Timing chain or belt?

I can't seem to get a consistent response from the dealers.
Does the passat tdi have a timing chain or timing belt?

Thanks
TXvw

Belt and it needs to be changed at 130K

Thanks. Amazing how some dealers can be misleading.

Misleading? How about incompetent...and dangerous...and...stooopid...

TXvw: Who at the dealer did you ask? Ignore the sales staff. Service advisor? If he/she doesn't know, ask to speak directly with a TDI tech...not just any tech, a TDI tech. If HE doesn't know, you should steer clear of said dealer and look elsewhere...or consider buying a different car.

At some point, you will require "warranty" work, and if they don't know the difference between a timing chain and a timing belt, and are unwilling to find out (!) you don't want them working on your car.

That's my opinion.

Right on. Many thanks for the advice.

You'll be amazed.. The service advisor said "timing chain" the sales guys of a different dealer said timing belt.

I walked in wanting to order a 2013 model for August delivery only to find out that the TDI SE 6mt will not have climatronic!!!! For 2013. I am told it will look like the Jetta knobs.
So I am now looking in the 2012 inventory....

Tdilast, are there specific TDI techs? The dealer we are buying our Passat from says they have experienced technicians, who are familiar with TDI's, but I'd like to pin them down if there are certifed TDI techs. Thanks!

Sadly, no such thing as "TDI Certified" from VWoA. However, I would insist that ALL work done at a VW dealership be done by a "Certified Master Technician", certified by what I've been told is the "VW Academy". That tech has all the classroom training to work on a TDI. Ideally, he also has many hours of hands-on experience with the TDI.

It's quite possible that there are VW Service departments that have NO VW Certified Master Technicians, according to my service advisor at Marten's VW.

TXvw said:

Right on. Many thanks for the advice.

You'll be amazed.. The service advisor said "timing chain" the sales guys of a different dealer said timing belt.

I walked in wanting to order a 2013 model for August delivery only to find out that the TDI SE 6mt will not have climatronic!!!! For 2013. I am told it will look like the Jetta knobs.
So I am now looking in the 2012 inventory....

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Wow, that would be a blessing... I'm not too fond of my climatronic in my TDI SE 6 man. Frankly, I don't believe a word they are saying, until I see it with my own two eyes. I'd take a wait and see attitude before putting any money down, or buy some existing inventory so you know ahead exactly what you are getting.

You can always find out what kind of timing arrangement a VW has by opening up the warranty and service handbook in the glovebox, and going in the back and looking to see at which service mileage they recommend changing out either timing chain or timing belt.

I don't use the climatronic one bit, standard operation/knobs would be just fine with me.

Semantics.

tell me honestly OP...you walked into a dealer...you went to the SERVICE dept and they did not know that your 2.0liter TDI Passat had a T-belt?? I am having a hard time believing this...sorry...

tdi90hp said:

tell me honestly OP...you walked into a dealer...you went to the SERVICE dept and they did not know that your 2.0liter TDI Passat had a T-belt?? I am having a hard time believing this...sorry...

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Having dealt with a few VW service departments... I find it totally believable. I don't know how it is in Canada, but VWoA doesn't car what sort of service level their dealers provide. I have been told by VWoA, "if you have an issue with the dealer, take it up with the owner they are independent companies." So having idiots run the place is not at all surprising. They couldn't even change an air filter with out screwing it up. The dealership I bought my Golf from was a subject in a MBA course, in how to not to run a business.

Requesting to have your TDI worked on only by a Master Tech is living in a fairy tale... Master techs are far and between in dealerships. There are just too many VWs around to have your TDI serviced only by a Master.

I've worked for multiple VW dealerships and although VWoA has standards that they want their dealerships to maintain regarding tech training, the real life situation is far from what VW wants.

Dealer principles are often cheap and don't send their techs on training (because it costs alot of money), it's starting to change but it's far from perfect.

