Oh no, not again!

[GillianC]

So, since I bought my van in June it has spent five weeks in the garage having the wonky roof strut replaced on the passenger side, the bellows replaced as they had split away from the roof and the control panel replaced.
It then had to go back because in doing the work they damaged the back roof storage box and it wouldn't open!

I had my first weekend away at the Stratford on Avon club meet this weekend which was thoroughly enjoyable and all was going well.

Today I thought that I would put the roof up to make sure it was nice and dry, went inside, came out 30 minutes later and found this....

AAAAAGH!!!!!

Don't know whether to shout or cry

 

[GrannyJen]

Cry.

Gillian that is so awful. I really feel for you.

 

[Hotel California]

That's quite a drop within' 30min

 

[AlisonF]

That doesn't look good. Time for a serious discussion with the dealer and a chat about compensation for lost summer trips and the hassle...

 

[Kyffinjones]

Poor you, Gillian. I would certainly be crying if it was me. This one looks like a fault on the driver's side? I agree with AlisonF that a serious discussion with the dealers is needed, along with a thorough check by them of all the roof components. I hope things get sorted out soon.

 

[GillianC]

That's quite a drop within' 30min

I certainly won't be sleeping up top any time soon HC!

 

[sidepod]

That's a new roof then. The existing one will probably be twisted.

 

[Meoncoast]

not good - a picture says a 1000 words.

 

[LowMan]

Really feel for you Gillian. Out of curiosity, did you manage to fully open it, fully close it, then fully re-open it. If so, did you still have a problem after that?

Asking because we had a similar problem one time, not quite as severe as that, but we followed the above procedure and it seemed ok after that (grasping at wood!!!).

 

[Loz]

I wonder if they didn't close the manual release screw properly.

 

[GillianC]

Really feel for you Gillian. Out of curiosity, did you manage to fully open it, fully close it, then fully re-open it. If so, did you still have a problem after that?

Asking because we had a similar problem one time, not quite as severe as that, but we followed the above procedure and it seemed ok after that (grasping at wood!!!).

I put the roof up and lowered it again. It came down a bit unevenly but seems to be flat. Exactly the same happened with the other side except that this time was worse.
I don't want to try putting it up again in case the bellows get caught bringing it down.
Apparently they don't replace both struts if only one appears to be faulty
Really not happy at all. The dealer has been terrible and as it is a 45 minute drive each way it is really inconvenient having to keep taking it back and forward.
Think the time has come to contact VW customer service team although whether that will do any good I don't know.
If I didn't love the van so much I would sell it but I have just treated him to a new duvet cover, mats and a back seat storage bag!
I am booked to go away two weekends running soon and I have told them it needs to be fixed, checked and double checked by the end of next week.
Waiting to hear back tomorrow.
Will keep you posted.....

 

[Bramco]

They must have a demo van.

Insist you use their demo van for the weekends you are going away.

Contact VWCS immediately and start a list of the dealer fit extras you would accept as compensation, e.g. bike rack, free services etc.

 

[calicasas]

I put the roof up and lowered it again. It came down a bit unevenly but seems to be flat. Exactly the same happened with the other side except that this time was worse.
I don't want to try putting it up again in case the bellows get caught bringing it down.
Apparently they don't replace both struts if only one appears to be faulty
Really not happy at all. The dealer has been terrible and as it is a 45 minute drive each way it is really inconvenient having to keep taking it back and forward.
Think the time has come to contact VW customer service team although whether that will do any good I don't know.
If I didn't love the van so much I would sell it but I have just treated him to a new duvet cover, mats and a back seat storage bag!
I am booked to go away two weekends running soon and I have told them it needs to be fixed, checked and double checked by the end of next week.
Waiting to hear back tomorrow.
Will keep you posted.....

