VW Dealer Refused To Work on my 2010 VW TDI I Bought From Them

[gmcjetpilot]

So my dealer will not work on cars over 10 yrs old! Not that I am heart broken. I either DIY or bring my TDI to my local VW Audi Porsche Shop. Very fortunate to have them. Doing business with them for over 11 yrs.

My car has 140k miles, can eat off it clean, looks new, and is well maintained. I BOUGHT IT FROM THIS VW DEALER. How dare they. Ha ha.

What do you all think of this?
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Why bother with dealer? Good question. Why bother indeed. I have had it serviced there before under warranty. Nightmare. Last time at dealer was late 2017 I recall, 7 yrs ago for the emission modification. Recently working on my DPF I saw one of the pressure sensors electrical connector was unplugged and cable stowed inbetween injectors under engine cover. Did they do that 7 yrs ago when they did emission mod? Very possible. Typical of dealer service. Apparently my ECU did not notice.

So why care? I like to call dealer and ask for quote. Currently need 10yr/120K timing belt, water pump job. I called the dealer. We don't work on old cars they told me. I ended up getting a quote another way, $350 to $400 more than independent VW shop. Price at independent better, but they have experienced VW techs, factory VW, Audi and Porsche trained before working for this sop. They all have been there for 10 to 15 yrs. I know the two owners and they are car guys all the way.

PS Even the independent shop has a 12 yr rule on working on cars, which I know they ignore, since I see classic Porsches and VW's in there. Being a long time customer, car in great condition, sure they will not deny service. In fact I called about belt they will schedule me. No rush but one down side of independent shop is they are busy and can be a month out on slots. The curse of success. The local dealer sucks so hard they have a built in market.

 

[ZippyNH]

Living in the salt/rust belt....bet there are certain cars that the independent doesn't want to work on...so they can point at the rule...move on.
The dealership...might be more of a way to phase out training for mechanics that work on TDI's...
Let's face it, VW lost their shirts in north America selling TDI, so it's a way to stop the bleeding, maybe even get a few sales at the franchise level.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

Living in the salt/rust belt....bet there are certain cars that the independent doesn't want to work on...so they can point at the rule...move on.
The dealership...might be more of a way to phase out training for mechanics that work on TDI's...
Let's face it, VW lost their shirts in north America selling TDI, so it's a way to stop the bleeding, maybe even get a few sales at the franchise level.

Yeah I hear you... It is life. VW has orphaned the TDI? Porsche dealers do not work on air cooled 911's for a long time now.

I did call VW of America. It is not VW policy it is at franchise dealer level. The dealer said they are busy. I likely newer cars, under warranty which pays well. Many jobs pay by book VW will pay them don't, do not actually take as long to accomplish. Meaning it makes them money and mechanics are happy to get 3 hrs pay for 2 hrs work.

I also surmise they don't want a project cars, jalopies and hoopties or cars modified in anyway. None of that applies to me. However an old car may have many other issues. So when they dig into it, they now have to tell customer, we went to fix ABC but we see you need X, Y and Z. Now the customer is pissed and accuse them of foul play with a new quote 3 times more than original estimate.

I get it from business stance, but it feels bad. I get it is bottom line business not LETS TAKE CARE OF CUSTOMER and the cars we sell. It really is a bad look and not good for brand. VW precision finely crafted German engineering that is reliable and long lived. Nope in 10 yrs it's a pile of crap we don't even want in our shop... Ha ha.

Other industries, especially electronics. There is "end of life". Software even worse, no longer supported but still works. But this is a $30,000 car not a toaster, TV or laptop. I assume Chevy will not work on a 1969 Chevy (which I had and loved working on because it was simple). As mentioned a Porsche dealer does not work on air-cooled Porsches, even if it is a museum piece, which I heard 14 yrs ago (when I was shopping for a 1998 Porsche 993 (around 2010). I never bought one, but came close. Wish I did. They are now triple from the prices I was going to pay. Those cars are maintenance headaches and a 4 wheel hole in to which to throw your money down.

