Dealer playing hardball, are they right?

2015TDIManual · Jul 12, 2017

I have been battling back and forth with my dealership and they are playing hardball about my warrenty coverage. I feel they are wrong but would like to see what you guys and gals think.

Car is a 2015 VW Jetta TDI SEL 6 speed manual, has just shy of 44000 miles on the clock. As of recently I have been getting a check engine light along with a flashing glow plug light. They have been on and off twice now. I have VDCS and used that to pull the codes in which there was one code. P(0697)-Sensor reference voltage C open circuit emissions related fault code.

I then left the code there without clearing it and made an appointment with my VW dealership. They took the car and scanned it saying they found a generic code and stated that they needed the car for atleast a full 8 hour day to further narrow down the problem. I said no problem as long as you provide me with a loaner car. They said they wernt going to because I didn't qualify for a loaner.

Personally I disagree because on the VW court settlement web site it states that any emissions related service the takes 3 hours or more VW will provide you with a loaner car. The extended emissions warrenty pamphlet that VW provided me with states on page 10 that the emissions warranty shall cover the following parts or systems and states a list including any malfunctions detected by the OBD system other than those related to the transmission.

What do you guys think?

turbobrick240 · Jul 12, 2017

I'd say they are obligated to provide you with a loaner vehicle. Personally, I'd take the car to a more accommodating dealership- if there is another nearby. Did you show them the pamphlet?

2015vwgolfdiesel · Jul 12, 2017

Hope this helps

The extended emissions warranty shall not void or supersede any existing warranty. Conflicts concerning the warranty are to be resolved in favor of the consumer. More information about your extended emissions warranty coverage is available at www.vwdiesellookup.com and in the customer letter we sent to you in January 2017

^^^^^^

GoFaster · Jul 12, 2017

Q: have you had the emissions fix done?

If YES then the warranty provisions listed above apply.

If NO then you are still subject to the original emissions warranty which doesn't cover much, and the original bumper to bumper which may have expired.

2015TDIManual · Jul 12, 2017

I showed them the pamphlet and they still didn't want to hear it. They stated that they don't know if it's an emissions related code or not and until they determine what's going on they will not give me a loaner.

I had stage 1 of the emissions fix completed about two months ago. I also brought up that section that says conflicts concerning the warrenty are to be resolved in favor of the customer and the service manager said I'm sorry but like I already said we can't do anything until we figure out what's going on.

Sad part is that this is the same dealership we purchased the car at.

drsven · Jul 12, 2017

I would reach out to VW online chat as a start. Sorry you're dealing with this, dealership customer loyalty and service really does seem nonexistent these days.

turbobrick240 · Jul 12, 2017

Which dealership? They sound like they could use some bad press.

The Tortoise · Jul 12, 2017

I was under the impression that the warranty also covered any fault detected by the OBD-II system, regardless if it's related to the emissions system or not.

The On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) system, including SCR DEF
quality sensor, and any malfunctions detected by the OBD systems
other than those related to the transmission.

Write an e-mail to VWoA and cc the dealership.

2015TDIManual · Jul 12, 2017

drsven said:
I would reach out to VW online chat as a start. Sorry you're dealing with this, dealership customer loyalty and service really does seem nonexistent these days.

So you guys aren't going to believe this, As soon as I left the service department I called The VW customer care # and explained everything that was going on to them. The lady I talked to said she needs to put me on hold and call her manager. After holding she comes back and asked me if the reason they wernt giving me a loaner car due to the fact they didn't have one or they just refused to do it. I walked into the dealership and asked the service manager of they had loaner cars available and he states they did. I told the VW Care lady they had loaners, she then told me that her manager stated I should qualify for a loaner vehicle because they need my car for a full 8 hour day. She also said that there was nothing more they could do that day but her manager would take care of it tomorrow and give me a call.

