Paying for work that doesn't solve problem
Discussion
Took my 1997 VW R32 Golf Mk 5 for diagnosis and repair to a local independent servicing & MOT garage following a squealing sound from the belt pulley area of the engine, when idling. Noise disappears under throttle. The nearest VW dealer is 25 miles away and did not want to risk catastrophic damage if I continued to drive it. Received a phone call later telling me the alternator bearing and idlers were worn and need replacing. I gave the go ahead trusting their judgement and agreed a price of £300 for parts and labour. Following day I receive the bad news.. They replaced the recommended parts but it did not solve the problem at all. The squealing noise remains. Appears it was not the alternator bearing after all... I asked the service dept whether the mechanic had perhaps checked the water pump bearing but he wasn't sure, but stated that he felt sure they would have done. however, in obvious justification by the garage they claim the bearing did have a lot of play anyway so would eventually need replacing iat some point so they will reduce the bill to £200 as a gesture as they had supplied and fitted new parts. I was not in the mood for an altercation as it was obvious they expected payment otherwise they wouldn't release the car so I reluctantly paid the £200.
It seems their diagnsosis was incorrect and I have had work done that wasn't needed... and I am no further forward in solving the problem I have now arranged for transfer of the vehicle to the VW garage for resolution and more cost...
What is the situtation regarding the payment of £200.. AS a bona fida MOT servicing station, I trusted their diagnosis, otherwise why would anyone have any work done there. I have paid £200 as a result of their professional diagnosis but they failed to solve the problmem as the fault is obviously with another component.
It seems their diagnsosis was incorrect and I have had work done that wasn't needed... and I am no further forward in solving the problem I have now arranged for transfer of the vehicle to the VW garage for resolution and more cost...
What is the situtation regarding the payment of £200.. AS a bona fida MOT servicing station, I trusted their diagnosis, otherwise why would anyone have any work done there. I have paid £200 as a result of their professional diagnosis but they failed to solve the problmem as the fault is obviously with another component.
Whoops.. that should have been 2007 not 1997... To be fair I have had the R32 since new and serviced throughout by the same VW dealer and I have never had a problem. Its been one of the most reliable cars I have ever had. They have kept it going for 145,000miles with no issues and relative low cost. Perhap it helps that I know the workshop manager very well.
Only once had a problem with another independent garage a few years back who fitted the wrong spark plugs for the car and they lost the locking wheel nut when they changed a front spring. They had no option but to fit the correct spark plugs and they paid for a new set of locking nuts too.. In this instance I didn't want to risk driving the car across 20 miles with the risk of catastrophic damage if it was something more sinister. As it now happens I have driven the vehicle 300yards past the garage and parked it up. LV breakdown relay pick it up and take it across to the VW dealer for no charge as the vehicle is more than 3 miles away from home. I told LV breakdown there is a closer garage ( the one I used but they don't know that) and I would prefer them to take it to a VW main dealer and they are ok with that.. so I will find out the real problem tomorrow and I will be passing some of the bill back to the independent dealer.
The sale of Goods Act ( what was) still applies. They are a registered garage and as such they are expected to take it upon themselves to carry out effective diagnosis or repair to customers vehicles to resolve a problem successfully once their professional recommndation has been given. If they decline to take on the work, that is there right and there is no charge. But if in their infinite wisdom they fail to diagnose the problem correctly and offer to carry out the work or make a miss diagnosis which creates additional unecessary work and additional cost, the customer has a right to redress. Garages are not exempt. It may well be a small claims issue.. What thay have a right to do of course, at their own expense, is to refit the old parts into the same working order it was prior to attempting a repair and seeking a refund form their parts suppier. But that is their problem... Watch this space.. i love a good spat in the SCC. I have won 4 cases over the years against Comet, Currys, a wheel refurbisher in Exeter and a local council parking attendent who put a fraudulent time on a parking ticket claiming I was seen at a particular time, when I proved I couldn't possibly be there at that time as I had official documentation (time stamped) that proved I was elsewhere 10 miles away 3 minutes before the time on the ticket. And no my old R32 may be capable of 155mph but it would need to be closer to 210 mph non stop to get there in time. It a beautiful feeling when you win your case. You should try it. Comet, and Dixons legal team didn't even turn up and as far as I know the Council parking guy was instantly dismissed for fraud.
