Swann extended warranty is it really worth it for T5 Auto?

[kotim]

I own an automatic t5 multivan that I purchased in December 07 but is 08 model, anyway do a lot of driving and the gearbox has gone on it. done 150,000 ks. ON holidays my wife went to Maroochydore VW because gear box was playing up, anyway they have gotten back to us this evening and said the gear box is stuffed.

I purchased an extended swans insurance warranty when I bought the car that gave me a 6 year/200,000 k warranty, so should be interesting tomorrow when I contact SWANN and tell them the news. We shall see if they try and wiggle out. Ultimately I don't care, because VW and them will have to work it out between them or it will be lien time. Anyway, I will be on to VW tomorrow as well.

So from what I see written here about auto boxes, there could never be a warranty issue about servicing them because they are good for life locked, is that correct in my way of thinking.

I was scared of this happening with VW's so that is why I took out the extended warranty.

[kotim]

I will let you know what happens, but vw are liable, the first thing you do is ask vw if the life of the gearbox, in my case is 150 thousand, now there is no way they are going to say thatit is becasue who would buy their car if they said that was all that could be expected. Once they fail to admit that the gearbox only has a life of 150 thousand ks then they are lost. 150 ooo ks is not the acceptable life of a major expensive compnent in a 60 grand vehicle.

You have to learn how to deal witht heir questions, quick lesson, be a creditor and make the claims, they will not be able to refute them becasue for the sake of their business. Sunny, what you say is what I am alluding to. VW cannot change the game after it has started without being liable.

Sunny, it is an admission of liability on their behalf becasue they are in effect admitting that the part in question cannot do what it is suposed to do. As an aside if they replace a part under warranty then that part takes on the same life of a new warranty, in the case of a standard vehicle 3 year warranty, then the new warranty replaced part also then starts a new 3 year warranty as of date of insertion

Anyway I have the extneded Swann insurance warranty so we will see what they say first. Put it this way, no matter what happens whether it is Swann or VW one of them will be suplying/fitting a new gearbox into my vehicle, without cost to me.

---------- Post added at 11:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 AM ----------

I advised swann this morning and have spoken with the VW service mechanic. Its 12 plus grand for vw service centre to do the job, if I had to pay for it. They will liaise with SWANN now. He also affirmed that it is a sealed for life box. Whilst he is a believer that no box should be sealed for life and that it should get regular servicing, he did confirm it was a seal for life. So it should be fun to see how SWANN deal with me over this. Either way I should have a new box in next week.

[mikinoz]

That is ridiculous, 12K would be a full replacement. A rebuild should get you change from 4K.

Lucky it is under warranty hey!

[kotim]

liaising with SWANN insurance warranty, they are clearly looking to dodge and weave, so we shall see what happens. They even said to me that they look to get a co-payment with the owner if the vehicle is more than 150 thousand ks, yet on the warranty booklet there is no kilometerage mentioned other than of course if you improve the vehicles value with warranty repairs, then they look to getting yo to make a co-payment becasue you have improved the value of the car.

Of course any repair must increase the value becasue if the car don't work then it aint worth much, ah the fun and games, of course in real life it has to increase the value of the vehicle at retail price which any warranty claim would not in effect do becasue the part replaced is expected to last. Interesting because when I pushed him on the amount of co-payment percentage wise basis the 150 k mark (mine has 154 and he would have known it was over 150) he could not at that time tell me and dodged and weaved. Clearly they would have a percentage basis amount in the system and it would be standard on basis of vehicle parts and cost if such a thing exists as standard.

The other interesting thing is that they wanted copies of servicing becasue on their booklet they state that failure to adhere to the VW servicing schedule will/can result in loss of claim making ability, yet in the claim section of the book, the failure to adquately service must be attributable directly to the failure as regards the warranty claim.

Funny isn't it, failure to follow policy results in null and void contract, yet elsewhere apparently the lack of servicing has to be the cause of the failure.

Now this is interesting because on a sealed for life unit that does not require servicing, effectively you could not get the vehicle serviced at all and they would have to show that such failure to do any servicing is a directly attributable cause. This should be hard to prove bearing in mind a no service for life.

It is clear to me that VW have bad history with gearboxes failing relatively early in life and that is why they have required servicing in the newer models.

As I have read these forums from time to time over the last couple of years, my greatest concern with parts failure was the auto gearbox because of what I have read on this and other forums, then lo and behild my gearbox goes.

