Plastic plate covering the diesel tank fell off

[brasstinman]

So I was out driving the MY11 Multivan and it was raining pretty hard. Going along doing 60km and went through a puddle which I've always gone through as it's in the gutter along the road. It wasn't big and didn't make the steering move at all.
I suddenly hear a scrapping sound, I immediately pull over and stick my head under the van and see the plastic cover plate which covers the diesel tank folder in under itself.

I was on all fours in the rain trying to push it up so I could limp home which was thankfully only several hundred meters away.
It looks like the plastic clips came off and the water then folded the cover plate in half like it was cardboard.
The bracket that mounts on the subframe to hold the plastic was bent and the plastic cover is ruined.
The bolts on the bracket were that loose I could undo them with my fingers. Caused by the plastic cover plate or just poor installation???

I'm not very happy at all at how flimsy this cover plate was attached to underneath the van.
I buy the 4Motion Multivan and pay quite a large sum of money to have a small water puddle in a gutter rip off the flimsy cover plate that protects the diesel tank. What would happen if I was on a dirt road with rocks???

Off the dealers tomorrow and I'll be walking in with the plastic plate in my hand and asking them to kindly replace it under warranty.

[4wheels]

Interesting. My 2007 Transporter 4Motion didn't have any covering protecting the fuel tank at all, until I made a metal one after having bent the support straps several times by bottoming out in rough conditions. Seems like VW have recognised the problem, but the solution is inadequate. The tank itself seems quite robust, but the possibility of tearing the straps off completely and leaving the tank lying on a dirt track miles from anywhere prompted the above modification.

Brian R.

[Sunny43.5]

Our 2005 T5 has all the plastic coverings right across the underside but VW made one stupid mistake they fitted a diesel fuel cooler made of alloy on the underside of the plastic right behind the passengers front wheel . Naturally a rock found its target and punctured a hole into the cooler result next corner intersection we stopped at waiting for lights to change took off and the van just slewed sideways right through the intersection as we did not realise the thing was spewing diesel all over the road whilst stopped . Pretty dumb mistake when you consider that we drive on the left side of the road and that same side is the one that is most vunerable as its the one that is most likely to get off the bitumen . Howard

[rob64981]

Pretty dumb mistake when you consider that we drive on the left side of the road,
And that same side is the one that is most vunerable as its the one that is most likely to get off the bitumen . Howard

Which side of the vehicle would you like them to put the cooler?
The vehicle is made in Germany so its correct for the side they drive on.
How is one side more vulnerable than the other?

Do I get the impression that you dont think much of the VW you have?
You never seem to have anything good to say about the T4 and T5 you have in your ownership.

Rob

[Sunny43.5]

No quite the opposite Rob I love our vans but considering that VW ,s are considered to be the best quality and also paying a premium price here in Australia compared to other brands . Its just that when something goes wrong and yes they do you suddenly find out the shortcomings of the designs . If VW in Germany were to consider the sale of these vans here in right hand drive then you would think that imput from VW Australia or the Importers would at least make some sort of protection for what is a vunerable part . As some other members have also pointed out VW have deleted the protection pan on T5,s that was metal on the old T4 so you have to question decisions made for Australian customers . A simple metal mesh cover over the cooler would have made it safer than being the only part exposed on the underside of the plastic covers that cover every other part of the underbody. I dont know what,s under the latest T5,s but it seems that some changes have been made in this area .Let,s face it if we didn,t complain to VW then we would be getting less and less for our money . My friend just bought a brand new T5 on my reccomendation and I was rather surprised to see what was a good idea deleted from his model the little storage pods on each side of the front seats gone! . I am sure that VW in Germany would benefit from actually doing testing here in Australia as I can tell you that the two vans we bought within 18 months of each other are like chalk and cheese in so many areas . Howard PS as for the T,4s I would have to say in many respects there were things about them that run rings around the current ones .

