How did you go? Same thing happened to me, but all the services have been through VW. Had to fork out nearly $10,000!
WA Getting Refund from Volkswagen for Faulty Car?
- Thread starter Gilly
- Start date
Still waiting but report from mechanic says requires full engine recondition or replacement. Waiting for our son to call back after making a few calls. What gets me is the extended warranty is not really a warranty - it is really a means of them getting the money from servicing the car. It says the services are done in accordance with the specifications set out in the owner's manual, so really as long as it is service by an authorised mechanic - there shouldn't be an issued. It is difficult as he is in South Aust with a broken down car and we are in Qld. He was taking about ringing a lawyer for some advice. Have told him to stop payments on the loan at this stage. VW knew the problem and did not say anything, even when they were servicing it.
Recorded phone call, or concealed listening device?
With or without the knowledge and consent of the other person(s)?
Either way, don't assume that that recording has been lawfully made.
And on that basis, do not assume that a tribunal or court will admit it into evidence.
Hi,
I bought a 2010 Tiguan for my daughter 2 months ago, it now has 160000 klm on it, we looked at many cars but chose this one because the log book showed it was religiously serviced by a VW dealer. Two weeks ago I hopped in it and it just turned over but wouldn't start. The car ran perfectly the night before. I rang a mechanic who told me of the horror story re timing chain tensioner. I immediately rang the VW dealer who had always serviced the car. The service department manager acknowledged it would be the tensioner and said if I bought it in for $154 they would officially diagnose the problem and apply to VW for them to fund the repair under their good will program. I had the car towed to them and their diagnosis (on the phone) was that the timing chain had skipped four teeth due to the tensioner failing and the car has zero compression in all four cylinders. I asked them to email the report.
Two weeks later of promising to email me, today i received this email,
Hi Matt,
Here is the update for your VW Tiguan we have currently in for assessment.
We have checked with Volkswagen Australia, there is a technical bulletin in regards to a “rattling noise after engine starts, engine doesn’t start”. There are no recalls for this vehicle’s VIN number for any recall due to tensioner issues.
If you would like to confirm this with Volkswagen Australia please call the Customer Experience team and give them either your Rego or the VIN# of the vehicle.
#Vehicle inspection required due to noise or no start. Removed rocker cover & timing chain cover to inspect further. The technician has carried out a compression test to confirm there is no compression in all cylinders.
Upon further inspection he has found the timing chain has jumped 4 teeth which has caused no compression in any of the 4 cylinders. This finding may have caused further damage to the engine, or could also be the cause of the timing chain to jump.
We require authority to continue to disassemble the engine (remove the head from the engine) to ascertain the cause of the fault / or further damage to valves & pistons due to the timing being out so much.
We require another 5 hours labour (an extra $770, total $924) to continue the assessment, already spent an hour (more than that but that’s what we had to do to get to this point).
If you would like us to proceed please email me back with “Ok to Proceed” and we will continue to strip the engine to further diagnose the fault.
If you have any further questions let me know.
Thank you,
Am so frustrated and annoyed, anyone pick up on, " no compression may be the cause of timing chain jumping four teeth"
If anyone has any suggestions or advice it would be greatly appreciated.
We bought the Tiguan 2 and a half months ago from a dealer ( but not a VW one) but have done over the 5000klm statutory warranty
Hi Matt,
Sorry to hear that. I don't understand why the dealer want to charge more for diagnosis. It's clear there is no compression valves are damaged and maybe pistons heads as well. Unfortunately I don't think VW will offer a good will based on the KM of the car. But I think your dealership is responsible for the repairs because they sold you the car and it hasn't even lasted 12 months.
If you purchased the car at an authorised dealership (doesn't need to be VW), you are entitled to statutory warranty which covers the car for the first 3 months or 5000 km. I would look into this and demand that the dealership cover the costs of the repair.
Sorry to hear that. I don't understand why the dealer want to charge more for diagnosis. It's clear there is no compression valves are damaged and maybe pistons heads as well. Unfortunately I don't think VW will offer a good will based on the KM of the car. But I think your dealership is responsible for the repairs because they sold you the car and it hasn't even lasted 12 months.
If you purchased the car at an authorised dealership (doesn't need to be VW), you are entitled to statutory warranty which covers the car for the first 3 months or 5000 km. I would look into this and demand that the dealership cover the costs of the repair.
Hi, we are over the 5000klm warranty.
My argument with VW has been they have serviced the car every single time and we're aware of the tensioner fault but never fixed it. Listening to their on hold propaganda speech about how wonderful and caring they are makes me sick.
Given they do everything to deny ignore lie about the fault it is quite clear that you are 100% better off getting your VW serviced not at a VW dealer. Any other qualified mechanic would say, hey your car has a common fault, for a minimal amount I.
Can fix it and save you 1000's, which is the whole point of getting your car serviced - preventative maintenance. VW do the exact opposite, it's said this fault is only up until 2012 but clearly if there are any other faults VW owners don't get advised. The biggest issue I have is no one knows about this fault until it is to late, looking in the net there are 1000's of people that this has happened to and there inevitably be 1000's more, there needs to be a public interest story done
I ended up getting a few quote from third party mechanics and going with Ammstar Autohaus (www.ammstar.com.au) in Melbourne . They were by far the cheapest and in the end most professional. They said they do a VW/Audi engine fix of that type so they know how much it costs. They just did a follow-up check today to make sure the engine is working ok. Recommended them if VW doesn't come to the party.
Hi Gilly
This is most unfortunate. If you need to look at some legislation to ascertain what your rights are, I refer you to s 54 of the Australian Consumer Law (COMPETITION AND CONSUMER ACT 2010 - SCHEDULE 2 The Australian Consumer Law), which sets out the guarantee mentioned by Victoria that goods supplied are guaranteed to be of acceptable quality.
It would also be good to have a thorough look through the warranty that they have given to you. Keeping in mind that the Australian Consumer Law also has guarantees as to repairs and spare parts (this can be found in s 58 and 59).
This is most unfortunate. If you need to look at some legislation to ascertain what your rights are, I refer you to s 54 of the Australian Consumer Law (COMPETITION AND CONSUMER ACT 2010 - SCHEDULE 2 The Australian Consumer Law), which sets out the guarantee mentioned by Victoria that goods supplied are guaranteed to be of acceptable quality.
It would also be good to have a thorough look through the warranty that they have given to you. Keeping in mind that the Australian Consumer Law also has guarantees as to repairs and spare parts (this can be found in s 58 and 59).
To everyone on here who has suffered faulty tensioners/timing belts that have caused catstrophic engine damage like I have, this was created yesterday Audi and Volkswagen Potential Class Action - Shine Lawyers