 

[gearheadgrrrl]

The dealer can whine all they want about old cars, but the TDI warranty runs for 10 or 11 years after first retail sale and some of those sales were made as late as at least 2020. If VW can't "motivate" a dealer to do TDI warranty work on these cars, they're gonna have to pay for shipping the cars to a dealer who will and providing loaners.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

OK so warranty work under pays. Make sense. My car is outside the 10-11 yrs zone. Again I am not sad. Just confused. As far as buying car from them, nope. One and done.

No loss they did weird stuff. Bought 2010 in 2011 as a CPO. Week later dead no start. Wait for VW tow and 3 hrs later, I decided to look around. The battery terminals were not tight (they did DSG service before selling). They said how do you know we did it? Ha ha.

Also I got car with one key. Posted on this forum. Someone showed me current VW CPO promotion and one guarantee was two sets of keys. I went and said you own me a key. Surprise they found the second keys, they had all the time. For some reason I had them mount two tires (they put them on reverse rotation).

Then I had the emission Mod done in late 2017. Recently I had to replace my DPF. I called them about that. That is when I first heard of the 10 yr rule. Talked to manager and he said they would look at it. I went another way, did it myself.

Now I call about timing belt and could not get a quote. I call over two days and get run around. They decided to be service ****, "No Service For You". Ha ha.

So to be honest I would not bring my car there regardless. It is just the way they ran me around and past service that I have a gripe.

 

[JELLOWSUBMARINE]

Most dealerships aren't any better at hiring spacifically qualified tech.s than independent shops. In fact many times a Volkswagen, Toyota etc... spacific shop will employ a much higher standard tech. @ better quality of work and lower hourly rate. Worked them both. I'll never get back several years wasted in the dealership, but boy do I have stories.

 

[gearheadgrrrl]

Just put 2+2 together and realized that this is a crude way of end of lifing new VWs- The 8th Gen MQBs like Golf R and GTI have "component protection" software that requires a visit to the VW dealer and hookup to the VW mothership's mainframe to do even stupid simple stuff like releasing the handbrake for a pad change. And when the VW dealers refuse to work on cars over 10 years old...

 

[gmcjetpilot]

Most dealerships aren't any better at hiring spacifically qualified tech.s than independent shops. In fact many times a Volkswagen, Toyota etc... spacific shop will employ a much higher standard tech. @ better quality of work and lower hourly rate. Worked them both. I'll never get back several years wasted in the dealership, but boy do I have stories.

You have been there done that. I am sure you are right. But I can brag on my independent (Wolfsburg Memphis TN). It is well staffed. It is owned by two VW Audi Porsche mechanics and true car nuts. They are owners but also turn wrenches (which is why they are profitable). In business for 20 yrs, the partners bought an existing VW repair shop in 2008. Owner retired. That VW shop was in business 30 yrs prior.

See https://www.wolfsburgauto.com/about

Several of the mechanics, at Wolfsburg, besides the two owners/techs, the other techs I have seen there since going to that shop, 10 yrs. are still there today. I think one has left and there is a new face or two. I am not expert in their staffing. Stable group.

All I care about is quality work at fair price, honest without f ing up my car... I never feel dirty like I have been ripped off or shinnashenanigans afoot. I am very lucky to have this shop so near. They did my thermostat because it's a pain I did not want to do. I try to do my own work. I am doing my first TDI timing belt water pump. I am going with diesel geek tools and kit. I have watched enough videos I have it memorized. It is typical German, about an hour to get to belt and jack engine up, then start job. Fun. My BMW motorcycle is like that. You literally have to take the back end of the motorcycle apart, off (frame and all), to get to the clutch. I don't know if Germans are geniuses or sadistic. Ha ha. Fair to say ease of maintenance is not high on the design priority. I think back to my 67 and 69 Chevy Camaros... timing chain? No special tools, no engine jacking, no major disassembly or lifting car, under an hour; Ha ha. Thermostat? Same 30 min. VW TDI thermostat 5 hours.

