Dieselgate, The Canadian Edition

[chachee]

Thanks for the update.
What did they do when you handed them the keys...started it, took a picture...etc?
Thanks

I had it towed to the dealership...just for convenience (thanks VW for the free roadside assistance!). When I got to the dealership, the reps had me pull it into the service area, and that was it. No road test or anything. They may have started it when they checked the mileage, but witnessing me drive it was enough.

 

[FVWVWF]

I had it towed to the dealership...just for convenience (that you VW roadside assistance!). When I got to the dealership, the reps had me pull it into the service area, and that was it. No road test or anything. They may have started it when they checked the mileage, but witnessing me drive it was enough.

Im jealous.

Congrats!

 

[joey003]

I know that a lot of us are waiting patiently for the green checks and appointments, so I'm not wanting to rub anyone the wrong way with this post, but i do want to share.

I just got back from my buy-back appointment, and I'm happy to say that it was a piece of cake. Less than 1/2 an hour and i was walking out of the dealership, cheque in-hand. (I was the first appointment at my dealership).

For everyone who has upcoming appointments, here are a couple of items to know:
-I returned my car on snow tires and steel rims. No issues.
-They will ask for your owners manual...so please make sure that you have that when you take the car in.
-At my dealer, there were employees of both Rice-Point and VW, however i only dealt with the Rice-Point employees . (They were very pleasant to deal with)
-I had to sign a couple of forms, one confirming the mileage at drop-off, and the other was a power of attorney, which allows the dealership to transfer ownership to VW Canada.

For reference, my car was a straight buy-back (no-trade), and my car was owned outright (no lien)

I hope everyone still waiting in Limbo gets their claims moving forward quickly!!

Thanks for sharing! I remember you way back mentioning you had picked May 25th. Almost forgot today is the first day for buybacks in person.

That's damn interesting about the snow tires. Did they even ask or mention the tires at all?

Lol I love that they are concerned about the manual but not the wheels.

 

[chachee]

Thanks for sharing! I remember you way back mentioning you had picked May 25th. Almost forgot today is the first day for buybacks in person.

That's damn interesting about the snow tires. Did they even ask or mention the tires at all?

Lol I love that they are concerned about the manual but not the wheels.

One thing I will say is please be kind to the people processing the buybacks. They truly are just the messengers of the policies that RicePoint/VW corporate are dictating. The people I dealt with were very nice and extremely reasonable/understanding.

With that said, both the wheels and the manuals were discussed during my appointment. I wasn't specifically asked to return the wheels, nor did I volunteer to include them.

 

[callandertdi]

Wiped out while driving?
Both of my fronts are currently broken and other than a lot of noise haven't affected the car at all.

A break near the end usually is not catastrophic, its when it breaks mid span and the car drops down till the tire rubs when turning. The coating gets a crack and rust takes care of the spring.

 

[kodered]

I know that a lot of us are waiting patiently for the green checks and appointments, so I'm not wanting to rub anyone the wrong way with this post, but i do want to share.

I just got back from my buy-back appointment, and I'm happy to say that it was a piece of cake. Less than 1/2 an hour and i was walking out of the dealership, cheque in-hand. (I was the first appointment at my dealership).

For everyone who has upcoming appointments, here are a couple of items to know:
-I returned my car on snow tires and steel rims. No issues.
-They will ask for your owners manual...so please make sure that you have that when you take the car in.
-At my dealer, there were employees of both Rice-Point and VW, however i only dealt with the Rice-Point employees . (They were very pleasant to deal with)
-I had to sign a couple of forms, one confirming the mileage at drop-off, and the other was a power of attorney, which allows the dealership to transfer ownership to VW Canada.

For reference, my car was a straight buy-back (no-trade), and my car was owned outright (no lien)

I hope everyone still waiting in Limbo gets their claims moving forward quickly!!

Good to know about the snow tires. 2 of my highline rims were destroyed hitting a large pothole.

Did you also need to give back both sets of keys? I can't seem to find my spare set.

