VW SA will not replace a broken clutch on a vehicle 6 months old with 6,000 km on the clock

Broken clutch on VW Caddy 2.0 TDI I was driving this vehicle from Sodwana Bay to Melrose Johannesburg on Tuesday 27th June. When I was about 200m from the garage entrance, there was one hell of a noise and the clutch was stuck in 2nd gear, and the van was now going very slowly. It made it to my garage but was still stuck in 2nd gear and immovable. The next morning I rang customer service and they arranged for a tow truck. It took my caddy to VW Melrose I informed everyone I spoke to that I was leaving for the UK that evening, returning on the 20th July 2017 While I was away, the garage refused to deal with Greg De Valle, who is my proxy when I am away, so nothing was done while I was overseas. On my return, I was presented with a quote of ± R25,000 from VW Melrose. The quote is addressed to me and is requesting me to pay the R25,000. Having to get back to Sodwana on 22nd July I had no option but to hire a car. My caddy was bought by myself on Friday 4th November 2016 from Midbay Motors. It has about 6,000km on the clock. I traded in my previous VW Caddy 1.6 Petrol with Celia, who sold me the new caddy. I had this Caddy for about 7 years. I rang the VW Customer Care line and spoke to a lady called Chanelle (not sure of spelling). She was very helpful and said she would follow up and let me know what was decided. On Friday 11th July, just a few days later, Chanelle rang me and said VW Melrose had declared that the clutch broke through wear and tear, but also it was possible that it was due to the way it was driven. Chanelle sounded genuinely sorry to give me the bad news. On Monday 14th July, I brought the hire car back from Sodwana to Jo’berg. Sodwana is 700km each way and our nearest town Hluhluwe, is a 200km round trip. Avis only give you 100km a day. Which in itself is preposterous. Foreigners get unlimited km so why can’t we have the same deal. So I had to have the car at least 16 days for the 1****m. On Tuesday 15th July I rang VW Melrose and asked to speak to Graham, the service manager. I was put on hold for quite a while then back to the switchboard then back on hold then back to the switchboard where a lady told me that Graham was away training. They gave me the number of VW SA - ***I called them - pressed all the buttons for Warranties and Repair. The gentleman knew my name when he answered. He listened to me, and asked a few questions. Then he said he would put me through to customer care. I thought their customer care was different to one where Chanelle gave me the bad news last Friday. But it was the same one and I found myself talking to Liesel, who knew my first name when she answered. The reason for not honouring the warranty had now changed; Whereas on Friday it was declared that the clutch broke through wear and tear, but also it was possible that it was due to the way it was driven. Liesel now told me it was now definitely due to the way it had been driven. Her stock phrase was that the VW mechanics were all highly trained and they take their advice from the dealers. Liesel showed no interest when I told her that I had driven a caddy for seven years with no clutch problems. And she couldn't tell me how it was possible to break a clutch in 6 months and 6,000km. It was obvious she knew nothing about clutches, or if she did, she was keeping it a secret. I requested contact details for someone higher up in the chain at VW, like a managing director, but she refused. She said that Customer Care is the only avenue for me to complain. She said this at least five times. She also kept repeating the clutch was not covered in the warranty. Liesel conveyed no interest at all in trying to help me, as in “Customer Care” Liesel was clearly losing interest fast as she just kept repeating the same things. I told her to stop repeating as I understood what she said the first time, I just didn’t agree with it. I said that VW had a vested interest in declaring it driver error She said I could take the van to another VW dealer for a second opinion. She said she didn’t know how I would get it there; so no tow truck this time; I told her what dealer was going to take the repair on, and if they did, they would have the same vested interest as VW Melrose. I said I wanted an independent opinion. Liesel then helpfully said, but the dealers are independent from each other. I reminded her that they both would be VW dealerships so maybe not so independent. She said I couldn’t get an independent mechanics advice and repeated the “all highly trained” speech. As I doubt the clutch was made by VW it made no sense not to allow an independent mechanic from another dealership to have a look at the clutch. She said VW would take no notice of anything they said. Liesel became arrogant as soon as I disagreed with her and showed no inclination to help me at all. Liesel didn’t offer the contact details of the ombudsman, I had to ask her. I heard today, Wednesday 16th July, that Graham from VW Melrose confirmed he did not say “Definitely Driver error”. He stood by his wear and tear and it was possible that the way it had been driven could have caused the damage. Thus there is a massive difference between what Liesel told me the Dealership had said, to what they actually said. I shouldn’t have to argue with them about this situation, it is blindingly obvious that the clutch had a fault. And thus VW must replace it.