DSG woes in The Age

[wai]

I have to say that what has intrigued me about this thread is that there are many complaining but very few have actually taken steps to do anything to alert regulators. I lodged a complaint with the ACCC and got a call back where they indicated no one else had reported anything. I wonder how many of those who wrote letters to the newspapers have actually formally complained to VW or the ACCC or the Department of Infrastructure and Transport?

Maybe they believe that social media will come to the rescue. I seriously doubt it as despite everything, VW are still not really doing or committing to anything. They are asking affected owners to contact them and they will then examine the vehicles and take any necessary action. Well, they would have to do that anyway, and supposedly have done this already when owners have reported issues with their cars when they had them serviced by their dealers. No doubt the response was "standard for that type of vehicle" and that is what they will receive now.

Even the articles and campaigns by various newspapers have not done much. I have not seen any pieces where the Department of Infrastructure and Transport has been interviewed on this.

What has happened is that (as has been pointed out) all VW vehicles have been tarred with the same brush. They are all considered dodgy. As a result, any resale value has gone out the window. I mean why would anyone buy a secondhand one? Why would any dealer trade one in as the scrap value would be eaten up by the transport costs involved. This is whether the vehicle being sold/traded has had any issues or not.

If there was to be a social media campaign, then it should have had a clear strategy. The strategy seems to have been "heap rubbish on all VWs and then when the market share dips, VW will do something about it". In all honesty, I don't really think that VW give two hoots about the resale value of their cars. They are in business to make and sell NEW cars. All this has done is see that VWs have the lowest possible resale value. If that was their intention (and it appears to be), then it is mission accomplished. Personally i would have preferred it if VW actually did something about the problems.

[Eaglehawk]

I wonder how many of those who wrote letters to the newspapers have actually formally complained to VW or the ACCC or the Department of Infrastructure and Transport?

I wrote to the vinvestigations@infrastructure.gov.au e-mail about my experience with the car. (As posted in the Polo 6R forum)

I personally think nothing will happen to my situation (just judging from what everyone else got from VW Aus HQ). But you're right, unless those who have posted in this thread with a specific problem with THEIR car (not a friend/family/neighbour/forum member post) and has the paperwork to prove a problem, they NEED to report their issues to the address so that they can really determine how widespread the problem is, and whether VW have been covering up a recall issue with a "service campaign". Stop typing in this thread, and send it to the e-mail address above. It will probably not change your situation personally, but someone other than VW need to know what the failure rate is.