VW rust warranty is a joke

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
Just found out my rust perforation warranty claim was denied. Pics below. They said the rust was caused from outside influence, such as debris, ice etc. building up in the door sill and damaging the paint. I can see that happening at the front door but this is the back door. I have never had ice or anything accumulate there. Plus the hole is not even near the lip of the door skin.

I called customer service and the guy just read me the same report the dealership did. I asked for the report emailed to me and he said he couldn't do that because it is an internal document.

I'm not normally one for warranty or insurance claims but if VW is going to promote a 12 year perforation warranty then I will gladly take it, but if they don't even honour it then how is it legal to advertise this?

 

1854sailor

Resident Curmudgeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Location
Westerly, RI
TDI
2015 Golf SE SportWagen, 2015 Golf SE Hatch Back.
If the perforation is from the inside, which is what the warranty is about, it is usually along the very bottom of the panel where water accumulates. Yours looks like it is a couple of inches up.
 

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
Exactly. That's why it should be considered a manufacturing flaw. The entire thing was covered in an intact bubble of paint.
 

Dimitri16V

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Location
DE
TDI
01 Golf, 04 Golf
Have you been reading the news lately ? The whole company is a joke
 

bmali98

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2008
Location
Dunsford Ontario
TDI
O4 golf pd auto
If the bubble came from the inside of the door, I think it would have been covered under warranty. However now that it is a big hole and it can't be proven weather it came from the inside of the door or a chip on the outside, it's not.
I had no problem with getting Vw to replace my hatch, hood and repair rear quarters on my Jetta wagon as they were obvious manufacturer defects. Vw had no problem repairing my car on the last month of corrosion warranty either. Actually, the Vw body shop guy found the hood, I didn't mention it or even notice it. The corrosion was on the under side of the hood on the windshield edge of the hood. And it was just a streak coming from under the seam sealer.
I had this work done pre dieselgate too tho. Vw may be a little more scrutinous about losing thousands on 12yr old cars now, dunno.
 
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buyingconstant7

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2014
Location
Calgary, Alberta
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 5spd
I've had the complete opposite experience. My sister 2006 TDI had rust all over her car. Her rock guard was peeling, two front fenders were starting to bubble, trunk started to have bubbles near license plate, and both rear quarter panels had bubbling going on. The car looked like a beater and my sister was embarrassed to drive it around town.

I took it to the dealer and the warranty employee came out, touched every single body panel(he didn't even want me to tell him where the rust was, so he can find it, and possibly other spots). He took pictures of every single spot of rust(more spots than I knew of) and sent me on my way. 2 weeks later I get a call with him saying every single part is covered. I took it to the dealer the next day and the bodyshop took my number and every couple of days they'd update me on the process. It took 1 month in total. 2 weeks into the repair, and the car being gone, my sister needed a set of wheels so she asked the dealer if there was anything they could do, and they gave her a 2016 Tiguan loaner for as long as it would take her car to be repaired. After it was done, they did a complete interior detail, and even fixed the bumper clips on the rear bumper, where she got rear ended and didn't bother claiming it to insurance. But the bodyshop fixed it for free and sent her on her way.

Yours does seem to be paint peel, possibly from a rock chip. But that hole is suspiciously rust related. Honestly? Go to a junker, find a mk5 Jetta and pull that door panel off. If it's not paint matched, you can either paint it yourself, or a bodyshop would do it.
 

VincenzaV

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Location
New Hampshire
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon
X2-Buyingconstant

My experience was like his. It is ALL ABOUT YOUR DEALER.... What they say, how cool they are, etc. Find another VW dealer a town over or so to submit the claim. My 2004 Jetta wagon has a few rust spots the size of a dime or less (some even small blueberry sized), it was a New England car, all its life until last year when my parents gave it to me. The claim originally got kicked back because the dealer took pictures that the mothership didn't like, so one month later I had to go back for more photos (no big deal since I was getting near the end of the warranty, AND it was a car subjected to harsh NE winters, though garaged (but washed only a handful times a year...)

I got new front fenders (both, again post TSB recall), new driver side door, new rear hatch,and the redid one rocker panels. A few thousand worth of work for FREE

So, it DOES work, sorry your experience was bad, but seriously consider applying again through a new dealer. VW is getting a lot of bad press right now so they are more prone to do things in good faith.

That is pretty rotted that the original factory "evidence" is now likely gone so they are assuming it was a rich chip or something...
 
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2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
I was going to deal with it myself as I do all the work on the car myself anyways. When I removed the bubbled paint I was just expecting surface rust, but I was surprised to find the sheet metal rusted right through. I figured I would try out the warranty because from reading the pamphlet, it seemed like this "perforated" corrosion was exactly what it was meant for. There was no damage anywhere and the paint was intact.

Maybe my problem was that I scraped off the paint bubble but I would not have bothered bringing the car in if it was just surface rust I could repair myself, besides the warranty didn't cover surface rust from what I read.

The dealership actually gave the impression that it would most likely be covered and explained to me the next steps as far as booking in the car in and how long it would take to get the car back. That's why I was so surprised when I found out it was denied. Especially since the simplest repair would be just to get a replacement door skin.

I will most likely now just remove the present rust, spray the area with primer and black rust paint and keep my eyes open for a good door panel at the salvage yard.
 

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
VW Canada called me back and they will now cover 70% of the repair cost. Should be fully covered but I will take this. I'm actually surprised they called back but pleasantly surprised.
 

ApriliaNut

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Location
SoCal
TDI
06 pkg 1 Jetta 191k w/Malone Stage 2
VW Canada called me back and they will now cover 70% of the repair cost. Should be fully covered but I will take this. I'm actually surprised they called back but pleasantly surprised.

Now that is truly confusing!

How does a company parse a "rust warranty" to only cover 70%?!?

Is there any fine print in the language that would include such a resolution?!?

Sounds to me like they had a pang of guilt b/c they didn't even have to call you back yet they did, albeit after almost two weeks.

I'd go for the full monty unless they can provide you a logical explanation.

Or is my logic faulty?!?
 
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