DAB

[Euge]

I've had some feedback over this issue. After speaking to VW customer care they are laying the blame squarely with the dealership. Apparently VW sent an email to all dealerships warning them that some vehicle's were made without DAB, they even listed the chassis numbers. They say that this email was sent prior to the vans arriving at the dealership so it's the dealers fault for not acting on it. Whether that's true or not i don't know.
Interestingly though, when i mentioned this to the dealership they very quickly found me somewhere that apparently can do a full retro fit. The company are called Hazzydayz and having looked them up they are a specialist auto electrical fitter, with plenty of good reviews.
They've told me that they can indeed fit DAB to the van but it will also mean replacing the composition media equipment, otherwise the DAB unit won't "pair" up with the existing media system. It's all to do with coding apparently. This is only possible on T6's with discover media at present but the guy at Hazzydayz did say that they are expecting VW to release some sort of code within the next few months to make it possible to add DAB to existing media units. Why they haven't already done so is anyones guess.
To be honest a lot of what he said went well over my head but he seems confident it's a simple job and one they've already completed for other owners.
If what he says is correct it's truly bizarre that VW can't offer this service in house.
I'll keep you updated on how it all goes.

 

[2into1]

^ That still has the hallmarks of a fudge. I'd be wanting a composition head unit with dab. No plug ins, no interfaces, no after market units. I'd insist on having the correct aerial in the door mirror (not a stick on). Then I'd want some compensation (free service or similar) for the agro / inconvenience

 

[reserves]

I've had some feedback over this issue. After speaking to VW customer care they are laying the blame squarely with the dealership. Apparently VW sent an email to all dealerships warning them that some vehicle's were made without DAB, they even listed the chassis numbers. They say that this email was sent prior to the vans arriving at the dealership so it's the dealers fault for not acting on it. Whether that's true or not i don't know.
Interestingly though, when i mentioned this to the dealership they very quickly found me somewhere that apparently can do a full retro fit. The company are called Hazzydayz and having looked them up they are a specialist auto electrical fitter, with plenty of good reviews.
They've told me that they can indeed fit DAB to the van but it will also mean replacing the composition media equipment, otherwise the DAB unit won't "pair" up with the existing media system. It's all to do with coding apparently. This is only possible on T6's with discover media at present but the guy at Hazzydayz did say that they are expecting VW to release some sort of code within the next few months to make it possible to add DAB to existing media units. Why they haven't already done so is anyones guess.
To be honest a lot of what he said went well over my head but he seems confident it's a simple job and one they've already completed for other owners.
If what he says is correct it's truly bizarre that VW can't offer this service in house.
I'll keep you updated on how it all goes.

Hazzydayz can be trusted, they have been around a long time and they know their stuff, you're in good hands.

 

[OGII]

I've had some feedback over this issue. After speaking to VW customer care they are laying the blame squarely with the dealership. Apparently VW sent an email to all dealerships warning them that some vehicle's were made without DAB, they even listed the chassis numbers. They say that this email was sent prior to the vans arriving at the dealership so it's the dealers fault for not acting on it. Whether that's true or not i don't know..

So the factory fouls up; sends stock and a list to the dealers and, as far as I can tell, not a single dealer says " Oh by the way I need to tell you your van was misbuilt and hasn't got the DAB you read about in the brochures"

Seems strange they all forgot to pass that snippet on. Even stranger that VW have replaced some vans completely with factory fresh ones.

My money is on someone in VWCS entering the internal fiction writing competition to see who can come up with the latest tall tale.

In the real world poor customer service usually comes back to bite a company but in VW's case they seem to be able to rewrite the rules. Rottingroofgate (A Californian special), Dieselgate I (Coming of the Cheat Device), Dieselgate II (Real world emissions), Digital Silence (The mysterious case of the missing DAB). What others have I missed?

 

[Steve39]

Euge, when did you pick up your van? I got mine in early Sept and the dealer definitely didn't know about it when I picked up.

I've no experience with the company you've been referred to but sounds like they're OK. Pretty sure the company I spoke to said they could fit using all VW parts (Absolut5). I don't have the sat Nov head unit though.

I agree it still sound like a bit of a fudge. I assume if it was the dealer at fault they will be paying for the retrofit?

 

[Euge]

Euge, when did you pick up your van? I got mine in early Sept and the dealer definitely didn't know about it when I picked up.

I've no experience with the company you've been referred to but sounds like they're OK. Pretty sure the company I spoke to said they could fit using all VW parts (Absolut5). I don't have the sat Nov head unit though.

I agree it still sound like a bit of a fudge. I assume if it was the dealer at fault they will be paying for the retrofit?

Picked my van up in September too Steve.
In terms of it being a fudge, if they are offering to replace the entire discover media system with a new one that includes DAB, I can’t see what more they could do but my technical knowledge is limited on all this. From what I can gather I’ll end up with DAB as it would have been from factory, or am I missing something ?
One plus is there’s a substantial scratch on my existing media screen caused a couple of months ago they will be replacing that.

It still doesn’t excuse what’s happened up to now though. If what VW are saying is true about emailing dealerships then it’s nothing shorty of scandalous that dealerships didn’t act on it.

 

[Euge]

Hazzydayz can be trusted, they have been around a long time and they know their stuff, you're in good hands.

