California beach roof corrosion

[chris spencer]

I know this has already been covered. However I have recently purchased a california beach. After reading this forum and seeing the thread reference this corrosion I decided to look at mine. There is indeed corrosion to the roof and to the front panel over the screen. I also noticed that someone in there wisdom decided to repaint the front panel to cover up the corrosion. I have since been into VW to see if this would still be covered under the warranty. They have submitted the application and have taken photos. They seem to think that the warranty would be voided due to the previous repair not being carried out by VW. I have explained that this was done just to tidy the appearance up and that the reason for the corrosion was down to the metal reaction and nothing else. They have also noticed a slight crease in the roof where somebody has trapped the canvas and continued to pull down.They think the corrosion to the roof itself probably wont be covered due to this although the corrosion is all the way around the roof and not just in this place. They have also picked up that there is some grey sealant around the fitting of the roof that has been added. Does anyone know of why this would of been done. Do they have a problem with leaking at all? I now have to wait 10 days for an answer.

 

[ArunAlec]

I know this has already been covered. However I have recently purchased a california beach. After reading this forum and seeing the thread reference this corrosion I decided to look at mine. There is indeed corrosion to the roof and to the front panel over the screen. I also noticed that someone in there wisdom decided to repaint the front panel to cover up the corrosion. I have since been into VW to see if this would still be covered under the warranty. They have submitted the application and have taken photos. They seem to think that the warranty would be voided due to the previous repair not being carried out by VW. I have explained that this was done just to tidy the appearance up and that the reason for the corrosion was down to the metal reaction and nothing else. They have also noticed a slight crease in the roof where somebody has trapped the canvas and continued to pull down.They think the corrosion to the roof itself probably wont be covered due to this although the corrosion is all the way around the roof and not just in this place. They have also picked up that there is some grey sealant around the fitting of the roof that has been added. Does anyone know of why this would of been done. Do they have a problem with leaking at all? I now have to wait 10 days for an answer.

My SE has grey sealant around parts of the roof and as far as I'm aware this normal, although it looks a bit DIY!

 

[snowy55]

They have also picked up that there is some grey sealant around the fitting of the roof that has been added.

Photos of this would be useful to see if anyone else has it.

Where did you buy the Beach from?

 

[chris spencer]

My SE has grey sealant around parts of the roof and as far as I'm aware this normal, although it looks a bit DIY!

Thanks ArunAlec. Thats reasuring. I will try and get some photos over the weekend and add them

 

[Hotel California]

If the DIY sealant looks like this on a SE/Ocean it is "factory fitted"
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/sealant-in-roof-channels.10598/#post-99316
But since the OP is talking about a Beach ....this is irrelevant and somebody should check out theire Beach and take a pic.

As for paint jobs guess if some non-VW has been doing resprays on the front roof spoiler ....down the drain goes the warrenty
If the roof is still untouched i'd try and claim it!

 

[2into1]

As for paint jobs guess if some non-VW has been doing resprays on the front roof spoiler

I'm not sure about that. It would usually be the case, for as VW were for a while refusing liability, it's not fair to penalise owners who were forced (for eg resale) to try and fix it themselves. There is no doubt they were trying to improve a known (and now acknowledged) problem, not just painting it for fun!

 

[Hotel California]

I'm not saying painting for fun , if a 2012 is already resprayed on some parts not as result of a accident but to cover up corrosion .....the owner should have claimed warrenty in the first place .....
Just my 50 cent .

 

[chris spencer]

That's a good point. Do we know when they decided to increase the warranty to 6 years. Maybe this was done out of the 3 year and prior to VW announcing 6 year warranty for the roof

 

[Hotel California]

What i would do in your situ is , first get some info on the previous owner on the things done and then contact VW .
Better still if you can deal with the faults , witch you obviously did not notice when you bought the Cali , just leave it and have it resprayed when you come to it at a later time....
If you read the 300+ page topic on the roof problem VW is not gonna come towards you i'm guessing ...

 

[snowy55]

That's a good point. Do we know when they decided to increase the warranty to 6 years. Maybe this was done out of the 3 year and prior to VW announcing 6 year warranty for the roof

Vw have never really announced this, it is all very low key so as few people as possible will claim.
They've also lost all the claims so now everyone has to go back onto some imaginary list and wait another 3-4years for repair.
Have you asked your dealer to see if your reg number is already in the system for its roof repair?

 

[chris spencer]

Yes they have checked the reg and stated nothing had been noted. I do find it hard to believe that the previous owner would not of tried to claim on warranty so maybe they did? I have their name and address on the log book. I might write a letter and ask for some more history.

 

[larrylamb]

I'm not saying painting for fun , if a 2012 is already resprayed on some parts not as result of a accident but to cover up corrosion .....the owner should have claimed warrenty in the first place .....
Just my 50 cent .

But not every Cali owner is on this forum or knows that the problem is common and available for repair via VW. Perhaps they just paid to have it repaired themselves, doesn't mean they should be penalised now we know it is a recognised problem.

 

[jts46]

My front panel was resprayed by a VW dealer in 2009, and has since started to corrode again. Corrode is not the correct word, "galvanic reaction"

 

[Meoncoast]

Our 2012 se did not show any issue on the front panel until over 18 months old although the forum was reporting issues around 2011 / 2012 because of this we were aware too look out for it from around day one.
So it is odd the previous owner covered up the issues which was known when your Beach was new, If a owner was not aware of this issue surley you would google it or go back to VW. Did you buy form a dealer or private, if a dealer have they covered it up.
Sorry you are starting your ownership with this issue., bit of a downer