WARNING - Do NOT put a pen in the Car manual compartment in the glovebox!

[Zaul]

Wow, thanks for the heads up ricksterr..something I definitely won't do. Bad luck, mate.

To be honest when I get my car and read the manual, I'm not sure a section on the glovebox would be something I would really absorb in detail.

[thelairster]

To summarise, I think laying blame on anyone is almost impossible. It's an unfortunate incident and hopefully the OP may prevent a repeat incident in the future.

[Frankenstrat]

I normally hire falcons and as their target market is knuckle draggers there isn't much to learn.

Hey, Maverick, you may have just shot yourself in the foot there!

Sent from my office using a PC

[Maverick]

Hey, Maverick, you may have just shot yourself in the foot there!

Just showing that I'm open minded enough to drive a Neanderthal car built with 15 year old technology!

[maca]

Hey, Maverick, you may have just shot yourself in the foot there!

Sent from my office using a PC

That part made me laugh!

In my opinion; you shouldn't have to read a section of the manual on how to operate/store items in your glove compartment. If Volkswagen has to be that pedantic about it, they need to reconsider the overall design for it.

I'm sorry but inserting the CD into the HU upside down is a bad example. Everyone knows how to use a CD player in the same way everyone knows how to use their glove compartment. Regardless of whether you drive a Falcon, Golf or Maxima, the average person will place smaller items (such as pens, chocolates (the compartment is meant to be climate controlled), mobile phone accessories, etc) in the glove box so Volkswagen being the "People's Car", should be catering for these simple requirements.

OP: I'm really sorry to hear about your problem and I hope everything works out smoothly for you. I'm sure your experience will prevent future mishaps regarding pens in gloveboxes

[Corey_R]

Thinking about things, much of this is really nothing new. The globebox is just like a kitchen drawer, there are obviously gaps around the edges etc and it's unsealed, that's what gives it the ability to open and close etc. The issue in a car, is that bumps can make things bounce, and not necessarily come down in the same place they were put, and hence get outside the 'tray' of the globebox. I remember this happening to my dad when I was a kid.

I guess the surprise to me about this, is that the pen was then able to end up in the aircon system.

[brad]

So the Golf doesn't have a pen holder on the lid of the glovebox? & a clip next to it to hold shopper dockets, business cards, etc? You guys have been severely ripped.

[Highlander]

That part made me laugh!

In my opinion; you shouldn't have to read a section of the manual on how to operate/store items in your glove compartment. If Volkswagen has to be that pedantic about it, they need to reconsider the overall design for it.

:

I have searched my CC manual high and low to find out which way to turn the steering wheel to make the car go to the right and which way to turn the steering wheel to make the car go to the left. Nothing anywhere to be found. Not even a footnote

[night_flight]

I have searched my CC manual high and low to find out which way to turn the steering wheel to make the gar go to the right and which way to turn the steering wheel to make the car go to the left. Nothing anywhere to be found. Not even a footnote

hahaha this truly made me laugh today!

[McDub]

The manual may say not to do it, but the purpose of a glove box is for storage of items, and if a normal item in your glove box causes damage, then you could argue that the glove box is not designed in a way that is "fit for purpose"
A clause in the manual saying not to put small items in the glove box does not really avoid liability, rather all it does is admit VW knew of the design flaw, and in a sense makes them liable.
Your reasoning that "well they went to the trouble of writing it in the manual therefore there must be a need for the hole" is not justification for designing it that way. It clearly was just the easiest cheapest way of putting in the required vent, OR the design flaw was discovered it was designed and built. The manuals are finished AFTER the design process.

A pretty gray one if you ask me, and i wouldn't be happy if the dealership did not offer warranty on that.

[hooba]

i wouldn't be happy if the dealership did not offer warranty on that.

No point in getting mad with the poor dealer, it's not their call on whether to offer to cover it under warranty. They need VWA to authorise (and pay for) warranty work.

[REXman]

Personally, I dont think all people who buy a car will read the manual for gods sake. Thats ludicrous. I read it, and I probably read it twice cause Im a bit of an egg like that and it interests me. But it should be expected, that a glove box, can handle, and stow away a pen with no problems and possible damage to your air con system.

And its a bit much for someone to be expected to have read the manual cover to cover. Even I might skim over the storage compartments section.

If its that badly designed (which it sounds like it is), there should be a nice warning label all over it.

I think any reasonable person would feel the same.

[REXman]

No point in getting mad with the poor dealer, it's not their call on whether to offer to cover it under warranty. They need VWA to authorise (and pay for) warranty work.

And I thought it was your workshop who really decides if its worth it, which then the mother ship simply approves.

[McDub]

No point in getting mad with the poor dealer, it's not their call on whether to offer to cover it under warranty. They need VWA to authorise (and pay for) warranty work.

well i do sympethaise with the dealer having to fork out money, but they're the one who sold you the product in the first place. If the customers claim is legally valid, and yet the head office refuses to offer warranty, then that's not the customers problem, that's the dealers problem to sort out.

The way i see it, sure it may put a disclaimer in the manual, but disclaimers are not very legally binding most of the time. Use a bit of common sense here, a glove box should never require an operation manual to use. It is a storage compartment that is very often used by passengers... should buyers of VW cars have to ask each passenger who gets in their car to read the compartment operational manual before entering? I surely hope not. They should not be designed that way, BUT if VW choose to design it that way because there is only a small chance of the problem arising, then they should warrant any repairs as a result when it does happen on the rare occasion. At least that is my humble opinion.

[Maverick]

well i do sympethaise with the dealer having to fork out money, but they're the one who sold you the product in the first place. If the customers claim is legally valid, and yet the head office refuses to offer warranty, then that's not the customers problem, that's the dealers problem to sort out.

Not really, Volkswagen has determined that this is not a valid warranty job and that's that. The dealer isn't in a position to pay for the repair (although they do have a goodwill allowance) and IMO they shouldn't.

The way i see it, sure it may put a disclaimer in the manual, but disclaimers are not very legally binding most of the time. Use a bit of common sense here, a glove box should never require an operation manual to use. It is a storage compartment that is very often used by passengers... should buyers of VW cars have to ask each passenger who gets in their car to read the compartment operational manual before entering? I surely hope not. They should not be designed that way, BUT if VW choose to design it that way because there is only a small chance of the problem arising, then they should warrant any repairs as a result when it does happen on the rare occasion. At least that is my humble opinion.

Putting a pen in the glovebox is not a problem. What is a problem is sticking a pen into the area at the top of the glovebox. These are two very different uses of the glovebox. Would you shove your pen into the AC outlet because a pen will fit in there nicely, just like a holder? The glovebox is fit for purpose and it's clear in the manual that you can't stick anything in the manual area.

Volkswagen produced a manual and all owners should read this, if they don't well that's their problem.