At this point I was pretty happy and felt I would be taken care of. Yesterday comes (the day the manager is supposed to get ahold of me) and I hear nothing from VW Customer Care so I call in asking to speak to the manager and was told that he is on the line with another customer and he would call me as soon as he is done. Four hours go by and no phone call, now they are closed for the night.

VW Customer Care manager calls me today and then totally changes his story about me qualifying for a loaner vehicle. States pretty much word for word what the dealership said so I know he was definitely in contact with them. He stated that that 3 hour or longer language only applied to the actual changing of the part and not the diagnosis of what the problem was. I told him About where it states the conflicts with the warrenty will be resolved in favor of the customer and he told me sorry but there is nothing we can do.

Not that a loaner car is even a big deal, it's just the whole concept of how this is being handled. Why should I have to make arrangements for transportation or pay a rental car company and spend money out of my own pocket? Good customer service is very rare anymore.

2015TDIManual · Jul 12, 2017

The Tortoise said:
I was under the impression that the warranty also covered any fault detected by the OBD-II system, regardless if it's related to the emissions system or not.

Write an e-mail to VWoA and cc the dealership.

What is VWoA email? I have been looking for it and have come up empty so far.

meerschm · Jul 12, 2017

My opinion:

VW "customer care" works for the dealership.

their only job is to get you into the dealer.

peterdaniel · Jul 12, 2017

My god what the hell is wrong with people today.. Give the man a damn loaner and be done with it.. Not a big deal at all but they are making it into a huge one. i agree, what is the name.. needs some bad press.

2015TDIManual · Jul 12, 2017

Preston VW of Boardman Ohio

fookin · Jul 12, 2017

I'm curious if the fix had anything to do with VW messing with or replacing the ECU.

I once had a glow plug light problem that wouldn't turn off when clicking the key to "ignition" which subsequently wouldn't allow the engine to start. It turned out to be a bad ECU that I had to replace (and luckily was able to use a donor car ECU which was coded to my car by a Audi authorized repair facility that had the VAS tool). I know that's not your issue but it's possible your problem relates to an ECU problem. I think.

turbobrick240 · Jul 12, 2017

Does the engine turn over quickly when starting? A weak battery or loose/dirty battery terminals can throw that code. Could be as simple as needing a new battery or tightening of the terminals.

y2kbird · Jul 12, 2017

can't you get the diesel settlement court/administrator involved? pushing the issue and not giving in could help set a precedent to help others on tdiclub

2015TDIManual · Jul 12, 2017

turbobrick240 said:
Does the engine turn over quickly when starting? A weak battery or loose/dirty battery terminals can throw that code. Could be as simple as needing a new battery or tightening of the terminals.

Seems to turn over fine but I will pay closer attention and get the battery load tested to make sure.

2015TDIManual · Jul 12, 2017

y2kbird said:
can't you get the diesel settlement court/administrator involved? pushing the issue and not giving in could help set a precedent to help others on tdiclub

Are you referring to the VWcourtsettlement.com? If so I have tried that and failed already. My next step is to write a letter to VWoA and see if I have any luck from there. If they could have been a little less arrogant and handle this a little more professionally I wouldn't have even worried about it but that's not the case so I'm going to do everything I can to try and get this resolved the fair way.

I called VWCustomer Care again and spoke with someone else. They stated the the diagnosis of the problem is not part of warrenty work. I asked them to show me where it says the in the paper work and they had no answer.

Locoelectrician · Jul 12, 2017

2015TDIManual said:
Preston VW of Boardman Ohio

Go to Dave Walter VW in Akron or Volkswagen of Streetsboro. Both excellent dealerships. Dave Walter is my preferred, but Streetsboro may be closer to you. If you go to Streetsboro, ask for Adam to work on your car. VW master tech and shop foreman. He’s the only person who has touched any of my VWs.

Locoelectrician · Jul 12, 2017

Also, for future reference when buying, both of the dealerships I mentioned offer full valet service if you buy from them. Check engine light comes on, you call them, and they drop off a loaner wherever you are and pick your car up. I’ve been over an hour away and they’ve done it without question.

