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Just to let you know I have a 60 reg Mk VI VW Golf TSI 5d with the 160bhp version of the engine. I purchased it from a main dealer 7 months ago, and it is now done 25000 miles. Last week the orange engine warning light come on and we took it in to the dealer from where it was purchased to get it checked out. The car is covered by the VW approved warranty that applies to approved used cars over 3 years old.
My experience suggests that whatever VAG might think, their dealers have other ideas:
- The initial diagnosis work identified loss of compression in cylinder 3, but even so the dealer was not prepared to submit the details to the warranty company. They wanted to strip the top half of the engine to expose pistons to confirm diagnosis, and said they would only proceed with the diagnosis if I agreed to pay for the cost of the work if they were wrong and there was nothing wrong with the pistons.
- I refused this generous offer, and nothing happened. After a day of argument I eventually had to agree to underwrite 50% of the cost of the diagnosis work should the garage have made a mistake...
- Engine was duely stripped down and a cracked piston / damaged cylinder liner found. It took a day for garage to assemble 'proof' of the damage to the engine, and another half day to submit this to the warranty company. We are awaiting approval from the warranty company before they do anything else - so for now they won't schedule a repair or even order parts. Asked why not, got two different answers.
- the damage might be result of driver abuse of the engine,
- the garage don't know what repair to carry out until warranty company tells them.
- The first reason is just plain offensive - not clear they know what a driver could do that would cause cylinder to crack - but presumably they would know this from the evidence uncovered rather than having to wait for an insurance firm to tell them this
- The second reason is bizarre, in that it suggests dealer is not sure how to repair the problem.
Despite all of this going on, the garage still found time to contact me to suggest that "since your car is in the repair shop" I should pop £200 to have two bits of paint work buffed up by the body shop and put some new tyres on the car.
I have no idea when this will be fixed, or how much the garage will expect me to pay. But the idea in above posting that VAG is 'taking this issue on the chin' clearly hasn't reached the good VW people of south bucks... ;(
If this is representative, strong advice should be to avoid the 160bhp TSI engine - getting it sorted out while under warranty is non-trivial. I imagine trying to get it sorted out of warranty would be futile.
Edited by glawrie on 23/05/2014 at 15:13
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