Anyway maybe the tooth fairy will turn up tomorrow and make SWANN confess all liability and fix it.

[Sunny43.5]

If you check the owners handbook and service book as I have done from front to rear there is not one single line about having the tranny serviced checked in any way for whatever amount time or kilometres travelled . Service of the auto is just not in VW ,s service system for these models they are so cock sure that they will not fail that they don,t offer a service so they should repair the auto if it cacks itself . Now naturally if the vehicle was used for other than designed or abused then liability would fall on the owner . But in our case this van has been used primarily for carrying our family with mods made for our two wheel chair bound kids .

[kotim]

It has been pulled apart as the oil was cooked etc, so now it is just a matter of exactly what the fault is and of course what the cost will be. The auto place tells me they should be able to provide quote etc by today with any luck.
I will then be dealing with SWANN and VW for that matter.

[Umai Naa!!]

That $12,000 you were quoted would be $9,000 for a brand new gearbox outright, and $3,000 to fit it.

An exchange unit through VW is significantly cheaper, at around half the price. Same quality, same warranty.

Whatever happens from here on in, have the oil and filter replaced every 60,000klms. They are no longer considered as 'sealed for life'.

[bluefin321]

Whatever happens from here on in, have the oil and filter replaced every 60,000klms. They are no longer considered as 'sealed for life'.

I'm going through a similar warranty claim, however my local tranny garage advised me to change the ATF and filter every 12 months. I'm confident he's not just wanting a regular $ donation from me, as he is a genuine guy and didn't charge me a cent to diagnose the problem before the van went back to the dealer. It would take us almost 4 years to do 60k kms. I guess somewhere in between, say 30k is a safe bet.

[Umai Naa!!]

I used to work in a dealership up until around 5 months ago. I don't have anymore information for you besides what I've told you in various threads.

To re-cap, a bulletin was circulated through dealerships at the end of 2010/start of 2011 advising that there is now a service interval for all automatic transmissions.

In the cases where transmissions have failed since then, in my experiance, VW has come to the party to varying degrees, depending on time of ownership, and distance travelled. As is the case with all out-of-warranty claims.

I would also like to add, that I feel that you're holding me directly responsible for all of this with your acusations and agressive posts. In hindsight, perhaps I should no longer share knowlege and information with this site's members at all.

I bid you good luck in getting your transmission repaired at VW's expense.

[bluefin321]

I would also like to add, that I feel that you're holding me directly responsible for all of this with your acusations and agressive posts. In hindsight, perhaps I should no longer share knowlege and information with this site's members at all.

I bid you good luck in getting your transmission repaired at VW's expense.

Were these comments directed towards me?

[Transporter]

Were these comments directed towards me?

No, they were dirrected at the post above (Sunny43.5) that I deleted.

A little appreciation to the technician that shares the knowledge.

[Sunny43.5]

Sorry every one I have sent PM to our friend , it was not my intention to offend him . Howard

[WambyMc]

So at the end of the day.. what is the deal with servicing the automatic transmission? My local VW service agent told me last week the AT is sealed for life. Is this the case or can it be serviced at regular intervals?

[kotim]

Got my quote for a complete rebuild as their were lots of things wrong. Basically full rebuild cost is $8,100.00 The transimission people advised me late Friday afternoon. They also said they spoke with SWANN who will basically pay 6 grand and I the other 2100. Have not had a chance to respond/deal with SWANN Insurance yet but certianly my words the other day may have made some difference as they advised me that they would want me to pay 50% of whatever cost initially. As we know it is just a game of too and fro till the outcome is decided, only problem is that it is time consuming and costly.

Anyway. I shall deal with SWANN and VW on Monday. I will be asking VW on MOnday to pay out the remaining 2100 or deal with SWANN over the issue. I am quite prepared to lodge civil action against VW whether I go down the small claims arena or simply through the perfection of a commercial lien.

Basically SWANN are saying that sealed for life might be correct but "life' is over at 150 odd thousand ks. Should be interesting what VW's response is on 'life' because its puts them in a terrible bind if they have to admit life of gearbox is no more than 150 thousand ks.

Anyway I shall deal with VW and SWANN this week.

[Diesel_vert]

So at the end of the day.. what is the deal with servicing the automatic transmission? My local VW service agent told me last week the AT is sealed for life. Is this the case or can it be serviced at regular intervals?

Yes, you can (and always could) drain and replace the ATF - the transmission isn't literally sealed for life.