 

[PlaneCrazy]

Wiped out while driving?
Both of my fronts are currently broken and other than a lot of noise haven't affected the car at all.

Our right front is broken. On my 2011 Mk VI (gone before Dieselgate), both fronts snapped within a week of each other, the last one a few days before I traded the car in.

I fixed 90% of the noise on the current one, except during hard right turns. Jack the car up on the offending side, reach in to the spring/strut assembly, and pull out the snapped off end. That will kill the death rattle. They all seem to snap at the same point, at the very bottom on the last coil.

Buyback status: staring at the eyeball after submitting my signed offer on Monday.

 

[chachee]

Good to know about the snow tires. 2 of my highline rims were destroyed hitting a large pothole.

Did you also need to give back both sets of keys? I can't seem to find my spare set.

I had both sets....so I can't say if only having one would be OK. I'd suggest giving the TDI reps at your dealership a call, and see what they say.

 

[joey003]

One thing I will say is please be kind to the people processing the buybacks. They truly are just the messengers of the policies that RicePoint/VW corporate are dictating. The people I dealt with were very nice and extremely reasonable/understanding.

With that said, both the wheels and the manuals were discussed during my appointment. I wasn't specifically asked to return the wheels, nor did I volunteer to include them.

Absolutely. Won't do yourself any favours otherwise.

Can you elaborate more on the wheels? I'm tempted to bring in my jetta on my 10 year old snow tires that I would otherwise be recycling and keeping the highline wheels for private sale. Wondering if it's worth the hassle or chance that they reject it.

There's some discussion on the Facebook group about it. Sounds like all sorts of people are planning on returning with steelies and winter tires.

 

[uchu]

Absolutely. Won't do yourself any favours otherwise.

Can you elaborate more on the wheels? I'm tempted to bring in my jetta on my 10 year old snow tires that I would otherwise be recycling and keeping the highline wheels for private sale. Wondering if it's worth the hassle or chance that they reject it.

There's some discussion on the Facebook group about it. Sounds like all sorts of people are planning on returning with steelies and winter tires.

I have no use for the original wheels. The tires, though, are a different story.

I purchased Nokian WRG3s when we just got the car; best winter performance all seasons around. They are in excellent shape, so there's no way in heck I'm giving them to VW. I found some decent all seasons in Kijiji for $70, so I'll swap them when the time comes.

 

[chachee]

Absolutely. Won't do yourself any favours otherwise.

Can you elaborate more on the wheels? I'm tempted to bring in my jetta on my 10 year old snow tires that I would otherwise be recycling and keeping the highline wheels for private sale. Wondering if it's worth the hassle or chance that they reject it.

There's some discussion on the Facebook group about it. Sounds like all sorts of people are planning on returning with steelies and winter tires.

The reps that I dealt with said that they only needed to confirm was that the car drove, and that there was no intentional damage/parts stripping. They did not seem to think that removal of the alloy rims to be stripping. My interpretation of our conversation was that they were not specifically told to reject cars with steel rims, so they were going to accept them. This practice may change, but until that happens, I'd say give I'd give it a shot.

My all seasons had have huge cracks on the sidewalls, so i wouldn't drive on them anyway.

 

[joey003]

I have no use for the original wheels. The tires, though, are a different story.

I purchased Nokian WRG3s when we just got the car; best winter performance all seasons around. They are in excellent shape, so there's no way in heck I'm giving them to VW. I found some decent all seasons in Kijiji for $70, so I'll swap them when the time comes.

Both my winter and all season tires are done. Neither really good anymore. But the highline wheels probably have some value.

The reps that I dealt with said that they only needed to confirm was that the car drove, and that there was no intentional damage/parts stripping. They did not seem to think that removal of the alloy rims to be stripping. My interpretation of our conversation was that they were not specifically told to reject cars with steel rims, so they were going to accept them. This practice may change, but until that happens, I'd say give I'd give it a shot.

