VW SUCKS!!!

My wagon pulled right too, the difference is that my dealer took it in fixed it in an hour and said "thank you" for pointing out the problem.

sorry to hear you were treated so poorly, I would find a new dealer to service the car.

Brett

An alignment is an adustment and the warranty covers adjustments for the first 10K or 12K miles. Unless there was abuse to the suspension there is no reason an alignment would be needed at 3K miles.

Well, I went to a diffrent dealer. I prob. should go to the same one I bought it from.. But I will not spend 80.00 for a alignment... I will just go spend 50.00..

Originally posted by Oberkanone:
An alignment is an adustment and the warranty covers adjustments for the first 10K or 12K miles. Unless there was abuse to the suspension there is no reason an alignment would be needed at 3K miles.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yup.

Except the second part. We get more than a few ones in that aren't right from the factory. Either it pulls a little, or the steering wheel is off center.

I just did one the other day, it must have been that one in a million that DIDN'T have the tire pull that Modl says causes it.

Well, back when I had an Audi A4, the dealer who also dealt in VW's at the time, would do free alignments after the suspension "settled" regardless if it was a VW or an Audi. That was back in the good old days (1998). Now I doubt they would do the same anymore as the Audi line had been sold.

I have little faith in Ford after my brother's first free oil change @ the dealer where he bought the truck. What happened? The min wage monkey CROSS-THREADED the filter and the service supervisor MISSED this. What happened? The truck had low oil pressure, leaked like a sieve and sprayed the exhaust system with oil the instant my brother drove off the lot.

What did they do? Just wash the oil off with a garden hose, refill the oil and replace the threaded boss as it was toast. Oh yes, thay gave him 10 free oil change certificates. The truck smoked for months.

Your entitled to an alignment under your warranty, provided it isn't the result of hitting something.

I'd do two things:

1. Call VWoA pronto and get a case number and file a complaint against the dealer who refused to do the alignment.

2. Contact your selling dealer and schedule and appointment.

Under 12K miles, everything is covered, bad parts or not. The warranty is for defects in materials and workmanship.

If you didn't break it and it's not right, then it's a warranty repair.

But they still fixed it!

I don't want to sit here and compare. The fact is VW WILL NOT!! Do the service! And ford will along with many other companies.

sounds alot like a recent post of mine...

After 6 mos with my Jetta TDI, I was tired of the pull to the right and had a couple of rattles under warranty to be looked at anyway. I called two dealers nearest me;

The dealer I bought from will do a 4 wheel alignment for $80.

Another dealer will do a front wheel align for $45 and they said that should take care of it.

My car pulled from day one and now I've learned my lesson - if it pulls on the test drive, demand they fix it first, then buy it.

Other car companies will align under warranty, but that doesn't do much for us VW owners.

Its too bad that the parts that are in the ford warranty expire on the same date as the warranty, and at least other cars are fix able.
I Had a problem with my ford ever since dayone, took it in for warranty and they said that they could take it apart and put it back together but the could'nt fix it.

[ August 28, 2002, 15:46: Message edited by: ripcor ]

Once again I do not really want to compare cars.. Though you can make fun of ford all day they are still the #1 selling car ( atleast where I live ) And they fix the alignment.. ( Plus I have a 10 second stang )
heheh.. Whatever I am bringing my car ( TDI ) to a buddy of mine who works AT FORD! And he will do the alignment for me... Its gonna look funny as a brand new vw will be at ford getting serviced.. actually not funny but sad..

Why not try a different dealer? Their quality of commitment appears to vary enormously.

stangfed, Take your car to Esserman VW at the Turnpike and 107 AVE. Ask to speak to Ricky, a service writer there. He gives great service, even with all the mods I have on my car.

Ok First let me say I love my *NEW* Tdi.. GOLF..

