Sunroof leaks - new headliner, drain tubes and rear cargo carpet on the way.

So this past week a flat tire resulted in a flat bed tow to the dealership (wheel lock key missing), 4 new tires and discovery of a solid 3-4" of water sitting in the spare tire well. I knew of the known sunroof drain issues on these cars so I checked my spare tire well occasionally for the first 4-5 months of ownership during our summer rainy season and it was always dry so figured I was in clear as I actively avoid parking under trees and the roof system generally stays quite clean.

Anyhow after some diagnosis by VW dealer they called me to tell me they are ordering a new headliner, 4 new drain tubes and carpet and padding for the rear cargo compartment. Honestly I thought they were just going to clean the drains, dry out the spare tire well and send me on my way but apparently it is worse than I anticipated. I was not going to question it so just left it with a request for them to buzz me once the parts are in.

While I am glad for the CPO and only having to pay $50 out of pocket for each repair visit, the downtime for the repairs is nothing to be excited about. The pano sunshade and RCV valve repairs had my car in the shop for 2.5 days and the headliner, drain tubes and carpet they told me to anticipate at least a full day in the shop if not 1.5 days.

I will say if any of the other mothballed TDI's that were resold as CPO are as much of a basket case as my '12, VW is probably kicking themselves for not just scrapping them and calling it a day. Once this repair is complete I am probably up to at least $2500 in CPO repairs and I still have ~14 months of CPO warranty left. But hey they decided to sell some of these as 2 year/unlimited mileage CPO so I am not going to feel bad one bit if I have any further claims.

03GolfTDI said:

So this past week a flat tire resulted in a flat bed tow to the dealership (wheel lock key missing), 4 new tires and discovery of a solid 3-4" of water sitting in the spare tire well.

Anyhow after some diagnosis by VW dealer they called me to tell me they are ordering a new headliner, 4 new drain tubes and carpet and padding for the rear cargo compartment.

While I am glad for the CPO and only having to pay $50 out of pocket for each repair visit.

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CPO didn't cover the tow, lock key and 4 new tires, did they?

Consider yourself VERY fortunate they covered not only the leak repair but EVERY other part faulted by the leak. I have not heard of anyone (myself included) getting CPO or other coverage on a leak repair, unless its a cracked frame. They fall back on "owner responsible to maintain clogged drains". Count your blessings and bring a dozen doughnuts next time you visit!

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

CPO didn't cover the tow, lock key and 4 new tires, did they?

Consider yourself VERY fortunate they covered not only the leak repair but EVERY other part faulted by the leak. I have not heard of anyone (myself included) getting CPO or other coverage on a leak repair, unless its a cracked frame. They fall back on "owner responsible to maintain clogged drains". Count your blessings and bring a dozen doughnuts next time you visit!

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CPO has roadside assistance so they did cover the tow because the wheel key was not provided at purchase, surprisingly with no argument. The $86 to get the wheel locks off and regular lugs put on I am patiently awaiting a check from the selling dealer which they did not argue too much on reimbursement. Tires naturally were on me - the Michelins were pretty worn and somewhat dry rotted from time in purgatory so it was time anyways.

Like you I was absolutely SHOCKED when they told me they were replacing all the things they are planning on replacing. I use that dealer for my regular service (both cars) and they are same dealer that did the pano sunshade and A/C RCV valve on my 2012 so they know me and we have pretty good relationship. I am VERY fortunate they are the closest dealer to me and have a very highly rated service department.

I just may bring a few dozen doughnuts in when I have to drop it off once the parts come in. Thanks for recommend on that - those are the things I tend to not think about until after things are said and done.

My car is in the shop now (CPO) for a cracked pano frame. I'm expecting it to be ready today/tomorrow, which will be ~2 weeks since I dropped it off.

91foxbody said:

My car is in the shop now (CPO) for a cracked pano frame. I'm expecting it to be ready today/tomorrow, which will be ~2 weeks since I dropped it off.

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Was it just a leak issue or anything else alerting you to have it checked?

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

Was it just a leak issue or anything else alerting you to have it checked?

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I noticed a leak; the car has WeatherTech mats and I found a puddle on the front passenger floor after a steady rain day.

Well my car was dropped off on Monday for dealer to start work yesterday and was only supposed to take the day for me to pickup that night.

Well low and behold my service advisor called me about 3PM yesterday and told me he was setting me up with a rental because it would not be done and he had no ETA on completion . Well picked up a base 2020 Nissan Altima 2.5S this morning and the dealer booked me in the rental through Friday evening.

