Blown head

Crik777

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Location
WA
TDI
Jetta Sportwagen 2010
Hello, so I, unfortunately, confirmed my head gasket has failed. It has been failing for years. I tried to get VW to fix it while under warranty but they would keep ignoring me saying there was nothing wrong. Well now the car is out of warranty and I have spent over 3k proving it is the head that is leaking into the coolant. Is there a way to get VW to cover the new engine it was under warranty when all of this started?

Any help and opinions welcomed. Thank you
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Lawyer not worth the cost
loss of use... criminal fraud... whatever take your pick.
you WILL NOT be able to settle this on your own if you do not lawyer up as dealerships and literally anyone you go up against legally will have ones... very good ones.
If you have definitive proof that the issue is there and the dealership or whoever said it was not and you have mechanics that will testify... sue for loss of use if you make $ by useing the car in a business, all costs, time, value ect...
spending $300 to talk for 30 minutes to a proper lawyer will settle this issue for you. if they say its not going to hold up, then just drop it, cut your losses, move on with life. otherwise go get'em
not one person here is qualified, including me, to give you advice other than to see professional guidance. anyone telling you to NOT do so is a fool.
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
Loss of use unless it's a commercial vehicle will have no bearing. Criminal fraud? not here. This would be categorized as a civil matter, not criminal. Going through VW customer service would more likely to be successful than threat of a suit. Am I lawyer? No. Do I deal with them and courts regularly? yes.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Loss of use unless it's a commercial vehicle will have no bearing. Criminal fraud? not here. This would be categorized as a civil matter, not criminal. Going through VW customer service would more likely to be successful than threat of a suit. Am I lawyer? No. Do I deal with them and courts regularly? yes.
Being on the defence isnt a good strategy for life...
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
it's not that. It's just better for him to try again going through their customer service channels first. You almost NEVER get back lawyer's fees in a suit. Between an initial consultation, research, filing time and fees, then going to court? That can add up to more than the cost of an engine.

Now sure, a 1-hour consultation may yield him saying the same, not worth it. Or, *maybe* a letter from an attorney might prompt a local dealer to reconsider a case. However, anything more will likely just be more money spent by the car owner.
 

Crik777

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Location
WA
TDI
Jetta Sportwagen 2010
loss of use... criminal fraud... whatever take your pick.
you WILL NOT be able to settle this on your own if you do not lawyer up as dealerships and literally anyone you go up against legally will have ones... very good ones.
If you have definitive proof that the issue is there and the dealership or whoever said it was not and you have mechanics that will testify... sue for loss of use if you make $ by useing the car in a business, all costs, time, value ect...
spending $300 to talk for 30 minutes to a proper lawyer will settle this issue for you. if they say its not going to hold up, then just drop it, cut your losses, move on with life. otherwise go get'em
not one person here is qualified, including me, to give you advice other than to see professional guidance. anyone telling you to NOT do so is a fool.
Thank you so much. I have been busy getting prove and evidence as much as I can. I also got several people to say they will testify if need be. I will fight this! Thanks
 

Crik777

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Location
WA
TDI
Jetta Sportwagen 2010
Okay so I talked with a lawyer and with VW extensively and basically because it is a global issue they can’t make exceptions for anyone if one gets exemptions everyone around the world would have an legal opening.
Arguing with the dealerships nobody wants to take responsibility because the 8 times I went complaining of the issue it was spread around 3 different dealerships. So I am ****ed!
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
My head cant fathom the bs of this.
Well now you have a cheap answere and you can just walk away from a bad deal that could have cost you much more. Try and part out what you can. The car isnt worth much so do what you can then scrap it.
That or park it outside of the dealership and waste weeks protesting with big signs until they cave.... some have done that , usually never works.
Your time is $. Realise the bad investment and remove it before it gets worse. Spend your time and energy on better things.
Sorry you had this experiance with VW but imo it's the venom you gamble with.
 

Crik777

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Location
WA
TDI
Jetta Sportwagen 2010
What should I do with the car?
The good, new suspension all around every bushing replaced. It has a lift kit and new bigger tires. New brakes all around. New head liner.
New uninstalled hood, rear bumper primed and full emissions delete kit. Also new Uninstalled shifter bushing replacement kit and driver replacement seat covers.
New AC. Timing belt, Thermostat.

