VW SOUTH AFRICA AND THEIR DEALERSHIPS NEVER ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY

In Feb 2020, my vehicle was towed to the above mentioned dealership. To cut a long story short, and numerous emails back and forth, VW repaired the vehicle at their own cost citing a factory fault. My vehicle remained at the VW Dealership due to COVID-19 and Lockdown and on the 18/06/2020, I was contacted confirming that the car was repaired and ready for collection. I was elated and went and collected my vehicle. No issues, staff extremely helpful and was just relieved that I could have my car back. On the 24/06/2020, I noticed a light come on, and I thought at the time that it was an oil light. I made contact with Hannes (technician at the VW Braamfontein), (see screenshot of whatsapp conversation, where this was detailed to him.). He called me back, confirming that it was in fact the engine light, and because it was orange was not serious. On the 26/06/2020, I made contact again with Hannes, advising that I was now having issues with the car not starting, and I received no response. I assumed it was winter and as such the car just needed time to get going.

Needless to say, life went on and there was no further issues, until this Monday dated 14/09/2020. I was on my way to work, and suddenly the car started jerking and I had to pull off on the side of the road and switched the vehicle off. I immediately made contact with Hannes, who advised that I should make contact with VW Assist or my Insurer and have the vehicle towed to the Dealership. I contacted VW Assist and my vehicle was towed once again to the VW Braamfontein.

Late afternoon I was contacted by Hannes confirming what the issue was and he went further on to say that a part was broken and glued back together. I went on to explain that VW Braamfontein were the only people to have worked on my vehicle since my first incident, and since I have my vehicle back. I asked him why was this issue not picked up when my first incident transpired, and he confirmed that they would not have checked that. My next question is that if he worked on the gearbox, he would have had to check and/or remove the engine and would have instantly saw the glued pipe issue. I am not a mechanic, neither a technician, however I assumed that VW would have gone the extra mile to check the vehicle thoroughly and advise me the first time accordingly of what the issues were. I honestly confirm that no mechanic, or technician has worked on my vehicle since receiving it back, and cannot explain how a pipe was broken and glued back together, and why was I not advised of this during the time that my gearbox was been repaired. Surely such shoddy workmanship would have been recognized by the qualified technician representing VW and I advised accordingly.

Now to be presented with a quote of over R12K to have the part repaired, is a slap in the face. I thought my car troubles were over, and this is now not the case. Surely there is a warranty on the workmanship from the side of VW, from the last repair, and surely this mechanical repair would have been spotted the first time.

So basically what VW Braamfontein is saying is that sorry Mrs Butler, we repaired your gearbox and whatever else we had to, however we never noticed this issue and as such you are now responsible for the repair. I am without my vehicle, I am without a courtesy vehicle as the dealership CONVENIENTLY HAS NO VEHICLES AVAILABLE. What do I do? I feel because the first incident transpired as it did, the VW Dealership just shrugs me off as the client whose car they had to repair for FREE, and now I am back again, causing an issue. I JUST WANT MY CAR FIXED, and a courtesy vehicle provided so I can safely travel to and from work. I did not ask for my vehicle to have factory faults and/or parts failure. When I bought it from VW Krugersdorp, it was bought in good faith that all the checks were done and that the vehicle was in tip top shape. I am paying an instalment on a vehicle that I am not having the luxury of enjoying driving. This is beyond my control and beyond an amount I can afford. Taking into consideration the sequence of events I am now reaching out to the decision makers to please help me sort this issue out, once and for all please.

VW SA Responded saying that they unfortunately cannot assist as the vehicle is now out of warranty and based on their findings they confirm that all checks were done on the vehicle and they WILL NOT assume responsibility for the repair.

I then went a step further once again relaying the sequence of events step by step, and they still not wanting to assist, claiming warranty and because the vehicle was only serviced up to 45 000km with VW, they cannot assume responsibility for the broken part.

1. I understand how my vehicle was sold to me and the terms and conditions attached to it. 2. I understand the warranty has now expired. THE WARRANTY WAS VALID WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS WITH VW, OBVIOUSLY THE WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED.