I have no clue what is happening as I stupidly got wrapped up in work today and did not call for an update. While its nice having a rental I would honestly rather be in my own car.

So final update for now......

Just got my car back after a full 7 days in the shop (last Tuesday AM to yesterday PM), I could not wait to turn in that Altima. The interior work was completed after 3 days but they damaged my front passenger door (thankfully they take pictures when they check your car in) so last 4 days were spent in their body shop.

So after some looking over - new carpet for front and back floorboards (guessing it is one piece), new headliner and 4 new sunroof drains. Let me just say the fit and finish is nowhere near factory, unfortunately it was still dark out when I picked my car up so the terrible fitment was not evident until later in the day.

1) They somehow broke my ASR button, they had to remove the center console for the carpet so must have been broken at some point during that process. Its stuck in a downward position but ASR is not deactivated so on the bright side.

2). The carpet is not fully underneath the passenger side sills leaving large 1-1.5" gaps in the rear and a small section of carpet not fully seated in front.

3) Where the A-pillars meet the dashboard there used to be no gap - now there is probably a ¼" gap on each side.

Nothing worth immediately turning around and bringing it back, an email to my service advisor noting the issues is going to have to suffice for now and see where they want to go. I can live with the carpet issues and the gaps in the dashboard but definitely want the ASR switch fixed.

So this time I actually glanced at the warranty copy of my service invoice - this CPO visit is costing VWoA $2,577 + 7 days rental car $307. Add in the new pano sunroof shade, RCV valve and the drivers vent that were done previously, lets say conservatively $15,00 I am at probably at $4.5k+ in CPO repairs if not more on a car I bought for $9.5k. Hoofta - definitely glad for that CPO, VWoA is probably going to start denying CPO claims on my car.

and the saga continues. Picked my car up yesterday - we had some pretty decent rain early this morning and into my morning commute.

Water soaked drivers side headliner, a-pillar trim and water just dripping out of the bottom and side of the dash by the hood release. So she is back at the dealer again with no ETA.

They put me in a loaner 2020 Tiguan S - much better than the 2020 Altima 2.5S I had last go around. Will say the 2.0T Budack engine feels absolutely gutless in normal throttle driving, only had to get on it once (~½-⅔ go pedal) and it has a Jekyll and Hyde personality once it kicks out of economy mode. Definitely tuned for best fuel economy.

Figure a quick update would be in order - still without my car.

Should be ready by Monday (2/24) - mind you I dropped it of on 2/3. 3 weeks in the shop for a leaky panoramic roof.

Second repair attempt is another new headliner, new sunroof seals and it is back in the body shop to 'smooth some factory welds down'. At this point I just don't even call for updates and just wait for them to call me, I have this nice 2020 Tiguan loaner that I am just paying gas for so I am good.

Final update until it rains next.

Picked up my car today (2/25) - 3 weeks in. They replaced headliner again, all the drains tested fine so they replaced the exterior gasket (the fuzzy one that seals against the glass panels). Lots of sawdust like debris inside my car (figure they were scraping glue off) - but they claim it to be fixed.

Pros:

- Pano sunroof is quiet even over the roughest of roads.

- Exterior seal does not have that sun damaged rubber look anymore.

- Headliner is the factory gray (see con below on A/B/C/D pillars)

Cons:

- A/B/C/D pillars are a slightly darker shade of gray than headliner, not hugely noticeable unless you look for it.

- Carpet is not fully tucked into the passenger side door sills. I don't feel like having them take my car another 2-3 weeks to fix this, its livable. Its 2 very small areas where the carpet is not fully seated underneath the plastic sill.

- Car needs a detail now. There is basically rubber/glue sawdust in all the nooks and crannies of my car from I am guessing the seal replacement. I had no energy to dispute them on this after they have had my car for 3 weeks.

I was honestly just ready to get my car out of there like a jail break and did not give two $hits of cleanliness. I just made sure the headliner was installed correctly, no major visual installation defects and no greasy handprints all over - it checked all those boxes so I hauled out of there as quickly as I could get away.

On a funny side note since they had it for an additional 10 days and I liked the dealer installed tint on my Tiguan loaner I authorized them to use their tint guy to do all my side windows for $200. Picked up my car and they had not tinted it - according to my service advisor an identical Sportwagen was in for the same roof leak concerns and their tint guy "accidentally" tinted the wrong car. I am sincerely hoping that owner wanted their windows tinted because I was going for legal minimum in Georgia all around.