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rick00037
25-04-2009, 12:24 PM
my near new eos (6 months old - 3,600kms) has been at the dealer service centre for 4 weeks for a roof panel replacement. when i collected it yesterday, the driver's door is heavy scuffed and scratched, with damage to the cream leather trim in the back seats (pen marks, a small tear and soiling). the dealer has 'kindly' offered to have the door buffed, replace the damaged seat panels and have my car detailed to bring it back to it's near new condition. my concern is that since my car has been there for 4 weeks (including the 4 day easter holiday) that my car has been used for 'joyriding' without my knowledge. the dealer assured me this was not the case and pointed out that the odometer shows no excess kms travelled (only 5kms for testing rattles with the new panel fitted). my question is, can an electronic odometer be rolled back and if so, how can i get it checked to find out if it has been done?

Tim
25-04-2009, 12:29 PM
It can only be reset to zero if it has travelled less than a couple hundred kms.

the damage youre describing sounds more like careless mechanics fixing one thing and breaking 5 new things

h100vw
25-04-2009, 12:31 PM
Officially you can only set the mileage on a speedo with less than a 100Kms on it. This is to allow the dealers to fit replacements and set them correctly.

There are back doors/methods to rolling them back, search the net. I don't believe the dealers would condone that nor have the capability on the premises.

Sorry to hear of your bad experiences. How come they had it for so long?

And welcome to the forum as well. :)

Gavin

rick00037
26-04-2009, 11:26 AM
thanks for your reply gavin (and for your welcome) ... there was a little more to my suspicions than i posted (wanted to keep it brief). the dealer had my car for 4 weeks and as they were replacing a roof panel, apparently my car's interior had been stripped as they needed to get to wiring under the floor carpets, so it was more convenient for them to have my car while they waited for the part to come from singapore. this didn't really worry me too much as i had a loan car. the panel arrived at the end of the 2nd week and they needed a week to fit it and do all the necessary checks for alignment and water tightness etc. by the end of the 3rd week (when i was supposed to collect it) they advised me that they needed it for another week as they were having problems with the seals and they wanted to get it done right. when i finally collected it at the end of the 4th week, asides from the damage i mentioned earlier, i also complained about the quality of the work that had been done. the seals around the new panel didn't fit as well as the previous one (in some places the seal sticks out 8mm more than it used to - asides from being unsightly, i worry about how water tight it is). the dealer agreed and when i bring it back in to have the other damage rectified, they will also be re-fitting these seals.

so my suspicion comes from the fact that the job they have done seems to be a 'rushed job' and not in keeping with what they told me would be done. also, when i spoke to the dealer principal at the end of the 3rd week to complain about the many delays, he was unaware that my car had even been there for 3 weeks already. his words were that they had some internal issues to rectify. another thing was that when i finally collected my car and drove it away, the fuel range displayed on the instrument cluster is way out (showing an additional 200km till empty - which i know is not possible). the dealer told me this was because my car had been sitting idle for 4 weeks and this would affect the reading. i questioned whether the instrument cluster had to be disconnected and he told me no.

i'm not normally a suspicious person, but in this instance, i just have a feeling i am not being told the whole truth. and although i did mention in my initial post that my suspicion was that my car had been used for joyrides (again to keep my post brief) my greater fear is that if it had been used for a joyride, my car might have been involved in a minor accident and they have tried to repair it without my knowledge. this would account for the length of time taken and the subsequent sub-standard workmanship upon completion.

i will let them complete the job to my satisfaction in this instance and i have already found another dealer to take my car to for any future work and services.

i just wanted to explore all possibilities and get my facts straight as i am lodging a formal complaint with their parent company when this is over and if the dealer is in fact guilty of any fraudulent behaviour, then i want to address that too.

thanks again gavin (and apologies for the long post).

h100vw
26-04-2009, 12:41 PM
The distance to empty goes up and down very quickly.

It is calculated by the clocks based on the current usage of the car. If you drove 1km down the road very gently the D to G would go up. If you then left it idling for an hour it would still be counting that usage and adjust the D to G accordingly.

If you have an instantaneous litres per 100, I think you will, when you first drive off that will be in the 30s and sometimes higher.

In my opinion they could lose you 200 Ks to go, just driving in and out of the workshop half a dozen times.

If you get in and drive 20ks at a sensible pace, you'll get them all back.

Gavin