Chrome Trim

The chrome trim at the rear windows has begun to discolor and haze over. This problem is on a 2005 passat wagon that is only 4 months old. The problem occured after the car was washed at a touchless car wash. The car was washed by hand previous to the touchless wash. I have tried some polish, but the haze is still there. Has any one experienced similar problems? Is there a polish to remeady the discoloration? Would VW warranty the condition? The car is due for service soon and I am trying to gather as much information before I bring the issue up with VW.

VW will certainly cover it under warrantee. On seperate occasions, the woodgrain trim and center console were replaced in my Passat. No questions asked.

Same problem. Dealer said VW will replace if it cannot be cleaned up with chrome cleaner. VW is replacing the rear bumper protector, which is peeling off and the two side body moldings, which caught on each other when the front and rear doors were opened at the same time. Already replaced a lower valence piece under warranty.

Good to know, all of the above have happened to my 04 wagon. I've not had a chance to hit the chrome with polish but since the side body molding is shot I think replacement is the best and least time intensive option.

Our 03 passat wagon has had the same and almost all the trim has been replaced 3 times so far.
VW claims its from the soaps in auto car wash's but this car does not see those. VW does have a problem with the trim and the clear coat that is on it. Last batch thaey but on is milky in 2 weeks while car was sitting in garage!!!
If VW does not come to the table on this substandard parts vendor than I feel a class action issue should be in the works. I like VW's first approch is to blam the customer fo rthe problem. If I did that in my business I would be out of business!!

I have a 2005 Passat TDI Wagon, one month old. After a touchless carwash, the chrome on door strips turned milky. both sides. All other chrome around the windows etc is fine. I used a deoxydant chrome polish which worked until I went through the carwash again.
VW instantly ordered replacement strips under warranty.
What I would like to know is, how long will this go on?

Epictitus said:

Same problem. Dealer said VW will replace if it cannot be cleaned up with chrome cleaner. VW is replacing the rear bumper protector, which is peeling off and the two side body moldings, which caught on each other when the front and rear doors were opened at the same time. Already replaced a lower valence piece under warranty.

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I'm glad I searched before I posted a new thread. The left side body molding got caught on each other on the wife's Passat the other day. I wasn't there, so I though she must have done something wrong - I guess not. I can't believe things like this get into production. I work in the automotive industry, and simple things like clearance issues should not happen. I would understand (maybe) if it were some long term failure, related to durability or something, but come on, the doors have to open without hitting each other!

Same thing on mine. Was that way on delivery. I polished a little, and it cleans up with some elbow grease but reoccurs. Dealer said VW blames touchless washes, but why since new? I'm beginning to think VW will do what they can to dodge/explain away what they can. I suppose they all do it, but this is the current problem.

If you notice, the chrome trim forward of the rear side window trim is not as susceptible to dulling on the wagon. Different material?

funny thing is, my dealer runs mine through their touchless car wash on site every time i go in for any sort of service. so, if touchless car washes are to blame, why are they using them?

chrome trim repalcement-Help

Just had all of the chrome trim replaced on the car that had the problems. It seems that there was a long delay on receiving the rivets for the trim for VW.

I picked up the car from the dealer and when I returned home noticed that they had left all of the copper shavings from the spent rivets all over the seats and interior. It was at that point that I decided to inspect the rest of thier fine handywork.

I had purchased this vehicle because of the fine fit and finish that this car exemplified. After inspecting the car with it's new shiny chrome trim, it became evident that the fine fit and finsh no longer existed. Where the new rivets were installed are screwdiver marks from attempting to reinstate the rubber seal without success. At these areas the rubber trim sticks out approx 1/16". The upper rear window seals on both sides have not been re-installed correctly, and seem to be caught under neath the new trim in areas. The new trim seem to have been bashed into place sticking out from the car 1/8" in some places and 0" in others.

I returned to the dealer today so that the service advisor could inspect the work. As he was inspecting he pointed out that the passenger side installation was not as bad as the drivers side.

I have to return when the service mangager is there during the week.

Has anyopne else had a similar problem, or any advice on how I should approach this situation with VW.

Thanks.

Exactly the reason why I stress when I need service work done!

Brought the car back to the dealer. Waited a week for the promised call from the dealeship, and decided to just drive it there instead.
They were willing to give me new chrome trim pieces at no charge to rplace the ones that were installed poorly. They recommended that I take the chrome trim pieces and have it installed at a body shop at my cost.
They would not cover any additional installation costs!!
I explained to the service advisor that I did not create the chrome discolouration, I did not create the poor installation of the replacement parts, therefore how could I be responsible for the costs to make the car good??
The service advisor replied, "that is all that we can offer". I requested a contact for VW in head office to further my complaint and asked the advisor if this was the type of service that I should expect from their dealership. Of course he replied "NO", My response "Than why am I recieving this type of experience" He asked me to wait in the showroom and took my car intop the service bay. Apparently a factory rep[ from VW was there that whole time, and now they decided to shoe the problem to him. I watched as 5 technicians, 1 service advisor, 1 service manager, and 1 factory rep examined the car pointing out the spots where the rivets had pulled the new chrome trim. After 10 minutes of examination the service manager called me out to the car. I was advised that VWofA would not further warranty the shotty workmanship of the installation, but that the Dealership would cover the cost of replacement of two of the chrome pieces that appeared the worst. They could not guarantee that the new installation would be any better because this was the first car that they had ever done this to. They advised that the car could be sent out to a reputable body shop theat they were aware of. There the new pices could be in stalled by someone that actually knew what they were doing. The only down side to that is that if the pieces are installed outside of VW, the pieces will no longer hold any type of warranty. Long story short, If the new chrome pieces discolor than I am SOL.