And frankly I know more than one Master Tech that are complete incompetents, the reality of training is that some people are sent on course but don't care or want to learn but are credited with the course credits at the end of the 4days. Over time they just become Masters by being pushed by their service managers.

I've seen younger 25yr old techs that were actually passionate about VWs, that read up and worked on them that knew more than masters. You don't need a master, you need a good tech. Finding one is hard.

not sure about all of VWs trainning but some manufactures traning is a joke depending on the class and material accoring to my good friend and personal mechanic. he is previously a Ford MAster mechanic, was the torq-shift specialist for the local ford dealership for about 6 years, now a toyota master mechanic, has been able to dianose my issues via the phone many times with other vehicles (both my own and friends/familys) and as soon as the free service is up he will be doing all the work on this one too. i will purchase all filters frm the dealership and maintain reciepts/records for warranty/resale purposes but still trust him more than any other to work on my vehicles.

Sure there are master techs! They are gurus on here like Oil Hammer and others. They just don't work for VW.

David@OttoStadt said:

Requesting to have your TDI worked on only by a Master Tech is living in a fairy tale... Master techs are far and between in dealerships. There are just too many VWs around to have your TDI serviced only by a Master.

I've worked for multiple VW dealerships and although VWoA has standards that they want their dealerships to maintain regarding tech training, the real life situation is far from what VW wants.

Dealer principles are often cheap and don't send their techs on training (because it costs alot of money), it's starting to change but it's far from perfect.

And frankly I know more than one Master Tech that are complete incompetents, the reality of training is that some people are sent on course but don't care or want to learn but are credited with the course credits at the end of the 4days. Over time they just become Masters by being pushed by their service managers.

I've seen younger 25yr old techs that were actually passionate about VWs, that read up and worked on them that knew more than masters. You don't need a master, you need a good tech. Finding one is hard.

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I'm just glad I have access to 2 of them at Marten's...and I'm not the only one "living in a fairy tale"!! I will happily change over to a qualified guru when necessary, and both cars are out of warranty. Meanwhile, I'm benefitting from a good relationship with the dealer(s), showing my respect for them because of their quality, and recommending them to others.

I also make them aware, in every conversation with them, that they are the exception to the rule, and that this is why VWoA will continue to struggle in the NA market.

David@OttoStadt said:

Requesting to have your TDI worked on only by a Master Tech is living in a fairy tale... Master techs are far and between in dealerships. There are just too many VWs around to have your TDI serviced only by a Master.

I've worked for multiple VW dealerships and although VWoA has standards that they want their dealerships to maintain regarding tech training, the real life situation is far from what VW wants.

Dealer principles are often cheap and don't send their techs on training (because it costs alot of money), it's starting to change but it's far from perfect.

And frankly I know more than one Master Tech that are complete incompetents, the reality of training is that some people are sent on course but don't care or want to learn but are credited with the course credits at the end of the 4days. Over time they just become Masters by being pushed by their service managers.

I've seen younger 25yr old techs that were actually passionate about VWs, that read up and worked on them that knew more than masters. You don't need a master, you need a good tech. Finding one is hard.

Click to expand...

what complete BS....when the manufacturer has courses the techs are MANDATED to take the training depending on their specialty of course. The DP cannot weasle out of sending them or they cant be certified on that work.... The techs ARE getting the training. I also have spent 20 years running stores. The difference is the interest level of the tech...but is that any different with the independents? NOPE....You said one smart thing...Find a good tech who likes you and is smart and you are most of the way to the promise land....

TomB said:

Sure there are master techs! They are gurus on here like Oil Hammer and others. They just don't work for VW.

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WRONG. There are hundreds of great techs at dealerships. you are flat wrong. please dont try to paint this industry with one stroke until you go spend years in the industry....most techs work hard and get a good job done. it's not easy work and it's hard work but there are many Gurus in and out of stores. Please get your facts right before attacking the whole industry.

I agree to disagree on that one.

