NeedyTouareg
Active member
Hey everyone, brand new account, first post here. This will probably be long winded so please bare with me.
(This section is skippable and just gives a bit of my VW history)
First, a little about me. I'm 33, I've been a VW guy since I was 15 when my cousin bought a G60 Corrado. My first car at 16 was an 87 GTI 16v. Since then I've had an 89 GTI 16V, an 88 Scirocco 16v, a 99 GTI VR6, a 2000 S4, a 2001 A4, a 2000 Jetta 2.slow, a 2016 Golf R, and now a 2010 Touareg V6 TDI. Somewhere in there I had 2 60's splitty busses, a much loved project that never came to be. I am a VW GUY. I always thought if I ever got a tattoo my first one would be the VW and Audi rings. I've spent years (altho its been probably a decade since) hanging with DurtyDubs in Atlanta, going to Southern Volks Fest, Southern Worthersee, DurtyFest or whatever it was called, H20 in Ocean City, etc etc. That's who I am.
(The important bits)
1.)I bought a 2010 VW Touareg late in September of 2019. The emissions recall had been done April of 2019, I was the first owner since. By February of 2020 it started giving me an AdBlue warning. I've owned a 2013 Ram 2500 SLT and a 2016 Ram 2500 Laramie so DEF is no foreign concept to me. The warning on the dash said "100 miles until no restart", kinda sudden I thought but no big. Bought a jug when I got around to it, went to add it, DEF tank was FULL. By this time I was down to under 50 miles no restart. I called my closest VW dealership (about 50miles away) and they told me it would be several months before they could even look at it. Called my 2nd closest VW Dealership and they could get to it the next day. I arranged a tow truck and as we loaded the Touareg onto the truck, the DEF light went away. Everything was already arranged so I sent it to VW anyway. After they inspected it they said the tech found a "puddy like substance" clogging the DEF injector and asked what kind of DEF I had been using. They were already gearing me up for an almost $600 repair, I may copy/paste from the email in a later message. Obviously I sorted it, the tank was dropped and cleaned, tank heater replaced, AdBlu added, and DEF injector replaced all under extended emissions warranty. Car was returned to me late Feb.
2.) In April I got another AdBlu warning. Popped open the tank, it was full. I ordered my first VagCom to do the DEF tank reset and not deal with the dealership's silly turn around time. Tank reset didn't work. This time I had enough mileage to drive it down, so me and my wife took off early one morning and brought it to the dealer. We waited almost an entire day for them to say they couldn't fix it that day, they gave me a base model Nissan Versa to take home. Whatever, I had fun with it, car was getting fixed, no worries on my end. Spent about 4 weeks there until the final remedy was replacing the ECU. Got the car back in May.
3.) In mid August I got an "Engine Fault Workshop" code on the dash. Car goes into limp mode and that warning flashes and beeps in the screen. After a VagCom scan I see that fuel pressure is dropping. After you cycle the ignition, issue goes away and everything is fine, until you get a little agressive w the throttle, pops back up. I call up my dealer service department and schedule to have it in. My Touareg went in on August 20th. Spoiler alert, its December 23rd and I still don't have it back. From my research it seemed to be a high pressure fuel pump issue and I relayed all info to the service department. They confirmed to me it was the HPFP and they'd be replacing it.
4.) Sept. 14th i was told my car was ready to go. Drove down (about an hour and 15mins) to pick it up. About an hour on my way home, speed up to pass someone, "Engine Fault Workshop" and limp mode. I immediately pull over and call service and tell them I'm on my way back. This time I get a rental car (the extended emissions warranty is the only warranty from VW to require a loaner, AFAIK).
5.) The story gets really messy from here and isnt really relevant to what I'm dealing with now so I'll leave it out for now. Suffice to say that I spend the next 2months going back and forth with the dealer until I finally contact VW Customee Care. After telling my story there (we were 2 days away from my car having been in service for 14weeks) the Customer Care rep elevates my issue to VW RCM (Regional Case Manager).
