Dealer Issues

[calimera]

On page 11

 

[Cloud9]

On page 11

Thank you got it! Will forward to customer service and dealer.
It's back in with the dealer now!

 

[AlanC]

Don't assume all commercial VW owners drive around in dirty vans !! Some of the best looking vans are commercial & we don't stand for poor service ! £42K sportlines are not just dirty old vans, not too mention some of the specced up high line vans/ kombis you see at the dealerships.

That is a good point Paul. Assuming the owners of Sportlines and Kombis have the same or similar issues as the owners of Calis, perhaps we all need to join forces to bludgeon VW into improving their service.

Alan

 

[GrannyJen]

That is a good point Paul. Assuming the owners of Sportlines and Kombis have the same or similar issues as the owners of Calis, perhaps we all need to join forces to bludgeon VW into improving their service.

Alan

Sadly they do not have problems with habitation equipment, roofs rotting, gas supply, CCU's failing etc.

The California is in a market that a VW Franchised dealer must hate. Most complicated vehicle, most demanding customer, yet lowest volume sales.

Is it any wonder that most are disinterested from the outset when a customer comes along and says "here's £65K, sell me a Cali"?

 

[rippers]

When buying a new Cali after getting fed up with the inept dealers, searched this forum to death and worked what I wanted then got it priced up on Drive The Deal. Contacted SMG asked them to match it and jobs a goodun.

You'd be surprised how many dealers that quoted.. sorry VW don't discount California's.. pure laziness of the salesmen

 

[calimera]

Thank you got it! Will forward to customer service and dealer.
It's back in with the dealer now!

Has your van been sorted ?

 

[Cloud9]

Has your van been sorted ?

No! Still with the dealer. They now agree heater was never working when they sold it to me and don't know what is wrong either. VW customer care are terrible. They have been really unhelpful and I have lost money on campsite I booked this weekend and now in a hotel :-(
I hope it will be fixed next week but I don't want it back until it's working . Three trips to the dealer before you are believed is unacceptable :-( thanks for asking .

 

[GrannyJen]

I think you should post a message here:

https://www.facebook.com/VolkswagenCommercialVehiclesUK?fref=ts

Basic facts, new, cost of vehicle, three times before action taken, incompetent dealership, now off road, interruption to plans

 

[Cloud9]

Good idea I will.
I have van with different dealer to one who sold it to me and they have been very helpful . I guess my beef is with the shower who sold me a van that wasn't working , have lied about supply of remote control with van and really don't seem to care. :-(
I will not be advising any one to use them.
Anyway hopefully we will be reunited soon and have that bottle of bubbly !!

 

[GrannyJen]

If you post a comment on their front page then other members, equally fed up with the rubbish that VW call "dealers", can also comment.

Their facebook page get's a lot of hits. If it is dominated by hard, facual evidence of incompetence rather than nice cheesy comments about how good VW are then someone will notice.

 

[Borris]

If you post a comment on their front page then other members, equally fed up with the rubbish that VW call "dealers", can also comment.

Their facebook page get's a lot of hits. If it is dominated by hard, facual evidence of incompetence rather than nice cheesy comments about how good VW are then someone will notice.

Oh dear,
I know that forums tend to heavily feature the problems that people have experienced with their new product and that the comments of the many who have experienced none are often absent, but this post, has for me, been the most worrying so far on this forum.
I recently agreed to purchase a 180SE dsg 4motion demonstrator and because VW keep them for three months, I wont be picking it up until the end of September.
Having read the above mentioned comments I have decided to keep a comprehensive log from day one. The main purpose of this log will be to accurately detail any faults/issues as they occur, regardless of how small they are, with the date and mileage that they occurred. Further entries to document the remedial action taken to fix the problem and by whom.
Now this will not do anything to affect the level of service I receive but it will provide a good reference tool for when/if i need to complain. With the state of my memory these days, this is my way of providing the necessary ammunition, should I experience major dissatisfaction.
I will also include details of servicing, mishaps, and adventures as well, all in chronological order. Faults and remedies in red ink, everything else in black ink.
Oops, sorry if this sounds very anoraky and not really in keeping with the spirit of freedom that goes with the California but given the uncertainty regarding reliability of this new and eye wateringly expensive purchase, it's just my way of preparing myself for any possible trouble ahead. Hopefully my red pen will remain unused. It is also sad that I even have to consider keeping such a log.
Do you all do this?