 

[JELLOWSUBMARINE]

You have been there done that. I am sure you are right. But I can brag on my independent (Wolfsburg Memphis TN). It is well staffed. It is owned by two VW Audi Porsche mechanics and true car nuts. They are owners but also turn wrenches (which is why they are profitable). In business for 20 yrs, the partners bought an existing VW repair shop in 2008. Owner retired. That VW shop was in business 30 yrs prior.

See https://www.wolfsburgauto.com/about

Several of the mechanics, at Wolfsburg, besides the two owners/techs, the other techs I have seen there since going to that shop, 10 yrs. are still there today. I think one has left and there is a new face or two. I am not expert in their staffing. Stable group.

All I care about is quality work at fair price, honest without f ing up my car... I never feel dirty like I have been ripped off or shinnashenanigans afoot. I am very lucky to have this shop so near. They did my thermostat because it's a pain I did not want to do. I try to do my own work. I am doing my first TDI timing belt water pump. I am going with diesel geek tools and kit. I have watched enough videos I have it memorized. It is typical German, about an hour to get to belt and jack engine up, then start job. Fun. My BMW motorcycle is like that. You literally have to take the back end of the motorcycle apart, off (frame and all), to get to the clutch. I don't know if Germans are geniuses or sadistic. Ha ha. Fair to say ease of maintenance is not high on the design priority. I think back to my 67 and 69 Chevy Camaros... timing chain? No special tools, no engine jacking, no major disassembly or lifting car, under an hour; Ha ha. Thermostat? Same 30 min. VW TDI thermostat 5 hours.

No, I love it, don't get me wrong. This world NEEDS good specialized shops like what you have. Wish there were more.

The dealerships are dying an ugly death from greedy ownership and down. For the most part the techs and especially the purchasing public get the squeeze.

 

[scdevon]

It's no fun working on older cars. Plastic parts get brittle even with normal handling. Outdated software versions. Parts not immediately available like with current models. Funky old wiring with hidden faults like obscure poor grounds, etc.
Sometimes structural corrosion on rust belt cars. As stated, they can Cherry-Pick the cream puff older cars that they want to work on and point to the sign when a Hooptie rolls up. Best of both worlds, really.

 

[oilhammer]

The Honda motorsports dealer won't work on my 2007 Recon, either. Despite the fact that it is identical to my 2012 Recon, and you can still buy a brand new Recon in 2024, and they haven't changed anything. You could park both my 2007 and 2012 models next to a 2024 model and you'd literally have to look at the tag on the frame to be able to tell them apart. Only thing that has changed is the price, LOL.

Only logical explanation is that the older they get, the less value they have, and they don't want to deal with people just "abandoning" stuff there. Because I could see it easily exceeding the value of one if it needed a lot of work. Luckily, Honda ATVs rarely need that.

 

[lemoncurd]

fwiw, no shop in new england has turned away our '87 volvo 240
thing lived its whole life on the west coast, so no rust. but boy does she LEAK!
we need to replace a bunch of seals on it here soon..

 

[oilhammer]

Flame trap clogged up... common, and causes those old red block Volvos to barf oil out everywhere.

 

[lemoncurd]

Flame trap clogged up... common, and causes those old red block Volvos to barf oil out everywhere.

yeah, we have the relocation kit on it currently.

it needs a new hose for that, it currently has a ton of cracks and you can see the oil mist coming out

on the up side.. theres about 1/4-1/2inch of oil sludge on the bottom of the car. while it is a BP oil spill on wheels, it's got the best anti rust coating you have EVER seen!

 

[oilhammer]

Oh I've been under enough GM bombs to know what engine-supplied rust proofing looks like, LOL...

 

[lemoncurd]

Oh I've been under enough GM bombs to know what engine-supplied rust proofing looks like, LOL...

this is engine, transmission, power steering, and rear diff supplied HAHAHA

it needs some love, but finding the time to reseal basically the whole car is hard.