But The thing has been pulling to the right ever since I bought it, and it has about 3k on it now.. So I finally had time to bring it in.. Well After the service writer putting the sticker on my car and all. He tells me its going to be 80.00. I laughed and said for what. He said for the alignment, I said who said it was an alignment all I know is it pulls to the right and always have. He said well It needs and alignment and we do not cover that.. Is this a freakin joke.. Its a brand new car 3 months old with 3k on it.. ***!!! Now I am going to go to tire kingdom and get it done for like 50.00 and have a lifetime warranty, BUT STILL If I was the owner of VW I would be embarrassed if someone had to bring there brand new car to another place to get fixed... THIS SUCKS!! I am afraid of what else VW wont warranty.. IF this was a ford ( I know I used to work there ) It would be fixed no questions asked.. Your mats on a ford could be warrentied.. OH WELL

This is really best answered by people like JSG, but I can tell you that there is a reason why an alignment would be postponed on a new car. It has something to due with letting the suspension settle in, before making the adjustment.

It sounds like the dealer screwed that one up. He should have either deferred doing the alignment, or if it's not too early...done it under warranty.

Alignment is a labor cost, not a defective part. The warranty covers defective parts. I am sure they will cover the labor cost for replacing a defective part too. But if there was a defective part discovered during the alignment, say a bad tie, then they will be picking up the tab in full. Until then, you pay... even if it is just an aligment problem. I save the receipt if the problem happens to come back in 3K then you can tell them to replace parts. But good luck trying to get reimbursement for the first alignment after 3K miles.

Had a Ford F150 leaked at rear main dealer
tried to fix once second time claimed it was
not leaking and fixed leak at power steering???
Traded it on a 2002 Jetta.I guess we all know
a company that Sucks!!!

Hi. I traded my Ford Windstar in for my Golf. My experience with Ford was horrible. My van was less than four years old and falling apart in front of my eyes and they would not cover anything .... even replacing the same parts!!!! I've found that VW doe not cover as much as I wished they did, but my Service Manager, Craig, is great and has helped me out a lot as my warranty was over when my car was a year and a half old.

I did call customer care, and they said they will call me back yesterday, well its TODAY! And still no call. Once again I will be bringing my BRAND NEW VW To a FORD dealer to get work done.. Pretty sad..

A lot of ppl on this site like to say contact Customer Care....it doesn't do any good. They are just as ignorant there and you end up even more mad than when you started!

I think u should go back to the dealership that you bought your car at. That would make the most sense. It's not really fair to say VW sux just because one dealer won't help u out. Besides, getting an alignment isn't really that big of a deal. It was probably caused by hitting something. But if it's always been like that, u should have taken care of it right away.

peace

chi

Strangfed,

Sounds like Speedracer's got a good contact for you. Would you go to a dentist to get your plumming checked out? No? Nor would I. You'd go to a top notch urologist and so would I. Do yourself a favor: check out Speedracer's recommendation and find someone who knows your TDI's specs. I'm sure that your Ford dealership is great. For Fords. Not all VW dealerships suck. These days, I'm loving mine and I wouldn't say that about all VW dealerships. Go into Speedracer's dealership if for some reason you aren't able to establish a good rapport with your own and have them do your more complex maintenance. Good luck and enjoy your TDI.-mickkirk

[ August 30, 2002, 05:00: Message edited by: mickkirk ]

I had this same problem and I too got screwed on it and paid for an alignment. I called VWOA and they basically told me to piss up a rope. VW and VWOA do SUCK!!! But I have found these guys are giving you good advice. Not all VW dealers are created equal. Some are just better. You need to find one that can find their asz with one hand and not helped finding it. There are some out there. What I've seen is to drive around in back and see how many of the service employees are driving dubs. The dealers that have Honda's and Toyota's out back don't go to, their techs don't love VW's and therefore don't live VW. The one's that have old A2 or B3/B4's out back; Go To Them!!
Their guys know their sh!t and take care of you and don't trying to BS you into paying full retail for work that they get paid less for (aka warranty work paid for by VW)

Under the scenario painted by stangfed, and in the absence of any obvious evidence of hitting a massive pothole or such like, then this is a WARRANTY item, period. It is one which no reputable, responsible dealer would even argue about.