2.1 On the 20/02/2020 I made contact with VW SA and spoke to Makena who also confirmed that the vehicle is under warranty and we made arrangements for the vehicle to be picked up and towed to the nearest VW, being VW Hatfield Braamfontein. 2.2 On the 03/03/2020 I made contact to enquire on the status of the repair and was advised that Hannes was the service technician assigned to repair my vehicle. At that stage there was still no notification of the warranty and I assumed that all was in order. Hannes made contact by way of an email advising that the vehicle does not qualify for warranty repair as my last 3 services were not done at a dealership. At this stage I was advised that the gearbox had already been removed to ascertain the fault. AT THIS POINT I ASSUMED THAT ALL ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS WERE PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE, RIGHT? 2.3 The intake manifold is a bundle of pipes that normally connect the engine at the top. It is hard to miss, but it is often very difficult to dismantle, so it is better to have this part done by a mechanic. But if you are competent and qualified enough to open the intake manifold, do it! When you have opened the manifold, first take out the gasket and check if it has a crack somewhere. If so, it is a cracked gasket that can be easily replaced but not repaired (this based on my own research) IF HANNES HAD CHECKED PROPERLY HE WOULD HAVE SPOTTED THE DAMAGE PIPE THE FIRST TIME AROUND. BECAUSE THIS WAS NOT DONE, I CAN ONLY DEDUCE THAT THE PIPE WAS NEVER DAMAGED BUT BROKEN AND GLUED BACK BY VW, AND NOW THEY WANT ME TO PAY FOR IT.

2.5 The repair for the clutch master cylinder, multiple clutches and a two-part flywheel in February, involved other items such as taking out the gasket and other engine work. ONCE AGAIN ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO CHECK THE CAR which would have allowed for the technician to instantly recognize a faulty/glued back manifold pipe, and even a possible leakage in the pipe.

2.6 I know my vehicle has not been serviced through VW, BUT can confirm that my last service was done before my vehicle was towed into VW to have the gearbox issue sorted. So lets say for argument sake that the person that serviced my car, was responsible for ‘breaking’ and ‘gluing’ the part, would VW with their highly trained and expert technicians after properly dissecting my vehicle, after having my car suspended in the air and properly checked, would have immediately come back to me and advised me of a broken and glued back manifold pipe. 2.7 Now the technician comes back on the attached report and talks about a leaking pipe. TWO DIFFERENT MESSAGES

3. VW were the last to work on my vehicle. At any given point someone could have checked and seen that there was an issue with the manifold pipe IF THERE WAS IN FACT AN ISSUE, which based on my opinion was nver there the first time around. I have my vehicle back and in less than 2 months I have another issue with my vehicle, AFTER THE ONLY TEAM TO WORK ON MY VEHICLE BEING VW.

ON TOP OF IT KAYLEEN FROM VW SA HAS THE AUDACITY TO TELL ME THAT AFTER SHE HAS READ THROUGH THEIR FINDINGS SHE CONFIRMS THAT VW DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG AND THAT THEY FOLLOWED THEIR PROCESS AND CANNOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE THE CAR IS NOW OUT OF WARRANTY AND MY LAST SERVICES WERE NOT DONE THROUGH VW, SO THEY CANNOT SAY WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DAMAGE, BUT IT IS NOT THEM.

VW HATFIELD BRAAMFONTEIN WERE THE LAST TO WORK ON THE VEHICLE. THEY WERE THE LAST TO OPEN THE CAR UP AND DO THEIR CHECKS. SO IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT THE PIPE WAS NEVER BROKEN, HOW ELSE COULD HANNES MISS THIS?

To top it all off, I have kindly and respectfully requested a courtesy vehicle as I don't have a car. The response is that we cater for our clients whose vehicles are still under warranty.

SO BASICALLY WHAT VW SA IS SAYING IS TO HELL WITH YOUR ISSUE. WE DON'T CARE. YOUR CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY, NEVER MIND THAT WE WERE THE LAST PEOPLE TO WORK ON YOUR CAR, WE NOT ASSISTING YOU.

THE SAME ISSUE THE LAST TIME, UNTIL I HAD TO GET VW GERMANY INVOLVED. My next complaint is to the Automotive Ombudsman.

1. VW Hatfield were the last to work on the vehicle. Where does their obligation in advising the consumer lie? 2. How was it so easy for HANNES to deduce the issue this time around, when it took him all of two weeks to ascertain the first issue? 3. Why can I not be accommodated with a courtesy vehicle until this issue is sorted. I am a woman, it is so dangerous out here to travel with public transport. What about COVID. WHO CARES MRS BUTLER, YOUR CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY. 5. I have always only driven VW, and would probably still do so, I am just appalled at the level of service been provided to me based on the facts at hand, and desperately crying out for them to be fair towards me and treat me as a client and not some stupid woman who does not understand how warranties work, when all evidence points to VW, as they were the last to work on the car.