Who do I file a claim against?

Joined
Mar 13, 2007
Location
Austin
TDI
99 Jetta TDI
Lets say that I want to file a claim against VW over a problem that I have with my engine. Lets say that all of my tappets were spider cracked, and my cam was destroyed at 100,000 miles. It had better that required maintenance and everything was done to the "T". Who do I file a small claims court claim against? VWoA? the engine plant? a specific branch of the corporation?

I want to file a claim for $3,000 to cover all of my expenses over this issue. I really dont want to get into details, I just hope that someone knows where I file against.

thanks for any help,

R.W.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
My guess is that you would go after VWoA. you'd be better off talking to a lawyer in person instead of a bunch of strangers on the internet.
 

Herm TDI

Vendor
Joined
Nov 21, 2001
Location
Richmond, Maine...The far side of Witsend
TDI
2002 Golf GLS Malone Stage 3, P+520 nozzles, 11MM Inj pump, Sachs VR6 clutch, Stelth Race Pipe, Immo Deleat, EGR Deleat
You have a 1999 Jetta ( an A-4 TDI I assume).
This Timing-Belt ( TB) was scheduled for replacement at 60K miles (manual transmission) or 40K miles (automatic transmission).

Again I'll assume (you did not provide any info in your profile) that you have a 5 sp manual transmission.

This TB was to be replaced at 60k miles. Now 40K miles have passed (since the last TB service) and the engine failed.

Most likely a TB related component failed, tensioner, water pump, idler bearing ect..ect.

At 40K miles I doubt that you could win you case unless you have some sort of documentation to indicate neglect such as failing to replace the TB tensioner or an incorrect replacement part was installed.
I have found ALH water pumps installed in BEW engines (from the factory). But in your situation with 100K miles on the engine you only hope is to prove negligence.

If you have the invoice from the last TB service check the part #s and see what exactly was replaced at this service.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
VWoA. The dealer didn't manufacture the car. But then, neither did VWoA, but they are the authorized agents of the ones that did manufacture the car, and are responsible for the warranty.

You can file in small claims, you might even win. But, since you aren't in the same state as VWoA, you will have to file in a federal court, and they don't do small claims stuff.

You might want to find one of those ambulance chasing attorneys who will talk to you about it for free.
 

Herm TDI

Vendor
Joined
Nov 21, 2001
Location
Richmond, Maine...The far side of Witsend
TDI
2002 Golf GLS Malone Stage 3, P+520 nozzles, 11MM Inj pump, Sachs VR6 clutch, Stelth Race Pipe, Immo Deleat, EGR Deleat
If you are the orignal owner and signed an arbitration clause then forget it ....in the end you'll have to eat it.
 

Bob_Fout

Oil Wanker
Joined
Sep 5, 2004
Location
Indiana
TDI
2003 Jetta - Alaska Green (sold) / 2015 GTI 2.0T
The engine is out the warranty period. Does VWoA have *any* obligation to do anything about it?

What oil was used over these 100,000 miles?
 

TDIfor

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2003
Location
Logan, Ohio
TDI
'02 NB Double Yellow
Apples and oranges, but FWIW.... years ago, I bought a new Ford Pinto (well, my father did for me, but it was in my name). This was back in the era of 12 mos., 12,000 mile warranties.

Two pistons cracked at 44K miles. Obsessive about oil changes and all that.. the engine was just out of balance from the get-go and I didnt recognize that - I just drove at 55MPH or slower, and things seemed fine, and who in their right mind drove a Pinto _faster_ than 55 anyway?

So, pistons cracked, had to have the engine rebuilt. Tried to get $$ from Ford, which promptly told me to go to hell. Warranty expired, Good luck and god's speed, and this is what you get for buying a Ford,didn't your daddy larn you better?

You might be better off contacting an advocacy agency.. .maybe Ralph Nader??
 

lkchris

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Location
Albuquerque, NM, USA
TDI
2003 New Beetle
When your car was under warranty, the claim filing process was obvious and you indeed had a claim.

After warranty's expired, you've got nothing.

