Airbag fault and loss of steering power

[Dyldo]

Of course you received five separate answers, the lease company has nothing to do with it, roadside assist has nothing to do with this, customer assist is not able to do anything and it's only the dealer and ultimately VW Australia that have the ability to do anything to resolve this.

not the sunniest fellow on here are you? though the good thing is you do seem to definitely know heaps and thats a good thing. i didn't just call these people on a whim you know. dealer - roadside - customer assist - fleetpartners - VW Aust was the order pretty much. but yes, really only the dealer and vw aust can fix this.

It'll be covered under warranty unless you've done something to compromise the integrity, ie running a power cable through the firewall or similar.

yup, only thing i have ever done is install the avc unit.

They won't give you a new car, they'll find the problem and sort it out.

If they don't fix it properly and it occurs again it will still be covered.

and if they do what another dealer has done already and replace the control module without fixing the problem? it will occur, and re-occur, until a dealer fixes it properly.
How can i test whether it IS fixed properly? watch them work on it? hardly likely.
And worse, what if it is fixed enough for me to either go over 100K kms or 3 years?

Volkswagen and in fact every manufacturer do not offer loan cars for repairs or faults, dealers do it as an act of goodwill for free or a small charge but generally not for longer periods.

but surely a car brand like VW would want their dealers to take a bit of care with their customers, so offer a courtesy loan car? its been like pulling teeth just simply asking for one.

If you need it for your work you'll need to hire one which will be a tax deduction, it sucks but that's the way it is. Volkswagen are not a premium brand and you'd probably have more luck getting a loan car out of somewhere like Audi, Lexus, Mercedes or BMW where you pay for better service.

that does suck.

[Maverick]

not the sunniest fellow on here are you? though the good thing is you do seem to definitely know heaps and thats a good thing. i didn't just call these people on a whim you know. dealer - roadside - customer assist - fleetpartners - VW Aust was the order pretty much. but yes, really only the dealer and vw aust can fix this.

The point I was making was that the lease company is a third party and financing the car, they can do nothing and really at the end of the day they don't care. The same applies for roadside assistance, this is a third party offering roadside service, they really won't give a damn. And VW customer assistance is also a third party, at the end of the day they don't care.

So the people to concentrate your efforts on are VW Australia and the dealer (in that order if the dealer isn't sorting it out fast enough).

and if they do what another dealer has done already and replace the control module without fixing the problem? it will occur, and re-occur, until a dealer fixes it properly.
How can i test whether it IS fixed properly? watch them work on it? hardly likely.
And worse, what if it is fixed enough for me to either go over 100K kms or 3 years?

The first time they assumed that the AC had leaked onto the gateway and replaced it.

This time they know there is a leak that is more substantial so it's fully documented and they will fix it (they get paid to do this by VW). I wouldn't worry about it not being fixed unless they come back and say they don't know where the water is coming from (which I doubt they will after they look at it).

but surely a car brand like VW would want their dealers to take a bit of care with their customers, so offer a courtesy loan car? its been like pulling teeth just simply asking for one.

It's a huge expense to have cars sitting around idle waiting for cars to break down. You have to have more than one and what happens if you have a few out? I don't see that Volkswagen or the dealers have the margins that premium brands have to be able to offer this, someone has to pay for this service and it would end up being the customers through higher car and servicing costs.

that does suck.

A corolla on a 7 day + rental should be around $30 a day, it's not a Golf but it's not too bad.

[Dyldo]

Still not diagnosed.
Still a mystery where the water is coming from.
Still no ETA.
Still no resolution on loan car.

i'd take a demo GTD

[mikinoz]

There are signs that this could possibly be a bad seam weld leading water into the A piller and then subsqently into the firewall/fuse area. Sunroof - I cannot recall if you have one.

They probably think you washed the car with the window down at the moment haha.

I'd ring VWA and ask them to take this seriously as it is an imposition on a woman with a newborn to be without her car if this dealer does not have the immediate solution.

I'll order the yellow lemon stickers for the ACA and Today Tonight segments for you if you really want to get their attention.

Seriously though Dylan, I hope it resolves soon. Sounds really unfortunate.

