Permanent engine faillure after 20 miles

[RoccoGranata]

Picked up my shiny new Scirocco 2.0 TSI last week.
All looked well.

On my way home, I heard a rattle coming from the engine bay every time the car shifted down (DSG),
or when I took my foot off the accelerator. But it's new, so what could be wrong? And anyway, what
do I know about what it is supposed to sound like, it's my first drive with it.

After driving 10 miles, and 2 miles before reaching my house, the engine stalls while driving down a slope (40m/h).
I just managed to park the car. When trying to restart the engine doesn't make a sound. Nothing at all happens.
After the third attempt to start the car, smoke started rising from the front of the car. And it smelled. Burnt. Badly burnt.
F*** me...

I had the dealer pick it up the next day. Their first diagnosis was that the starter motor burnt up due to a manufacturing fault. They ordered a new starter motor, and the car started fine. But now they noticed the rattle coming from the engine. They took the engine apart and found some more irregularities, again a manufacturing fault, a fatal one this time. The engine problem apparently had caused the starter motor to blow up. The result of all this? After waiting five months for a Scirocco, driving it for 20 minutes, and then again waiting a week for a new starter motor, I now have to wait another two weeks for the dealer to order and install a completely new engine! The Scirocco now has about 20 miles on the clock, and I’m already getting a new engine installed… I sincerely hope this is the first and last problem for a long long looooong time.
The dealer is ofcourse very upset because of all this misfortune. He offered his excuses, although he's not to blame, and gave me a free replacement car (however no Scirocco…) for the time being.

[dchuraman]

i'd demand a replacement car if i were you, i know its a pain to wait and i know they are fitting a new engine but i wouldnt want a car that had that work done to it the day after picking it up

[doozer]

Sorry to hear that.
Demand a replacement car!

[RoccoGranata]

i'd demand a replacement car if i were you, i know its a pain to wait and i know they are fitting a new engine but i wouldnt want a car that had that work done to it the day after picking it up

It's the long wait that witheld me from demanding a new one... I don't look forward to another 5 months of waiting...
Plus, I don't know if making a demand like that would have any result. I could try ofcourse. But I guess they're not obliged in any way to meet a demand like that.
The guarantee just obliges them to fix it I think, not replace it.

[dchuraman]

im pretty sure you can return any purchase within a certain time frame, especially one not fit for purpose, so im sure they would rather swap it than have you return it. Also there may be one in stock somewhere that matches your requirements that you wont have to wait for

[kianok]

i'd demand a replacement car if i were you, i know its a pain to wait and i know they are fitting a new engine but i wouldnt want a car that had that work done to it the day after picking it up

It's the long wait that witheld me from demanding a new one... I don't look forward to another 5 months of waiting...
Plus, I don't know if making a demand like that would have any result. I could try ofcourse. But I guess they're not obliged in any way to meet a demand like that.
The guarantee just obliges them to fix it I think, not replace it.

Nope, you are 100% entitled to reject the car.

If its a major fault like this after such a short space of time the dealer will have no choice.

I wouldnt want it repairing.

[redmeat]

[quote="RoccoGranata"]Picked up my shiny new Scirocco 2.0 TSI last week.

That's terrible...5 month wait or not, I'd personally be telling him to replace the car.

[Jacktherat]

∫

[skippy]

Yes - I would reject the car.

I know the dealer will fix it, but thats not the point. Later on in the car's life it could be picked up that it had an engine replacement and put people off it.

I would be worried about the disturbance caused by replacing the engine, ie, manifold, cables, sensors, pipes you name it, some things don's go back quite so well second time around.

I am sure it would be repaired to a good standard but I would always have that niggling doubt.

[kianok]

I would be worried about the disturbance caused by replacing the engine, ie, manifold, cables, sensors, pipes you name it, some things don's go back quite so well second time around

I agree. As good as your dealer may be, its never going to be as good as a built from scratch factory car.

[Deacon]

Can't say I'd be too happy about my 'new' car having a replacement engine - think I'd be looking to reject it too.

Deacon

[mode]

It would not be happy, i would think given the short time till it happened the car should be replaced by VW, i would wait again for a new one rather than feel the current one had been messed about with, i think i have heard of three engine failures on here now never used to hear of VW engines going........

[klippie]

I fully understand you not wanting to wait for a replacement car I was in the same position as you my Scirocco needed a new tdi engine after 380 miles I was quoted a four month wait and no way was I going to do that after waiting three months already. I rejected the car and ended up dealing with VW UK directly and the outcome was lets say a good bit of additional discount as I could have just walked away if you know what I mean...

As for the repairs some have said they wouldn't trust the dealer to do as good a job as the factory, rubbish, I couldn't fault the work carried out on my car believe me I wouldn’t have taken it back if there was so much as a clip out of place. I fully checked it over and test drove it before accepting it back, its run like a dream since...

[brendan]

definately reject it my friend.demand new replacement or something in similar spec.,failing that money back.absolutely NO WAY would i accept a new engine replacement on a car just out of showroom.you will have niggles in time,plus it will be logged/recorded in your service schedule,any major work like that HAS to be revealed to new buyer etc.

[ReubenGT]

I have heard cases where if you can argue your lost faith in the car then you can sometimes get a new one built to replace it at no cost to yourself... It is often at the discretion of your dealer and may depend on how hard he is willing to work for you. But that wait all over again... OUCH!

[skyblues11]

oh dear, these portuguese made cars a havine some stupid failures.

i can;t understand it. Are the japanese genetically better or what? Why are their cars rarely fail...?

no wonder VW don;t use that phrase "nothing in life is as reliable as a VW".

imagine that 80s model's face if her car breaks down after such a short distance, after throwing away her fur coat!

yeah, such a big repair may upset future value when selling.

See what they say. From my observation, car makers are the nicest people when the victim goes public via a magazone like whatcar.

so don;t forget this option. Not nice but their arrogance sometimes leave us with no choice.

[jc74]

Wow, very unlucky. Like the others say, definitely worth rejecting the car, and forcing them to give you a demo Roc, or even Golf GTI whilst you wait!

Certainly makes the rest of us with our wipers and boot clunk problems feel lucky...

[x5pea]

get you 20 odd grand back mate

[albertz33]

This actually wouldnt bother me that much, you would just get a new stock engine fitted, yes its not easy but a trained competent mechanic could do it without too much problems.

I would be prepared to have the engine replaced, i wouldnt want to go through the waitng process all over again, as for residual value, i dont think it will be a factor. the work will be garunteed, so its not as bad as you think.

[maisbitt]

A new engine replaced after only 20 miles will have no residual impact at all as long as it was replaced at a VW approved dealership/workshop. It will not be an indicator of dubious history qualified VW mechanics are doing the work.

If you got a replacement gearbox would you have the same worry about residuals? My Mk5 GT Sport TDI 170 Golf had the cylinder head replaced, without issue. VW will have to do some alterations to the V5 document in your case, but these things happen (maybe its a 1 in a 100,000 chance that a VW engine faces catastrophic failure almost instantly). Ask them for a few freebies as a goodwill gesture (maybe 1st service and some accessories) and all will be fine.