Why can't VW find out what is wrong with my MK7.5 R estate?

[anonymous-user]

Hi all, on the 28th February my can was involved in a low speed collision with another vehicle sustaining damage to the offside front. Although the damage was described by the repair centre as "cosmetic" there were a number of parts replaced in the engine bay, such as the auxiliary radiator, and damage was made to the air conditioning compressor.

The repair centre returned my car after three weeks, and a few days later I noticed a loud grating noise when turning left, near full lock, and when loading up the offside front. I drove the car to the repair centre and they were almost sure the noise must have been an incorrectly fitted under tray or arch liner that was rubbing on something. Three mechanics then proceeded to spend half a day investigating the problem, but ultimately decided they didn't know what was causing it.

At this point, and unhappy with some of the attention to detail shown by the repair centre, I requested that VW carry out a diagnostic report on the car. They suggested that the wheel bearing was to blame, despite the insurance company being adamant there wasn't the sort of impact that would result in that sort of failure. Fast forward another few weeks and VW took the car in for a second look, with the same outcome. Unhappy that it all sounded like pure speculation on VWs part, my insurance company asked VW to take the car in for three days to spend some proper time investigating it. They set about changing the wheel bearing, and when they did, the sound was still there!

I received a call yesterday from VW stating that they had done everything they could "under warranty" to determine the problem, but couldn't find out what was causing it. Apparently at some points they had four technicians working on the car.

The car is now back in my possession and I had a difficult call with my insurer yesterday who simply said they "don't know what to do".

So I'm getting rather desperate here! Any advice, help, suggestions, anything, is more than welcome.

[Adrian E]

Ask your dealer to refer it to VW head office and get a proper engineer out to investigate, rather than the dealer techs if they've exhausted their capabilities. It doesn't need to be covered under warranty (this sounds like your local dealer trying to save you money rather than finding the cause) if your insurer and/or the repairer agree to cover the cost to rectify what is an accepted ongoing fault.

[Trevor555]

Be careful with this Andrew.

It sounds like the problem lies with the repair.

If VW spend hours looking, and then find out the problem is something to do with the accident repair, they may ask you to pay for the labour.

The bodyshop should be booking it in with VW, not you.

[anonymous-user]

Trevor555 said:

Be careful with this Andrew.

It sounds like the problem lies with the repair.

If VW spend hours looking, and then find out the problem is something to do with the accident repair, they may ask you to pay for the labour.

The bodyshop should be booking it in with VW, not you.

Hi Trevor, the car is with VW on behalf of my insurers, they have instructed VW to look into it. The conversations they had yesterday revolved around VW requesting to start looking in to the work the repair centre did, at which point my insurer asked them to halt any more investigation and return the car to me. They claim they don't think there is any point going down that route.

My guess is it will go back to the repair centre, who in my opinion lack the ability to fix it. When my car was returned initially several panels were poorly aligned, the air conditioning was blowing hot air instead of ice cold, they had fitted a high tone horn, several screws were missing from the arch liners, and some paint was missing from the offside wing.

[Trevor555]

andrewparker said:

Hi Trevor, the car is with VW on behalf of my insurers, they have instructed VW to look into it.

Ah good, sorry if I miss read you're first post.

It sounds like your insurance company is on the case, I'm not surprised they pulled it out of VW, they will be very aware of the potential bills if it's found to be fault of the accident repair.

The problem lies with the bodyshop. And from your description of the repair it sounds like they're not a good one.

If you haven't done so already start putting stuff in writing to the insurance company pointing out the faults are due to the repair they have paid for.

Was that bodyshop suggested by your insurer?

[anonymous-user]

Trevor555 said:

Was that bodyshop suggested by your insurer?

It is, and you're right, they've not impressed me so far. When the car was returned to me after they repaired the air conditioning they had knocked the radar sensor and the front assist was not working, so it had to go in and be realigned. If it does go back to them I can't imagine they'll be too happy to see it again.

To be fair though, VW have hardly covered themselves in glory, they had three days and couldn't determine what is wrong with it.

[Trevor555]

andrewparker said:

To be fair though, VW have hardly covered themselves in glory, they had three days and couldn't determine what is wrong with it.

I'm not surprised.

These days it's more like plug the computer in and read the codes. No good for the type of problem you're describing.

If you were to keep booking it in the master technician will eventually be given the job and will have more idea what might be wrong.



If at the end of all this the car cannot be repaired the insurance company will have to take ownership of the car from you.

Compile all evidence you have that the fault occurred just after the repair in case they try to wash their hands of it.

[catso]

Trevor555 said:

The problem lies with the bodyshop. And from your description of the repair it sounds like they're not a good one.

Sounds to me like another case of the insurer's preferred repairer cocking the job up.