[Dyldo]

Lemon Laws appear to be VIC only - unless i am mistaken.

no sunroof for me.

was i not supposed to wash with the windows open?
actually, i washed my car this way - YouTube - ‪How To wash your car with one bucket of water‬‎

in all seriousness, i've had VWA and the stealer on the end of the phone every day. the so-called local area manager of VWA needs to get involved to lodge a case request and blah blah, all i am after is a quick resolution, give me a realistic eta, and a loan car if the eta is too crazy.

[Maverick]

Lemon Laws appear to be VIC only - unless i am mistaken.

Lemon laws don't apply to your repair even if we did have US style ones here which we don't.

[Dyldo]

FAARK me i am frustrated.

VWA have been pressing Moss Vale Motor Group for an answer as to what the problem is and what they will do about a loan car.

It will have been 2 weeks tomorrow!!

The only thing they know is its an elec fault because of water entry, but still can't work out where from. The original muppet that was working on it went off for training, and a few other monkey had a crack at it, and now the original guy is back on it tomorrow. They term it "scheduling a technician" - well, forgive me if i am a bit skeptical.

how friggin hard is it to locate a water leak and deal with it?

Looks like Guy pulled his R apart and whacked it back together quicker than this. Unbelievable.

[Dyldo]

so we have reached the 2 week mark. awesome.

"Sure, we will call you first thing in the morning". Its now 1030 and no call, so I have to call them. "Oh, the Sales Manager is in a meeting till lunch." then i am told they still haven't found the water leak and have "just" pulled the dash apart. Oh, and the best bit? Still haven't ordered a replacement gateway module, so when they actually do find the leak they will be waiting on parts. What a joke!

I am thinking I will get a hire car and bill them. I also think that a technician isn't always working on my car, and they just have a glance at it from time to time.

[mikinoz]

This here is ridiculous. If I were you I would suggest that VWA get a copy of this thread and make them aware that you are willing to make some noise about this.

2 weeks, no courtesy car, wife and a child with no transport, and not a resolution on the horizon - I think it is time for VWA and the dealer to get a bit more involved with sorting this out.

As I suggested, may be a seam weld and in that case - it is a new car jobby (as has happened to others in the past) as they cannot repair the chassis/body.

[Dyldo]

OK, after letting them know of the above (thanks Mick, legend) they've claimed to have found the source of the leak - an ill-fitting grommet under the windscreen. They've tested it apparently and are now drying the carpets out, etc.

Worringly, they have a new gateway on order from VW spares in Sydney, and they are told it will be with them by 11am tomorrow. They suggest thats enough time for them to program and install it, and piece my ride back together. I'll be washing my car almost daily to test this so-called grommet as I don't want this coming back after warranty. Murphy's Law is that the gateway won't turn up.

[Dyldo]

Finally (almost) I think we can call the Gateway issue at an end. Picked the old girl up today after the service techs confirmed it was the dodgy grommet (there's always a dodgy grommet somewhere) and they said they were there really hosing down the car to see if it was leaking. I don't care, I am still going to park her in the rain to test she is "watertight".

Not too unexpectedly, they didn't reconnect my AVC-9000 but they did re-install it. they didn't reconnect it because they said of the 10-odd fault codes they got originally one was from the stereo. I don't know much about electronics nor car audio but I am willing to admit that maybe Auspack and whoever made it in China may have cut corners on the Canbus interface? Can anyone at this stage verify if the unit could have faulted the Canbus? Is it worth uninstalling and/or selling (if i can)?

[Umai Naa!!]

Water leaks are one of the worst issues known, to try and solve.

I don't envy the muppets and monkeys who were busting a nut to sort it.

Hope it all works out for you.

[Dyldo]

I can imagine how tough it might be to find the source of the leak. But surely having my car for 11 business days (these guys don't work service on saturdays) is paltry. Over 2 weeks? come on!!

They claim to have a 3week wait for courtesy cars booked in for service people, and given the situation and the slowly-escalating nature of it, they wouldn't call up and rearrange those people.
Ok, maybe i'll buy that, but not the fact they won't give me a demo to drive. Hell, i'd even rotate the demos every day to ensure me and my wife had wheels, but nope. they wouldn't go for that. It may even get me into a ride i can' get out of (R36) and i might have traded. How are they to know?
Nor did they ever agree to foot the bill for a cheapy hire car.
They simply took far too long, and it was only that they miraculously found the leak after me jumping up and down and saying the right things that we got movement on the issue.