Only once had a problem with another independent garage a few years back who fitted the wrong spark plugs for the car and they lost the locking wheel nut when they changed a front spring. They had no option but to fit the correct spark plugs and they paid for a new set of locking nuts too.. In this instance I didn't want to risk driving the car across 20 miles with the risk of catastrophic damage if it was something more sinister. As it now happens I have driven the vehicle 300yards past the garage and parked it up. LV breakdown relay pick it up and take it across to the VW dealer for no charge as the vehicle is more than 3 miles away from home. I told LV breakdown there is a closer garage ( the one I used but they don't know that) and I would prefer them to take it to a VW main dealer and they are ok with that.. so I will find out the real problem tomorrow and I will be passing some of the bill back to the independent dealer.
The sale of Goods Act ( what was) still applies. They are a registered garage and as such they are expected to take it upon themselves to carry out effective diagnosis or repair to customers vehicles to resolve a problem successfully once their professional recommndation has been given. If they decline to take on the work, that is there right and there is no charge. But if in their infinite wisdom they fail to diagnose the problem correctly and offer to carry out the work or make a miss diagnosis which creates additional unecessary work and additional cost, the customer has a right to redress. Garages are not exempt. It may well be a small claims issue.. What thay have a right to do of course, at their own expense, is to refit the old parts into the same working order it was prior to attempting a repair and seeking a refund form their parts suppier. But that is their problem... Watch this space.. i love a good spat in the SCC. I have won 4 cases over the years against Comet, Currys, a wheel refurbisher in Exeter and a local council parking attendent who put a fraudulent time on a parking ticket claiming I was seen at a particular time, when I proved I couldn't possibly be there at that time as I had official documentation (time stamped) that proved I was elsewhere 10 miles away 3 minutes before the time on the ticket. And no my old R32 may be capable of 155mph but it would need to be closer to 210 mph non stop to get there in time. It a beautiful feeling when you win your case. You should try it. Comet, and Dixons legal team didn't even turn up and as far as I know the Council parking guy was instantly dismissed for fraud.
I was trying to see if anyone else has had a similar problem in paying for work that wasn't necessary and what was the result
As far as paying the £200 is concerned, the problem often is that you want to try and avoid an altercation or argument which has every chance of erupting when in their garage especially when there are often other customers nearby. Without causing intended offence to the person behind the couter, you are in their territory, where they feel safer in putting forward their justifications and most staff behind independent garage counters are not the brighest sparks in the box in constructing reasoned argument. When they feel their position is challenged and under pressure from the customers reasoned argument they tend to raise the ante along with their voices and the atmosphere becomes tense and has every chance of descending into an argument rather than a discussion.. Evereone has been through that situation. It all too easily gets dragged into a row over who said what to whom.. That solves nothing and only makes the situation far worse.. I noticed the warning signals when the defensive arguments came out as to why I should still pay for the alternator bearing.
Unfortunatley I had my daughter with me (16) and I didn't want her exposed to a fractious situation which had every chance of developing. Its better to pay the £200 under (polite) duress and then make officlal written representations about why they should refund the costs and take back the parts and refit the old later on.
I will be doing that tomorrow.. Its better to construct a reasoned argument outlining all the facts in writing. When in direct face to face discussions, emotions can get in the way and cloud the argument. that does nothing but raise blood pressures and go down the cave man route of pyschologically beating the other guy and winning nothing..
I would still like to know of other members similar experiences...