6.) VW RCMs even have problems communicating with and getting info from the dealer's service dpt. They begin retelling me the same sad excuses I get from service. After 2 weeks of this mess I end up making enough noise to have direct contact with one of the 2 RCM supervisors for my region. He has been as helpful as he can be, although what he can actually do for me is very limited, but I have no complaints with him or his department (even though I have had some fairly heated conversations with them).
7.) Where we stand as of today, December 23rd, is that the RCM supervisor is working with the TDI Litigation Department to buy back the vehicle. This has been in process for about 2 weeks now, and that department just informed the RCM Supervisor today that they will be vacationing until Jan. 8th and to hell with me and my car that has been down for over 4months. The service Department is to a point of throwing random parts to see if it can be fixed. The service department has the RQM (I've been told this department is their corporate master techs who assist with vehicles that can't be figured out) on the line and still no one can get this Touareg running. Tomorrow marks 18 weeks I've been without my vehicle and as of right now there appears to be no end in sight.
EDIT: Forgot to add what has been replaced.
LIST OF REPLACED PARTS
DEF tank
DEF tank heater
DEF injector
2 Nox sensors
ECU
In tank fuel pump
HPFP
All fuel lines
Fuel Filter
Fuel Rail
Fuel Injectors
Glow Plugs
DPF
Turbo
I'm sure there's more but thats off the top of my head.
!!!!!QUESTIONS!!!!
I would like to ask, has ANYONE HERE ever been involved with anything like this? Does anyone have any sort of experience in a situation like this? What can I expect, what should I be aware of? Clearly I've been contacting a few attorneys and I'm thinking it may be the time to pull the trigger and weigh out my legal options but from you guys, can anyone give me any insight as to how your situation went? Has anyone had a used TDI bought back by VW? Any help or info is beyond appreciated.
I have tried to make this post as calm and collected as possible, I have left out lots of details and names, but I am beyond furious. I'm exhausted, I'm beat, I've gone thru a whole industrial sized bottle of excedrin migraine, and I'm absolutely terrified that my family is going to get F$%@*& when this is all said and done
If you read all of this, thank you so much for your time. And to everyone, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
(This section is skippable and just gives a bit of my VW history)
First, a little about me. I'm 33, I've been a VW guy since I was 15 when my cousin bought a G60 Corrado. My first car at 16 was an 87 GTI 16v. Since then I've had an 89 GTI 16V, an 88 Scirocco 16v, a 99 GTI VR6, a 2000 S4, a 2001 A4, a 2000 Jetta 2.slow, a 2016 Golf R, and now a 2010 Touareg V6 TDI. Somewhere in there I had 2 60's splitty busses, a much loved project that never came to be. I am a VW GUY. I always thought if I ever got a tattoo my first one would be the VW and Audi rings. I've spent years (altho its been probably a decade since) hanging with DurtyDubs in Atlanta, going to Southern Volks Fest, Southern Worthersee, DurtyFest or whatever it was called, H20 in Ocean City, etc etc. That's who I am.
(The important bits)
1.)I bought a 2010 VW Touareg late in September of 2019. The emissions recall had been done April of 2019, I was the first owner since. By February of 2020 it started giving me an AdBlue warning. I've owned a 2013 Ram 2500 SLT and a 2016 Ram 2500 Laramie so DEF is no foreign concept to me. The warning on the dash said "100 miles until no restart", kinda sudden I thought but no big. Bought a jug when I got around to it, went to add it, DEF tank was FULL. By this time I was down to under 50 miles no restart. I called my closest VW dealership (about 50miles away) and they told me it would be several months before they could even look at it. Called my 2nd closest VW Dealership and they could get to it the next day. I arranged a tow truck and as we loaded the Touareg onto the truck, the DEF light went away. Everything was already arranged so I sent it to VW anyway. After they inspected it they said the tech found a "puddy like substance" clogging the DEF injector and asked what kind of DEF I had been using. They were already gearing me up for an almost $600 repair, I may copy/paste from the email in a later message. Obviously I sorted it, the tank was dropped and cleaned, tank heater replaced, AdBlu added, and DEF injector replaced all under extended emissions warranty. Car was returned to me late Feb.
