Now out of warranty

pingpal6 · Sep 13, 2013

To date my 2010 140 California has had a new battery charger and an airbag control unit fitted under warranty. The warranty ran out 9th of this month but prior to it running out I booked it in for a few other faults. Most have been rectified by the dealership but it is going back in for a new rear seat belt which is slow to return or jams and a new internal sliding roof and guides. The garage could not determine why the roof opens intermittently so they ordered all the parts, hopefully this will resolve the problem. Hopefully that will be it and we can look forward to trouble free motoring in the future

KernowLad · Sep 13, 2013

A year left of our warranty.

Claims to date must be touching £8k...!!

gatvol · Sep 13, 2013

Does your sliding roof open when you are driving ? If so this is a common fault and basically a small design flaw. I just use a small folded up piece of paper (about 1cm by 0.5cm) to increase the friction holding it closed.

Martin · Sep 13, 2013

gatvol said:
Does your sliding roof open when you are driving ? If so this is a common fault and basically a small design flaw. I just use a small folded up piece of paper (about 1cm by 0.5cm) to increase the friction holding it closed.

Yes, this is a very common problem and we easily solved it with a small piece of velcro

pingpal6 · Sep 13, 2013

Yes it does open when driving, but it didn't happen when I first bought it. I have tried velcro but it has not totally solved the problem. If it's a design problem then surely VW should redesign or find a permanent solution. If there are any problems with California's they should be reported to VW or how do they know. No point in attempting to fix yourselves especially if it is still in warranty

Confuserated · Sep 13, 2013

Given how long it took them to own up to and resolve the rusting ally roof problem I don't suppose the process works that well :shocked

pingpal6 · Sep 13, 2013

My point is if there is a problem then report it. I am sure VW like most reputable companies do not relish bad publicity. The suggestion of a data base for faults is sensible

gatvol · Sep 13, 2013

I agree that people need to be vigilant and spot every possible fault that can be fixed under warranty.

However my experience is that when dealers fiddle with modern cars they usually create collateral damage. I thus always weigh up whether it is worth the likely damage that the dealer will cause. If a dealer takes a major bit of a car like your dashboard out, it is probable that rattles will be present afterwards.

I had an electric window motor replaced in my Cali and the main dealer could not even put the door trim back properly. So I watched them put it back myself second time to make sure it was done right.

Cars are so fragile nowadays that they are simply not built to be maintained. They are built to be light, fuel efficient, cheap to build, and so complex that only main dealers can fix them

Confuserated · Sep 13, 2013

pingpal6 said:
My point is if there is a problem then report it. I am sure VW like most reputable companies do not relish bad publicity. The suggestion of a data base for faults is sensible

I agree with you problems should be reported, I' will just be setting my expectations for a global resolution to problems at a very low level

Andy · Sep 14, 2013

My sliding hatch was opening as I drove. Had the trim / runners all replaced last week under warranty. Now stays shut, but for how long ??

dayslikethis · Sep 14, 2013

KernowLad said:
A year left of our warranty.

Claims to date must be touching £8k...!!

About to place an order for a Cali but these pages are beginning to worry me. So many tales of problems, mechanical and paintwork. I'm thinking carefully as the Cali would be out of the UK for the first 12 months.

KernowLad · Sep 14, 2013

dayslikethis said:
KernowLad said:

A year left of our warranty.

Claims to date must be touching £8k...!!

Click to expand...

About to place an order for a Cali but these pages are beginning to worry me. So many tales of problems, mechanical and paintwork. I'm thinking carefully as the Cali would be out of the UK for the first 12 months.

It's worried me too; usually I will set aside some money for cars outside of warranty in case I have issues but their is only so much you can save and extended warranties are totally useless IMO.

Love the van to bits but it's tried our patience; to be fair none of it has made it break down and VW has been very good.