As far as paying the £200 is concerned, the problem often is that you want to try and avoid an altercation or argument which has every chance of erupting when in their garage especially when there are often other customers nearby. Without causing intended offence to the person behind the couter, you are in their territory, where they feel safer in putting forward their justifications and most staff behind independent garage counters are not the brighest sparks in the box in constructing reasoned argument. When they feel their position is challenged and under pressure from the customers reasoned argument they tend to raise the ante along with their voices and the atmosphere becomes tense and has every chance of descending into an argument rather than a discussion.. Evereone has been through that situation. It all too easily gets dragged into a row over who said what to whom.. That solves nothing and only makes the situation far worse.. I noticed the warning signals when the defensive arguments came out as to why I should still pay for the alternator bearing.
Unfortunatley I had my daughter with me (16) and I didn't want her exposed to a fractious situation which had every chance of developing. Its better to pay the £200 under (polite) duress and then make officlal written representations about why they should refund the costs and take back the parts and refit the old later on.
I will be doing that tomorrow.. Its better to construct a reasoned argument outlining all the facts in writing. When in direct face to face discussions, emotions can get in the way and cloud the argument. that does nothing but raise blood pressures and go down the cave man route of pyschologically beating the other guy and winning nothing..
I would still like to know of other members similar experiences...
General Update from the VW garage..... on the R32 noise coing form the belt area .. interesting if anyone else has heard of the following problem.
It isn't any of the pully bearings that are at fault.ie. water pumps etc.. Indeed at a recent MOT in October VW confirmed that during their inspection and service the belts and associated bearings were all in perfectly good working order, so they were surprised the independentt garage recommended changing the Allternator. Anyways.. .
Quote message below from VW
"the technician confirmed this morning that the engine breather unit built into the engine top cover is not working, which is causing both the noise and the rough running/holding back. The part required means a strip down of the front bumper/headlamp panel for access, removal of the intake manifold complete and then removal of the top engine cover for replacement, which normally would come to £960 including the parts, labour and VAT. However, I would 1st recommend doing the stripdown to see if there is anything further that has caused it, rather than just jumping in to replace it straight off, the labour is the same and worst case is that the cover replacement is needed and will be the above cost.
I should be able to do a bit of tweaking and get it down to £830 including VAT all inclusive for you, if it does need the cover replacing, and I can start stripping it down today so we should know by close of play and can get the parts down from VW on order for Monday."
So there you have it.. I suggest the independent garage are very unlikley to have diagnosed that problem given even more time. According to the VW garage it is not one they have come across before on any R32's in their experience, though due to the fact it was discountinued over 10 years ago, they don't see that many nowadays in their workshops. Indeed they claim that there are now only about 3 other owners, including myself, who still take their vehicles to VW for service. At this stage they won't know exactly until the strip down takes place. AS you can see above, I am somewhat fortunate that the service manager has always been more than helpful and has offered a £130 discount...
I appreciate that to many owners of a 12 year old R32, they would baulk at paying £830, but given that over the past 12 years, other than servcing, little has gone wrong other than wipers, brakes, bulbs and 2 front springs and a replacement front wheel, failed by MOT. The cost of a standard Mk 5 R32 wheel was about £500 from VW but the service manager gave me a 50% discount....
As I may have mentioned before, I expect these things to start happening but hope fully they will be kept to a minumim. The car has been excellent value for me in real terms. I paid £23,000 as an ex VW dealer demonstrator back in 2007 when it was 3 months old with 2500 miles on the clock. The list price with all the extras was closer to £30,000 at the time. In full working order and the right buyer it would probably be worth £7,500 today with full service history, one (middle aged) owner from purchase and all the extras.., but to me it is worth a lot more. There is no vehicle out there close to the R32 that would be anything less than £35k - £45k. Golf R's are very fast, agile and slick as are the equivalent Audi's but they are just not R32's. Mine is a real heavyweight lump compared, but by God it goes when needed especially at the top end when it surges away at 100mph onwards when you drop a couple of gears on the DSG on the proverbial German autobahn (Hummm). VW lent me an R for a weekend a couple of years back when their sales were keen for me to replace the R32. Nice capable qucik car, but not me..
Hopefully by next week I will know the full story on the problem...