If I knew that this process was going to be so involved, I would have driven the car with the crap colored chrome pieces.
This car will never go back to that service department.
Problem is that I do not know where to take it, Are all service department this sloppy and unaccountable for their actions?

I guess I will have to start servicing the damn thing myself.

VW making their own bed!

People get mad at me when I make this (continued) post, but this is why VW will be out of the U.S. market in 5 years. Heck, oil changes are less money for my Mercedes that at the "Dub" dealership! When the Japanese bring in their common rail diesels (Mazda6) its "aufwiedersehen" VW!

BRUSSELS BELGIAN said:

People get mad at me when I make this (continued) post, but this is why VW will be out of the U.S. market in 5 years. Heck, oil changes are less money for my Mercedes that at the "Dub" dealership! When the Japanese bring in their common rail diesels (Mazda6) its "aufwiedersehen" VW!

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vw certainly doesn't make friends by treating their customers like idiots and giving them poor service at every turn. you rarely hear a good service story.

as far as treating us like idiots, i simply wanted to change the battery in one of my remotes. what does the manual say? "take it to the dealer." harumph!

kconnell said:

Brought the car back to the dealer. <snip>
The service advisor replied, "that is all that we can offer". <snip> I was advised that VWofA would not further warranty the shotty workmanship of the installation, but that the Dealership would cover the cost of replacement of two of the chrome pieces that appeared the worst. <snip> The only down side to that is that if the pieces are installed outside of VW, the pieces will no longer hold any type of warranty. Long story short, If the new chrome pieces discolor than I am SOL.<snip>

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I have one word: Attorney.
I'm not a litigious person by any measure, but this dealer and the importer (VW Canada? I'm going by your location ID here) need to have their attention gotten.

BRUSSELS BELGIAN said:

People get mad at me when I make this (continued) post, but this is why VW will be out of the U.S. market in 5 years.

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I've heard the same sort of prediction with regard to VW and the US market for 20 years. Problem is: We keep buying them!
It's like I've told others: VW ownership is a self-inflicted wound.

kconnell said:

Brought the car back to the dealer. Waited a week for the promised call from the dealeship, and decided to just drive it there instead.
They were willing to give me new chrome trim pieces at no charge to rplace the ones that were installed poorly. They recommended that I take the chrome trim pieces and have it installed at a body shop at my cost.
They would not cover any additional installation costs!!
I explained to the service advisor that I did not create the chrome discolouration, I did not create the poor installation of the replacement parts, therefore how could I be responsible for the costs to make the car good??
The service advisor replied, "that is all that we can offer". I requested a contact for VW in head office to further my complaint and asked the advisor if this was the type of service that I should expect from their dealership. Of course he replied "NO", My response "Than why am I recieving this type of experience" He asked me to wait in the showroom and took my car intop the service bay. Apparently a factory rep[ from VW was there that whole time, and now they decided to shoe the problem to him. I watched as 5 technicians, 1 service advisor, 1 service manager, and 1 factory rep examined the car pointing out the spots where the rivets had pulled the new chrome trim. After 10 minutes of examination the service manager called me out to the car. I was advised that VWofA would not further warranty the shotty workmanship of the installation, but that the Dealership would cover the cost of replacement of two of the chrome pieces that appeared the worst. They could not guarantee that the new installation would be any better because this was the first car that they had ever done this to. They advised that the car could be sent out to a reputable body shop theat they were aware of. There the new pices could be in stalled by someone that actually knew what they were doing. The only down side to that is that if the pieces are installed outside of VW, the pieces will no longer hold any type of warranty. Long story short, If the new chrome pieces discolor than I am SOL.

If I knew that this process was going to be so involved, I would have driven the car with the crap colored chrome pieces.
This car will never go back to that service department.
Problem is that I do not know where to take it, Are all service department this sloppy and unaccountable for their actions?

I guess I will have to start servicing the damn thing myself.

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I would suggest that you seriously look at taking the car to a different dealer. There is obviously some serious problems with how they have treated you as a customer. Do you not get the 2 day later VW Canada customer call? I keep on getting them. I see from your profile you are in Dundas, you may want to drive for a hour and go to Crosby VW. They seem to be a decent dealer. I had some trim problems with my 04 passat and they took care of it right away and no questions asked.

Just a suggestion

Chris

Exactly why I don't want a new Passat or any other new car nowadays. Those of us that have had a few cars in our lifetime remember why we got away from chrome in the first place .
Chrome sucks