You've got even less than nothing if you didn't buy this car new from a dealer at which you then had it regularly serviced.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
if it is a 99, then won't it be under a 100K mile warranty?
 

slapshotjh

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Location
CT
TDI
97 GLX B4V
Look at some of the previous posts. It was a 1998 Mark 3 with 120,000 miles last time (look around September). 1,000 miles after a timing belt change.....
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
Y'all think VWoA will offer some "goodwill"...

on a 1998 Jetta TDi A3 with 120k miles :D

MountainTravler said:
All of the tappets went out in my MKIII 99 TDI Jetta. The engine has 110k miles on it. :(

I know, not good. The cam is destroyed

Anyways.

I am looking at
A valve job
Port and Polish
New tappets
and gaskets.

While I am in there. What cam should I get? I have an Alligator chip... Just installed a VR6 Clutch. Timing is done.

I know nothing about cams... I just drive it on the street. What do I need to get. a new stock cam runs about $480 it seems like.

let me know, or point me in the right direction please..

anything else I should do while all of this is apart? :eek:

RW
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
If this is as a result of THIS:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=223648

... then VWoA is out of the picture because the job was done by a "local shop" (presumably not a VW dealer) and in any case the engine is long past warranty.

GOOD LUCK with trying to get anything out of that "local shop". There are too many different ways that a finger could point. My money is on that the timing belt was not done correctly and there was a minor piston-to-valve collision, which shattered the lifter, but there is no realistic way to prove that.
 

SoTxBill

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 14, 2000
Location
its not the base, its the additives!!
TDI
13 passatdsg 10 jetdsg, 09 jetdsg, 2006 jetdsg, 2001Jet, 96passat, 86jet, 81 jet, 78pickup all vw diesel.
TDIfor said:
Apples and oranges, but FWIW.... years ago, I bought a new Ford Pinto (well, my father did for me, but it was in my name). This was back in the era of 12 mos., 12,000 mile warranties.

Two pistons cracked at 44K miles. Obsessive about oil changes and all that.. the engine was just out of balance from the get-go and I didnt recognize that - I just drove at 55MPH or slower, and things seemed fine, and who in their right mind drove a Pinto _faster_ than 55 anyway?

So, pistons cracked, had to have the engine rebuilt. Tried to get $$ from Ford, which promptly told me to go to hell. Warranty expired, Good luck and god's speed, and this is what you get for buying a Ford,didn't your daddy larn you better?

You might be better off contacting an advocacy agency.. .maybe Ralph Nader??
due to lean burn engines, cracking pistons as common in the 80's.. seems you can run them too lean... as ford and chevy both found out. 85 and 86 were particularly bad years.
 

TopherDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Location
Stroudsburg, PA
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
GoFaster said:
... and on top of that, the vehicle is modified.

Can we all together say, "you are your own warranty" ... ! ! !
I think that he just misposted, the darwin thread is two below this one.
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
Some call it "Mark 'n' Pray" while others refer to it as "Park 'n' Pay" :D

Is VWoA liable for a botched TB changeout? Anyone :confused:

MountainTravler said:
so... here is a pic of what the tappet looks like. The problem that I have with this is that I just had a timming belt done at a local shop... I drove the car 1,000 miles and then the engine sounded like it was dying...

My technician is telling me that it is weird that this thing came out in two pieces, and that it is unfortunate.

what do you all think happend here? my fault??? crap luck??? I had the timming done at 120k miles.

Technicial error?








 

merkerguitars

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 2004
Location
Elmwood, WI
TDI
01 Jetta
Independent shop FAIL!

I redid two mk3 belts that where paint and pray, the first one I tried to adjust pump timing and the closer I was the worse it ran,

Thankfully the cam and crank where close enough not to cause any damage.

The second one the shop forgot to put the woodruff key in for the intermediate shaft/forgot to tighten the bolt, destroying the shaft, and worse a bunch of rubber off of the belt. And the idiots wouldn't pay for a new belt when it was their fault, but at least they paid for all the other parts (new shaft/pulley etc). Customer learned an important lesson and I still don't know how those hacks are still in business.
 

jprine

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
Location
Chicago
TDI
03 GLS Golf TDI, 04 R32, 05 Passat Wagon TDI
You need to sue the local shop in small claims court.

The tappets are obviously broken from the center, piston/valve contact seems to be the sure cause.
Your shop didn't do the timing belt right. They need to use the locking tools to correctly time the cam/valves.. And even then its in the procedure to double check the timing (with the special tools) after some rotations and the belt is evenly tensioned. Even if it was done right, then something slipped.. prob because it wasn't installed or tightened down right.

