VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[malc]

What is the correct tel no for custumer services for the roof corrosion problem. Any person to report it to?

 

[Custardtart]

I think the correct procedure is to go to your local van centre and they'll submit a report to VW.

I initially went straight to VW CS but ended up having to take it to a van centre for a DISS report to be submitted.

 

[Dave_T]

Survey completed... Front panel & roof corrosion for me (on a 12 plate van)...

 

[tony12surf]

Have had roof corrosion and had it repaired , it was on front panel above windscreen , it has been repaired by vw under warranty . I have noticed a couple of small bubbles again will keep an eye on it , might be my imagination

tony 61 berghaus cal

 

[s-express]

2010, front panel has already been repaired once under warranty a couple of years ago.

Front panel is bubbling again and bubbling most of the way down the driver's side of the elevating roof. Will leave it another 12-24 months before reporting to VW as I don't see the point in getting it fixed until nearer the end of the 6 yr warranty period.

 

[calikev]

You need to report the corrosion on the main roof now as VW have not admitted its a problem
And will not be covered unless we can put pressure on them.the only way to do that is report it

 

[Martin]

2010, front panel has already been repaired once under warranty a couple of years ago.

Front panel is bubbling again and bubbling most of the way down the driver's side of the elevating roof. Will leave it another 12-24 months before reporting to VW as I don't see the point in getting it fixed until nearer the end of the 6 yr warranty period.

I would get it booked in now, It will probably take around 3 years to get to the front of the queue the way things are going.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Martin]

As Kev says, if you have this corrosion you must get it logged by a dealer, it takes around ten minutes for them to do.

Don't forget, VWCS are still saying the main roof corrosion is an isolated problem ... It is not!

 

[DebsWhite]

Found a lot of corrosion on mine today - down to metal for a section at the front - which I can't believe I've missed. Vehicle was spotless when we bought it 18 months ago - but quite substantial paint loss on the front panel, and bubbling all along the length.

Will be reporting tomorrow.

At the moment I've only found evidence on the front panel - not the roof itself, but will be asking for both to be repaired!

Many thanks to everyone for this - a really helpful forum.

 

[danny13]

Don't forget, VWCS are still saying the main roof corrosion is an isolated problem ... It is not!

I spoke to VWCS on Friday. According to VWCS there have only been "a couple" of reported issues of the elevating roof panel suffering corrosion. I then spoke to an approved vw body shop (just one of the many) who claimed they alone had already replaced "a few" entire roofs due to corrosion....VWCS also stated that they were closely monitoring this thread and yet still they are sticking to their claim that the corrosion issue is isolated. bull :censor !!!!

It also sounds very much that all current production vehicles/replacement roofs will suffer this same corrosion as they have yet to acknowledge the problem yet alone provide a solution to resolve the issue.

 

[Stu]

So as of now the Poll indicates

214 Votes, of which 95 indicate corrosion on the elevating roof. I suspect, like myself, once people begin to check their roof edges under the rubber this number will drastically increase.

If I could amend the poll I would be changing my vote to include the roof with the front panel. Martin, can you do this?

 

[Martin]

So as of now the Poll indicates

214 Votes, of which 95 indicate corrosion on the elevating roof. I suspect, like myself, once people begin to check their roof edges under the rubber this number will drastically increase.

If I could amend the poll I would be changing my vote to include the roof with the front panel. Martin, can you do this?

Done for you

 

[Stu]

Thanks mate.

 

[777111]

It also sounds very much that all current production vehicles/replacement roofs will suffer this same corrosion as they have yet to acknowledge the problem yet alone provide a solution to resolve the issue.

+1

Yes, exactly so. No declared cause probably = no fix.
I firmly believe that it is likely ALL Californias, including those on the production line right now, are going to exhibit the corrosion defect on at least the main roof panel sooner or later.
Ostrich behaviour at VW and they are already losing orders as a result of this.

 

[Trudy]

Spoke to VW CS this morning after several attemps of them not calling me back and have now been told I have to go to a dealer ( 1+ hours away ) . They also tell me only a few people have reported a problem with the roof. I do hope VW are reading this forum.

 

[MarkW]

Dear All,

As a prospective VW California purchaser can you advise if there is a definitive VW statement (not individual personal opinions) on the corrosion?

From the thread people are being asked to vote whether they have corrosion on either:

* Front Panel Only

* Main Elevating Roof Only

* Both Front Panel and Main Elevating Roof

Earlier in the thread it was suggested that VW took two remedial actions (are both confirmed?):

* insulating barrier between the box aluminium section and the steel bodywork
* The metallurgy of the roof panel has now been changed (it was causing poor paint adhesion) and this only went into effect in production early 2014

Has anyone with a 2014 California still had the corrosion after the above fixes?

If VW are in the process of repairing a large number of California roofs are they sure they have a definitive fix for all the corrosion issues above?


thanks,

Mark

 

[777111]

Dear All,

As a prospective VW California purchaser can you advise if there is a definitive VW statement (not individual personal opinions) on the corrosion?

