VW rust Warranty is dust in the wind

[TWHansen]

A friend of mine just bought a '00 Golf TDI with some of this typical rust and was told at Boucher VW in Franklin, WI that the warranty was 10 years and 120k miles. I'm sure this is incorrect. Thoughts?

 

[almus]

Different warranty in 00?? not sure

Warranty was 12years for 03.....not sure if it was different in 00....

I don't think that it had a mileage issue.
Find another dealer maybe???

A friend of mine just bought a '00 Golf TDI with some of this typical rust and was told at Boucher VW in Franklin, WI that the warranty was 10 years and 120k miles. I'm sure this is incorrect. Thoughts?

 

[Jerry Freeman]

No, it was not different in '00.

I have a 2000 Jetta TDI with 150K miles on it, and the local dealer recently cheerfully replaced the second fender (replaced the first one a year ago).

I would say, call VW of America and report the dealer's response. If the car has the typical rust through at the top of the front wheelwell arch, your friend will get a free fender replacement, even if it takes some persistence to get it approved.

Best wishes,
Jerry

 

[TT71]

Here is an interesting spin on the VW rusting fenders. I have the same problem with my 06 Jetta!!
I found the problem in January of this year. In June when I went to Madison to have Jasontdi do my timing belt. He told me about all this.
Well true to VW stealership form I'm receiving nothing but hassels. On Friday afternoon I called VW or America. So we shall see what happens.

 

[chrisvb]

i replaced both fenders on a 97 jetta , they were $37 each from autobody fit near chicago

 

[macmatic]

Does the 12 year corrosion warranty apply to other parts of the car? I'm looking at an '01 gasser wagon that I can get fairly cheap, cheap enough to be in the market for a TDI swap donor car soon, and the left rear wheel opening has bubbling coming up from inside at the bottom front of the opening.

If this doesn't sound like something VW would fix can anyone tell me how access to that area is from the back on a wagon? I've never done welding on sheet metal but in that area I'd probably be happy with reinforced fiberglass and a skim of bondo if I could cut out all the rot.

Thanks,
Mac

 

[drrck]

Does the 12 year corrosion warranty apply to other parts of the car? I'm looking at an '01 gasser wagon that I can get fairly cheap, cheap enough to be in the market for a TDI swap donor car soon, and the left rear wheel opening has bubbling coming up from inside at the bottom front of the opening.

If this doesn't sound like something VW would fix can anyone tell me how access to that area is from the back on a wagon? I've never done welding on sheet metal but in that area I'd probably be happy with reinforced fiberglass and a skim of bondo if I could cut out all the rot.

Thanks,
Mac

TSB is for front fenders only, so unless it is seriously perforated I would say your chances are slim on getting it done under warranty.

 

[rackaracka]

a 99 Jetta that I regularly service had the drivers fender, hood and roof repaired for no charge under the no-rust warranty, last year.

 

[macmatic]

Thanks for the replies. I've decided to pass on that wagon but knowing that rust MAY be repaired under warranty is good to know going forward.

Mac

 

[vtx531]

I just had bothy front fender on my wife's 02 Jetta replaced free by Maple Hill VW in Kalamazoo, MI. Great service and they even gave us a free rental car for a few days while her Jetta was getting worked on. Not only that, I told the servce writer that I had just replaced the inner fender a day before because it got ripped off in a pothole a few years ago and he had no problem with that. Thumbs up to Maple Hill VW in Kalamazoo.

I had a similar experience with warranty work on my Jeep Wrangler. I got recommendations on where to take it and it is worth it. Dealerships vary greatly!!!

 

[awteedot]

Just had my front left fender replaced and trunk lid repaired on my 2003 Jetta under warranty. It was done in Markham Ontario at Longmans collision.

 

[JRedig]

I just got my car back from the dealership, 2 fenders, rear hatch gate and passenger rear door, all covered due to rust. Happy VW customer here!

 

[FXDL]

Take your cars back to VW as my old car 2001 Jetta TDI with 530,000 km's on it I gave to one of my kids had rust every where and VW approved it to be done with new parts and the dealer told her the total so far that VW is just short of, believe this $20,000.00. The car only cost me before taxes some $23,000 in 2001.

 

[mrvermin]

So far under the VW rust warranty on my 2001 Jetta, VW replaced both front fenders, the Bonnet (hood) and the Boot Lid (Trunk). Now I just dropped it off at Bramgate VW to have the rust taken care of on the Rear drivers side fender.

All on VW's Tab....

MrVermin

 

[jbergman3]

If anyone is interested in fiberglass fenders to never worry about this issue again my email is jbergman3@live.com or my # is 574-370-0537

 

[GillesDeCourse]

These types of warranty claims (fender projects) are one of the rare bodywork claims that the dealer knows if it is pre-authorised. We (service advisors) still have to take pictures of the rust, vin, millage and liscence plate, then a picture of the overall condition of the car. We then have to make a report, upload the pictures, and e-mail it all to them. Sometimes dealerships don't bother to take the time to do it all properly and the claims can be refused, that's when you call vw canada. They can refuse if the overall condition of the car is not good, if they can prove it's not the original fender, or if the report is not filled properly, or if it's caused by anything other than part defect (they have to prove).

Let's not forget that the 12 year warranty is for corrosion/perforation, not rust or paint chipping. Warranty in general is simple, it covers all parts defect and their consequential damages, but it all depends on the cause. If perforation is caused by a roof rack, mudflaps, stonechips, or scratches it is not covered.

