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VW Dealer ScamJun 28 '00 Write an essay on this topic.I leased a 1999 VW Jetta GLS and was taking it in to a local dealership for its routine 20,000 mile service. Commence the problems. When I received the car back a day later, the gearshift was noticably loose. I was told it had needed adjustment. The next night while driving, I lost all gears except fourth. No neutral, no reverse, NOTHING but fourth. When my car was towed back to the dealership, the manager admitted that the mechanic "forgot to put the pin back in the clutch" causing severe damage to the clutch and transmission. They warranteed it for another 2 years. I picked the car up again, and within days, I heard a loud, low rattling while driving at low speeds (<20mph). The noise stopped after a short while and I thought all was well. That was, until I was driving on Easter Sunday to a friend's place for dinner and my oil light went on (Note: an oil change was part of the 20,000 mile service just days before). I pulled over and checked the oil. No oil in the pan. I put a quart in and drove off. The oil light came on almost immediately, so I pulled to the side of the road. The engine was smoked. There was a massive puddle of oil on the ground. Hours later, my car was towed back to the dealership. The manager of the VW service dept informed me several times that I had a "massive hole in the engine the size of a baseball" and was convinced that I must have driven over a rock. This, I was told would not be warranteed and would cost me $4000-$5000 to repair and replace the engine as it was destroyed from bottom to top. My insurance company promptly sent out a rep to investigate. Suprise! He discovered there was NO hole in the engine as allleged by VW. The mechanic failed to put the cap on the oil pan, so it fell off while driving, allowing all the oil to leak out and my engine to sizzle. The dealership admitted to the negligence and was responsible for installing a new engine as demanded by VW Corporate. This, however, was not done. The dealership refused to install a new engine and put a rebuilt in. Two months after haggling with lawyers and VW over the rebuilt v. new engine issue, I finally got my car back. It has a rebuilt with low miles, but I'm not satisfied. The only thing saving me was that it is leased, and ulitmately is not my car. So I warn all of you to be wary of dealerships when taking your car in for service. Make sure you inspect your car and the "damage" to it so that no one can make a false claim to get money from you. This particular dealership was repeatedly deceptive and unethical, but I don't think it's the only one like it out there. It is up to you as consumers to make sure you are not being cheated.  |
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