It isn't any of the pully bearings that are at fault.ie. water pumps etc.. Indeed at a recent MOT in October VW confirmed that during their inspection and service the belts and associated bearings were all in perfectly good working order, so they were surprised the independentt garage recommended changing the Allternator. Anyways.. .
Quote message below from VW
"the technician confirmed this morning that the engine breather unit built into the engine top cover is not working, which is causing both the noise and the rough running/holding back. The part required means a strip down of the front bumper/headlamp panel for access, removal of the intake manifold complete and then removal of the top engine cover for replacement, which normally would come to £960 including the parts, labour and VAT. However, I would 1st recommend doing the stripdown to see if there is anything further that has caused it, rather than just jumping in to replace it straight off, the labour is the same and worst case is that the cover replacement is needed and will be the above cost.
I should be able to do a bit of tweaking and get it down to £830 including VAT all inclusive for you, if it does need the cover replacing, and I can start stripping it down today so we should know by close of play and can get the parts down from VW on order for Monday."
So there you have it.. I suggest the independent garage are very unlikley to have diagnosed that problem given even more time. According to the VW garage it is not one they have come across before on any R32's in their experience, though due to the fact it was discountinued over 10 years ago, they don't see that many nowadays in their workshops. Indeed they claim that there are now only about 3 other owners, including myself, who still take their vehicles to VW for service. At this stage they won't know exactly until the strip down takes place. AS you can see above, I am somewhat fortunate that the service manager has always been more than helpful and has offered a £130 discount...
I appreciate that to many owners of a 12 year old R32, they would baulk at paying £830, but given that over the past 12 years, other than servcing, little has gone wrong other than wipers, brakes, bulbs and 2 front springs and a replacement front wheel, failed by MOT. The cost of a standard Mk 5 R32 wheel was about £500 from VW but the service manager gave me a 50% discount....
As I may have mentioned before, I expect these things to start happening but hope fully they will be kept to a minumim. The car has been excellent value for me in real terms. I paid £23,000 as an ex VW dealer demonstrator back in 2007 when it was 3 months old with 2500 miles on the clock. The list price with all the extras was closer to £30,000 at the time. In full working order and the right buyer it would probably be worth £7,500 today with full service history, one (middle aged) owner from purchase and all the extras.., but to me it is worth a lot more. There is no vehicle out there close to the R32 that would be anything less than £35k - £45k. Golf R's are very fast, agile and slick as are the equivalent Audi's but they are just not R32's. Mine is a real heavyweight lump compared, but by God it goes when needed especially at the top end when it surges away at 100mph onwards when you drop a couple of gears on the DSG on the proverbial German autobahn (Hummm). VW lent me an R for a weekend a couple of years back when their sales were keen for me to replace the R32. Nice capable qucik car, but not me..
Hopefully by next week I will know the full story on the problem...
Thanks for your confidence..
Not all garages are crooked... Perhaps some of the ones you associate with are.. nothing personal.. but you can tell the sort of commentators in here. Those with a positive outlook and those with a suspicious, negative, skeptical backward looking attitude about everyone and eveything.. unless you can prove otherwise... to me thats a miserable unhappy existence to cast a grey cloud over everyone in business.
So you guys ( you know who you are) that don't trust an authorised dealer or any garage for that matter.. where do you go? Yellow pages, google, ebay, the bloke down the pub, your best mate (who happens to know every working part of every car ever made), Arthur Daley's garage or do you trust no-one and buy a Haynes manual and mess it up yourself... Not all of us are qualified mechanics and no I have not got more money than sense. So what do you do when they mess. My VW dealer has always been straight with me and given me a complete breakdown on what they will be doing or have done, and retained the parts and provided costings before they start. I use them when I need them. Conversely, I have placed business with 2 other VW dealers in the past and won't use them again. its usually down to a personnel matter. If you don't like someone ( and you usually know within 1st 15 seconds) or their attitude towards customers, however good they are or claim to be, you will never use them, Period. Interestingly my mother ( god rest her soul) used to say "Foxes smell their own holes.. It takes one to know one". In other words people that don't trust others are just as likely not to be trustworthy themselves.