 

[crobinson16]

does this warnty cover second or third owners or does it only cover oringnal owners

 

[D-Cell_Mekanick]

does this warnty cover second or third owners or does it only cover oringnal owners

The warranty doesn't cover owners, it covers the car! The regional vw rep will generally come out and hit the panel with his meter to detect how many mills of paint are on the panel. If or when he determines the paint thickness is within the tolerancess of original paint they might repair the panel.

 

[belome]

I'm the second owner and they replaced mine... the regional rep looked at it for about 5 seconds and approved it.

 

[last vw]

Just found out about the TB today, headed to the dealership where I bought the car 10 years ago. They were more than happy to take the pics required to make the report/request to be sent in for approval. According to the technician I spoke to today, she was trying to assure me it was only Ontario and Quebec in Canada that were having problem. She is aware claims are being placed and processed in the USA as well. I've heard there are claims on the east coast of Canada, but she claimed absolutely NOT. Regardless, apparently there has been a more recent 'serge' on these claims, and they've assigned more reps to judge the claims being sent(fax they received today!). My 4 month wait has been reduced to 3 weeks! However, not sure if I'm approved yet or not! We'll see! She did however caution that due to the car's age, the colour match may not be perfect????!!!

 

[Baysville]

Has anyone had rust around the base of the factory roof rails repaired under warranty on a Jetta wagon? If so, is the roof panel easily replaced, or do they just repair the rust? Would they expected to remove the rails, fix/paint and replace the rails, or just work around them?

Based on a voicemail from my dealer, I understand that I am approved for repair of rust around the roof rails and the rear fender. I am looking to understand what they will likely do before I call them back.

On two previous rust warranty claims, they replaced the panel entirely - front fender and rear hatch - which obviously would be preferred.

 

[mz22]

Has anyone had any issues with the warranty lately?
Our 01 TDI needs fenders (as mentioned in the TSB) and there are some holes in the door. Last year when we first brought it to the dealer for pictures etc, the rust on the doors was minor. This was last October, as of January we haven't been able to drive the car due to the bi-anual inspection running out and needing doors fixed. The local VW dealer now claims they will not cover any rust repair.
What recourse is there?

 

[JB05]

This past week end I discovered some paint bubbling on my right fender. So after removing the broken wheel liner, I pulled the dry rotted foam from inside the fender. The upper mount for the liner where it attactes to the fender just disintergrated along with the plastic nut that fits in the square shaped hole that is now gone. I think I caught it in time and have since removed the chipped paint and refinished that part of the fender. I also pulled the liner and dried out foam from the left side as well, but that side was clean. Oh I did replace the broken wheel liner with the vented one from idparts, 1JM 809 962, if IIRC.

 

[jay_fyp]

Man, I love this site! I don't post often at all but I've got a hell of a lot of info I would never be aware of since I bought my 2004 jetta 8 years ago. I was just looking at how ugly my bubbling rusting fender is, thinking man, I don't have hundreds of bucks to shell out for that, and here I am finding out I will likely get a new one, free! Thanks Tdi'ers.

By the way, I bought my car brand new in 2004, I now have 250,000k on it and besides routine maintenance have replaced nothing more than a fuel pump. Couldn't be happier with this car!

 

[FOOT]

I just noticed some paint bubbling on my front fenders of my 2003 jetta which I bought new from the dealer. So far I haven"t had any problems with warranty issues but this will be the real test.

 

[spartan]

I figured I would let everyone know that I was just able to get the hatch replaced on my 2005 Jetta wagon for perforation occurring in the bottom right corner of the glass. The spot was no bigger than a pencil eraser.

However, they would not fix the rust that I had on every mounting point for the roof rack (which was much more rust and of more concern to me). Even after calling VW customer care my claim was denied for the roof because the perforation did not come from the inside out. I tried to explain that I considered the roof rails to be the outside, obviously they didn't agree with my explanation. Oh well 1 for 2 I guess...

 

[KITEWAGON]

On two previous rust warranty claims, they replaced the panel entirely - front fender and rear hatch - which obviously would be preferred.

It is frustrating how inconsistent VW is with regard to their warranty work. In my case they refused to replace the panels and did a terrible job on the rust repair. The hatch corners are already bleeding rust through after less than a year. And the paint job they did on the repair was horrible.

 

[fruitcakesa]

Just took my 03 in to VW and the SM rejected the fender claim saying that since the rust began at the inner wheel edge, it was caused by stone chips that removed the paint which then started the rust.
If the hole was in the fender panel away from an edge, it likely would be approved
FWIW there was no actual perforation through the outer fender yet, although the paint was bubbling and would likely pop off when tapped, he said that too was related to the edge damage.
I told him that since I had 2 more years of Vermont driving ahead before the warranty ran out I likely would be back with actual holes

 

[GIDDY_UP_GO]

Anyone ever had rust on their New Beetle? I have an 02 TDI Beetle and it is starting to rust on the drivers side rear rocker where the rear fender meets the rocker itself.

Pretty good sized rust bubble from the inside out. I took it to the VW dealership in Lafayette, Indiana yesterday to have the service rep look at and take pics of.

Get this......he told me that they had never done any rust warranty work at that particular dealership! It was all new to him, and I basically had to tell him what to do (IE, pics).

Anyway, I am not holding my breath. I think i will probably get denied and then I will take it over to VW of Fort Wayne. Spoke to that service manager and he was very helpful and fully aware of the corrosion warranty and the protocol.

I will try to upload some pics of my rust bubble.

 

[GIDDY_UP_GO]

Ok, here are pics of my 02 TDI Beetle with the rust on the rocker panel. Do you think VW will approve the repair or replacement?