Need advice about emissions warranty work done

darma1234

New member
Joined
Mar 19, 2020
Location
florida
TDI
2020 Jetta TDI
Hi all, Please see below my story with my VW and what you think I should do. Car is a 2011 VW TDI WAGON. 164K MILES.

02/18/2020 - The Vehicle had it's recall completed at VW Melbourne. Upon handing the Vehicle over there were ZERO Oil leaks and NO Check engine Lights, or DPF Lights on the dash. My service adviser at the time did a multi point inspection on the Vehicle and it showed ZERO Oil leaks. Upon picking up the Vehicle my service adviser noted to me that a check engine light appeared during the post period testing/drive they did which seemed to be due to the intake manifold. It was then advised to drive 500 miles and bring back the Vehicle to have this replaced under the extended warranty.

Upon arriving home the same day, I noticed a couple drips of engine oil on my drive way. I checked the engine oil level and it was fine. I thought this may just be excess from the work that was performed. I continued using the car.

02/25/2020 - Upon leaving I noticed again a couple drips of engine oil and a check engine light appeared and never went off. No engine warning lights ever came on, such as low oil or low oil pressure. I regularly kept checking the oil level. I started noticing the car would go into "limp mode" more often and the check engine light never went back off. The DPF light came on and also never went back off. At this point, I didn't use the car much as I didn't want to cause any further damage and called into VW to schedule a check. It was clear to me that the engine oil problem derived exactly after the recall was done on the Vehicle.

I called VW and there next available slot was 03/09/2020.

03/09/2020 - I came and dropped the car off telling the advisers the issues noted about and how it should be covered under the extended warranty. Plus it was also made apparent that this issue derived the same day I left after the recall. In addition, It seemed the car was not officially put into VW's warranty system at the time, but the service adviser stated this should not be a problem and so I went forward and left them the car for the day.

At around 3pm the same day I get a call from VW of Melbourne stating they can not do any work on the car due to the warranty issue they mentioned above. I explained to them the situation of the car and how I felt the problem was just getting worse, and that the drive-ability of the car was making it unsafe to use on the road. I asked about them keeping it at the dealer until the warranty was in-place as this was not a fault of the consumer. They insisted there is nothing they can do. I further told them I do not feel safe using the car and that I do not want to make whatever problem the car has worse. Even with all of this there was nothing they could do for me. I had to take time out of my work day now (again) to drive 45 minutes - 1 hour to go pick up the car that they refused to work on, due to a computer processing error on there side. They would not even pay for a rental.

03/10/2020 - 8AM - I picked up the VW from them early morning. Upon arrival, it seemed someone left something on on my VW as they needed to Jump start the Vehicle due to a dead battery. They tried there best to do this discretely but I saw them. The battery is one year old and I've not had any starting issues with the car. They then went out there way to say they did not leave anything on to drain the battery.

03/11/2020 - I called VW Customer CARE to speak to someone who could help me out with the situation which was how I ended up being forwarded on to the regional manager.

03/16/2020 - Warranty issue now entered on the system so I took the car back. Loss of power/constantly in limp mode. Pretty sure the turbo was gone as I heard occasional turbo whine. Told VW the situation and they insisted they can not cover the failed turbo because of oil starvation which was caused by the apparent oil leak. The oil leak was diagnosed and also not covered under the emissions warranty and I was charged $180 for that. Tried to fight that but they would not release the car back to me unless I paid. I escalated the case with the regional manager and "apparently" the warranty side got involved and verified the dealers side.

So long story short. I took the car in for the emissions recall, came out with oil leak, check engine light and 400 miles later a failed turbo. VW would not warranty any work whatsoever. I'm kinda fed up fighting VW plus I'm not sure what else I could do. Any advise most welcomed.

BTW the TDI didn't go through the settlement stuff because it was buddies at the time who was overseas (school). He recently sold it to me as he moved back full time. I took it in for the recall, as I saw the post-warranty period as a advantage to any potential problems down the line. Didn't think it was going to mess the car up so much. It was well taken care of prior, a lot of commuting and road trip miles.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The emissions "fix" recall would not have caused any oil leaks. They don't do anything to the engine. They put a new lean NOx trap and exhaust flap on it, the new type EGR pipe with no "filter" in it, and a software update.