 

[GrannyJen]

Oh dear,
I know that forums tend to heavily feature the problems that people have experienced with their new product and that the comments of the many who have experienced none are often absent, but this post, has for me, been the most worrying so far on this forum.
I recently agreed to purchase a 180SE dsg 4motion demonstrator and because VW keep them for three months, I wont be picking it up until the end of September.
Having read the above mentioned comments I have decided to keep a comprehensive log from day one. The main purpose of this log will be to accurately detail any faults/issues as they occur, regardless of how small they are, with the date and mileage that they occurred. Further entries to document the remedial action taken to fix the problem and by whom.
Now this will not do anything to effect the level of service I receive but it will provide a good reference tool for when/if i need to complain. With the state of my memory these days, this is my way of providing the necessary ammunition, should I experience major dissatisfaction.
I will also include details of servicing, mishaps, and adventures as well, all in chronological order. Faults and remedies in red ink, everything else in black ink.
Oops, sorry if this sounds very anoraky and not really in keeping with the spirit of freedom that goes with the California but given the uncertainty regarding reliability of this new and eye wateringly expensive purchase, its just my way of preparing myself for any possible trouble ahead. Hopefully my red pen will remain unused. It is also sad that I even have to consider keeping such a log.
Do you all do this?

Borris

Do not be over-alarmed.

It is highly likely that you will not need to worry about a dealer for the first 20,000 miles at which point it has to go into a service for an inspection which even the most incompetent could probably do competently.

It is highly likely you will not have any problems, mine was only minor and more of an irritant than a fault at the beginning, and apart from that my vehicle has been faultless.

Even if the worst happens then you still stand a good chance of happening upon a half - decent dealer.

The main thing is when you pick your vehicle up take along the check list for this forum and tick every box.

 

[Borris]

Borris

Do not be over-alarmed.

It is highly likely that you will not need to worry about a dealer for the first 20,000 miles at which point it has to go into a service for an inspection which even the most incompetent could probably do competently.

It is highly likely you will not have any problems, mine was only minor and more of an irritant than a fault at the beginning, and apart from that my vehicle has been faultless.

Even if the worst happens then you still stand a good chance of happening upon a half - decent dealer.

The main thing is when you pick your vehicle up take along the check list for this forum and tick every box.

Hi GrannyJen,
Thanks for your advice. I will print off and take along the check list and will also ask to witness the gas and heater etc working. We are buying our Cali from SMG at Tonbridge so have so far only dealt with Laine Watts in sales. I cannot speak highly enough of him. Unlike the several other sales persons at other commercial dealerships that I visited who didn't appear to know as much as i did, ( which at that time wasn't much), he really knows everything there is to know about the Cali. I think he actually owns one. He took time to explain every aspect and was instrumental in persuading us to stop faffing around and buy one. As for the service side, well only time will tell. From what I have read of your's and others' experiences it would seem that SMG are amongst the best for servicing, so fingers crossed.

 

[GrannyJen]

Hi GrannyJen,
Thanks for your advice. I will print off and take along the check list and will also ask to witness the gas and heater etc working. We are buying our Cali from SMG at Tonbridge so have so far only dealt with Laine Watts in sales. I cannot speak highly enough of him. Unlike the several other sales persons at other commercial dealerships that I visited who didn't appear to know as much as i did, ( which at that time wasn't much), he really knows everything there is to know about the Cali. I think he actually owns one. He took time to explain every aspect and was instrumental in persuading us to stop faffing around and buy one. As for the service side, well only time will tell. From what I have read of your's and others' experiences it would seem that SMG are amongst the best for servicing, so fingers crossed.

Borris,

You will be ok with SMG from both a sales and a service side.

I had an unfortunate experience that I am now putting behind me, I doubt if any other dealer could have done better, and, at the end of the day the California is a superb vehicle, both in terms of the Transporter base and the habitation module,

I've just had another Whizz down the coast, scraped under a height barrier in Lowestoft, drove across loose sand in Felixstowe, parked in an awesomely boggy field on West Mersea, chuntered down a ridiculously narrow lane in Brightlingsea, nearly knocked over an ice cream stall in Shoeburyness, clocked up 700 miles in 5 days and had 4 very comfortable sleepy cosy nights in. A Brilliant, versatile, flexible and tough vehicle that does everything asked of it, and I am a very demanding owner to dear Albert .... "perform or I'll trade you in for a transit!"

 

[Borris]

Borris,

You will be ok with SMG from both a sales and a service side.

I had an unfortunate experience that I am now putting behind me, I doubt if any other dealer could have done better, and, at the end of the day the California is a superb vehicle, both in terms of the Transporter base and the habitation module,

I've just had another Whizz down the coast, scraped under a height barrier in Lowestoft, drove across loose sand in Felixstowe, parked in an awesomely boggy field on West Mersea, chuntered down a ridiculously narrow lane in Brightlingsea, nearly knocked over an ice cream stall in Shoeburyness, clocked up 700 miles in 5 days and had 4 very comfortable sleepy cosy nights in. A Brilliant, versatile, flexible and tough vehicle that does everything asked of it, and I am a very demanding owner to dear Albert .... "perform or I'll trade you in for a transit!"

Thanks GrannyJen for the re-assurance and encouragement,
Gosh, you do live an exciting life. If anyone should know about how versatile and robust a Cali is, its you. You should write a book about your experiences, perhaps entitled, Calivanting about. You have obviously amassed a lot of experience of life with a Cali on the continent and the UK. What with the gun fight in France etc i am sure it wouldn't only be me who would like to read it.
We are both looking forward to collecting and using our Cali but will be steering well clear of anyone waving guns about!