In the last 60k miles it has had the engine wiring changed and turbo. Manual transmission and clutch. Glow plugs. Intake manifold and all the emission stuff changed included the DPF

The bad: Head-gasket. The hood and rear bumper need replacing and painting.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Not everyone will agree but a non running car is not much worth more than its scrap value. Seeing as how this car has a bad engine and no emissions equipment, that basically means it has next to no inherent road worthy value.
Btw what car are we dealing with. You have no explained what this car is and it's not in your profile.
 

Crik777

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Location
WA
TDI
Jetta Sportwagen 2010
Oh sorry, it is a 2010 Sportwagen. All the emission stuff is still in the car. The delete kit is not installed.

I am thinking about putting an use engine in there. I just spent to much already
 

Mozambiquer

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
Location
Versailles Missouri
TDI
2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
Sounds like a sad situation. I'd figure up what the cost would be of fixing it versus the cost of selling it outright and getting a different car.
If you can do the work yourself, getting the head redone and head gasket changed would likely cost around $500-1500 depending on what actual parts were needed and etc. If you had a mechanic do it, it would likely be a lot more. If, as you say, it is simply the head gasket, I would redo the head and gasket before putting a used engine in, as you have zero history on any used engine. Different people have different opinions on that, but being a mechanic, I've seen only a few used engine swaps that didn't have problems. We do not offer them at our shop, though there have been a few times when a customer brought their own engine and asked us to install it... I've seen broken rings, cracked pistons, spun rod bearings, bent valves,failed injectors and all on those customer supplied used engines.
The other option which may be the best in your case, especially if you do not have the mechanical skills to do the head work yourself, would be to sell the car as is. It sounds like it may still run, but loses coolant? You can likely get more than scrap value for it, especially with the current market, then I would sell the accessories separately. Then you can use what you get towards another car.

All that is simply opinion based on my experience, and should be taken as such.
 

Mozambiquer

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
Location
Versailles Missouri
TDI
2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
Oh sorry, it is a 2010 Sportwagen. All the emission stuff is still in the car. The delete kit is not installed.

I am thinking about putting an use engine in there. I just spent to much already
If you were closer, I would know plenty of people who would be interested in the car as is. Looks like you're in Washington state though?
 

Crik777

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Location
WA
TDI
Jetta Sportwagen 2010
Sounds like a sad situation. I'd figure up what the cost would be of fixing it versus the cost of selling it outright and getting a different car.
If you can do the work yourself, getting the head redone and head gasket changed would likely cost around $500-1500 depending on what actual parts were needed and etc. If you had a mechanic do it, it would likely be a lot more. If, as you say, it is simply the head gasket, I would redo the head and gasket before putting a used engine in, as you have zero history on any used engine. Different people have different opinions on that, but being a mechanic, I've seen only a few used engine swaps that didn't have problems. We do not offer them at our shop, though there have been a few times when a customer brought their own engine and asked us to install it... I've seen broken rings, cracked pistons, spun rod bearings, bent valves,failed injectors and all on those customer supplied used engines.
The other option which may be the best in your case, especially if you do not have the mechanical skills to do the head work yourself, would be to sell the car as is. It sounds like it may still run, but loses coolant? You can likely get more than scrap value for it, especially with the current market, then I would sell the accessories separately. Then you can use what you get towards another car.

All that is simply opinion based on my experience, and should be taken as such.
I wish I had not paid attention to my mechanic as he suggested to not fix the engine and just get an used one… but now is to late. It has over heated to the point of stoping working. After cooling it started working again but maybe the heads are bent or possibly cracked now. I have been looking for a car to buy but new cars are a 9 month wait time to get. And used ones are way over priced. Here they were charging me 4400 for a new engine and about 3700 for the head gasket. The cheapest usable car I found is over 15000k and probably will need work as used cars are. So I am thinking to chance an engine swap as long as we can find a tested good engine. I appreciate you sharing your wisdom.
 
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