As I've mentioned before, I got my passenger side front fender replaced with no problems at the local VW dealer. The only inconvenience was, I had to make an appointment to come in on a day when the regional manager was on site so he could inspect the fender and authorize the replacement.
Now, my driver's side fender needs replaced. I called the dealership this morning, and the service manager said, "I think there's a TSB on that. If I can find it, I can authorize the replacement without having to get approval from the regional manager."
He called back later and told me he'd found the TSB. He asked a few questions to confirm that the rust had made a hole and that it's at the top of the wheel arch where the foam pad in back of the metal makes it corrode, which is the specific defect the TSB addresses.
Having confirmed that, he said, "I'll go ahead and order the fender. Come in whenever you can, because I need your signature on the work order."
I drove over this morning, had a nice chat about timing belt change do's and don'ts. He was clearly taking me seriously when I told him about Franko6's recommended 45 ft-lbs of torque on the cam sprocket bolt instead of the specified 32 ft-lbs (he's seen them slip himself); helicoiling the engine mount threads, etc.
It turns out, he's just purchased a used TDI the engine fell out of and broke the mounting tab on the engine block because the engine mount threads had failed.
A pleasant transaction all around.
Best wises,
Jerry