On a different note, my wife and I have just returned home after watching the sun go down from the North Downs in Kent. On our way back we had a look at the new Aire de Canterbury that you mentioned in a recent post. We live just outside of Canterbury and didn't know it existed. What a good facility but what a shame. It is so close to home we will never use it. Do other UK towns have these campervan/motorhome friendly facilities?

 

[calimera]

No! Still with the dealer. They now agree heater was never working when they sold it to me and don't know what is wrong either. VW customer care are terrible. They have been really unhelpful and I have lost money on campsite I booked this weekend and now in a hotel :-(
I hope it will be fixed next week but I don't want it back until it's working . Three trips to the dealer before you are believed is unacceptable :-( thanks for asking .

Enjoy your weekend despite VW UK . Hope things are resolved soon.

 

[Max-Felix]

Agreed about Laine (and Paul also at Tonbridge), very helpful and patient and communicated like Gentleman rather than stereotypical car salesmen. Laine was very honest about the good and bad points of the Cali and we chatted about the forum and awful reputation the Cali issues. He was keen to stress that the conversion/camper part is 'fragile' and we went over why/how damage occurs to things like the blinds, can roof tambour, sliding window, door catches etc.

I wanted to compare a DSG and manual and Paul took me out in a DSG Beach and then gave me the keys to another manual van and told me to take it out and drive as long as I wanted. Top men. Shame VW however, seem to be going through the same QC/penny pinching/corrosion/take our customers for granted that Mercedes did a few years back before seeing the error of their ways.

 

[Cloud9]

Hel

If you post a comment on their front page then other members, equally fed up with the rubbish that VW call "dealers", can also comment.

Their facebook page get's a lot of hits. If it is dominated by hard, facual evidence of incompetence rather than nice cheesy comments about how good VW are then someone will notice.

hello
Good news picked van back up yesterday
Heater working at last - the whole thing needed replacing!!
Gas working too now so a fully functional van
Just made first cup of tea in a sweltering hot van!! remote being delivered in the near future for heater. Mind you vw say that remote is not standard and that there are '37' mistakes in the brochure and that it's not standard, but they will order me one and post it....
Any how's feeling happy now good times ahead. Thank you everyone xxx

 

[calimera]

Hel

hello
Good news picked van back up yesterday
Heater working at last - the whole thing needed replacing!!
Gas working too now so a fully functional van
Just made first cup of tea in a sweltering hot van!! remote being delivered in the near future for heater. Mind you vw say that remote is not standard and that there are '37' mistakes in the brochure and that it's not standard, but they will order me one and post it....
Any how's feeling happy now good times ahead. Thank you everyone xxx

So pleased for you. Now the adventure begins.

 

[Cloud9]

So pleased for you. Now the adventure begins.

Excited

 

[calimera]

You will be a seasoned Cali owner by the time our T6 arrives ........

 

[Freeley]

Hel

hello
Good news picked van back up yesterday
Heater working at last - the whole thing needed replacing!!
Gas working too now so a fully functional van
Just made first cup of tea in a sweltering hot van!! remote being delivered in the near future for heater. Mind you vw say that remote is not standard and that there are '37' mistakes in the brochure and that it's not standard, but they will order me one and post it....
Any how's feeling happy now good times ahead. Thank you everyone xxx

Let the good times roll!
Re the remote control, apart from playing with it a couple of times when we first got it we've never used it in anger in 6 years so not what I'd call an essential bit of kit.

Sent from my Galaxy S6

 

[Tactical]

Mind you vw say that remote is not standard and that there are '37' mistakes in the brochure and that it's not standard, but they will order me one and post it....

The heater remote has to be coded to the van (or more likely the van's receiver coded to the remote). I'd ask them about this before they post it to you.

 

[GrannyJen]

Hel

hello
Good news picked van back up yesterday
Heater working at last - the whole thing needed replacing!!
Gas working too now so a fully functional van
Just made first cup of tea in a sweltering hot van!! remote being delivered in the near future for heater. Mind you vw say that remote is not standard and that there are '37' mistakes in the brochure and that it's not standard, but they will order me one and post it....
Any how's feeling happy now good times ahead. Thank you everyone xxx

I am so pleased that's sorted.

I had my heater on last night, it was quite chilly in Cheshire.

 

[GrannyJen]

On a different note, my wife and I have just returned home after watching the sun go down from the North Downs in Kent. On our way back we had a look at the new Aire de Canterbury that you mentioned in a recent post. We live just outside of Canterbury and didn't know it existed. What a good facility but what a shame. It is so close to home we will never use it. Do other UK towns have these campervan/motorhome friendly facilities?

Unlike France where there is one on every corner Aires are still a rarity in the UK.

f you plan a number of overnight halts you may want to think of investing in a publication called Britstops which lists about 600 places where you can overnight for free often in return for the host receiving a bit of business back, meal in a pub whilst overnighting in their car park etc.

Great if you are travelling to a far-away destination and want to break the journey up but without checking in and paying for a campsite.