2015vwgolfdiesel · Jul 12, 2017

2015TDIManual said:
Preston VW of Boardman Ohio

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Bad boys alert

y2kbird · Jul 12, 2017

Locoelectrician said:
Also, for future reference when buying, both of the dealerships I mentioned offer full valet service if you buy from them. Check engine light comes on, you call them, and they drop off a loaner wherever you are and pick your car up. I’ve been over an hour away and they’ve done it without question.

Wow, small world...and great timing on your post. I snagged VW of Streetsboro's last Jetta S TDI on Friday. Picked it up in the rain without a proper test drive. Brake pedal pulsates badly despite them going thru the official VW phase1 checklist. Now I know what service tech to ask for. I may end up testing the 'anywhere' part of the loaner pickup/dropoff service since I am 100 miles away....

Locoelectrician · Jul 12, 2017

2015vwgolfdiesel said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Bad boys alert

I hear their commercials everyday. Lowest price on the planet and can finance anyone. Never dealt with them and after reading this and having two other dealers I trust, never will. It’s a big company, that sells many other brands as well. Dave Walter sells VW and BMW. Both of which I am a fan of. VW of Streetsboro is a Bernie Moreno company that sells other brands as well, but they are a pain to negotiate with and refused to move even a penny on the NOS 2015s. They do however have the best tech in the business as far as I’m concerned. Adam is the guy you want working on your car.

Locoelectrician · Jul 12, 2017

y2kbird said:
Wow, small world...and great timing on your post. I snagged VW of Streetsboro's last Jetta S TDI on Friday. Picked it up in the rain without a proper test drive. Brake pedal pulsates badly despite them going thru the official VW phase1 checklist. I may end up testing the 'anywhere' part of the loaner pickup/dropoff service since I am 100 miles away....

Tell them you want Adam Ledford only to work on your car. He’s a strange creature, in the sense that he is honest and actually knows how to do this strange old world phenomenon of actually diagnosing a problem instead of just throwing parts at a car.

y2kbird · Jul 12, 2017

Locoelectrician said:
.... but they are a pain to negotiate with and refused to move even a penny on the NOS 2015s.

Totally opposite experience @ Streetsboro ..edited for brevity and to try to un-hijack this thread

Locoelectrician · Jul 12, 2017

y2kbird said:
Disagree. Googled sales mgr's name to avoid a sales person. A 5min call got me a car held 2 full weeks for my pickup convenience, $1250 off msrp, plus more off to waive most of the $250 "dealer fee" that I noticed while picking up. Only one of 3 leases I did that didn't mark up finance rate ,require a single penny down, and even set my first payment due date 45 days out instead of 30. He got a real kick out of helping me fax final lease payment docs in to VW on one of the other leases... and showing me the line item of rent charge that was getting charged back to that dealer.

I’m sure at this point they were getting pretty desperate to get rid of it, I bought my Passat on basically day one of the stop sale “release” at a higher discount then that from Dave Walter VW. Glad to hear you had a great experience though. I bought my 13 from them when they were Colection VW and nothing about them, other than the one guy I mentioned in the service department was favorable.

tdiDreaming · Jul 13, 2017

Warranty work or not

I've rarely had my dealership think twice about handing me a loaner for something that was going to take more than a couple of hours, even if it was random stuff. In the only exception I can think of, they opted to shuttle me to my office (and pick me back up!) even though it was slightly outside their normal route and I was perfectly fine with that.

To me, this has nothing to do with the nature of the actual problem with the car and is more of an issue with the dealership providing poor customer service which is a real shame.

If you can't get to another dealership that will accommodate you I would do as others have suggested and reach out to the Settlement Legal council.

