Vehicle recalls, what do the garages get out of it?

nogoodnamesleft

Managed to find out from a source who has ELSAWIN (VAG Dealer Workshop Program) that my car ex uk (2003 VW Passat Highline 1.9tdi 130bhp) has a couple of out standing recalls... 3 in fact :eek: 1 was rectified by the previous owner and is recored in the History.

Contacted VW Customer care Ireland with the exact VW issue codes and their meaning to see what the story is. Anyway they will be carried out free of charge and all i need to do is to make an appointment with my local VW main dealer.

Im curious do the dealers get a certain amount of money for each vehicle recall they rectify? and more importantly do i get a garage car while they work on mine?

BTW a mate of mine has another 2003 Passat a 1.9TDI Sport and his one has the 2 out of the 3 recalls occuring on mine.

For anyone that is intrested the codes are the following common on both passats are:

42E3 - Securing Box of shock absorber mount
74B4 - Service Installation of Heat Seat regulator to prevent over heating

colm_mcm

garages get paid labour for warranty work by the distributor, it's quite low and the garages don't make much on warranty work, the time allocated fir certain jobs can fall short of how long they take. I don't think you're entitled to a courtesy car.

Captain Slow IRL

The garage is paid by VW for the work done - they are given a certain amount of time to do the jobs as per VW's repair instructions.

If you want a loan car, you'll probably have to pay for it.

EDIT - beat me to it colm!!

nogoodnamesleft

No wonder it wasnt pointed out to me when I ordered a replacement key a few months back.:rolleyes:

crosstownk

Recalls are generally hassle for a dealer as warranty times and labour rates are quite tight. However, if the recall involves a large amount of vehicles then it can be a money earner for the dealer as once they've done a few recalls they can usually complete them well within the warranty times.

-Chris-

nogoodnamesleft wrote: »

No wonder it wasnt pointed out to me when I ordered a replacement key a few months back.:rolleyes:

Although it would be good practice, I doubt it's common practice to run every customer's reg. through a recall database to ensure everything's done.
Manufacturers/distributors write to every (last known) customer to let them know if recalls are due. Because most new buyers don't notify the distributor that they're now the owner of the car, a lot of those letters go missing.
If it's safety related they'll send it by registered letter and/or maintain a database of every car that's been done so that they can manage it.
If it's not safety related they'll probably just send a bulletin to their service depts. and it'll get done in the course of the next service. If you're buying a car that doesn't have a main dealer service history then the non-safety recalls probably aren't done.

It's not a big deal, just ask next time you're in for service. Whether it's well paid or not, no workshop will refuse to do recall work.

crosstownk

AudiChris wrote:

Although it would be good practice, I doubt it's common practice to run every customer's reg. through a recall database to ensure everything's done.

No need - it's much easier for the importer/manufacturer to run a report on list of those outstanding.

If anyone is in doubt about whether or not a recall is outstanding then contact a dealer or the manufacturer and they will confirm it.

AudiChris wrote:

Manufacturers/distributors write to every (last known) customer to let them know if recalls are due. Because most new buyers don't notify the distributor that they're now the owner of the car, a lot of those letters go missing.

In the event of a safety recall, the DOE will furnish the importer/distributor/manufacturer with the details of the current owner. This information can only be used for the purpose of notification of the recall and not for any marketing purposes (Data Protection).

Safety recalls should be sent by registered mail to ensure that delivery is recorded. Most manufacturers will make at least three contact attempts.

Honey-ec

I had my Tigra in for a standard service back in Feb and got a phone call to say there was a recall on the ABS control unit and they have to keep it overnight to fix it. I had been given an Antara as a courtesy car and was more than happy to keep that overnight!!!

It may help that my brother is the dealer principal of the garage in question, though... ;-)

crosstownk

Honey-ec wrote: »

It may help that my brother is the dealer principal of the garage in question, though... ;-)

Damn right - otherwise you'd have been lucky to get a Aquila