Okay peeps, strap yourselves in, this is going to take a while!
My beloved 2007 Volkswagen Golf GT has been the cause of a saga which has taken the best part of six months to conclude (sort of). It's not over completely, as Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) have pretty much dismissed the matter & the car is not much better than when it in. Their Managing Director, Anke Koeckler made a fuss about improving customer service in press releases when she took over the role a few years back. From my experience, there is a very long way to go.....
If you're in the market for any of the cars in the Volkswagen Group, I urge you to continue reading. I don't think my treatment by VGA was anything special, so you're likely to get the same level of service should anything go wrong.
7th May 2010 - Took my Golf to German Auto for it's 40k service. Fault logged of a misfire in cylinder 1 & an oil leak in the crankshaft. Upon startup, the misfire would cause the Check Engline Light (CEL) to flash, but would go out once the the car has completed the start-up sequence.
18th May 2010 - Repair for the oil leak performed by Solitaire Auto. The misfire is diagnosed as a sticking turbo valve, which is then replaced. A lack of power is also blamed on the valve. Paperwork is issued to say the misfire is rectified. Another fault is found, being an intercooler pipe seal causing some noise during the roadtest. The part is on order.
19th May 2010 - The misfire is no different after the repairs, so I dropped the car in & they had it for the day. The misfire is now blamed on the intercooler seal on order.
21st May 2010 - Solitaire replace the pipe seal & find a cooler temp sensor at fault. Sensor is replaced & blamed for causing the misfire. Paperwork is again issued to me stating the misfire is now repaired. On starting the car to leave the dealer, the misfire is still quite evident.
22nd May 2010 - Called German Auto to arrange the ignition coils to be replaced. It seems to be one of the common & cheapest solutions to solve a misfire.
2nd June 2010 - Ignition Coils replaced by German Auto at my request & expense ($400). Misfire remains unchanged.
3rd June 2010 - Called German Auto to let them know misfire is not resolved. Will take the car back for futher diagnosis.
10th June 2010 - German Auto given the car for the night to test when cold.
11th June 2010 - German Auto changes spark plugs to no avail. Suspicion is on the injectors. They arrange for the work to be performed by Duttons Auto, a Volkswagen dealer, so repairs are done under warranty.
2nd July 2010 - The day prior to running my car up to Murray Bridge, the CEL came on & stayed on whilst driving into work. A few calls later & the Golf was being loaded onto a flat-bed truck for it's journey.
7th July 2010 - My first call to Duttons. No one has really touched the car due to being a few staff short. Initial tests show the fault in cylinder 1 & since the coils & plugs have been replaced, it's likely to be an injector.
9th July 2010 - A full week later & the problem seems to be causing everyone grief. Tests have been performed, history of the engine checked & from the sound of it, a few discussions with Volkswagen Group Australia to get the job started. Apparently, Duttons require approval from VGA to actually work on the car!
14th July 2010 - Made the drive up to Murray Bridge to see how the work was going & met the mechanic who was in the process of moving injectors between cylinders. Now, they need to pull the engine apart, move the injectors around to see if the fault follows the injector. However, in order to test this, they need to put everything back together, drive the car until the fault appears again. Only then can they pull it all apart for a second time & actually replace the injector!
21st July 2010 - Called to see how things were going after leaving it to them for another week. After moving the injectors around & without replacing anything, the car is running fine without generating faults. It's still therefore a mystery. The mechanic was going to hold onto it for a couple more days to test other potential causes.
23rd July 2010 - Received a call from the mechanic. The fault returned & he has ordered a full set of new injectors ($1,000). The parts should arrive early next week.
29th July 2010 - Called to find out even with a full set of new fuel injectors, the problem remains. The next step: a brand new electronic control unit (ECU). It's the full brains of the car & isn't cheap ($2,500). It also has to come from Germany & it will take around three weeks to get here! I'm given the details to call Volkswagen Customer Care to arrange for a rental vehicle.
31st July 2010 - Picked up a Hyundai i30 through Europcar, organised through VGA. It's been booked for me for the entire month of August! Prior to this I drove my Mom's car for two weeks & my sister's car for the two weeks before that.
7th August 2010 - Official date for the warranty on my Golf to expire.
19th August 2010 - I've left the guys at Duttons alone for a couple of weeks, knowing that the part would take a while to arrive. Again, no one has called me to keep in touch & no one has actually checked to see it the part is even on its way! They'll call me back once their parts manager gets back from lunch. Update: Estimated arrival for the new ECU is September 10th! That will make it a 43 day trip from Germany. How hard would it be for them to put the part on a plane?!
28th August 2010 - Called VW Customer Care to extend the rental car into September & had a call back from Mondial Assistance (who arrange rental cars on VW's behalf) to say the loan of the car has been extended & I'll receive a call when the car is due to be returned.
31st August 2010 - 3pm - Received a call from Europcar to say the car was overdue & my credit card would be charged. 3:10pm - I called VW Customer Care who had me on hold while they sorted out the issue with Mondial Assistance. They told me the extension had been sent & the problem was with Europcar but they would call to make sure it had happened. 4pm - I called the Europcar to check if anything had come through, but nothing had been sent & no call received! 4:20pm - Called VW Customer Care again & all I could get was a message about calling back during office hours. 4:23pm - Searched the internet to find a contact number to call Mondial Assistance direct. Called their Brisbane head office & spoke to someone who again reiterated the paperwork had been sent through, but he would arrange someone to contact the rental company before the end of the day. I also provided the Europcar manager's direct number. 5pm - Called Europcar & again nothing had been sent through & no phone call received!!