My all seasons had have huge cracks on the sidewalls, so i wouldn't drive on them anyway.

Mine are in bad shape as well. But yeah, the wording of stripping, I feel like intentionally removing wheels that came with the car would fall into that category.

I agree though, maybe with time they change their stance.

 

[chachee]

Both my winter and all season tires are done. Neither really good anymore. But the highline wheels probably have some value.



Mine are in bad shape as well. But yeah, the wording of stripping, I feel like intentionally removing wheels that came with the car would fall into that category.

I agree though, maybe with time they change their stance.

Honestly, I fully expected them to tell me to bring the alloy wheels in. I was pleasantly surprised when they told me it was fine on the steelies.

The other thing that I found interesting was that there was absolutely no attempt from the dealership to sell me anything. I barely even spoke to anyone other than the RicePoint reps.

I also expected that the GM of the dealership would have, on behalf of VW Canada, offered a personal apology for the inconvenience this has caused me. But there was absolutely nothing...which was pretty telling.

 

[joey003]

Honestly, I fully expected them to tell me to bring the alloy wheels in. I was pleasantly surprised when they told me it was fine on the steelies.

The other thing that I found interesting was that there was absolutely no attempt from the dealership to sell me anything. I barely even spoke to anyone other than the RicePoint reps.

I also expected that the GM of the dealership would have, on behalf of VW Canada, offered a personal apology for the inconvenience this has caused me. But there was absolutely nothing...which was pretty telling.

Interesting. I guess the dealerships have been hurt by this as well. Not that I'm a fan of dealerships or what I see happen in them whenever I'm there.

Thanks for all the feedback by the way. You're likely the first official person to actually bring the car back in.

 

[joey003]

Just got the offer for my second TDI. Was on green checkmarks for 5 days I think.

Interestingly it's a 9 page offer in total, no french included.

Now, with this one the wife and I are co-applicants. There's a section for each of us to sign along with a witness. I guess witnessing for each other isn't the best idea eh?

 

[PlaneCrazy]

Interesting. I guess the dealerships have been hurt by this as well. Not that I'm a fan of dealerships or what I see happen in them whenever I'm there.
Thanks for all the feedback by the way. You're likely the first official person to actually bring the car back in.

Since diesels were such a large chunk of VW market share in Canada, dealers have indeed taken a hit. My current dealer seems honest so far. My previous dealer was not, which is why, when I bought my 2016 Golf back in August '15, I switched dealers.

The issue was that the first dealer told me at my 135k service, that my timing belt was due "no later than the 150k service". Of course that was bogus, it's 200k. I couldn't recall at the time so I double-checked with another dealer which ended up being my dealer for the new Golf and he confirmed it was 200k, not 150k. I was going to be cheated out of 1/4 of the timing belt's life, or roughly $250. I was not happy. Coincidentally shortly afterwards I got one of those customer service surveys that we're supposed to answer with all 10s, which of course I took special pleasure in answering with a very poor rating. Dealer left multiple messages on my voice mail. I never returned the calls

Sorry for the digression. Some dealers are good, some dealers are bad. It sucks to see the good ones hurt by the scandal, but not so much to see the dealers that screwed us finally getting screwed themselves.

 

[alexvtr]

Honestly, I fully expected them to tell me to bring the alloy wheels in. I was pleasantly surprised when they told me it was fine on the steelies.

The other thing that I found interesting was that there was absolutely no attempt from the dealership to sell me anything. I barely even spoke to anyone other than the RicePoint reps.

I also expected that the GM of the dealership would have, on behalf of VW Canada, offered a personal apology for the inconvenience this has caused me. But there was absolutely nothing...which was pretty telling.

I think I remember reading somewhere that at least in the US, VW (and by extension its dealers) were specifically prohibited by the courts to use the scandal to generate sales / benefits for themselves. So it's not be impossible that the dealers were instructed by RicePoint stay away from the return procedure.