CRSMP5 · Jul 13, 2017

2015TDIManual said:
Preston VW of Boardman Ohio

worthless place...

experiance #1 i got a 97 passat tdi in 07 for 1k cause they told the owner it needed a turbo.. i ask owner when intake cleaned last.. never did.. so i rell him i bet its all it needs... owner argued with me that dealer smarter then me.. i hand 1k over and drive car to shop... clean intake.. drove till ass plowed.. its now in a 82 caddy... still using that "bad turbo" 10 years later

experiance #2 98 cabrio... got towed to dealer as husband was in coma (else id have been called to resolve).. it had a old stored code of bad batt as husband had the oe batt fail one day.. had AAA put a new batt in in parking lot.. $$$ 3 mo later the coil failed.. vw also changed the batt for even more $$ then AAA did... due to a old stored code.. you would figure the tech would see the 3 mo old interstate in the car...

so in both cases preston was stealing $$ from customers on their inability to diagnoses or to pay attention.. they also refused to give the interstate back as it was not authorized to replace it.. but guys wife was having hard time at moment

2015TDIManual · Jul 13, 2017

Any idea how to reach out to the settlement legal team?

740GLE · Jul 13, 2017

2015TDIManual said:
So you guys aren't going to believe this, As soon as I left the service department I called The VW customer care # and explained everything that was going on to them. The lady I talked to said she needs to put me on hold and call her manager. After holding she comes back and asked me if the reason they wernt giving me a loaner car due to the fact they didn't have one or they just refused to do it. I walked into the dealership and asked the service manager of they had loaner cars available and he states they did. I told the VW Care lady they had loaners, she then told me that her manager stated I should qualify for a loaner vehicle because they need my car for a full 8 hour day. She also said that there was nothing more they could do that day but her manager would take care of it tomorrow and give me a call.
At this point I was pretty happy and felt I would be taken care of. Yesterday comes (the day the manager is supposed to get ahold of me) and I hear nothing from VW Customer Care so I call in asking to speak to the manager and was told that he is on the line with another customer and he would call me as soon as he is done. Four hours go by and no phone call, now they are closed for the night.
VW Customer Care manager calls me today and then totally changes his story about me qualifying for a loaner vehicle. States pretty much word for word what the dealership said so I know he was definitely in contact with them. He stated that that 3 hour or longer language only applied to the actual changing of the part and not the diagnosis of what the problem was. I told him About where it states the conflicts with the warrenty will be resolved in favor of the customer and he told me sorry but there is nothing we can do.
Not that a loaner car is even a big deal, it's just the whole concept of how this is being handled. Why should I have to make arrangements for transportation or pay a rental car company and spend money out of my own pocket? Good customer service is very rare anymore.

Sounds just like thew 180 I got from VW customer care when Quirk VW stated the pads were replaced on our '15 Passat before picking up but weren't even touched.

Word for word from the salesman "You guys are lucky the we just ran out of brakes for the Passats" this was the night of signing for the car on April 29th (obviously rushed to pad their end of the month sales as was still dirty AF). When pointed out to the sales manager 4 days later, he said it was miscommunication and it was my fault for interrupting what the salesman stated.

Spoke to VW CC they said it shouldn't be like that, they will part the seas to make customers, they just need to talk to the dealership. Heard back from regional CC rep, and told me to pound sand, any further issue I have is between me and the sales department, there are no issues with the car and thus they can't do anything. After asking if this shim shame type of sales tactics is what VW wants their dealership representing of their brand, what kind of trust is this trying to rebuild with customers, he gave the equivalent of a shurg over the phone.

Needless to say won't be shopping for anything at Quirk VW anymore (except for their online parts site has really good discounts). There's 4 other dealerships in the area.

As a side bar, there are nothing wrong with the brakes other than surface rust and 2 years of sitting outside. It was the statement they would be replaced and then a statement inferring they were replaced were bold face lies, that got under my skin, and wouldn't admit to anything wrong.

Best of luck

Dealer playing hardball, are they right?

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