You Just Know (the dealer doesn't)

[sVWatt]

Took my little rocket to our local VW garage to have the RNS510 Bluetooth checked and have the DRLs enabled (as per the manual).

I wasn't there two minutes when I knew this could end up a fruitless effort.
Me - the Bluetooth to RNS music audio only comes out one side.
Service man - yes I think it's meant to be like that.
Me - no. I've already checked and confirmed with Bayford they did not complete the wiring properly.
Service man - okay we will look and bill Bayford.
3 hours later I get a call the car is ready.
The report from the technician made me smile and yet mad at the same time. Gerald Slaven 'expert' advice. Bluetooth only coming out one side - recommend using the MDI cable connection instead.

Brilliant! I waited three hours for that advice :(

After (re)explaining the expected performance parameters of the dealer installed Bluetooth, the said service man said he would talk to tech man and call me back. I politely suggested that I should perhaps be present with offending phone to demonstrate issue. I even emailed him the various blog forums that highlight known issue and known remedy.

I think I'll try their coffee next time I am waiting in the customer service area. Maybe they make better coffees.

[gavs]

Try the sales coffe, generally much better:)

[GTI JOE]

Good grief, another questionable dealership service centre...hard to believe really ;)

[Miles Away]

im going in on monday to get my MDI fixed up cos it has a very similar problem but the car is pulling left quite a bit...this is gonna be a sh*tfight I can see it already.

[Corey_R]

Well... that's a good attitude to be turning up to the dealer with... much more chance of turning out that way :)

[jrgti]

Well my dealer used Ian Diffens who fitted by wheels the wrong way. Not ever going back to them especially when after calling their service department they were so rude about it and told me to just pay to have them rotated. Wrote an email to them which was totally ignored. I could complain but there would be no point as I would never trust them again and go back there. We are talking about a close to 50K car. Dealers simply need to get their act together. I will never trust a single dealer unless I personally know someone who can pull some strings working there.

[GTI JOE]

im going in on monday to get my MDI fixed up cos it has a very similar problem but the car is pulling left quite a bit...this is gonna be a sh*tfight I can see it already.

Firm and assertive always work, but stay away from aggression ;)

[m3103]

Same issue with my dealer.
Paid a ridiculous amount to have my RNS510 installed (bought off ebay) and after two hours of supposed coding they come back to me with (name) is our best technician and he can't figure out why your steering controls don't work.
The report says "the unit is not right for my car". It's plain ignorance and laziness.
I just took it as a lesson to do this stuff myself in the future. Then my sister takes her one or two month old polo in because the air con isn't working, window makes a loud thump when going up, the car says the fuel tank is empty when its just been filled up, and the brakes were squeaky. Pick up the car later that day and we are told that everything is normal except for the fuel level sensor was fault and we would have to bring the car back to have it replaced. Take the car back and they then tell us the whole cluster was faulty as well. We said the air con is still faulty and they claimed they fixed it. Now air con smells like its blowing petrol into the car and the window still thumps.
Never going back to that dealer service centre again!
Needed to vent that out...haha sorry

[gavs]

Hmmm, seems this once again comes back to this....

“First I have to make sure we continue on the successful path we have undertaken over the last five years,” she said.

“Therefore I am working very closely with my team, which is in place, and now also our dealers, because our dealers are the first contact with our customers.

From top: Volkswagen Group Australia MD Anke Koeckler, VW Golf R, VW Jetta.

“There is a lot of work still to go with our dealers, but we have the processes behind and everything is done.

“We also want to ensure that we have customer retention within our company … from basic things (like picking up the phone when they call) to real customer relations management – and (this is what) we are working on at this point.

“If we have this in place, then we can also demand the same from our dealers.

“(But most) of the dealers are professionals so they already know this. I only need to make sure they know what the brand stands for.

“We also have to make sure that the people that are behind (the scenes at Volkswagen’s dealers) are well trained … we have to make sure there is proper training, compulsory training.”

[sVWatt]

Volkswagen Group Australia MD Anke Koeckler...
...(But most) of the dealers are professionals so they already know this. I only need to make sure they know what the brand stands for...

...and I'd suggest let them know how to code new VAG cars. Seems to me the capabilities of the car exceed the capabilities of the average dealer technician.

I'll give Slaven one more try - assuming they do actually call me back.

[GTI JOE]

Surely you jest Gav, must put this response in the Melbourne Comedy Festival :)

[Miles Away]

Firm and assertive always work, but stay away from aggression ;)

I run the repair section at my work so I know how to deal with people like me :) just not looking forward to it because with previous cars no one has ever seemed to manage to stop the things from pulling no matter who I go to. Obviously these werent vdubs so this could work out fine...

[GTI JOE]

Thanks for the feedback Miles Away :)

[pologti18t]

I run the repair section at my work so I know how to deal with people like me :) just not looking forward to it because with previous cars no one has ever seemed to manage to stop the things from pulling no matter who I go to. Obviously these werent vdubs so this could work out fine...

That's because most,if not all, cars pull to the left. Mostly to do with road camber.

Wheel alignments etc are usually outsourced to a local tyre business. So you can't really blame the dealer.

