Mitral
Active member
I purchased my 2013 VW Jetta SportWagen TDI in March of it's production year. I had been driving a 2011 Chevy Suburban about 40K miles a year for work, so you can imagine my relief to own a vehicle that had ample cargo space as 3 - 4 times the fuel economy. I had owned dozens of Japanese vehicles over the decades and a few American made vehicles, but this was my first European vehicle. Why Americans love sedans so much I'll never know, but I digress.....
I was extremely happy with my decision, quickly falling in love with a Golf which is the peoples car but also a car with fit, finish and quality of a car that far exceeded it's class. The previous "people's car" I owned were different generation civics, and in my opinion there is not much comparison. I tinted the windows, installed a Frost Heater for those cold North Dakota winter nights, and bought a second set of VW rims. Winters on one set, All Seasons on the second. I loved that I didn't have to reprogram TMPSs every time I switched them out. Just hit the reset button and you're good to go!! I even got my first personalized license plate ever! JSW TDI All in all, I probably put about 3K in accessories into the Vehicle. This was a car I was going to own for a long long time......
A couple years later, and I'm still as happy with my Golf TDI as ever. I purchase kits from IDParts.com and do my own oil and filter changes. How awesome it was to change the oil by sucking the oil right out of the dipstick tube! doing a full oil change without having to lay on the cold cement floor in the dead of winter was a dream come true!!! I was making money from my employers reimbursement program because the Golf TDI was so economical. I wish I would have made the decision much much earlier.
By late 2015, my job had changed and I was driving less. I was still racking up some decent milage of 20K/year, but the 40K/year days we're long gone. I started getting the itch for another vehicle and quickly turned my gaze towards the Golf GTI. I had never had a performance oriented car, reserving that category for motorcycles. But my love of the Golf never wained, and the thought of having a performance version of the car I enjoyed so much pushed me into the dealerships again. Then September 2015 hits.
I obviously wasn't going to be able to sell the TDI right away, but since I had just started looking at a replacement, I was in no hurry. Little did I know that it would take another 18 months for VW to figure things out along with making it through the court system. Once I decided to replace the TDI, 18 months seems like an eternity. I'd drive through dealers once or twice a month during that time, telling them I'll buy one of their Golfs as soon as they figure out what to do with my TDI. Time stretched on, and like so many here on these forums, an end resolution seemed like it would never come. Frustration setting in during that time period is an understatement.
Once I get a rough time frame of my TDI buyback, I order a Golf GTI SE with driver assist. Who would have thought that such a simple package doesn't not exist on the entire continent!!! I have to special order a build from Mexico, and it would take 6 - 8 weeks. Well, no worry. I waited this long, whats another 2 months? I place the order, and submit my buyback paperwork, get it notorized and wait for final approval. I order the GTI around Thanksgiving and it should be here late February to mid March. Once I get the TDI settlement complete, I make a buyback appointment for March 18 assuming the GTI should already be on the lot by that time. This was the earliest I could have made the appointment.
March 17 rolls around and I'm set to sell the TDI finally. Unfortunately, the GTI still hasn't arrived in Houston and may not be at the dealer until mid to late April. I call the TDI settlement customer support desk and ask them if I can reschedule the appointment to closer to when the GTI will arrive. It doesn't need to be the same day, but if it could at least be the same week, that would make things much easier. Their response was " you can cancel your buyback appointment but you'll have to go to the back of the que and reschedule another appointment. They're 2 months out". So basically I'd have to wait until mid May to sell the TDI when the GTI should arrive any week!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!? I decide to sell the TDI while I have the appointment and just be patient.
It turns out that the delay on the vehicle is because VW no longer "trucks" sold orders like it used to. years past, the dealer stock would be shipped via railcar, which takes 6-8 weeks but a sold order (customer at dealer waiting for car) would be trucked to the dealer from Houston which would only take 2-3 days. In order to save money post Dieselgate Scandal, VW eliminated trucking sold orders. Basically sticking it to the consumer to save $300.
To add insult to injury, the buyback representative didn't get an estimated payoff amount on my loan from VW credit. I had used the October 2016 payoff amount in the original worksheet. Obviously a March 2017 payoff amount is much less. He was extremely diligent in updating milage, but completely negligent in updating a payoff amount, despite my repeated requests. His response was that they would just cut a check to me right away with the over amount of the payoff, in my case $1750.
When I called VW a few days after the buyback asking where my funds were, their response was that the funds would be placed on hold for 3 weeks and it would take another 2 weeks to actually cut the check, and then just sent standard mail which could take another 3 - 5 days. ARE YOU @#$% KIDDING ME?!?!?!?! After numerous phones calls, the answer remains the same. Sorry sir .... this is our policy. No exceptions....
Ive ranted far to long already but bottom line is
- We all had to wait 18 months for a TDI resolution which was far to long.
- Despite being in the minority and actually choosing a VW POST Diesel scandal, VW does NOTHING to accommodate the customer to get them into a new VW. It was literally impossible for VW to work with the new car order in scheduling the TDI buyback.
- If you are going to hold funds for over a month, every attempt should be made to get an estimated payoff amount the week before the appointment. I've never heard of an institution holding funds that long, particularly of an amount like that.
