Wear and Tear........

[schmalex]

Our Touareg is in the garage at the moment due to the propshaft making some wierd noises. There are some parts that need to be replaced & the warraty company has declined to conribute, claiming that it's wear and tear. Would a propshaft reacing near failure at 60k on a 4 year old car be considered to be normal wear & tear?

[J4CKO]

schmalex said:

Our Touareg is in the garage at the moment due to the propshaft making some wierd noises. There are some parts that need to be replaced & the warraty company has declined to conribute, claiming that it's wear and tear. Would a propshaft reacing near failure at 60k on a 4 year old car be considered to be normal wear & tear?

Hmm, tough one, I would say not really, it isnt a consumable or an item you can realistically expect to only last that long, they can answer pretty much any claim with that catch all.

[Efbe]

a propshaft should be able to do 200k miles let alone 60k!

[BDR529]

I wouldn't say it counts as wear and tear.

[Nedz]

Warranty's are a waste of money,full stop! They are no different than any other kind of insurance,and in my opinion,unless it is a legal requirement you are better off saving your money and a whole lot of hassle.

[schmalex]

Not sure I agree. The warranty company has agreed to pay out on an aircon failure - £700 bill, which is significantly more than the 2 years premium we paid.

[300bhp/ton]

I think you should phone and/or write to VW and ask them what the expected wear rate and replacement schedule would be for the prop. If it's anything drastically different to 60k and 4 years get VW to put it in writing and go wave it at the warranty company.

[GreigM]

Propshaft should last the life of the car...NOT a wear & tear item.

[jbi]

In my experience, the warranty is not worth the paper it is written on.

Would not pay out for the head gasket on my mates 99 jeep cherokee, just over a month after he bought it.

Apparently a head gasket is a wear and tear item.

EDIT: jeep had done just over 80k miles

[The Wookie]

I'd be stunned if VW considered that an acceptable mileage for failure. Sounds like a manufacturing defect

[schmalex]

Speakng with the warranty company, it is the propshaft centre bearing, which is encased in a rubber bush. The bush degrades, the bearing starts corroding & all sorts of nastiness can then happen. I can see the warranty co's point now - it is not a sudden failure.

VW want £1,100 to fit a complete new propshaft, when only th rubber bush has failed (thieving wkers) - they already over-estimated the labour on the aircon fix by 5 hours until the warranty company pulled them up on it.

I've stopped VW doing the propshaft repair on the car & am taking it to my Indy who looks after the Landy on Monday. He'll remove the propshaft & send it to a refurb company I was recommended to on another site for a refurb of the bearing. Total cost - £290.

I absolutly despise main dealers.

[Ian_sUK]

jbi said:

In my experience, the warranty is not worth the paper it is written on.

Would not pay out for the head gasket on my mates 99 jeep cherokee, just over a month after he bought it.

Apparently a head gasket is a wear and tear item.

On the other hand my step-dad got a K series headgasket done on an aftermarket warranty and they should really be considered a consumable

[jbi]

Ian_sUK said:

On the other hand my step-dad got a K series headgasket done on an aftermarket warranty and they should really be considered a consumable

lol... goes without saying that

[tomsugden]

schmalex said:

I've stopped VW doing the propshaft repair on the car & am taking it to my Indy who looks after the Landy on Monday

Who looks after the Landy when it's not a Monday?

[schmalex]

Me. That's why it always has to go in on a Monday to fix my "fixes"!

[J4CKO]

Tell the warranty company you can get it done for £290 and if they pay up they can avoid the small claims court !

Seems a very common problem on these, price you pay for 4wd I guess.

[theturbs]

schmalex said:

I've stopped VW doing the propshaft repair on the car & am taking it to my Indy who looks after the Landy on Monday. He'll remove the propshaft & send it to a refurb company I was recommended to on another site for a refurb of the bearing. Total cost - £290.

Nice work