Is it worth getting the brake light done.

[G-A-R-Y]

Visited the dealer parts today and asked service are there any recalls on my GC680 2023.

He said, step software and cleaning, it works fine and I removed brush bar and did this so no worries there.

Third brake light renew and seal. It's not leaking, should I wait until service time or does it cause damage?

 

[GCless]

I discovered very slight surface delamination inside the rear cupboards in my 2021 GC600 which I suspected was due to leaking brake light. It wasn’t easy to spot and nothing was visible on the outside rear of the cupboards.

By the time I got it booked in a month or so later for them to check, a significant quantity of water was leaking down the door pillar in to the front cup holders and had starting showing staining on the front upper bed base plywood.

When the dealer took the cupboard out to do the upgraded brake light sealing, the cupboard had more serious lamination that was hidden when fitted and would have got much worse had it been left. It is impossible to say what other hidden damage is still there in other areas so I’ll be keeping an eye out in case I need to get it fixed before warranty runs out.

On this basis, personally I wouldn't take the chance and would get it done asap.

 

[Mr T]

Visited the dealer parts today and asked service are there any recalls on my GC680 2023.

He said, step software and cleaning, it works fine and I removed brush bar and did this so no worries there.

Third brake light renew and seal. It's not leaking, should I wait until service time or does it cause damage?

You should get the step software updated. It’s not just a sticker to tell you to keep it clean.
The rear brake light will leak at some point I’m sure. Wide spread issue on all crafters.
My advice would be get it done.

 

[G-A-R-Y]

Can't do it until mid June, that's a long wait. Why such poor service.

 

[Alan Andrews]

Get the brake light sorted now. When it does go...and it will!...then it will probably fail MOT and you could get pulled up for defective brake light.

 

[NeillyG]

I got told there was no recall for brake light on mine when I asked a couple of weeks ago. I will check again when it’s in for check in May. Been waiting for a new step and sink for 9 months now. It’s also months for an appointment. Shame they closed the other VW van centre a few years back. Think only one for the SW of Scotland is not enough.

 

[Mr T]

Get the brake light sorted now. When it does go...and it will!...then it will probably fail MOT and you could get pulled up for defective brake light.

This is an issue with the high level brake light seal allowing water into the grand California. Not heard of the actual brake light fail as yet.

 

[leeb]

Ok...A bit late to this thread but clearly a very hot topic here and in Europe.
Apparently VW recognise this as a problem but have not issued a universal recall...in my opinion a very shabby way to treat customers who have mostly shelled out north of 70k on one of their vehicles. We had the rear high level light replaced with a non OEM tail light and video camera a couple of years ago. There has not been an obvious leak issue until this last month. I thought maybe a problem with the replacement part but on inspection of the removed OEM light and the replacement it is obvious that both rely on foam tape to effect a water seal. The same sort of foam tape you use to seal a draughty window. Wholly inadequate to make a water tight seal on a horizontal surface. In other words a completely useless design solution from VW.
Clearly ALL rear high brake lights "sealed" in this way will eventually leak.
So it appears that VW require their customers to notice catastrophic water leaks (delamination of cupboard material, water pouring out of bedside lights, water appearing through the A pillars or dash cup holders ets) before doing anything about it.
The anything (from German California owners groups) is the use of highly suitable Iso butyl tape to reseal the rear light. Since there is no official recall, and my vehicle is out of warranty it looks like this dry weekends job is in my diary!
I really think VW need to fess up regarding the early Grand Calis, get them all back in and sort out the numerous issues that they hadnt thought through carefully enough....sink tap, waterproofing of shower room, software on the control unit (still playing up on mine)...and so on.

 

[Mr T]

Ok...A bit late to this thread but clearly a very hot topic here and in Europe.
Apparently VW recognise this as a problem but have not issued a universal recall...in my opinion a very shabby way to treat customers who have mostly shelled out north of 70k on one of their vehicles. We had the rear high level light replaced with a non OEM tail light and video camera a couple of years ago. There has not been an obvious leak issue until this last month. I thought maybe a problem with the replacement part but on inspection of the removed OEM light and the replacement it is obvious that both rely on foam tape to effect a water seal. The same sort of foam tape you use to seal a draughty window. Wholly inadequate to make a water tight seal on a horizontal surface. In other words a completely useless design solution from VW.
Clearly ALL rear high brake lights "sealed" in this way will eventually leak.
So it appears that VW require their customers to notice catastrophic water leaks (delamination of cupboard material, water pouring out of bedside lights, water appearing through the A pillars or dash cup holders ets) before doing anything about it.
The anything (from German California owners groups) is the use of highly suitable Iso butyl tape to reseal the rear light. Since there is no official recall, and my vehicle is out of warranty it looks like this dry weekends job is in my diary!
I really think VW need to fess up regarding the early Grand Calis, get them all back in and sort out the numerous issues that they hadnt thought through carefully enough....sink tap, waterproofing of shower room, software on the control unit (still playing up on mine)...and so on.

I had the rear brake light seal corrected under warranty when my GC went in for its first service, I did not have a leaking issue it was done whilst in the workshop. No problem or debate, they just did it. So I did not have a catastrophic failure.

 

[leeb]

Lucky you...I dudnt

 

[GS O'brino]

I had the rear brake light seal corrected under warranty when my GC went in for its first service, I did not have a leaking issue it was done whilst in the workshop. No problem or debate, they just did it. So I did not have a catastrophic failure.

Hi MrT
Same with me, I left my GC at the garage for a service, and they replaced the seal without even consulting me.
I check the job and it looks well done in my case.

 

[Hammer]

this work is carried out by VW when your vehicle goes in without requesting so it is part of recall to some extent, issue Leeb may have is if the non OEM light was not done by VW no doubt they wouldn’t then cover this leak! This was done on my last visit along with step update and few other outstanding points but none of these were issues and were done by VW

 

[leeb]

I get these comments..VW will fix leak when the customer TAKES IT TO VW FOR A SERVICE. However if, as I do, I take my GC to a nice independent as it's out of warranty, there being no general recall it's up to me to discover what should be a recall.
Not really good enough