UK car mag VW Ireland/Frank Keane consumer issue

Stallingrad

Interesting consumer article in Autoexpress or Autocar this week (browsing so not sure). A chap had a faulty adaptive cruise control on his 2 year old Golf. Frank Keane VW wanted €1400 approx to fix, even though there was no apparent damage to the unit and the car was under warranty.

The owner went to an Indy and got it fixed for €50. VW's response was to warn the owner their warranty may now be invalid! All in all pretty poor stuff from VW by the look of it.

Toyotafanboi

Stallingrad wrote: »

All in all pretty poor stuff from VW by the look of it.

no surprises there then

PixelTrawler

Stallingrad wrote: »

Interesting consumer article in Autoexpress or Autocar this week (browsing so not sure). A chap had a faulty adaptive cruise control on his 2 year old Golf. Frank Keane VW wanted €1400 approx to fix, even though there was no apparent damage to the unit and the car was under warranty.

The owner went to an Indy and got it fixed for €50. VW's response was to warn the owner their warranty may now be invalid! All in all pretty poor stuff from VW by the look of it.

Do you have a link for a read?

Notch000

a friend of mine when to Audi dealer with a blown lightbulb, they quoted 420 for a new light housing & fitting, he got it himself at an independent place for 80E and then took it to an indy to get fitted (at my advice), they laughed and said it only needed the bulb holder that a 8 euro part and require 3 wire crimping. nothing to do with the housing at all

he only went to the dealer as the car came back from a TB service with the bulb gone

moral of the story
main dealer = scam artists

Pete123456

Talked to ford about a replacement gps antenna for my focus, said the original part was 80 quid and about 10 mins labour (could have done it myself) but when I went to order it, it had been superseded by 220 quid worth of parts and several hours labour at 80 euros an hour plus vat! Then your one at the desk said not to bother cause I'd have to update the nav and maps and it wouldn't be worth it.

Moral of the story is I spent 22 quid on an aftermarket antenna and ran the cable in about 20 mins. Car picks up 10 satellites now.

Neilw

Stallingrad wrote: »

Interesting consumer article in Autoexpress or Autocar this week (browsing so not sure). A chap had a faulty adaptive cruise control on his 2 year old Golf. Frank Keane VW wanted €1400 approx to fix, even though there was no apparent damage to the unit and the car was under warranty.

The owner went to an Indy and got it fixed for €50. VW's response was to warn the owner their warranty may now be invalid! All in all pretty poor stuff from VW by the look of it.

If the car was still under warranty why was the owner being charged to fix the faulty part?

What did the indy do to fix the faulty cruise control? If he modified or fitted non oe parts the warranty could be made invalid.

Not enough info to make a call imo, oh and BTW I'm in no way sticking up for Keanes.

CIP4

VW Ireland customer care office in Dublin is the biggest joke of a place. The drivers seat wore in our Octavia after 40k km 1 year old it was 100% a fault with the material in the seat as it started to unravel. Now what a new seat cover cost VW sub 50 quid. Well the arguing we went through with VW Ireland from them saying we were the wrong type of clothes and did we wear belts I mean is there a certain brand of clothing you have to wear after a while we just gave up on. It.

My mother said to them I hope it was worth it for them to lose the sale of several new VW in future years over a fcuking seat cover. They rang a year later to ask her about changing to a new Skoda boy were they sorry they rang :pac: still to this day she says she will never touch another VAG car over it I mean no one gives a fcuk about the cost it was the the principal of it.

Stallingrad

PixelTrawler wrote: »

Do you have a link for a read?

Don't think its online, saw it in a newsagent.

CJhaughey

Its actually quite interesting the difference in Customer care between Japanese and German marques, broadly speaking the bigger Japanese companies like Honda and Toyota are very good with aftercare, things like repaint on red Avensis being covered and Accord exhaust manifolds being replaced are quite common even on older models. VAG seem to be particularly poor with any kind of warranty claims.

colm_mcm

this story doesn't add up.

Stallingrad

colm_mcm wrote: »

this story doesn't add up.

I think VW's inspection indicated the unit on the front was damaged in someway, though not visible from the outside of the car, but the Indy was able to repair it for a fraction of the fee VW wanted.

colm_mcm

you can't really expect vw to have to cover it if it was damaged due to impact etc.

repairing something rather than replacing with a brand new item is usually cheaper. whether the repair compromises the system is another matter.

Stallingrad

colm_mcm wrote: »

you can't really expect vw to have to cover it if it was damaged due to impact etc.

repairing something rather than replacing with a brand new item is usually cheaper. whether the repair compromises the system is another matter.

Not under warranty, no, but I think the point was the discrepancy between the two costs of repair. FK also would not let the owner drive the car off the forecourt as they felt the car was unsafe, so the owner had to get it towed away. The threat of voiding the warranty on the entire car was real though, which seems heavy handed. In others words, pay our price, we won't release the car, and if you do kiss you warranty goodbye.

Pretty shoddy if you ask me.

Ron Burgundy II

CJhaughey wrote: »

Its actually quite interesting the difference in Customer care between Japanese and German marques, broadly speaking the bigger Japanese companies like Honda and Toyota are very good with aftercare, things like repaint on red Avensis being covered and Accord exhaust manifolds being replaced are quite common even on older models. VAG seem to be particularly poor with any kind of warranty claims.