From the thread people are being asked to vote whether they have corrosion on either:

* Front Panel Only

* Main Elevating Roof Only

* Both Front Panel and Main Elevating Roof

Earlier in the thread it was suggested that VW took two remedial actions (are both confirmed?):

* insulating barrier between the box aluminium section and the steel bodywork
* The metallurgy of the roof panel has now been changed (it was causing poor paint adhesion) and this only went into effect in production early 2014

Has anyone with a 2014 California still had the corrosion after the above fixes?

If VW are in the process of repairing a large number of California roofs are they sure they have a definitive fix for all the corrosion issues above?


thanks,

Mark

Mark,
I will have a go at answering your very reasonable concerns but I think it is fair to say there is as yet no definitive answer available from VW and the forum is currently involved in obtaining one for the benefit of all owners.

The remedial action to the front panel (only) seems to have involved a gasket and possibly a different paint process to protect against the corrosion. The gasket is visible the change in paint isn't so we cant be sure. The date when the change was made was most recently stated by VW as beginning Q3 2013 i.e 1st July.

The issue with the main roof is not yet confirmed by VW. As you can see we have many forum members with very similar corrosion on the main roof to that on the front panel. At this point in time we have no reason to believe that new main roof sections are any less likely to corrode even on vehicles still on the production line as until the cause and fix are declared by VW it seems highly unlikely that manufacture has been changed in any way.

We have evidence here that late 2013 California's have corrosion started on the main roof panel - not sure re 2014 build year.

Personally I do not believe there is sufficient evidence from VW to say a definitive fix exists for either the main roof or even the front roof panel based on their denial and very slow response by VW Customer Services.

Sooner or later VW will issue a meaningful declaration but in your position I personally would be waiting for that before proceeding with such a costly purchase.

I hope that helps and sorry I cant be more reassuring.

 

[MarkW]

Thank you...

Hopefully VW will respond with an admission of the issues and the confirmed remedial action for both existing owners and potential ones on the factory line.

I appreciate the point of the survey is to prove to VW that this is not an isolated incident and they need to accept and to confirm a remedial action for all roof corrosion issues.

It would seem folly on their part to initiate a program of expensive repairs if they will have a reoccurrence of the corrosion in another part of the roof.

I assume this survey is tied in with VW California owners in Europe so that VW see the full implications of the issue?

regards,

Mark

 

[Martin]

So far we have 11 vans registered 2014 on the survey with main roof corrosion !

 

[Luke]

Hello all,

Greetings from Holland! good to see such a good forum about the best campervan ever!
Otherwise being stoked about my Cali, I was a bit disappointed to read about this corrosion problem. It's really unbelievable that so many Cali's are effected by this "disease" !

After reading this forum I finally checked my 2012 Cali 4motion 179BHP manual for corrosion.
I found my front panel and pop-up roof both effected. Claim is being processed by vwcampers.nl in Amersfoort, Netherlands.

They said there are about 30,000 cali's with this problem to be solved!

Here Cali's are being called in by year of built, now processing years 09 and 10.
When it's my turn? i dunno...

Hopefully all claims will be solved effectively for everyone soon!

All the best and happy camping!

Luke

 

[MarkW]

Re: Roof Corrosion - Latest Updates
Post by Martin » 18 minutes ago

So far we have 11 vans registered 2014 on the survey with main roof corrosion !



Hi Martin,

Is there a date in 2014 the below mentioned fix was applied? (build week)

Are the 2014 California's affected after this fix was implemented?

* The metallurgy of the roof panel has now been changed (it was causing poor paint adhesion) and this only went into effect in production early 2014

 

[Martin]

From the information we are getting, the front roof panel is all fixed so anything coming off the production line now 'should' not have any issues with the panel above the windscreen.

However .... VW are still saying nothing is wrong with the main roof so I can only assume the main elevating roof corrsion is not fixed !

Until they can calrify this officially I imagine it is going have a major impact in Cali sales

 

[777111]

Hello all,

Greetings from Holland! good to see such a good forum about the best campervan ever!
Otherwise being stoked about my Cali, I was a bit disappointed to read about this corrosion problem. It's really unbelievable that so many Cali's are effected by this "disease" !

After reading this forum I finally checked my 2012 Cali 4motion 179BHP manual for corrosion.
I found my front panel and pop-up roof both effected. Claim is being processed by vwcampers.nl in Amersfoort, Netherlands.

They said there are about 30,000 cali's with this problem to be solved!

Here Cali's are being called in by year of built, now processing years 09 and 10.
When it's my turn? i dunno...

Hopefully all claims will be solved effectively for everyone soon!

All the best and happy camping!

Luke

30,000 ?! Oooh dear!!

Interesting that VW NL have embraced the problem and yet here in the UK VW seem oblivious despite this thread and rather more than a "handful" of faults lodged.
I cant imagine that VW UK have any option other than follow suit.

 

[777111]

And rather belatedly I managed to ease back the rubber seal on my main roof panel (thought it may have been glued but hot sunlight helped) and guess what? Yep, only small bubbles so far but the same problem as everyone else. No surprise there.
Mine is a September 2013 build date and the front panel so far is clean with no sign of corrosion but it did have the modification (gasket etc) installed at build.

 

[T5WOB]

so at last its in the vwt mag .https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=317842845040473&set=p.317842845040473&type=1&theater