2.) In April I got another AdBlu warning. Popped open the tank, it was full. I ordered my first VagCom to do the DEF tank reset and not deal with the dealership's silly turn around time. Tank reset didn't work. This time I had enough mileage to drive it down, so me and my wife took off early one morning and brought it to the dealer. We waited almost an entire day for them to say they couldn't fix it that day, they gave me a base model Nissan Versa to take home. Whatever, I had fun with it, car was getting fixed, no worries on my end. Spent about 4 weeks there until the final remedy was replacing the ECU. Got the car back in May.
3.) In mid August I got an "Engine Fault Workshop" code on the dash. Car goes into limp mode and that warning flashes and beeps in the screen. After a VagCom scan I see that fuel pressure is dropping. After you cycle the ignition, issue goes away and everything is fine, until you get a little agressive w the throttle, pops back up. I call up my dealer service department and schedule to have it in. My Touareg went in on August 20th. Spoiler alert, its December 23rd and I still don't have it back. From my research it seemed to be a high pressure fuel pump issue and I relayed all info to the service department. They confirmed to me it was the HPFP and they'd be replacing it.
4.) Sept. 14th i was told my car was ready to go. Drove down (about an hour and 15mins) to pick it up. About an hour on my way home, speed up to pass someone, "Engine Fault Workshop" and limp mode. I immediately pull over and call service and tell them I'm on my way back. This time I get a rental car (the extended emissions warranty is the only warranty from VW to require a loaner, AFAIK).
5.) The story gets really messy from here and isnt really relevant to what I'm dealing with now so I'll leave it out for now. Suffice to say that I spend the next 2months going back and forth with the dealer until I finally contact VW Customee Care. After telling my story there (we were 2 days away from my car having been in service for 14weeks) the Customer Care rep elevates my issue to VW RCM (Regional Case Manager).
6.) VW RCMs even have problems communicating with and getting info from the dealer's service dpt. They begin retelling me the same sad excuses I get from service. After 2 weeks of this mess I end up making enough noise to have direct contact with one of the 2 RCM supervisors for my region. He has been as helpful as he can be, although what he can actually do for me is very limited, but I have no complaints with him or his department (even though I have had some fairly heated conversations with them).
7.) Where we stand as of today, December 23rd, is that the RCM supervisor is working with the TDI Litigation Department to buy back the vehicle. This has been in process for about 2 weeks now, and that department just informed the RCM Supervisor today that they will be vacationing until Jan. 8th and to hell with me and my car that has been down for over 4months. The service Department is to a point of throwing random parts to see if it can be fixed. The service department has the RQM (I've been told this department is their corporate master techs who assist with vehicles that can't be figured out) on the line and still no one can get this Touareg running. Tomorrow marks 18 weeks I've been without my vehicle and as of right now there appears to be no end in sight.
EDIT: Forgot to add what has been replaced.
LIST OF REPLACED PARTS
DEF tank
DEF tank heater
DEF injector
2 Nox sensors
ECU
In tank fuel pump
HPFP
All fuel lines
Fuel Filter
Fuel Rail
Fuel Injectors
Glow Plugs
DPF
Turbo
I'm sure there's more but thats off the top of my head.
!!!!!QUESTIONS!!!!
I would like to ask, has ANYONE HERE ever been involved with anything like this? Does anyone have any sort of experience in a situation like this? What can I expect, what should I be aware of? Clearly I've been contacting a few attorneys and I'm thinking it may be the time to pull the trigger and weigh out my legal options but from you guys, can anyone give me any insight as to how your situation went? Has anyone had a used TDI bought back by VW? Any help or info is beyond appreciated.
I have tried to make this post as calm and collected as possible, I have left out lots of details and names, but I am beyond furious. I'm exhausted, I'm beat, I've gone thru a whole industrial sized bottle of excedrin migraine, and I'm absolutely terrified that my family is going to get F$%@*& when this is all said and done
If you read all of this, thank you so much for your time. And to everyone, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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