I was told a few years back by the dealer that when they replace the struts these need to be replaced as a pair.. I had mine replaced under warranty back in 2013.
Having said that this is predicated on the understanding they know what they are doing... This is the same dealer that argued with me that Calis don't have an aluminium roof and that the roof is plastic....

 

[GillianC]

They must have a demo van.

Insist you use their demo van for the weekends you are going away.

Contact VWCS immediately and start a list of the dealer fit extras you would accept as compensation, e.g. bike rack, free services etc.

Yes I will contact VWCS and tell them the who.e sorry saga. I think the thing of most use to me at the moment would be the warranty extended for another year! It's three years is up next April.

 

[Ady77]

Gill, this has happend to us on a few occasions and our roof now has a slight kink in it, I will be really interested to see how you get on. Good luck

 

[motacyclist]

How disappointing to go through all that hassle and have more to come. Beginning to despair with VW, we have a ding dong with the local dealer going on over our Golf

 

[Max-Felix]

I would maybe look at rejection if that is a possibility - you can imagine how much training the actual German VW guys go through who fit these roofs for a living day in day out in the factory and what special procedures, tricks, tools etc they use.

The thought of entrusting the refitting of a Cali roof to a VW commercial mechanic in the UK who has probably never even seen one before does not fill me with confidence...

 

[GillianC]

Thanks for all your comments - I know that you share my frustration and disappointment.
The picture I emailed to the garage showing the poor van with his twisted roof seems to have done the trick.
They have booked him in on Monday to have the struts on the drivers side replaced together with a replacement under seat drawer which the previous owner had done something nasty to with a caustic cleaner. I was going to pay to have this replaced but now feel it should be a small compensation for the hassle I have had.
Once repaired I am going to go round every bit of the van with the technician and check that everything works. Roof - up and staying up, back roof storage box, under seat drawer, shutter holding folded roof sliding back ok - the whole lot!
Will keep you posted.

 

[LowMan]

Good to hear you're getting some progress with this. Good luck!

 

[Kyffinjones]

I'm glad you've had a positive response. Good luck for Monday.

 

[calicasas]

Thanks for all your comments - I know that you share my frustration and disappointment.
The picture I emailed to the garage showing the poor van with his twisted roof seems to have done the trick.
They have booked him in on Monday to have the struts on the drivers side replaced together with a replacement under seat drawer which the previous owner had done something nasty to with a caustic cleaner. I was going to pay to have this replaced but now feel it should be a small compensation for the hassle I have had.
Once repaired I am going to go round every bit of the van with the technician and check that everything works. Roof - up and staying up, back roof storage box, under seat drawer, shutter holding folded roof sliding back ok - the whole lot!
Will keep you posted.

Leave no stone unturned, Give 'em hell! Good luck on Monday

 

[Paul gourong]

Oh no that's doesn't look good . I've had my roof struts replaced 15 months ago was all working fine up to last week camping in Belgium and then the roof started to drop on the drivers side it is booked in on Monday to have it sorted luck still in warranty ( only 2 weeks left ) I will be talking to vwcs about an extended warranty as the list of things that's have gone wrong is quite large

 

[GillianC]

Oh no that's doesn't look good . I've had my roof struts replaced 15 months ago was all working fine up to last week camping in Belgium and then the roof started to drop on the drivers side it is booked in on Monday to have it sorted luck still in warranty ( only 2 weeks left ) I will be talking to vwcs about an extended warranty as the list of things that's have gone wrong is quite large

Sounds like we have both had the same sort of issues Paul.
Guess it is good that it has happened again before the warranty expires but scary how much seems to go wrong.
Did you have both roof struts replaced last time? They only did one on mine.
Please let us know how you get on with extended warranty. That will be a conversation I will be having too....

 

[nikonian]

Hope all goes well with the repairs on Monday.
You don't mention which dealer it is.

 

[Morganic]

I was in a local dealership on Thursday looking at the T6 Beach. Seems they had done away with the electric roof on the model I saw and gone back to gas assisted struts.