Adblue tank or other diesel specific part unavailability - anyone else dealing with this?

[wheresthepart]

My 2015 Golf TDI developed a CEL for Implausible signal from the Adblue tank level (reductance) sensor at the end of June. I took it to the dealer and was told that the tank and sensor were an assembly which was not available, and there was no timetable for availability because they were made in Ukraine, which obviously has bigger problems than supplying VW with parts .

I parked the car and have been driving it occasionally to keep it charged up rather than drive it with a CEL and unknown DEF level.

I just checked back and there is still no word on an alternate supplier and no timetable for delivery.

Personally, I feel like I have a car that I'm not comfortable driving and has little value on the open market so VW needs to make the situation right via buying it back. My son (has a 2015 Passat TDI) and I clearly recall verbiage in the dieselgate web site that stated "in the event of a dispute between the consumer and Volkswagen, the consumer will prevail". I can't find that now so it must have gone away.

The service manager advocated calling VW Customer Care but to also refer to the page in the manual that mentioned Arbitration on the back page of one of the manuals, which wasn't encouraging. I found a reference to BBB Mediation in the middle of the warranty but nothing about arbitration.

This part is still #7 on the top 25 parts needed by VW worldwide, as it was at the end of June. The service manager told me that this is not the only diesel part on the top 25 list so there must be more of us affected by this.

If you have been affected by a parts shortage and have contacted VW about it, what has been the result?

Thanks

Similar story here, my 2015 has been parked in the driveway since ce December 2023. Last talk with the dealer revealed that two parts had arrived in Canada...lol...what to do except wait?

 

[Karyn Ivie]

My 2015 Passat has been at the dealership since November 2023 waiting for the part on backorder. The dealership has provided me with a loaner car but I want my car back. Does anyone know what VW is doing about this problem? The dealership says that there are 2 other cars ahead of mine waiting for the same part.

 

[BernieC]

I, too, had been waiting for quite some time for the AdBlue tank part (Sept 2023), and had been bugging my local dealer about it every few months. I finally got annoyed recently and decided to go a different route - I opened a ticket with VW CARE (https://www.vw.com/en/contact.html).

I let the service advisor at the dealer know about the VW CARE case number and he was going to use that number to further escalate on his end to try to get whatever parts might be in the system. 10 days later now and I just got notification that there is now a part waiting for me. I'm taking my '15 Jetta in to get serviced tomorrow.

 

[ZippyNH]

A dealer will always use factory new parts....but vw doesn't want to support TDI's...so I would get the car to a private shop...see if you can get a used part or even buy a parts car....IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR CAR RUNNING.
When my TDI got hit...front right, even the door was ok, no broken glass, engine ran, was actually driven up onto the flat bed no fluids leaking, no engine lights, it was totaled out very quickly....looked like it needed a subframe, and some suspension parts....but they were happy to Total it out quickly....worth more dead than alive...be it for parts or sent to places with cheap labor to rebuild them...
Bet if you want to get your car running used parts is the solution....
I got the distinct feeling that the insurance company did not want to have to pay for a rental car for an unknown period of time if a simple part was not available readily...
If it wasn't for TDI's getting parted out, I am sure there wouldn't be nearly as many still on the road.... unfortunately bet the newer ones never make it to pick-n-pulls, just to disassembly lines then listed on eBay, etc. unfortunately the parts aren't cheap...sellers know what they have when factory new isn't available or won't be for MONTHS and they have the part to get a car back on the road.

Just checked on my Totaled out 2015...it appears it was exported.
Saw several other TDI,'s with similar damage in my search...kinda looks like the 2015's are getting totaled out even for what would be a couple days of body work for many makes/models

 

[Lightflyer1]

They totaled my Beetle for hail damage. Driving it with dents.

 

[BernieC]

I, too, had been waiting for quite some time for the AdBlue tank part (Sept 2023), and had been bugging my local dealer about it every few months. I finally got annoyed recently and decided to go a different route - I opened a ticket with VW CARE (https://www.vw.com/en/contact.html).

Well, the car is still at the dealer, and I wonder if it will be there for some time. At least I got a '24 Jetta SE loaner.

The story from the service advisor was an interesting one. Once the DEF tank was replaced they found they could not clear a check engine light. So back to the DEF tank they went. They couldn't see any problems externally, but it was when they fed a scope into the tank that they saw some problems with the tank's manufacture. He mentioned solders that looked bad, and even worse than the condition of the original tank in my car.

By the time they found all of this out it was too late to let VWoA know as I'm on the west coast. Guess we'll see what they say tomorrow.

 

[oilhammer]

Meanwhile, in ALH land... :

I'm tellin' ya, it is sometimes easier to keep a 25 year old TDI going than a 10 year old one, LOL....

No DPF, no SCR, no warranty, no drama, just pilin' the miles 'n crackin' the smiles.

 

[x1800MODMY360x]

I had a chance to buy a 02 NB TDI that had 139k miles, but the transmission cooler was shot and the owner wanted too much for it.

Hell my Passat have 150k miles on it

 

[Lug_Nut]

I'm tellin' ya, it is sometimes easier to keep a 25 year old TDI going than a 10 year old one, LOL....
No DPF, no SCR, no warranty, no drama, just pilin' the miles 'n crackin' the smiles.

This is why I have a squadron of old stuff.

You have a mechanic that you trust and is willing to install used parts. You don't carp about the used parts 'he' installs if they fail shortly thereafter. You have alternate transportation means available. Don't forget those critically important considerations.

 

[oilhammer]

Used parts? ????

OK I admit one of my Golfs has a set of tires that were "assembled" by some random good used oddballs removed from cars I bought, but otherwise everything service parts wise on all my cars are brand new, and the 2000 Jetta pictured above is only getting new service parts when required.

And this IS his alternate transportation, as his 2015 Golf doesn't get driven as much. But he's certainly open to telling you more about that comparison.

I, too, prefer to drive my VE and PD TDIs over my CR TDI. Mostly because I simply don't have to fret over a bunch of stuff breaking. The entire exhaust system post-turbo consists of a simple non-monitored one-way catalyst and a pipe. The PDs have a single lambda sensor, the VEs don't even have that, LOL.

 

[TomJD]

You have a mechanic that you trust and is willing to install used parts. You don't carp about the used parts 'he' installs if they fail shortly thereafter. You have alternate transportation means available. Don't forget those critically important considerations.

Hey there. The picture above is from my car. I drive it back and forth from St. Louis to Nashville at least twice a month and it’s also my daily commuter to work. So it sees a respectable amount of miles each year. I have a 2015 Golf TDI, but I far prefer to drive the 2000 ALH. The 2015 is almost exclusively used for road trips because the passenger seat is a bit more comfy for my wife. It has 35k miles and it is 10 years old. Never have I needed to drive the 2015 because the 2000 wasn’t working.

It goes to Oilhammer every day 10k on the dot. The only used parts I can think of are replacement front seats and interior bits, but those hardly something that would leave me stranded if they failed and not something Oilhammer replaced. Then again, it hasn’t needed all that many new parts either. The work it has needed has primarily been for the normal PM and wear items. A door lock module, an AC compressor, an injection pump reseal, and a window regulator are the only other things I can think of doing that wouldn’t fall in the PM or wear item category.

I’ve owned it for 14 years this January.