1st September 2010 - Called Europcar & they finally received details for the extension at 5:30 the previous day. The extension is until the 11th, which is useless considering the part is scheduled to be received on the 10th. One day for install, er, not likely!
5th September 2010 - Received a call from Europcar wondering why I hadn't returned the car in the morning. Explained the story once again & no extension had been entered into their system.
6th September 2010 - Called Europcar to check everything was now organised. Due to the Hyundai being part of a fleet they want to change the car over tomorrow. They will call during the morning to arrange this.
7th September 2010 - Received a call in the afternoon to change over the rental car. Painless swap from a white one to blue Hyundai i30. Thankfully, they are only a couple of buildings up the road from where I work.
9th September 2010 - Received a call from Duttons. The part due to arrive on the 10th is now anticipated to arrive on the 23rd. Apparently, it is unknown why the new ECU is unavailable or if one needs to be made in Germany. The rental car has been extended until 6th October. I also discovered the Registration on the rental car expired on 21st June 2010! Called Consumer Affairs to discuss the issues so far & they put me onto the ACCC to determine if VW is in breach of any laws for not having parts available for vehicles under warranty. They recorded the complaint & recommended a letter be send directly to VW Australia.
10th September 2010 - Called Europcar to check if the car had been extended to discover it was not extended until 6th October, but only until 25th September! Also let them know the registration sticker was expired & the girl panicked & checked with her management. New registration details will be available in the next couple of days to attach to the car.
14th September 2010 - Received an email from my folks who are on holiday in Queensland saying they had received a call from Volkswagen Customer Care because they could not get in touch with me! They have again revised the date to the 17th September for the part to arrive & should be with Duttons on 23rd September.
17th September 2010 - No contact from VW on whether the part has arrived.
23rd September 2010 - Again, no contact from VW or Duttons. Call Volkswagen Customer Care. Called to be advised that the whereabouts of the ECU is unknown & it may arrive in the afternoon. If the part does not arrive, they will follow it up after the weekend. I obtained the contact details to send a letter of demand & to advise the extension of the rental car needs be revised. Mondial Assurance is to call me regarding the extention & to address the expired registration of the rental car. VW Customer Care has made a file note of the expired rego.
24th September 2010 - Drove to Murray Bridge to see my car & obtain the service manual & a few other items. Spoke to the mechanic who informed me the latest due date for the ECU to arrive is the 28th September 2010. There is also a delay of up to 12 days until it will be dispatched by Customs to Duttons.
29th September 2010 - Received a call from Duttons to let me know the ECU has not yet been dispatched from Germany. It should be in Australia by the 15th October 2010. The rental car has been extended until 26th October 2010.
8th October 2010 - Sent a letter to VGA expressing my disappointment with the level of service. I have suggested they refund the price of the car or put a full new car warranty back on it when repaired. Depending on the response, it may go to consumer affairs.
15th October 2010 - Thanks to Australia Post's registered service, the tracking of my letter shows it was available to be picked up from Monday morning, but took until today (Friday) for someone to actually collect it.
18th October 2010 - Received a call from Duttons VW. The ECU is due to arrive on 22nd October 2010. It will then take another week for it to get to them. The mechanic who has worked on my car so far will be offsite undergoing training so won't be able to work on the car when it arrives. VW are apparently happy to talk an apprentice through what needs to be done!?! I've instructed them to wait for the main mechanic to return.
19th October 2010 - Received a call from VW Roadside Assist. The guy wanted to arrange a car for me while my car was being repaired?!? I informed him I'd been driving a rental car for over two months. He said he'd sort out the miscommunication with his office.
26th October 2010 - Received a call from Duttons to tell me the new ECU has been installed & has fixed the misfire, but there is still a fault code to be sorted. They will put a few kilometres on the car to test everything & the premium fuel has been drained & replaced after sitting dormant for so long. The management of VGA has been in contact with Duttons & want a full report on everything which has happened to date.
27th October 2010 - Received a call from Duttons to confirm everything is now running perfectly. VGA have asked that the car not be released back to me until everyone is 100% sure it's okay. The main mechanic will be back on Friday to give it a complete once over.
29th October 2010 - Received a call from the main mechanic who has been working on the car at Duttons. There is still some final testing to be done & he wants to put a couple of tanks of fuel through the system.
1st November 2010 - 3:40pm - Received a call from Duttons to tell me my car is ready to pick up.
2nd November 2010 - Returned rental car to Europcar & then grabbed a ride up to Murray Bridge. Neither the mechanic or the Service rep who I have dealt with were around. One of the other staff members simply handed me the key & said I'd get a call in the next couple of days to see how it's going. No paperwork provided to me. Thought I noticed a small cough in the engine before I drove off, but couldn't be sure.
3rd November 2010 - First cold start in my possession since the start of July. The car certainly doesn't run rough like it did or throw a fault code, but there is still the occasional cough from the engine.
4th November 2010 - Second cold start & it misfired at least three times before the idle finished the startup sequence. Received a call from VW Customer Care & I mentioned this issue & they would discuss this with Duttons. I also asked how their response to my letter was going & was told they had received it & it was now on file. They then asked if I would like a response, to which I said "absolutely" & she said they would draft something up. I spoke to Duttons about the misfire & the mechanic said it was an inherent nature of the specific engine & until it causes another fault code they cannot do anything further. Called the Office of Consumer Affairs & their response to the situation was "What do you want us to do about it?". Called the ACCC who made a quick note of the issue & said if I wanted to take anything further, I would need to take VGA to the small claims court.
So, after 6 months of issues, being without my car for 4 months, 5 separate dates for the arrival of 1 part, countless phone calls & 1 formal letter, I'm left with a car which may still have the original underlying problem!