- Richard

First like I said before. " I LOVE MY TDI " Do I think VW sucks? HELL YES!! I think VW as a company is doing a poor job in resolving this, This is not a 2 year old beater, Its a 2 month old brand spankin new car. And two dealers now told me no matter what I do VW will not take care of this for me... Its a shame you know why. My fatehr was very impressed with my car, he is a pure american pride type guy and usually only buys american. But he was waiting for a VW Convert bug TDI. And was going to buy it the day they came out.. He was with me when the guy said its going to be 80.00. I swear we almost both dropped.. You know what he will not buy a VW now. If a company is going to treat there brand new customers like that something is wrong... Now he is looking possibly at a 2003 cobra

I think if I was in the situation I would first have gone to the salesman that I bought the car from and ask for his or her help. That failing I would have gone to the General Manager or owner and explain that you chose VW and hteir dealer because of their great reputation and your surre this is isolated and you expect the car to fixed right at VW's (or their) cost. Failing that I would simply pay for the repair with a credit card or check and stop payment and then fight it out and find a new dealer. An besure to document dates and times and name who you talk with.

I thought for VW it was the first 30 days for 'adjustments'...

I have a couple of comments:
how do you know it is an alignment causing the pulling? did the dealer attach it to the rack and get some measurements, or is every one just assuming its an alignment... Usually on a new car the pulling is a tire. did anyone rotate the tires to see if the pulling changes?

Secondly if a customer came mouthing off to me about his pulling and insisting on his diagnosis, in this case an alignment, be done, I would insist on the $80 too. Especially when some one says VW sucks. Try manners it will get you further in life.

furthurmore if you get an alignemt done for $50 at the tire place then you will have a $50 alignment. It may be the beginning of the end for tire wear and handling for your car.

Why not go to the dealer and say politely, my car has been pulling since O bought it. Let them diagnose it and fix it.

[ August 30, 2002, 19:56: Message edited by: Frank M ]

Why don't you take the trouble to READ the Topic starter's original post properly before you start typing? His almost-new car pulls to the right. It's a DEALER responsibility to render his NEW car into a fit state to drive.

Having been given all that BS, I'd not be being too polite by now after I'd just pursed out for a new car. My experience over 35 years of handling car dealerships in different countries is that they'll all too often try and dip out of their responsibilities by giving the consumer a load of endless BS.

[ August 30, 2002, 21:04: Message edited by: chopchop ]

It's too bad VW is the only company selling the thrifty lil' TDI, because their service AFTER sale truly blows.

My TDI was out of alignment from day one, and at the 6 month mark I was annoyed enough to bring it in along with a rattle that needed attention.

The service writer said it'd be $80, and I couldn't believe it. What happened to 12 mo/12k adjustments? I thought that was industry standard! Svc writer said to talk to my salesman about it and maybe they can split the cost or something. Then the salesman said they won't help with the cost of an alignment, sorry.

He also said when he brought my situation up to the svc writer, she did not remember telling me to talk to my salesman. ***?

This is the same dealer who in the finance room at the last minute on a Saturday said the lease company changed their rates (they do this on the 1st of the new month, not the 9th) and my residual value suddenly went up while my payment remained the same. (they bumped up the money factor/interest so I'm paying the same for less).

Anyway, if VW didn't make the TDI, I'd drive something else for sure.

Hey Frank M I really hope your joking... I don't have manners??? I am the customer here with the problem, Like I said no matter how you look at it it should be fixed by VW... It does not take a genius to figure out its an alignment and nothing more.. Tires are fine and all at proper psi.

There is no reason for me to let them have it play stupid ( Like I don't know why its pulling ) And just have them call me 4 hours later to tell me they need 80.00 of my money... I have plenty of manners BTW.. And I did not appreciate that comment you made saying I need some.

For the rest of you guys thanks for the support, and just wanted to tell you all that VW customer care called and there just as bad...