I am acutely aware of scams, charletons, tricksters, fiddlers, fraudsters. as I am retired from the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) . I trusted the independent garage, but they are not fraudsters or tricksters whatever else they may be. They have an established presence in the town I live and many people use them regularly. In this instance their diagnosis was incorrect. i don't for one moment think it was intentional. HOWEVER... any one promoting or advertising their skills in a professional environment has to take responsibity just as a doctor does.. Just because they are a garage mechanic, they have no lower a responsibility in their field. If that were not the case, everyone would have to sign the bottom of every page of a huge 30 page disclaimer contrcat every time they purchsed anything from a new car to a box of washing powder.
In the case of the local garage. They provided a price and a diagnosis and a resolution to the problem.. and offered to do the work. It may be a verbal contract but it still has legal meaning as they are a registered small Limited company with a listing in companies house in London promoting their business as car servicing and repairs. I agree the automatotive servicing world is full of suspicious characters offering dubious deals, but not all of them are that way. Many people seem to like the local garage.. The problem for them is that they made what they thought was a diagnosis of the problem and a resolution to it. What they did not say was, if it proves not to be the problem, we will not be responsible..
Thats a bit like a doctor dealing with abdominal pain and recommending a kidney transplant, doing the job, only to later find it wasn't the kidney at all, but a stomach ulcer... The doctor ( as a registered professional) didn't intend to decieve or mis-diagnosis, but be did all the same and he has to bear responsibility and put things right. In the same way, a bona fida, registered garage business takes on a similar responsibity providing a service in a certain business sphere. The responsibility is no less, though the outcome may not be as serious as a mis-diagnosis by a practicing doctor.
I have spoken constructively and politely to the local garage business and they have agreed to only charge me for the parts, waiving all labour costs and I have recieved a £95 refund. I am happy with that as I now have new parts which were after all 12 years old and would have needed replacing at some point. What they have done is resolve the situation and whilst I may not have need to use them again (I only did as I did not want to risk driving it 20+ miles with the noise incase of catestrophic damage to a VW dealer) I would recommnd them to others as they were not in any way hostil. They made a genune error of judgement and I give them the benenfit of the doubt. Others in this forum might not have done so.
As for the VW garage. Over the past 12 years they have saved me money rather than got me to spend it. Every time I have had a minor issue they have resolved it without any issues. Sometimes I had to pay but many times they acrried out minor adjustments at no charge...
Interesting as you can see from the text from the VW servce manager. They have come up with a diagnosis and a resolution and they have assured me of the total costs come what may. Obviously, if they find something more sinister they will inform me before doing any further work and interestingly, if they carry out a part replacment that doesn't resolve the issue, I will not be charged for the replacment. that is their guarantee and i am happy with that..
Not all garages are crooked... Perhaps some of the ones you associate with are.. nothing personal.. but you can tell the sort of commentators in here. Those with a positive outlook and those with a suspicious, negative, skeptical backward looking attitude about everyone and eveything.. unless you can prove otherwise... to me thats a miserable unhappy existence to cast a grey cloud over everyone in business.
So you guys ( you know who you are) that don't trust an authorised dealer or any garage for that matter.. where do you go? Yellow pages, google, ebay, the bloke down the pub, your best mate (who happens to know every working part of every car ever made), Arthur Daley's garage or do you trust no-one and buy a Haynes manual and mess it up yourself... Not all of us are qualified mechanics and no I have not got more money than sense. So what do you do when they mess. My VW dealer has always been straight with me and given me a complete breakdown on what they will be doing or have done, and retained the parts and provided costings before they start. I use them when I need them. Conversely, I have placed business with 2 other VW dealers in the past and won't use them again. its usually down to a personnel matter. If you don't like someone ( and you usually know within 1st 15 seconds) or their attitude towards customers, however good they are or claim to be, you will never use them, Period. Interestingly my mother ( god rest her soul) used to say "Foxes smell their own holes.. It takes one to know one". In other words people that don't trust others are just as likely not to be trustworthy themselves.