[Sheepshanks]

Is the car leased?

[Olivera]

If it's a Lease-R then get the lease company involved.

[anonymous-user]

Sheepshanks said:

Is the car leased?

It is, via VWFS. What benefit would getting them involved have?

[Sheepshanks]

andrewparker said:

It is, via VWFS. What benefit would getting them involved have?

I was more thinking about the repair. Is the repairer VW approved? If not, you may get very spanked when you return it (assuming they manage to fix it before then).

[anonymous-user]

Sheepshanks said:

andrewparker said:

It is, via VWFS. What benefit would getting them involved have?

I was more thinking about the repair. Is the repairer VW approved? If not, you may get very spanked when you return it (assuming they manage to fix it before then).

I’ve just read the terms and conditions of my lease and there is nothing that states repairs must be carried out at a VW approved body shop.

[Adrian E]

Sheepshanks said:

andrewparker said:

It is, via VWFS. What benefit would getting them involved have?

I was more thinking about the repair. Is the repairer VW approved? If not, you may get very spanked when you return it (assuming they manage to fix it before then).

Good point, and your insurer should be aware of the requirement likely to be found in the lease paperwork for the bodyshop to be VW approved. If they sent you to one of 'theirs' but it's not VW approved I'd suggest they're jointly liable for not sending it somewhere appropriate, on the assumption the job is bad enough that the person appointed at end of least spots the poor repair (they most likely will, as they use BCA IIRC who look at shonky repairs all day long)

I've only once used an insurance approved bodyshop - they're only ever approved because they've discounted their labour rate to suit the insurer (although the number of hours then gets inflated to make up for it!) - this outfit decided not to jig the car to check it was straight before attempting to fit new bumper, bonnet, headlight, grill. When I picked it up one corner looked like a wide arched rally car, and it failed the MOT on the way home because the headlight on that side was pointing at the floor and couldn't be adjusted to be legal! They'd also managed to prep the bonnet badly so there was a massive watermark visible in the centre, and they'd missed one rear corner of the bonnet completely when painting it!

I'm an engineer by background, so I wrote up a report with pics of all the faults and said that because the bodyshop seemed to think it was in acceptable condition to return to me there was absolutely no way it was going back to the same garage for a 2nd attempt. Insurer sent an assessor who agreed, so it went to a different garage. They still cocked some stuff up, but established that the original garage had cut the alignment lugs off the new panels they'd fitted, so they clearly knew early on that the car was bent.....

In your case I'd check your lease paperwork and if there's anything in there about only using an approved VW bodyshop, check the place that's done it is. If not, get on to your insurer and as above get it booked in with one that is to rectify whatever's still wrong with it and get it to a condition that VWFS will take it back at end of lease without penalty.

[anonymous-user]

Ive just spent half an hour looking through all the documents I received when I got the car, particularly the Hire Agreement, and there is nothing that states repairs must be made at a VW Approved body shop.

[anonymous-user]

It may not be in the lease paperwork but to maintain the paint and corrosion warranties on the vehicle you will need to use a VW approved bodyshop.

It might be worth having the wheel alignment checked and look at the gaps from the tyres to the bodywork to see if everything looks okay and matches side to side or compare to another car.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 16th June 18:39

[anonymous-user]

gottans said:

It may not be in the lease paperwork but to maintain the paint and corrosion warranties on the vehicle you will need to use a VW approved bodyshop.

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/warranty/new-car/terms-and-conditions

[anonymous-user]

gottans said:

It might be worth having the wheel alignment checked and look at the gaps from the tyres to the bodywork to see if everything looks okay and matches side to side or compare to another car

I’ve suggested that the subframe is checked, bolts torqued up correctly etc. but they are adamant that the geometry has been checked and it is fine. I just don’t think they have a clue.

Is there a scenario when they say, we don’t know and we’re not prepared to do anything more to solve the problem?

[Trevor555]

andrewparker said:

Is there a scenario when they say, we don’t know and we’re not prepared to do anything more to solve the problem?

If that scenario arises then it'll be the insurance companies problem.

They'll either write the car off or send it somewhere else for diagnosis.

It does sound like it could be a bent wishbone, did the accident touch the wheel?

[anonymous-user]

andrewparker said:

gottans said:

It might be worth having the wheel alignment checked and look at the gaps from the tyres to the bodywork to see if everything looks okay and matches side to side or compare to another car

I’ve suggested that the subframe is checked, bolts torqued up correctly etc. but they are adamant that the geometry has been checked and it is fine. I just don’t think they have a clue.

Is there a scenario when they say, we don’t know and we’re not prepared to do anything more to solve the problem?

Sounds like they are in arse covering mode and you are doing all the donkey work. How far are you through the lease term as terminating the lease early may be less hassle/expense.