It may also be the reason why, contrary to what I was expecting, VW is not having any promo to try and keep TDI owners in the brand. It kind of defies logic to have almost 400 000 current customers that suddenly become very volatile and could easily leave you within the next 6 months and not try to do anything to keep them. Can't be good for the dealers and service either.

Mind you, VW sales are good these days so there's that. But still...

 

[joey003]

Wow, uploaded my signed offer, and within 2 minutes received reply that it was accepted.

 

[PlaneCrazy]

Wow, uploaded my signed offer, and within 2 minutes received reply that it was accepted.

Amazing, I wonder why some folks seem to take ages to get through each gate and some zoom right along.

Very frustrating to watch.

 

[joey003]

Amazing, I wonder why some folks seem to take ages to get through each gate and some zoom right along.
Very frustrating to watch.

It's been 8-9 days since I first started the process for this car too. And that includes me screwing up one document and them rejecting it and having to upload again.

Both vehicles are Buy back with no outstanding loan for what it's worth.

 

[aciduzzu]

I've read here that some people called "our" lawyers for help. Did that work? I mean, did RicePoint process their claims soon after?

 

[Steve Ferrous]

It may also be the reason why, contrary to what I was expecting, VW is not having any promo to try and keep TDI owners in the brand. It kind of defies logic to have almost 400 000 current customers that suddenly become very volatile and could easily leave you within the next 6 months and not try to do anything to keep them. Can't be good for the dealers and service either.
Mind you, VW sales are good these days so there's that. But still...

I agree that there are no promotions (although when I was at my dealer a couple of months ago, they said that there would be) but I don't believe it is part of the settlement agreement. For Mueller to agree to that, he must carry his balls around in a purse.
I think that they have done the analysis and with the trade-in option, they are in effect providing $2500 (give or take) incentive to people to buy another car. I think that is pretty good compared to the US.
If this was a straight buyback, then I would be definitely be shopping for different vehicles but in my case, it is is $3400 in tax savings (and a #$% you to the Liberal Spendthrifts) that can I put into my grandkids' RESPs.

 

[callandertdi]

Things are moving better, uploaded my 9 pages of offer and release at noon today and all have been accepted, turn back appt set for June 20

 

[joey003]

I also noticed that the first available date was June 20. I can't remember when i chose the date for my Jetta (maybe 1 week ago or so?), but first available at the time was June 3.

I assume all the spots are filling, so they must be moving through some of these claims.

 

[sbt007]

I just got the "Claims Portal - Documents Complete" email, although my documents have been in complete state since May 6. Is this normal or just another glitch?

 

[WantsThisOverWith]

Waiting since April 29th...it's hard to not get mad now watching claims submitted well after mine blowing past me....I know... patience....serenity now...

 

[Armby]

I think that they have done the analysis and with the trade-in option, they are in effect providing $2500 (give or take) incentive to people to buy another car. I think that is pretty good compared to the US.

You mean $2500 that Canadian taxpayers are providing as incentive. How VW Canada got away with that is mind boggling.

 

[Lucsar]

Things are moving better, uploaded my 9 pages of offer and release at noon today and all have been accepted, turn back appt set for June 20

Not sure if it's been mentioned or not but the portal states that it'll be closed or unavailable this coming weekend from Saturday 11:00 pm till Sunday 8:00 am. Maybe this routine maintenance has been getting some of the bugs out of the system. However, this still doesn't explain why it seems like it's taking an eternity for some people to get through the different stages, and not to mention the mistakes in documents processing/approval. Hope they sort it all out...

 

[Steve Ferrous]

You mean $2500 that Canadian taxpayers are providing as incentive. How VW Canada got away with that is mind boggling.

What...?
Tax payers are not paying one cent for this purchase. This is no different than any other trade-in that reduces taxes on the purchase.

 

[aciduzzu]

What...?
Tax payers are not paying one cent for this purchase. This is no different than any other trade-in that reduces taxes on the purchase.

Actually it is different and very unfair. They should have given it for buying any other car, instead it is only offered if you buy another VW. Not fair!