I've looked at every auto manufacturer to find a replacement for a Golf GTI but unfortunately in this country there really are none. I'm still going to give my business to VW only because of the Golf GTI but I pray that another car manufacturer brings some competition soon. I look forward to the day that VW is in my rear view mirror.
Thanks for reading and letting me vent!
Cheers!
I was extremely happy with my decision, quickly falling in love with a Golf which is the peoples car but also a car with fit, finish and quality of a car that far exceeded it's class. The previous "people's car" I owned were different generation civics, and in my opinion there is not much comparison. I tinted the windows, installed a Frost Heater for those cold North Dakota winter nights, and bought a second set of VW rims. Winters on one set, All Seasons on the second. I loved that I didn't have to reprogram TMPSs every time I switched them out. Just hit the reset button and you're good to go!! I even got my first personalized license plate ever! JSW TDI All in all, I probably put about 3K in accessories into the Vehicle. This was a car I was going to own for a long long time......
A couple years later, and I'm still as happy with my Golf TDI as ever. I purchase kits from IDParts.com and do my own oil and filter changes. How awesome it was to change the oil by sucking the oil right out of the dipstick tube! doing a full oil change without having to lay on the cold cement floor in the dead of winter was a dream come true!!! I was making money from my employers reimbursement program because the Golf TDI was so economical. I wish I would have made the decision much much earlier.
By late 2015, my job had changed and I was driving less. I was still racking up some decent milage of 20K/year, but the 40K/year days we're long gone. I started getting the itch for another vehicle and quickly turned my gaze towards the Golf GTI. I had never had a performance oriented car, reserving that category for motorcycles. But my love of the Golf never wained, and the thought of having a performance version of the car I enjoyed so much pushed me into the dealerships again. Then September 2015 hits.
I obviously wasn't going to be able to sell the TDI right away, but since I had just started looking at a replacement, I was in no hurry. Little did I know that it would take another 18 months for VW to figure things out along with making it through the court system. Once I decided to replace the TDI, 18 months seems like an eternity. I'd drive through dealers once or twice a month during that time, telling them I'll buy one of their Golfs as soon as they figure out what to do with my TDI. Time stretched on, and like so many here on these forums, an end resolution seemed like it would never come. Frustration setting in during that time period is an understatement.
Once I get a rough time frame of my TDI buyback, I order a Golf GTI SE with driver assist. Who would have thought that such a simple package doesn't not exist on the entire continent!!! I have to special order a build from Mexico, and it would take 6 - 8 weeks. Well, no worry. I waited this long, whats another 2 months? I place the order, and submit my buyback paperwork, get it notorized and wait for final approval. I order the GTI around Thanksgiving and it should be here late February to mid March. Once I get the TDI settlement complete, I make a buyback appointment for March 18 assuming the GTI should already be on the lot by that time. This was the earliest I could have made the appointment.
March 17 rolls around and I'm set to sell the TDI finally. Unfortunately, the GTI still hasn't arrived in Houston and may not be at the dealer until mid to late April. I call the TDI settlement customer support desk and ask them if I can reschedule the appointment to closer to when the GTI will arrive. It doesn't need to be the same day, but if it could at least be the same week, that would make things much easier. Their response was " you can cancel your buyback appointment but you'll have to go to the back of the que and reschedule another appointment. They're 2 months out". So basically I'd have to wait until mid May to sell the TDI when the GTI should arrive any week!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!? I decide to sell the TDI while I have the appointment and just be patient.
It turns out that the delay on the vehicle is because VW no longer "trucks" sold orders like it used to. years past, the dealer stock would be shipped via railcar, which takes 6-8 weeks but a sold order (customer at dealer waiting for car) would be trucked to the dealer from Houston which would only take 2-3 days. In order to save money post Dieselgate Scandal, VW eliminated trucking sold orders. Basically sticking it to the consumer to save $300.
To add insult to injury, the buyback representative didn't get an estimated payoff amount on my loan from VW credit. I had used the October 2016 payoff amount in the original worksheet. Obviously a March 2017 payoff amount is much less. He was extremely diligent in updating milage, but completely negligent in updating a payoff amount, despite my repeated requests. His response was that they would just cut a check to me right away with the over amount of the payoff, in my case $1750.
When I called VW a few days after the buyback asking where my funds were, their response was that the funds would be placed on hold for 3 weeks and it would take another 2 weeks to actually cut the check, and then just sent standard mail which could take another 3 - 5 days. ARE YOU @#$% KIDDING ME?!?!?!?! After numerous phones calls, the answer remains the same. Sorry sir .... this is our policy. No exceptions....
Ive ranted far to long already but bottom line is
- We all had to wait 18 months for a TDI resolution which was far to long.
- Despite being in the minority and actually choosing a VW POST Diesel scandal, VW does NOTHING to accommodate the customer to get them into a new VW. It was literally impossible for VW to work with the new car order in scheduling the TDI buyback.
- If you are going to hold funds for over a month, every attempt should be made to get an estimated payoff amount the week before the appointment. I've never heard of an institution holding funds that long, particularly of an amount like that.
I've looked at every auto manufacturer to find a replacement for a Golf GTI but unfortunately in this country there really are none. I'm still going to give my business to VW only because of the Golf GTI but I pray that another car manufacturer brings some competition soon. I look forward to the day that VW is in my rear view mirror.
Thanks for reading and letting me vent!
Cheers!
); 2013 Dodge Cummins