I am acutely aware of scams, charletons, tricksters, fiddlers, fraudsters. as I am retired from the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) . I trusted the independent garage, but they are not fraudsters or tricksters whatever else they may be. They have an established presence in the town I live and many people use them regularly. In this instance their diagnosis was incorrect. i don't for one moment think it was intentional. HOWEVER... any one promoting or advertising their skills in a professional environment has to take responsibity just as a doctor does.. Just because they are a garage mechanic, they have no lower a responsibility in their field. If that were not the case, everyone would have to sign the bottom of every page of a huge 30 page disclaimer contrcat every time they purchsed anything from a new car to a box of washing powder.
In the case of the local garage. They provided a price and a diagnosis and a resolution to the problem.. and offered to do the work. It may be a verbal contract but it still has legal meaning as they are a registered small Limited company with a listing in companies house in London promoting their business as car servicing and repairs. I agree the automatotive servicing world is full of suspicious characters offering dubious deals, but not all of them are that way. Many people seem to like the local garage.. The problem for them is that they made what they thought was a diagnosis of the problem and a resolution to it. What they did not say was, if it proves not to be the problem, we will not be responsible..
Thats a bit like a doctor dealing with abdominal pain and recommending a kidney transplant, doing the job, only to later find it wasn't the kidney at all, but a stomach ulcer... The doctor ( as a registered professional) didn't intend to decieve or mis-diagnosis, but be did all the same and he has to bear responsibility and put things right. In the same way, a bona fida, registered garage business takes on a similar responsibity providing a service in a certain business sphere. The responsibility is no less, though the outcome may not be as serious as a mis-diagnosis by a practicing doctor.
I have spoken constructively and politely to the local garage business and they have agreed to only charge me for the parts, waiving all labour costs and I have recieved a £95 refund. I am happy with that as I now have new parts which were after all 12 years old and would have needed replacing at some point. What they have done is resolve the situation and whilst I may not have need to use them again (I only did as I did not want to risk driving it 20+ miles with the noise incase of catestrophic damage to a VW dealer) I would recommnd them to others as they were not in any way hostil. They made a genune error of judgement and I give them the benenfit of the doubt. Others in this forum might not have done so.
As for the VW garage. Over the past 12 years they have saved me money rather than got me to spend it. Every time I have had a minor issue they have resolved it without any issues. Sometimes I had to pay but many times they acrried out minor adjustments at no charge...
Interesting as you can see from the text from the VW servce manager. They have come up with a diagnosis and a resolution and they have assured me of the total costs come what may. Obviously, if they find something more sinister they will inform me before doing any further work and interestingly, if they carry out a part replacment that doesn't resolve the issue, I will not be charged for the replacment. that is their guarantee and i am happy with that..
I guess I am lucky.. As I know the VW workshop manager really well, he pulls a few strings to get in quicker and \I manage to jump the queues They are nrmally very busy. I did ask if he could get me a courtesy car but nothing available as their service dept is booked up until 16th.
Steve at VW has always been honest fto me.. he has many times told me that VW (despite what the public may imagine) makes little money on car sales as its so competitve and the cost of R@D and EU compliance and high level sof taxation in the EU costs literally billions. That is why many of the old car manufacturers no longer exists or they amalgamated or got taken over. Thats also why the US ( apart form Tesla) sells few of their vehicles in the EU as the cost of compliance and EU safety regulations is horrendous and they have plenty of customers elsewhere and I have to agree that apart form a few US vehicles, most are rubbish compared to EU vehicles. I agree about the after- service arrangements . Steve openly admits that service, spares amd repairs is where the money is made.. If your new car radio knob (say on a Golf R or any new manufacturere for that matter) falls off its almost a new radio which means a new integral dashboard mount and a bill for £800.. .. Ouch...
