous and asked how could they know its the wire and not the connector and they quickly decided to replace the whole loom even though the girl 5 minutes ago said they've never replaced the whole loom in the 8 years she has been there. I think I worried them a little as I knew what they were talking about, argued with what they were saying and showed knowledge which is also why I think they changed their minds on what they were going to change a few times. As MOT was coming up end of the month I had to bite the bullet let them do the work and clear the air bag fault.
I refused to pay them unless I had the old wiring loom back. I would in no way say I was a mechanic and I only have basic knowledge about cars. BUT I do repair boilers for a living, can do electrical tests, use a multimeter and work with wiring looms quite a bit. I've inspected it for physical damage, checked continuity all the way through it which is ok, is there anything else I can check? It's just a simple wiring loom which carries current to components, how much could go wrong with it except a break in a wire or a broken connector?
Do any of you guys think I have the right to complain? Does it sound like they just mugged me off 200 quid to replace it? Are they able to just reset the airbag light with their computers? I seriously don't trust dealerships, I've got a friend who works for a main dealer and he has told me all the things they try to get money out of repairs.
Any help would be great. thanks!!!
Thanks for the quick reply bearman68! The horn did still work after and it has already been fixed by them. This is what was replaced. 
To me it all looks in good condition, no broken connectors or anything. Where abouts do they normally break? I've checked continuity through it and it seems ok. I really don't want a big dealership thinking they can take money off a 22 year old for no reason without a fight lol.
To me it all looks in good condition, no broken connectors or anything. Where abouts do they normally break? I've checked continuity through it and it seems ok. I really don't want a big dealership thinking they can take money off a 22 year old for no reason without a fight lol.
That's what I thought at first! How can you argue that though? Is it common for it just to need resetting? My knowledge of fault systems and diagnostics is pretty much zero. I may go down there on a busy Saturday throwing my arms around loudly at the service manager, I'm not afraid to create a scene lol
Now I'm annoyed at myself for not asking on here before I went in there! I'm still going to go down the VW garage Saturday and create a really big scene. I work for a large energy company, in my time there I've learnt that if you make enough noise to the right people they just give you what you want and I'm sure VW may do the same lol. Plus the girl on the service desk was really rude to me ahaa. To be honest if I take that wire down there and get them to prove to me that it's faulty then I'll be happy. That wire must be broken in some way for them to change so they could somehow prove it right?
That sounds exactly like the same scenario, only VW probably plugged it into their diagnostics, saw the fault code and an open circuit and instead of investigating and simply plugging it back in they decide to charge me 180 quid and replace the wire which is fine!
Funny you say about the breaks because they also mentioned how mine are 80% worn and both pads and discs need replacing and gave me a big fat quote for that which I kindly rejected lol.
I'm glad I've come on here to ask now. I know the bare basic about cars but I'm an engineer and when they told me it was a wiring harness I instantly thought there was no chance it would be that! They could of at least told me it was something a bit more technically. Not a wiring harness which anyone with a multimeter and electrical knowledge can test!!
Funny you say about the breaks because they also mentioned how mine are 80% worn and both pads and discs need replacing and gave me a big fat quote for that which I kindly rejected lol.
I'm glad I've come on here to ask now. I know the bare basic about cars but I'm an engineer and when they told me it was a wiring harness I instantly thought there was no chance it would be that! They could of at least told me it was something a bit more technically. Not a wiring harness which anyone with a multimeter and electrical knowledge can test!!
I don't quite get what you're trying to say with that comment. I'm a qualified gas engineer majority of my work is break down work. You have to use basic electrical tests to check components e.g wiring looms like that. I just thought that would be similar to what mechanics would do when they have an electrical. I asked the question because I'm not a mechanic and I thought I might of not seen something which a mechanic would of picked up on
I really don't want to be arguing about how i title jobs lol.. You are right though, I only call myself a gas engineer because that's what title I'm called at work, if I was called a gas technician I would call myself that. I get called a lot of things by customers, plumber, heating engineer, gas fitter all sorts. I'm sorry if I offended anyone if I called them mechanics I didnt mean it! I just know that are jobs are fairly similar, they work with cars which have a large amount of electrical components in and I work with heating systems which also have a large amount of electrics in.
I'm not trying to belittle anybody here, I know everybody who have posted on this have a million times more care knowledge than me.
If a car technician asked me a question about their boiler I could talk to them technically because i know they have got the same kind of working mind as me! I just thought it would be the same other way round though?
I'm not trying to belittle anybody here, I know everybody who have posted on this have a million times more care knowledge than me.
If a car technician asked me a question about their boiler I could talk to them technically because i know they have got the same kind of working mind as me! I just thought it would be the same other way round though?
I do think I made a massive mistake by only speaking to the guy on the service desk who's explanation of the fault was that "the diagnostic machine says to change that cable". He certainly didn't want to get into it too technically when I was asking questions.
I totally disregarded his comments on the brake pads and disc. I wouldn't get them changed there even if they did needed doing. Only reason I took my car there was because of the warranty I was suppose to have.
What I really want to know is which fault code was on there. Somebody mentioned earlier about a fault code they had for an open circuit on the airbag in the exact same scenario as me. I really hope that I had the same, then I feel like I have a very strong argument on this case.
Have any of you gone toe to toe with the dealership over warranty work? Or has anyone worked for main dealers and know what goes on? I know a guy who works for ford and he says they lie out their teeth to customers to get them to cough up money.
I totally disregarded his comments on the brake pads and disc. I wouldn't get them changed there even if they did needed doing. Only reason I took my car there was because of the warranty I was suppose to have.
What I really want to know is which fault code was on there. Somebody mentioned earlier about a fault code they had for an open circuit on the airbag in the exact same scenario as me. I really hope that I had the same, then I feel like I have a very strong argument on this case.
Have any of you gone toe to toe with the dealership over warranty work? Or has anyone worked for main dealers and know what goes on? I know a guy who works for ford and he says they lie out their teeth to customers to get them to cough up money.
That's what I originally thought, I didn't think it would be able to tell you an exact wiring fault location but rather what you said it would only highlight the component on the other end of it faulty. That's why I think they sold me the line that it was a break in the cable when in actual fact it was probably just a loose connection from when I hit the steering wheel.
I've been thinking about a plan of action for when I go in there! Lol. I changed my mind about making a scene, I know when people get shouty and angry at me I instantly lose interest. Ive decided to go in, keep it calm and show them that I'm not a total idiot.I think that'll get me a lot further.
I've been thinking about a plan of action for when I go in there! Lol. I changed my mind about making a scene, I know when people get shouty and angry at me I instantly lose interest. Ive decided to go in, keep it calm and show them that I'm not a total idiot.I think that'll get me a lot further.
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