After getting a Scirocco delivered from a dealer in North London with a big scratch on it last March, my VW dealer experience has gone further downhill. A sanitised extract from my complaint is set-out below to give you a feel for the problems and their low level of service. This relates to the repair of just the indication section of my passenger mirror.
- I booked my car in for 24 January 2010 for a waiting appointment having been told that the repair would take 30 minutes.
- after 40 minutes I was told that incorrect parts had been ordered and that I would have to book in again.
- I was told that the repair would still take 30 minutes next time around and that I would receive a telephone call when the parts were in stock.
- I subsequently booked the car back in for a waiting appointment on Wednesday 2 February 2010.
- I handed over the car at 0830 on 2 February 2010. I then left your dealership two hours later at 1030, missing pre-arranged appointments
- I was told on four separate occasions that the car would be ready in five minutes. The length of time between the first occasion I was told this and the time that the vehicle was ready was around 45 minutes.
- I was told that the reason for the delay was that the mechanic had broken the electric window switch when carrying out the wing-mirror repair - apparently you need to remove the inside door panel to repair a wing mirror section!!!
- On paying for the repair, the story was changed and I was told that the electric window switch was already broken. I confirmed that I have never had any problems with the passenger window operation in the window was functionally properly one day before I brought the car in on 2 February.
- I specifically asked for the car not to be washed/valeted to avoid any paintwork damage caused by a 'quickie' wash. Having said that, the passenger interior door and wing mirror were dirtier than when I handed over the car and the mirror itself was covered in a lot of fingerprint marks.
- On leaving the dealership, I discovered that the passenger door could no longer be opened from inside the car and it is if the door handle has not been re-connected. Therefore, to let a passenger out of the car, the driver must exit the vehicle.
- throughout the experience the garage used a number of excuses that relate to internal processes (dealing with the parts department, collect/delivery staff being on holiday to give two examples).
Which brings me to my question....I want to avoid this dealer like the plague in future. Are you required to get cars under warranty sericed at a VW dealer to maintain the warranty?
Cheers!
p.s. I live in Leeds near Elland Road stadium