[brad]

That's because most,if not all, cars pull to the left. Mostly to do with road camber.

Wheel alignments etc are usually outsourced to a local tyre business. So you can't really blame the dealer.
The statement about pulling to the left is so wrong. A good alignment guy will compensate for road camber. Especially these days when the camber isn't as severe as what used to be built into roads.

While many dealers sub-contract various services (wheel alignments, aircon, tyres, panel/paint, detailing, window tint) to external providers, it is still the responsibility of the main contractor (the person taking the money from the customer) to ensure the work is done properly. Any compalints are straight to the contractor. The customer should never need to have recourse against the sub-contract provider. That's why the dealership adds 10%-100% onto what the sub-contractor charges the dealer.

[GTI JOE]

The statement about pulling to the left is so wrong. A good alignment guy will compensate for road camber. Especially these days when the camber isn't as severe as what used to be built into roads.

While many dealers sub-contract various services (wheel alignments, aircon, tyres, panel/paint, detailing, window tint) to external providers, it is still the responsibility of the main contractor (the person taking the money from the customer) to ensure the work is done properly. Any compalints are straight to the contractor. The customer should never need to have recourse against the sub-contract provider. That's why the dealership adds 10%-100% onto what the sub-contractor charges the dealer.

About time someone spoke out about this, well said brad :)

[Miles Away]

The statement about pulling to the left is so wrong. A good alignment guy will compensate for road camber. Especially these days when the camber isn't as severe as what used to be built into roads.

While many dealers sub-contract various services (wheel alignments, aircon, tyres, panel/paint, detailing, window tint) to external providers, it is still the responsibility of the main contractor (the person taking the money from the customer) to ensure the work is done properly. Any compalints are straight to the contractor. The customer should never need to have recourse against the sub-contract provider. That's why the dealership adds 10%-100% onto what the sub-contractor charges the dealer.

That's spot on, no matter if it my workshop or a contractor who does the work for me if the work isn't done properly or at all then it still comes out of my budget to get it fixed not theirs.

[pologti18t]

The statement about pulling to the left is so wrong. A good alignment guy will compensate for road camber. Especially these days when the camber isn't as severe as what used to be built into roads.


How exactly do they accomplish that when road cambers are so variable? What is suitable for a road with a large amount of camber will have you verying to the right on an "flat" road. Some people have an unreasonable expectation that a car will track true in ALL conditions with no hands on the steering wheel. Therefore they say this is a fault that needs to be fixed but essentially it cant.

"Excessive" pull to the left (or right) means there is something really wrong with the suspension that can't be tuned out with a wheel alignment. Bent component , dragging brake etc.

[sVWatt]

im going in on monday to get my MDI fixed up cos it has a very similar problem but the car is pulling left quite a bit...this is gonna be a sh*tfight I can see it already.

How was it Miles Away...? Sh*tfight or happy harmony day?

I just spoke to my supplying dealer about what turns out to be a turd of a useless Bluetooth install that they did. Featureless Fibredyne I call it. So poor old Slaven were on a hiding to nothing to fix it. It can't be fixed. So negotiating with my Victorian dealer to removing offending junk and have My local dealer install a Bluetooth kit befitting of a premium purchase small car.

Don't take your dealer installed Bluetooth for granted you might get a pig. Repeat after me..."I don't want Fibredyne"...

[brad]

How exactly do they accomplish that when road cambers are so variable? What is suitable for a road with a large amount of camber will have you verying to the right on an "flat" road. Some people have an unreasonable expectation that a car will track true in ALL conditions with no hands on the steering wheel. Therefore they say this is a fault that needs to be fixed but essentially it cant.

"Excessive" pull to the left (or right) means there is something really wrong with the suspension that can't be tuned out with a wheel alignment. Bent component , dragging brake etc.
Where did anyone mention "excessive" - you didn't, nor did I. No wheel alignment will adequately compensate for a mechanical fault, although some vehicles have excessive steering linkage play out of the box & you have to learn how to compensate for that. A proper wheel alignment should start with the mech checking wheel bearing & suspension freeplay is within acceptable limits & checking the tyre pressures. They should be having a good look to ensure that nothing is bent. If you try & do a wheel alignment when there are issues you are wasting your time.

Road cambers aren't overly variable in Australia, there is a civil engineering standard that is supposed to be adhered to. Anything that is outside the standard is usually either pretty short or has enough adittional issues that a bit of drift in the steering is the least of the problems.

Generally a bit of extra castor on the LHS ; a bit of camber variation; get the thrust angle correct; get it so that it tracks straight going down Woids Ave Hurstville :-) ; have the steering wheel a beesdik down on the left and 99% of people will be happy.

[gavs]

How was it Miles Away...? Sh*tfight or happy harmony day?

I just spoke to my supplying dealer about what turns out to be a turd of a useless Bluetooth install that they did. Featureless Fibredyne I call it. So poor old Slaven were on a hiding to nothing to fix it. It can't be fixed. So negotiating with my Victorian dealer to removing offending junk and have My local dealer install a Bluetooth kit befitting of a premium purchase small car.

Don't take your dealer installed Bluetooth for granted you might get a pig. Repeat after me..."I don't want Fibredyne"...

Pm sent mate...