Without naming perticular dealerships I know of some that techs were sent on 1-2 training courses in a 5year span (when VW says 1 minimum a year) and on top of that they didn't do the online training they were supposed to do. (because they were supposed to do it on their time at home - hence not getting paid)

It's changing now this year for that dealership because VW put forth incentives attached to certification. But for the past years noone (apart from 2 older masters that the boss liked) were sent on course. He didn't believe in training he said, he believed in experience gotten by getting the work.

You should have seen the guys put direct 12v to BEW glow plugs (that are PWM) or check for 12v at a Tiguan A/C compressor (that is also Pulse width modulated). Lack of training.

It's not because it doesn't happen in your store that is doesn't happen anywhere else, get your head out of your a**.

I've worked in 5 different dealers in the past 12years and it's not all fine and great when it comes to training/competence. Both yes from lack of interest by some techs and DP.

My initial comment was regarding: "ask for a master to work your TDI". With all the TDIs going around (and all other VWs) not every single TDI owner can walk in and demand a Master to work on their cars, it's just impossible for that to happen.

And BTW I'm NOT saying there aren't good techs in dealerships.

My comment is that not all masters are irrefutably the best.

The relevant point about the mechanics / techs is that the dealer is responsible (my italics). Independently owned dealers are universal in the automobile world, as far as I know. So the dealer (or indie, if that's the option) must be a major factor in anyone's equation. I taught for 32 years, and adults, like students, will generally work up to expectations.

As an example, I will cite our SAAB dealer of 29 years, defunct since '01. It was a tiny dealership in a tiny Indiana town (Gibson Motors in Perrysville, if it matters). The best year in the entire history of the dealership was sometime in the 1980's when they sold 52 cars. That's an average of one car a week, if you noticed. What kept them open from 1958 until 2001? Service. They had home-boy mechanics who lived in and around that tiny town, and worked on nothing but SAABs. People came from long distances (I personally witnessed MN, TX) to have their cars worked on. There were only five people working in the entire dealership: the owner/salesman, a part-time parts guy, and three mechanics- two veterans and a part-timer. The mechanics were paid adequately, sent to all the schools, and with such a small number of people, everyone knew that it was the knowledgeable and expert service that kept the doors open.

What a load of absolute CRAP!

I am a career Master Certified Sales Person for Volkswagen. Admittedly new salespeople are rushed out onto Sales floors across the country, but any well trained rep in any good VW Dealer is absolutely going to either be able to answer your technical questions or ask someone like me who will know. If you find a dealer that does not offer that level of expertise, or gives false information, report it to VW IMMEDIATELY. These stores are rare and do nothing but make it harder for the rest of us to be treated with the respect we have worked so hard to achieve.

VW has made a concerted effort to change the way that its cars are sold in the US. Using state of the art Training and the toughest Customer Satisfaction surveys in the industry to improve every single customer contact, whether it be a simple tech question , or a complete walk around and break down of any new model.

Todays VW Salesperson is the most knowledgeable Automotive Salesperson ever seen in the industry and will only get better as the industry continues to evolve. The days of the stupid and shifty salesperson are over. The advent of the internet along with todays extremely tough job market are combining to make Auto Sales jobs the most sought after around and more and more of these people, once they are hired decide to make this a career. The companies that own these dealerships are getting bigger and bigger, owning more and more franchises which means the stores are becoming corporate in every way, which includes standardization of every aspect of their business. You cannot imagine the liability involved for a giant corporation if an untrained salesperson gives incorrect information to the buying public in this market especially considering the latigious nature of that buying public.

Blanket statements like the ones I have read here, might apply to a very small (and getting smaller every day) percentage of dealers out there, but I know for a fact you can walk into any big-city VW dealer in America today and expect to find masters. Sales People and Service techs.

I have been quietly reading these posts for years, and using them for information for my own betterment, but this one really got to me, so I finally joined. Happy to answer any questions anyone might have. I will try to stay involved as much as possible from now on if only to dispell these kind of ridiculous stereotyping of a VW Salesperson.

Welcome aboard, Donnie.