But as I said before I have no complaints about what I have been charged by VW. Indeed I once went to a recommended independent VW agent in Ilmimster 6 miles from me that is run by VW, SEAT and Audi enthusiasts for an MOT and minor service and they did a good job but charged me £18 more for the DSG oil change than VW had on their reommended prices. so you learn all the time. As I live quite a distance from any other independent VW garages I prefer the 3 month guarantee that VW offer on any parts and replacment work done.
I think its horses for courses. I may just be ucky as we all learn by experince. I did speak to a chap a couple of years back at a VW convention in Wells Somerset, who had a terrible experience with a specialist VW garage. Apparently his mechatronics unit linked to the DSG box failed and kept disengaging whilst driving along. VW quoted a horrendous £2,500 for a replacement as VW garages can't service them, but do a swap with VW factory replacement. The local VW specialist recommended they (or he) could remove it and send it to be electronically serviced and recalibrated for £750 with a company in the Midlands who did that sort of work. He paid up and a week later got the unit back and they refitted it all for a tad over £1,000+. It worked well for about a week, before failing again with the same fault... It was removed again and returned to the refurb comany by courier (cost £40 courier) the refurb company replied by saying it was having problems with it and declined to re-calibrate again for fear of another failure. they didn't charge him again (how could they) but the local garage couldn't do the same and he was out of pocket but still with a defective mechatronics unit. The local VW specialist then recommended his best bet was a VW service exchange repair where he had to pay the full £2,500 for a service exchange.. The specialsit VW still left him wth a bill for £350 for the strip down, removal and refit (twice) as they said it was not their fault that the recalibrators couldn't fix it... Ouch...
Steve at VW has always been honest fto me.. he has many times told me that VW (despite what the public may imagine) makes little money on car sales as its so competitve and the cost of R@D and EU compliance and high level sof taxation in the EU costs literally billions. That is why many of the old car manufacturers no longer exists or they amalgamated or got taken over. Thats also why the US ( apart form Tesla) sells few of their vehicles in the EU as the cost of compliance and EU safety regulations is horrendous and they have plenty of customers elsewhere and I have to agree that apart form a few US vehicles, most are rubbish compared to EU vehicles. I agree about the after- service arrangements . Steve openly admits that service, spares amd repairs is where the money is made.. If your new car radio knob (say on a Golf R or any new manufacturere for that matter) falls off its almost a new radio which means a new integral dashboard mount and a bill for £800.. .. Ouch...
But as I said before I have no complaints about what I have been charged by VW. Indeed I once went to a recommended independent VW agent in Ilmimster 6 miles from me that is run by VW, SEAT and Audi enthusiasts for an MOT and minor service and they did a good job but charged me £18 more for the DSG oil change than VW had on their reommended prices. so you learn all the time. As I live quite a distance from any other independent VW garages I prefer the 3 month guarantee that VW offer on any parts and replacment work done.
I think its horses for courses. I may just be ucky as we all learn by experince. I did speak to a chap a couple of years back at a VW convention in Wells Somerset, who had a terrible experience with a specialist VW garage. Apparently his mechatronics unit linked to the DSG box failed and kept disengaging whilst driving along. VW quoted a horrendous £2,500 for a replacement as VW garages can't service them, but do a swap with VW factory replacement. The local VW specialist recommended they (or he) could remove it and send it to be electronically serviced and recalibrated for £750 with a company in the Midlands who did that sort of work. He paid up and a week later got the unit back and they refitted it all for a tad over £1,000+. It worked well for about a week, before failing again with the same fault... It was removed again and returned to the refurb comany by courier (cost £40 courier) the refurb company replied by saying it was having problems with it and declined to re-calibrate again for fear of another failure. they didn't charge him again (how could they) but the local garage couldn't do the same and he was out of pocket but still with a defective mechatronics unit. The local VW specialist then recommended his best bet was a VW service exchange repair where he had to pay the full £2,500 for a service exchange.. The specialsit VW still left him wth a bill for £350 for the strip down, removal and refit (twice) as they said it was not their fault that the recalibrators couldn't fix it... Ouch...
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