[MultiplexMan]

@brasstinman - that should be warranty on such a new vehicle. Trim is not meant to fall off. I had a similar issue with fasteners not secured. I noted on my latest detailed inspection that the fastener holding the rear muffler heat shield has "fallen off" - easy fix but irritating.

Re VW quality issues - a lot of VW owners hold the brand up to much higher standards than say Ford or Hyundai. I think this is justfied when you consider the premium we pay compared to the competition. I have over three pages of items handled under warranty for my Kombi Beach. All were minor things - no show stoppers. Most importantly all were handled with no question. I measure a brand on how it performs when things go wrong. Sure nothing should go wrong but...

It should be noted that most items would have been laughed at if I had taken them into a GM or Ford dealership. If you want examples of bad brand management, read how Land Rover owners are treated when they have problems. There is an interesting read of an Australian Land Rover owner who had to stalk the brand manager at head office (caught him in the car park) before he was even acknowledged! Poor fellow still did not get any satisfaction. Google "Land rover lemons" - read how many different cases there are! It puts our issues into perspective.

That said, I do not regret buying my T5 for a moment.

[jfoldbar]

Which side of the vehicle would you like them to put the cooler?

You never seem to have anything good to say about the T4 and T5 you have in your ownership.

Rob

what is there good to say about t5. i can think of heaps of design flaws like this. i agree with howard, if they are going to put fuel cooler there they should cover it.

[brasstinman]

Been a while, sorry for the late reply.

The dealer said they won't cover it under warranty. I was in there on Monday morning, by Thu I was chasing him up to find out what was happening.
By Thu afternoon he returned my email but not my phone call.
Not covered under warranty (replacement is $168 ) but they'll install the replacement for free. Gee thanks I feel so special.

I rang our specialist VW mechanic and they can get the part in for $10 cheaper and they'll fit it when we're in for our next service.
I'd rather give the specialist VW mechanic my money then the dealership.

I don't know how they can't fix this under warranty. I know I went through a puddle but it's nothing I haven't driven in before and that cover plate should never have come off like that. I'm very disappointed with it.
I don't know if the clown at the dealership actually called VW Australia about the part or they just couldn't be bothered but I'm not too happy.

[buzuki]

hows the dealer to know the size of the puddle? It was torrential rain the day this happened.

When a cover gets ripped off all mounting points, i doubt it was just a puddle?

[IN2VWS]

The questions are:
Did the cover fall off due to a defect in the cover?
or
Did the cover fall off due to an impact (whether it be water or a solid object in the water)?

If it was not due to a defective part, then how is that VW's fault?
If you drive in a flood, and the electrics get toasted in your van.......is that a warranty problem?

Another question, Do you only go to your dealer when there is a warranty problem, or do they do all the servicing also?

[Sunny43.5]

I think the problem here is that not every scenario can be covered when vehicles are designed overseas lets face it they have rain in Europe too but as I have read on this thread [and some one can correct me if I am wrong] the latest T5,s apparently do not have the same protection the older T5,s have . I have just had a look under ours and they have plastic engine cover which is tucked under the rear bottom edge of the front bumper , it then runs back and finishes in line with the rear of the transmission there are plastic covers then each side full length these are complimented with some alloy heat shielding the fuel tank is only partially covered accross the front end only the rest of the tank and its support starps 3 are exposed. The other problem and this is not only a VW fault is that most of these fittings that hold these parts in place are VERY STUPID in design .
I see this a lot in my line of work in the motor industry the good old days where a car was built with metal parts with either a nut welded to the parts or a hole for a screw have been replaced with a large hole just formed where a screw would go it then has a plastic insert for the fitting to screw into these are okay up to a point but not as strong as a proper bolt or screw into solid metal !!!! You should see some of the nightmares I have to deal with in the interiors of modern cars there are many models where the whole roof trim and grab handles sunvisors interior light etc do not have single screw to hold them into the car . The problem is that its all geared around the easiest an cost effective way of assembly , those "bolts" that hold the plastics to the underside are probably not bolted on to the car each parts has the inserts assembled on a bench etc then the robot or fitter just pushes it into place obviously its quicker for the factory with money saving for them but we the consumer still pay a premium for our cars . Profits up for the manufacturer cost for consumer up as well , Okay some of you are going to say Howards whinging again but believe me if half of you could see for yourselves some of these supposedly smart ideas that are included in cars today you would be on my side [ and yes I have been back to VW] for parts that have fallen off and been told that its not waranty. It is a well known fact that Australia has some of the worlds worst roads and highways so whatever testing that is done overseas can still not always match up with what we put up with . Here ends the rant !!! Howard

