Problems / Faults

[theplanner]

Man I hate reading about stuff like this. I pick mine up in 3 hours (delayed from yesterday), I've just "crossed over" from Subaru and had zero issues, I hope I haven't made the wrong decision

I believe in general VW quality is no where near Subaru however, VW can definitely design better looking cars and are more in touch with design preference of the public. Subaru seem to change their minds so often about 1-2 yrs after releasing a new shape/model.

Whether you end up thinking if you made the right decision or not lies with how much enjoyment you get from driving the car while nothing is wrong. I hate the quality and the service but the driving experience out weighs the issues in my case. Also, the next nearest comparable (size, power & handling) car (eg. BMW 335, Audi S4, C320 etc) are at least another 30-40k premium. So the bang for buck factor also helps me oversee its flaws.

An analogy would be like would you rather date a high maintanence but pretty chic (or whatever that facies you) or a low maintenance but average chic.

For some (and I shall not mention names) they rather be ignorant about it so they do not see the flaws. For others, (like myself) knowing the cons helps me better appreciate the pros.

I hope this helps eleiminate your doubts.

[R36]

Man I hate reading about stuff like this. I pick mine up in 3 hours (delayed from yesterday), I've just "crossed over" from Subaru and had zero issues, I hope I haven't made the wrong decision

I sold a MY06 WRX for the R36. The Subaru had a few issues replaced under warranty: clutch, turbo, rear shocks. Apart from the factory recall for the battery wiring I have had no issues with the R36 in almost a year, not even a rattle.

[Craig]

I have had my car for a few months now. I bought it 2nd hand (privately interstate). It had very few kms on it and still had 14 month VW warranty left. The previous owner gave me the paperwork which he just got for the battery cabling recall which mine had to have. My Passat is in showroom condition and would be probably the best kept 2nd hand car you could find. However it had an annoying rattle in the dash area around the radio where the plastics meet (before I put the AVC in). The Ncle VW dealers would not touch it as they said initially, "Where did you buy the car from (not us)" and that VW warranty does not fix rattles over 1000km????? I have never heard of this? and asked him to show me were it said this. He said it was in the book and tried to find it for me. Guess what he couldn't find it but said it was there. I was pissed off about that but other than having a big argument I chose another line of attack. I emailed VW Aust and talked to them about my problem. VW Aust would not tie themselves down to saying one thing or the other but stated that if it was a problem not caused by normal wear and tear or human interaction it would be warranty. The rattle was neither of these and I took it back when I got the wiring done and had a word with service about VW Aust and they fixed it. I had a look at what they did and they just put some friction absorb tape on the attachment clips of the radio surround which fixed the problem. It would be a 10 minute job at the max. Anyway they did my battery cable recall as well. When I looked at the work they did latter I found that the positive battery cover under bonnet was missing (battery in the boot) I found it was down the bottom of the engine almost about to fall on the road as they had not clipped it back on the positive attachment point. I looked under the engine and found that a lot of the cabling had not been clipped back into the attachment points on the chassis as well. I fixed this up myself. I am not very happy with the Service I got from them and the BS I had to go through to get a warranty job done. This is my 3rd VW. It is a $63K car (fm new) and I would think that your service would be better than this. I would never take my car to this dealer again for warranty or service and would drive a distance to get work done elsewhere. I think they just give these jobs to apprentices. I hope they are better??????? I have had new cars regularly from new Subaru's to Mazda's and any problems I have are fixed up straight away without a problem. I love VW and would always buy again but want good service from the dealers.

[pj's]

Man I think there were more excuses than people giving problems feedback LOL

Yes, every car has it's problems and I must say everybody who loves there cars makes excuses.

Anyhow your feedback is appreciated and I look forward to some possible more problem posts and less excuses.

In regards to the dealers I have to say there sales departments are ****, I have now been to two dealers, one multiple times and I don't seem to get their attention.

Do I need to bring my misus and a baby before they will take any interest

Blacky,

I had an issue with my White R36 Wagon, the air conditioner couldn't make up its mind whether to blow hot or cold air. This happened in January this year, and where I live is does get hot. On one of the days the car suggested the OAT was 47 (reasonably accurate) and it decided to blow hot air into the cabin. I spoke to my dealer, Solitaire, and the really bright response was run the aircon like that for 5 minutes to allow it time to start to cool You can imagine my thoughts. Solitaire then asked if they could have the car for 2 or 3 days to diagnose the fault. I traveled to Melbourne on holidays shortly after and a mates son recommended I visit Burwin VW in Burwood. I took the car there and got immediate service and they diagnosed the fault then and there, a TX valve in the compressor and arranged for a new compressor

I guess the service issue is all a matter of luck, but I was very impressed with the people at Burwin.

Cheers

pj

[PassatB6]

Craig..
Was that Klosters Newcastle? Generally they have been OK with me but have left minor things out like checking washer fluid levels etc. Not 100% confident with them.

[passatpout]

Craig..
Was that Klosters Newcastle? Generally they have been OK with me but have left minor things out like checking washer fluid levels etc. Not 100% confident with them.

I won't say what Klosters did to a car owned by a friend of my father's following a little bingle....

[Rocket36]

Why not? name and shame I say. They do bad by people they should feel the pain of losing customers.

[passatpout]

Why not? name and shame I say. They do bad by people they should feel the pain of losing customers.

It was a long time ago (in the 80s..), and they may have changed since.. although up until I left Newcastle in 2001 their reputation wasn't brilliant.

[Passatwind]

Hear hear! I've dumped the local dealer because they did a wheel alignment for me and the caster was out by a couple of degrees on both front wheels! Now very happy with a knowledgeable local independent.

[GHW]

Hi Blacky.

Picked the car up Friday. Passenger side mirror faulty Saturday. It won't go into reverse down mode. Did it once, then got stuck permanently in down position and had to be adjusted back up to normal, worked once again now no go at all. Not bad for one days ownership !

I guess electrics still aren't VAG's thing. My Bora had both rear electric window motors replaced, my Audi had intermittently opening / closing sunroof on hot days and passenger window that would randomly open, get stuck or close without warning. VW fixed no prob, Audi never fixed as service couldn't find the fault (funny that with intermittent issues )

And yes, I agree with all that "that's what warranty's for" but I don't know about the rest of you, my time = $$$ and I can't afford to spend time at a dealership. It's lucky this car is so FREAKIN INSANELY AWESOME.