door lock repair problem

[jksgoh]

Hi there,
my gf has a 2007 golf mkv and i was hoping that we could get some advice. the front passenger side door lock has buggered up, it basically wont unlock whatever you do. talked to a few ppl (including a vw dealer parts guy) and they said it was a known fault and a fix was eventually implemented in newer models.
Now given that the car is approx 4 years old (i know out of warranty, but a lock should last far longer than 4 years) and that it is a known problem i would think that VW should be responsible for fixing it.
I rang up vw aus and they said they wont do anything until it is officially diagnosed by a dealer.
Now here is the problem, if i go to a dealer to get it officially Dx and i dont go ahead with a fix straight away then they will charge me 140$. So how abouts do i get it officially diagnosed so that i can discuss it with vw Aus without having to pay for something that is clearly a manufacturer's fault??

Also, does this mean that the rest of the locks are vulnerable to the same problem?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

cheers
jono

[TomC]

Before you jump the gun and complain about needing the lock replaced, book it in to the dealer and get it diagnosed. My '07 GTI passenger lock went and it was a simple computer recode issue - took 5 min. Best to go in with an open mind and wait and see rather that get the dealer offside being too "passionate"!!!

[jksgoh]

hi tomc, point noted and i agree with you.
the thing is though, in the past with my cars i have never had a "diagnostic fee". So i was just wondering how it would pan out if it turned out to be a failed lock which needed replacing. would i first pay the dx fee and then go to talk to vw aus?

[TomC]

Yeah, there seem to be fees for everything these days. I guess it all depends on the relationship with the dealer. My dealer has been good to me, diagnosed a few issues withouth fee. If you're looking at a costly repair covered by VWA then you're probably looking at a "goodwill" repair. This is done through the dealer (VWA don't do any repairs directly) so I can't see how you can avoid them if you want any chance of getting the repair done free. But there are no guarentees...

[nutttr]

There's 2 things that could be wrong, both are known common problems. 1 is the door locking mechanism itself fails to work all the time and that's a fix you can do at home yourself if you are handy and have the right tools (but you'll obviously have to pay to buy a brand new locking mechanism), problem number 2 is the door wiring loom - This also causes the door lock to fail, more often than not there's other 'symptoms' too, like the window forgetting the 'auto' closing memory and the window not responding correctly when putting it down, etc...

Both of these can be fixed at home if you buy the right parts. I don't know how expensive the lock mechanism is, but given it's a known fault, if you have always had it serviced at the VW dealer network and the dealer diagnoses it correctly, then VW may come to the party and offer half costs, or all costs, etc. Be warned, if you have any holes in your service history, you may not get a cent!

[jksgoh]

just thought id give an update.
finally got it into the dealer, and they diagnosed that the lock was broken and needed replacing.
I asked them how i go about requesting VW cover the cost as i felt it is an item which should not fail... they ended up giving me a lot of false information, so i rang vw aus who gave me the right info.
I also asked vw aus if my other locks are at risk of failing as well, they said they would get back to me, but havent (been about a week now).
anyway, i was at least relieved to have a working passenger door. but then I walk out the door of the dealer to test out the new door lock and i find a new scratch on the door... so they agreed to fix it up and said they would call me in 24 hours to organise a time.
about 48 hours later no call, so i ring them up and the guy goes, "we have organised a new wheel for you"... he then explained that there was also another customer with the same name as me... (which they had obviously had buggered their wheel)

anyway pretty unhappy with this particular dealer's service. are all the vw dealers like this? (i.e. false info, scratching up cars and possibly damaging wheels?)

[MariusGT]

a guy at work had his R delivered with several visible scratches in the paintwork, and drivers window scratched.

how the heck do you scratch a window!?

after fixing scratches, he went to pick up a second time - inspected the car and found a NEW rather large scratch on the bonnet. This time he demanded an R or at least a GTI to drive while waiting (instead of a 118 TSI) as he had spent 60k ++ on a car and wasn't getting the use of it. they gave him a GTI for a few days.

he is not impressed.

ohhh... AND - my rear left door is broken too.... so getting my little fella in and out is a pain in the a**. not yet out of warranty though so need to book in for a fix. pretty crap to be breaking after only 2 n a bit years and 25000kms. crap crap crap.

[jksgoh]

marius gt, if i was your work colleague i would demand a brand new R or a full refund, getting it repaired would decrease the value!

ye im surprised by this door lock stuff... i now have to wait for VW aus' response as to how much they will cover.

[jksgoh]

another update

so the door with the scratch got fixed and resprayed and i thought that this was the last i had to deal with this dealer.
as i walk to the car to have a look i notice that there is a new vertical dent in the same door! (looks like someone has opened an adjacent car door into it). so the guy gives me the usual crap saying that all cars have dents... ye right! anyway he will get the body shop who fixed it to call me.
when i get home i take a closer look (was difficult at the dealer as it was parked right up close to another car on the passenger side), and what do you know? its a pretty piss poor job. the colour is slightly off (not that bad but still), but whats more annoying is that the orange peel effect is totally different to the rest of the car. you can spot it a mile away.
orange peel | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
[img/]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5299/5559735237_09d3b979bd_b.jpg[img/]

[chetnik73]

Has anybody got an install guide to DIY this job as I have exactly the same problem.

My dealer is quoting $400 for the lock only and then per hour for taking off the door trim etc.

Does anybody know where these can be bought cheaply ?

Thanks

[jksgoh]

chetnik,
i forgot to mention, vw ended up paying almost all of it, i think they said i will be about $60 out of pocket. so its prob worth getting them to do it.

[5pot]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but, did you go to essendon VW? I got my driver's door lock fixed but the front passenger door is acting up now.

What did you tell them to get it fixed, subsidised by VW Aus? Just that it's a known design problem and pretty bad form that a door lock could fail so early in its life?