[jfoldbar]

I think the problem here is that not every scenario can be covered when vehicles are designed overseas

i disagree. humans have been designing cars for a hundred years. you would think they would have nutted out all the problems by now.
they can design a car that cools the fuel before it goes to engine (not really important) but they didnt think to clean the diesel before it went to engine(important). this is just one of the many things that designers either overlook or dont care about that are important for a car. like being able to park on a hill. theyve made cars with handbrakes for 100 years, and considered them important. met a guy with a new isuzu auto. no handbrake. i didnt believe him so he showed me. can not park on hill. how dumb is that.
i think i could rant just as hard as you howard. new things look nice and drive nice when going (thats if they go) but so many important things just seem to be not cared about any more. like you said its all about money and stuff safety and everything else.

[Sunny43.5]

Thank you one more on my side

[brasstinman]

The questions are:
Did the cover fall off due to a defect in the cover?
or
Did the cover fall off due to an impact (whether it be water or a solid object in the water)?

If it was not due to a defective part, then how is that VW's fault?
If you drive in a flood, and the electrics get toasted in your van.......is that a warranty problem?

Another question, Do you only go to your dealer when there is a warranty problem, or do they do all the servicing also?

There was nothing in the water and I can't say if the cover was already partly off when it happened and the water just finished the job. But when I stuck my head under while it was up on ramps at home the way the covers are installed isn't all that good.

The water was pooled up the side of the gutter as the road falls off to the left. It certainly didn't make the Multivan deviate from it's path so it wasn't that large a puddle. It's not like it was a river crossing or rapid in which you'd expect the Multivan to come off 2nd best.

If it wasn't a defective part then I don't blame VW, I'm a little disappointed with service manager who failed to call me back when he said he would. I had to chase him up...

We took our Multivan to a specialist VW mechanic for it's 15,000 service. We had a blow valve which needed to be replaced under warranty so we took it to the dealership we bought the car from, they found the fault and replaced it quickly. The same dealership I went to for the cover plate.
We have our 30,000 service coming up in 5,000 but we'll take it back to our specialist VW mechanic because they give impeccable service and really look after the car like it's their own. I trust them working on the Multivan.

Anyway I'm going to whinge about the cover plate anymore because it came off, it's not covered under warranty because they can't prove it wasn't already damaged/defective before I took on the puddle so I have no choice but to pay for it myself which I will when we take it in for it's next service.

I just think the build quality on this Multivan isn't up to the standard I'd have hoped for. While it's got refinement I think the quality is lacking in areas where they use plastic coverings under wheel archers etc. Even my wife pointed it out when we first got the Multivan how it looked a little cheap where the plastic isn't flush in places.

We had a T3 before this and the quality on that I feel as much better. More metal and less plastic mean things were more sturdy.
You know that's the way of the world and we have to just keep replacing things more often than we used to. Comes with the decision of owning a newer vehicle.
I loved our T3 but I also love our Multvan, it's nice owning a new car with all the perks that come with it even though it isn't as perfect as fussy me would like.

[Sunny43.5]

Like I said earlier the older vans ran circles around the later models on the way they were constructed, and yes I would acknowledge there are some technical aspects of the new ones have made our vans joy to own and drive , but that still does not mean that they are not without faults . And it seems that the simplest of things can give the biggest headaches , .