Thanks reserves, that’s good to hear.

 

[Euge]

^ That still has the hallmarks of a fudge. I'd be wanting a composition head unit with dab. No plug ins, no interfaces, no after market units. I'd insist on having the correct aerial in the door mirror (not a stick on). Then I'd want some compensation (free service or similar) for the agro / inconvenience

I think what you’d want is pretty much what they are offering me. The aerial is going in the wing mirror and they are replacing the entire media system with one that has DAB. In terms of the actual fit, can they do any more ?

As for compo etc, I’ve wasted enough negative energy on it so far. Not so long ago I would have jumped at the chance to lock horns with them about compo etc but I think being a Cali owner for 7 months has helped me chill out a fair bit.

 

[Steve39]

Picked my van up in September too Steve.
In terms of it being a fudge, if they are offering to replace the entire discover media system with a new one that includes DAB, I can’t see what more they could do but my technical knowledge is limited on all this. From what I can gather I’ll end up with DAB as it would have been from factory, or am I missing something ?
One plus is there’s a substantial scratch on my existing media screen caused a couple of months ago they will be replacing that.

It still doesn’t excuse what’s happened up to now though. If what VW are saying is true about emailing dealerships then it’s nothing shorty of scandalous that dealerships didn’t act on it.

Sorry, assumed they'd have to replace the head unit with a non VW, so Kenwood, Pioneer or similar. Even if that was the case not a bad outcome of you end up with something better.

All that matters is that you're happy with the outcome. Glad you're on the way to getting it sorted and feeling chilled out

 

[Euge]

Sorry, assumed they'd have to replace the head unit with a non VW, so Kenwood, Pioneer or similar. Even if that was the case not a bad outcome of you end up with something better.

All that matters is that you're happy with the outcome. Glad you're on the way to getting it sorted and feeling chilled out

Thanks Steve, im happy with the proposal so hopefully it’s a fairly smooth process then back to focusing on all those trips away I’ve got planned.

 

[Euge]

Just a quick update for on the DAB issue.
Hazzydayz changed the media unit for a new unit (VW) and fitted an aerial in the wing mirror. Everything seems to be working now so there clearly is an option out there to rectify this problem and leave the van how it should have been in the first place.
The fitter came to my house too so very little inconvenience. I asked him what the usual cost would be and it was in the region of £1800 but if they can part ex the old unit that reduces it to about £1200.
Obviously the dealer paid for it though !
I posted 6 moths ago or so that i'd scratched my media screen quite badly and several helpful people suggested things to try to repair it. None worked and i accepted i'd just have to learn to live with the scratch, and to be honest i did. However, the whole DAB episode has taken care of that and i have to say, i love my new scratchless screen

For anyone else with the same issue, your dealer can no longer squirm their way out of this one !

 

[WelshGas]

A good result. Thank you for letting us know the outcome.

Might be worth looking for a Screen Protector now. Probably Amazon.

 

[Euge]

I would add that it was SMG Tonbridge who organised all this and whilst you could argue that they shouldn’t have let the van leave their forecourt in the first place without the equipment it should have had, they’ve sorted this out far more

A good result. Thank you for letting us know the outcome.

Might be worth looking for a Screen Protector now. Probably Amazon.

On my to do list

 

[dale6]

Hi,
I just wanted to give an update as my missing DAB has been resolved.
After going to VW direct instead of the dealer I thought I would finally get somewhere with the issue as Vw recognise that fact that it’s a factory mistake and not the dealers.
The service was awful from VW as the first comment was that it’s classed as S/H as it had 6 miles on the clock and sold as seen even though I noticed the issue on the drive home. Then they offered a fix of a black box on top of the dash with a separate tuner. (Perfect look for a comfort dash) and finally was told that’s as much as they can offer.
After going back to the dealer I finally dealt with someone that actually knew what was needed and kept myself up to date with it all.
You might be told you cannot fit a new unit as they are coded for each vehicle or you will need a separate arial on the roof or screen, well after having mine fixed they proved you could re code an original Vw unit and install the dab arial inside the mirror.


From my experience it felt like VW was only prepared to do as little as possible at the lowest cost but it was in fact the dealer that was more helpful in the end.
I hope this helps.

Thanks

 

[T6 CFO]

Hi,
I just wanted to give an update as my missing DAB has been resolved.
After going to VW direct instead of the dealer I thought I would finally get somewhere with the issue as Vw recognise that fact that it’s a factory mistake and not the dealers.
The service was awful from VW as the first comment was that it’s classed as S/H as it had 6 miles on the clock and sold as seen even though I noticed the issue on the drive home. Then they offered a fix of a black box on top of the dash with a separate tuner. (Perfect look for a comfort dash) and finally was told that’s as much as they can offer.
After going back to the dealer I finally dealt with someone that actually knew what was needed and kept myself up to date with it all.
You might be told you cannot fit a new unit as they are coded for each vehicle or you will need a separate arial on the roof or screen, well after having mine fixed they proved you could re code an original Vw unit and install the dab arial inside the mirror.


From my experience it felt like VW was only prepared to do as little as possible at the lowest cost but it was in fact the dealer that was more helpful in the end.
I hope this helps.

Thanks

Thanks for the update. Certainly my experience when I had a build error. It was the dealer who sorted it.


Mike