Toyota customer care is shocking. Parents had an MMT Yaris, which would often decide to come out of gear and go no further. It was in and out of most Toyot garages around Cork and no one could resolve the issue. Toyota Ireland were pitiful to deal with, basically didn't want to provide any help. Turns out that this issue is huge and in the UK Toyota were very proactive in trying to get a fix (according to UK forums).

Neilw

Stallingrad wrote: »

Not under warranty, no, but I think the point was the discrepancy between the two costs of repair. FK also would not let the owner drive the car off the forecourt as they felt the car was unsafe, so the owner had to get it towed away. The threat of voiding the warranty on the entire car was real though, which seems heavy handed. In others words, pay our price, we won't release the car, and if you do kiss you warranty goodbye.

Pretty shoddy if you ask me.

Again not stickig up for them

If the ACC sensor was damaged in some way, but repairable by a diy'r, VW would still replace the sensor, they don't do repairs like that.
Hence the high cost of the sensor, fitting it and calibration which at the moment only VW can do from what I hear on the street.

As for not releasing the car, that's a bit much but again the ACC sensor is part of the cars safety systems, so maybe that's why they said its unsafe.

Ron Burgundy II

Neilw wrote: »

Again not stickig up for them

If the ACC sensor was damaged in some way, but repairable by a diy'r, VW would still replace the sensor, they don't do repairs like that.
Hence the high cost of the sensor, fitting it and calibration which at the moment only VW can do from what I hear on the street.

As for not releasing the car, that's a bit much but again the ACC sensor is part of the cars safety systems, so maybe that's why they said its unsafe.

ACC applies the break should you fail to react in time.

Stallingrad

I guess what is interesting is that cars that have this feature generally have the sensor located under the bumper, which is quite a vulnerable area, a small knock can mean a scary bill.

Neilw

Ron Burgundy II wrote: »

ACC applies the break should you fail to react in time.

I know, I have it on my car

Ron Burgundy II

Neilw wrote: »

I know, I have it on my car

ditto

RandomAccess

Found a copy of it,

http://www.pressreader.com/uk/auto-express/20160203/282106340670905/TextView

ba_barabus

Everything in here is designed to break but we're pretty sure they're thick enough to believe it's good quality.

Rob C

It's disgraceful the way too many of them operate.

We're all just sick and tired of the way we're bent over by the motor trade here in every way. Car prices, spec levels, VRT, road tax, insurance costs, dealer attitudes, you name it. I laugh when I hear British people moan about what they have to put up with.

Toyotafanboi

Rob C wrote: »

We're all just sick and tired of the way we're bent over by the motor trade here in every way. Car prices, spec levels, VRT, road tax, insurance costs, dealer attitudes, you name it. I laugh when I hear British people moan about what they have to put up with.

in fairness, the motor trade has no controlling hand in any of those things.

JoeA3

I've always had very good experiences with warranty claims with VW. I think having a good relationship with your local dealer goes a long way...

As for this case, I've read / heard that the ACC sensor on the front of the MK7 Golf is relatively inexpensive to replace but it's the calibration that costs a bomb and that only the VW dealers have the equipment to do it.

And as for Frank Keanes.... Less said the better. Shoddy dealer in my personal experience.

ba_barabus

JoeA3 wrote: »

I've always had very good experiences with warranty claims with VW.

JoeA3 wrote: »

And as for Frank Keanes.... Less said the better. Shoddy dealer in my personal experience.

Was vw the common denominator?

Rob C

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

in fairness, the motor trade has no controlling hand in any of those things.

I really mean the motor industry 'ecosphere' here, i.e. trade plus the government. I know the government is the real factor in all this.

JoeA3

ba_barabus wrote: »

Was vw the common denominator?

errr what? No. They aren't my local dealers.

I just had a poor experience with one of their sales staff last year. VW had nothing to do with it, I just happened to come across a pig ignorant "salesman" when I called into them when passing one day. Aside from that I've heard first hand reports that their service dept leaves a lot to be desired too.

Rob C

JoeA3 wrote: »

errr what? No. They aren't my local dealers.

I just had a poor experience with one of their sales staff last year. VW had nothing to do with it, I just happened to come across a pig ignorant "salesman" when I called into them when passing one day. Aside from that I've heard first hand reports that their service dept leaves a lot to be desired too.

I think of a lot of these big group dealers have stretched themselves too far to the point you can have vastly different experiences from one branch to the other of the same group. Frank Keane BMW on the Naas Rd are very good, really top class customer care from everyone for BMW and Mini. Yet Frank Keane in Blackrock, nowhere near as good imho.

ba_barabus

JoeA3 wrote: »

errr what? No. They aren't my local dealers.

I just had a poor experience with one of their sales staff last year. VW had nothing to do with it, I just happened to come across a pig ignorant "salesman" when I called into them when passing one day. Aside from that I've heard first hand reports that their service dept leaves a lot to be desired too.

Was it a VW sales person?

ba_barabus

Rob C wrote: »

Yet Frank Keane in Blackrock, nowhere near as good imho.

Agreed.

JoeA3

ba_barabus wrote: »

Was it a VW sales person?

It was. What difference does that make? He could have been selling effing mars bars ffs, I was simply giving an example of a poor customer service experience in said dealership. I've dealt with many different salesmen across all sorts of marques over the years, some good, some poor, but this guy was special.

For what it's worth, the guys at my local VW dealers are excellent. Hence my original point - a good relationship with a dealer and in particular their service dept goes a long way. I find that if they know you and know your car, you'll rarely have any issue re warranty concerns.