Is this bonnet open?

[Perfectos]

They probably won’t want to share, but they will know you know.

you know

they should pay for their mistake and repair your vehicle fully, if they do not, ask them for their insures details and make a claim On their public liability insurance.
no insurer will argue with that, they will think they are lucky not to be dealing with a serious RTA, multiple vehicle or a death !

 

[Calilot]

Since receiving his email this morning, it seems that getting estimates is not going to be as straight forward as I had thought. He doesn’t want me to go to the main repair garage here as they “aren’t the best”. I then asked him where he would prefer me to take it but he replied that he wants me to leave the van with him so that he can get the estimates. I’ve told him I want to take the vehicle myself, and asked again where to take it and not heard from him since. I’d like to know who might be repairing it, and to be sure that is going to be done properly in case there is any damage other than the bonnet which isn’t immediately visible. So bit of a stalemate now. I don’t this is going to be resolved very quickly.

 

[Calilot]

They probably won’t want to share, but they will know you know.

you know

they should pay for their mistake and repair your vehicle fully, if they do not, ask them for their insures details and make a claim On their public liability insurance.
no insurer will argue with that, they will think they are lucky not to be dealing with a serious RTA, multiple vehicle or a death !

That would be ideal. I’ve contacted Citizens Advice, I have to give them a chance to put it right to our reasonable satisfaction before taking further action. I’ve been advised to write a formal letter of complaint but I will wait and see what happens next.

 

[Perfectos]

Do not let them repair it, or choose where it is repaired., you choose where,
insist on them providing their insurance details,
do it via email and ask for a response by return email.
if they fail to provide insurance details immediately, suggest you will contact the Ministry of transport to lodge a complaint directly relating to negligence of the MOT tester.
if insurance details are not forthcoming, contact your insurer to start the claims process, they will do the rest.

 

[The Blue Merle]

That would be ideal. I’ve contacted Citizens Advice, I have to give them a chance to put it right to our reasonable satisfaction before taking further action. I’ve been advised to write a formal letter of complaint but I will wait and see what happens next.

I think you do need to give them the chance to get it fixed. When my van was scratched I had to let them sort it, luckily it was a main vw dealer but still went off to there independent paint/body shop. I would get it checked and logged by your garage and then let them sort (this will give you a record of damage)
Failing that then maybe try agree a cash settlement.
I guess it comes down to how long you want to battle this out for and all legal hassle.

 

[Calilot]

Thank you Perfectos and 4x4 Joker. I have no intention of letting them fix it and will not even contemplate leaving the van with them again. I will however let them suggest an alternative garage and will then research them thoroughly. In the meantime I will get an estimate independently from a garage of my choice to check what needs to be done and to compare.

 

[Corradobrit]

Had a horrible experience with my VW Corrado after having it towed to a main dealer in 2003 (1st mistake) following a heater core failure (recall issue). They had the car for 8 months trying to track an electrical issue that they caused. At the end of the 8 months (luckily I got a courtesy car) I got a call that the car had received a deep scratch. Told me their bodyshop would take care of the issue (2nd mistake). Long story short it had to go back to the bodyshop 3 times to get the black paint finished to my satisfaction, they broke the window actuator mechanism (refusing to accept liability) and I was threatened by the service manager of the VW dealership that they would call the cops if I didn't remove the car from their property. Turned me off VW until now as Audi don't make a camper van.

You really want to find your own bodyshop and get the MOT center to agree to pay their estimate. You may have to get a couple of quotes and let them choose. If they refuse you may be better off getting the work done and recoup the costs in small claims court. Its clear the evidence is on your side that they were negligent.

 

[Calilot]

Had a horrible experience with my VW Corrado after having it towed to a main dealer in 2003 (1st mistake) following a heater core failure (recall issue). They had the car for 8 months trying to track an electrical issue that they caused. At the end of the 8 months (luckily I got a courtesy car) I got a call that the car had received a deep scratch. Told me their bodyshop would take care of the issue (2nd mistake). Long story short it had to go back to the bodyshop 3 times to get the black paint finished to my satisfaction, they broke the window actuator mechanism (refusing to accept liability) and I was threatened by the service manager of the VW dealership that they would call the cops if I didn't remove the car from their property. Turned me off VW until now as Audi don't make a camper van.

You really want to find your own bodyshop and get the MOT center to agree to pay their estimate. You may have to get a couple of quotes and let them choose. If they refuse you may be better off getting the work done and recoup the costs in small claims court. Its clear the evidence is on your side that they were negligent.

Goodness, what a saga. Do you still have your Corrado?
I would prefer to find my own bodyshop. I still haven’t heard who he would like to get an estimate from so I will go ahead and get two estimates in the meantime and email them to him.

 

[Vagophile]

My own experience today. I have had the bonnet open to check starter battery voltage. I inadvertently drove away with the bonnet on the safety latch. There was no "bong" or visible indication on the dash to warn me. I drove seven miles at up to 75 mph before I realised and stopped to close the bonnet.
The bonnet appeared quite stable when I was driving and I wouldn't have known from the driver's seat that it was on the safety latch.
Phew!

 

[AlanC]

My own experience today. I have had the bonnet open to check starter battery voltage. I inadvertently drove away with the bonnet on the safety latch. There was no "bong" or visible indication on the dash to warn me. I drove seven miles at up to 75 mph before I realised and stopped to close the bonnet.
The bonnet appeared quite stable when I was driving and I wouldn't have known from the driver's seat that it was on the safety latch.
Phew!

The T5.1 bonnet open display on our Cali (2010 SE 180) is in the centre of the instrument panel and is a white image of the van with the bonnet area blocked out in solid white when it is open. A similar display appears if a door open or the tailgate is not closed fully.
This display will differ between model years.

It will only go out once the problem is resolved, so should remain visible while the van is being driven.

If you don't see this display, then I suspect it may have been disabled in the Body Control Module (BCM) for some reason, assuming that is possible. It is also possible the push switch under the bonnet has become jammed in so the BCM doesn't know the bonnet is not closed fully.

Hope that helps.

Alan

 

[Calilot]

My own experience today. I have had the bonnet open to check starter battery voltage. I inadvertently drove away with the bonnet on the safety latch. There was no "bong" or visible indication on the dash to warn me. I drove seven miles at up to 75 mph before I realised and stopped to close the bonnet.
The bonnet appeared quite stable when I was driving and I wouldn't have known from the driver's seat that it was on the safety latch.
Phew!

Thank goodness the safety latch held it! I suspect then in my case that the safety latch hadn’t engaged properly. We have since tried ours on safety latch and tried to wobble/lift it to see if it would release and it seems secure (though it’s obviously not same as driving at any speed).
Very interesting that there were no bongs or display with yours.

 

[Vagophile]

There was no "bong" or visible indication on the dash to warn me.

I have been investigating.
Firstly I released the bonnet to the safety catch. The van outline shows O.K. but no white bonnet in the outline.
Secondly, I looked at the bonnet catch (see photo), gently tugged at the two wires that seem to lead to a sensor and gave the whole area a few drops of WD40. I'm not sure what I have done, but, result! - white bonnet showing.
Today is the first day that I have used the van seriously for nine months; maybe a case of sleepy van syndrome?