I do not know what caused your oil leak, do you?

Turbos fail on these, often with little to no warning. I've done many with far less miles on them than yours. They were fine one minute, blown up the next.

Although it would take quite a bit of oil loss to cause one to fail due to that.

Not really sure what to tell you here. Sounds circumstantial, but I agree it seems a bit fishy. However, since you have not given a source of the oil leak, then...

FWIW, LOTS of post-fix TDIs get the dreaded MIL on. Some very quickly, like within a week. You mentioned something with the intake manifold. That is a common failure item, the fix has nothing to do with that. Loads of those fail all on their own.
 

darma1234

New member
Joined
Mar 19, 2020
Location
florida
TDI
2020 Jetta TDI
Oil leak is coming from the oil filter housing area by the looks of it. If the turbo failed due to oil starvation wouldn't the engine have thrown a low oil pressure warning? If that's the case then I guess it's just a coincidence then.

Yes, the intake manifold was replaced under the emissions warranty even though I couldn't care less. This did not effect the performance. The turbo on the other hand, well that's going to cost some time and money, even with doing it myself.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I doubt the turbocharger failed due to an oil leak of that small amount. And if it never ran low on oil, never had an oil pressure warning come on, then it is more doubtful that it was the cause.

It just sounds like the planets were in the wrong alignment that week for your car, unfortunately. This assumes they did not touch your oil filter during the work they did, and if so, they (the dealer) need to at least fix that for you, THEN, you can have VoA explain how the oil leak caused by the dealer caused the turbocharger to fail and not be warranted.

My thought is: the oil leak has nothing to do with the turbo failure.

The turbo failure should be covered under their warranty extension. It isn't like you smashed into a rock on the highway and punched a hole in the oil pan and all the oil ran out of the engine inside a few seconds... because THAT would CERTAINLY be a cause for a sudden failure of the turbocharger.

But I am not the one calling the shots here. You could probably lawyer up, but it may cost something to try.

Unfortunately, if warranties on cars are of any major dependence for any motorist, a Volkswagen (and to a greater extent ANY German brand) is probably not the best choice for you. I do fine without any warranty, and I have never needed one for anything. But others are not so lucky.

Know that you may be able to source a new genuine BW turbocharger for your car in the aftermarket for less money than the dealer list, if that helps you any. :eek:
 

darma1234

New member
Joined
Mar 19, 2020
Location
florida
TDI
2020 Jetta TDI
That was my thoughts too. VW were not specific in what they touched on the car during the recall. I think it's uncanny that the oil leak appeared as soon as I got home from a 12 mile drive. I know the mechanics of cars and know the turbo would not fail from such a leak and even if it was severe it would have triggered an oil pressure sensor.

I'm not going to be taking them on via a lawyer as its too time consuming and costly. This is my first rodeo with VW and a dealer as I always do work on my cars myself. I didn't expect potential failures after the recall took place as the car was pretty nice prior to that with zero issues.

Am I right in thinking any 2010-2014 TDI turbo will work? I see there are a couple variants. I have a 2011 VW sportswagen.
 

vincej

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2015
Location
Calgary
TDI
2014 Golf Wagon
My last car developed an oil leak after returning from holidays and having to start it at -25C in a parking lot where it had been cold soaked for over a week. It came from some pipe at the back of the engine maybe going to the turbo charger. I bought 2 O-rings and was going to put them in but magically the leak stopped and I had no further problems.

I was going on a rant about all the dealer induced woes that had happened to my car but decided to curb it with this edit. I believe that most mechanics do good work. Good luck in getting your car running well again.
 
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vincej

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2015
Location
Calgary
TDI
2014 Golf Wagon
I beg to differ on that.

I had forgotten that a friend told me once that his engine had fallen down after a starter change and I bought a car from said dealership. Imagine upon doing your first oil change after the first couple done at the dealer you find a broken bolt in a hole that was supposedly there to hold up the skid plate. Removable Loctite, what a joke. And the crush washer mashed to almost nothing. And numerous screw ups later after a battery needed replacing on warranty I finally took my car to another dealer to get it serviceable. Maybe if they did followup or feedback they would find out just how bad they really are.
 
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