You could probably find proof with a tear down, check how the cam timing is currently, how far off is it.. Inspect timing belt system for any problems. Take the head off, any marks on the pistons/valves from contact?

Good luck
 

lkchris

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Location
Albuquerque, NM, USA
TDI
2003 New Beetle
SoTxBill said:
due to lean burn engines, cracking pistons as common in the 80's.. seems you can run them too lean... as ford and chevy both found out. 85 and 86 were particularly bad years.
Which of course is irrelevant to diesels.
 
Joined
Mar 13, 2007
Location
Austin
TDI
99 Jetta TDI
Hmm.. Yall do some good research on here. Sorry I have been absent, I have been doing so many things.

A quick comment on the Small claims court thing, to which no one had a clear answer to my question. This shop had another customer that went to small claims against Nissan for something and Nissan didnt bother to show up. So, the guy got his claim for $4,000.

Anyways.

Right now the shop has put my car back together and the motor seems to run fine but I cant get the timming to show up with the VAGCOM on the TDI timing graph. It says my timing is too advanced.. Like 255 or so. The motor sounds great.. Can it run at that timing and sound good? I have not been able to go back and crank it down. I am doing that on Tuesday. No, I am not driving the car.

As for the initial failure of my last timing by this shop, I personally looked at the pistons and there is no contact.

Any ideas???
 

ultrasparc

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Location
Wa
TDI
00, Jetta TDI MK IV
You know your shop sucks and probably trashed your motor, right. You say the local shop put everything back together and it seems to run fine, but its not ?

He just wants all you to help him scam some money from VW. He figures that the VW lawyers may just not show up. Of course winning a judgment is one thing, collecting is another.

Hopefully most courts would throw something like this out, 110K miles, a independent shop that couldn't even do a proper timing ?

Whats is the evidence that VW was liable here ?

:mad::rolleyes:
 

mrGutWrench

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 29, 2002
Location
Carrboro, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, 5-speed, 563K Miles (July '23)
ultrasparc said:
You know your shop sucks and probably trashed your motor, right. You say the local shop put everything back together and it seems to run fine, but its not ? (snip)
__. Get that car away from that "local shop" and get it to someone who knows what he's doing ASAP. That shop is just a stick of dynamite with a short fuse. They *will* wreck your engine again. If the reason that the lifters broke wasn't mis-timing and other errors that they made when they did the timing belt (although they'll deny it), I'll eat your camshaft (with or without mustard, your choice).

__. The reason that your VAG-Com (or VCDS) won't read it is because it's mis-timed again. If you're lucky, it's timed OK between the cam and crankshaft but mis-timed between them and the injection pump; if you're not lucky, it's mis-timed to the cam and that will wreck the top end again sooner or later. Did this "super shop" repair the valves that were bent when the lifters were smashed (they should have!). Actually, you can't just repair the valves, you must rebuild the entire head.

__. Driving this car "repaired" by this shop again is like sticking your hand into a box of rattlesnakes -- you *might* get away with it but it's a d@mned poor bet!
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Since you're in Austin, you should contact Robby Plenge (UserID "runonbeer" on this website) and have him go over all the work... One of the original TDI-Club "Gurus"...
http://forums.tdiclub.com/member.php?u=8750

Good luck... I would get as far away from this shop as possible... and if you're going to sue anyone, it would be them...

Yuri.
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
If those are your followers that DD posted in post #19, then there was certainly valve to piston contact... no getting around that fact.
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Revolutionary_mind said:
Wait, why would anyone try to take VW to court over something wrong with a 10 year old car?
Because it's more fun to go after a big company.
 

runonbeer

Maintenance EnthusiastVendor
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Austin, TX/Chapel Hill, NC
TDI
'00 Golf 02M, '10 Golf 02E, '02 UTE 02M
ymz said:
Since you're in Austin, you should contact Robby Plenge (UserID "runonbeer" on this website) and have him go over all the work... One of the original TDI-Club "Gurus"...
http://forums.tdiclub.com/member.php?u=8750

Good luck... I would get as far away from this shop as possible... and if you're going to sue anyone, it would be them...

Yuri.
Excellent advice Yuri;)
 
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