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Robinsons VW Van Centre Peterborough

Cloud Dodger

Cloud Dodger

Messages
120
Location
South Yorkshire
Vehicle
T6 Cali On Order
Just to advise, I am currently in a dispute with this dealer after collecting our new Beach 1st November 2019.

If you are thinking of buying from them, I would wait to see if they resolve my issues first.

To be fair, its factory build quality issue(s) that's been exasperated by the dealer and VW customer care.

But it could take some time.

Daz....
 
To honest posting 1/2 an issue re a problem with a build issue and a dealer not helping sort it is only likely to make all reading what more detail -
If you are thinking of buying from them, I would wait to see if they resolve my issues first.
Is it fair to issue your advise prior to posting full information?
 
OK, in its simplest form:

1. After me reporting a paint issue, VW customer care advised me to reject the vehicle.
2. Rejection notification sent to dealer as per VW customer care advice.
3. Then I found more paint issues.
4. Dealer says they won't accept the vehicle rejection and wants to fix, not replace or refund.
5. I dispute the repair because its a new vehicle out of the factory, I don't want it painting.

It turns out, VW customer care cannot force a dealer to accept a vehicle rejection even if VW customer care recommends it.

The dealer made me aware that if they accept the rejection, they will be hit financially and not VW directly. Even though the issues are VW factory quality control issues.

In its most basic form, I interpret this as its cheaper for the dealer to fix \ repair than accept the rejection.

Apparently, VW customer care are powerless, they cannot force the dealer to accept the rejection.

So if anyone wants to hand over their hard earned cash to this dealership \ dealer group feel free...

Common sense may prevail but it hasn't yet and I am not hopeful.

Its taken 5 weeks to get to this point. Via the dealer I have also requested a group meeting with dealer, head of VW customer care and head of VW commercial vehicles UK. You can guess the answer!
 
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Not good, shame on the dealer! What are the paint issues?
 
OK, in its simplest form:

1. After me reporting a paint issue, VW customer care advised me to reject the vehicle.
2. Rejection notification sent to dealer as per VW customer care advice.
3. Then I found more paint issues.
4. Dealer says they won't accept the vehicle rejection and wants to fix, not replace or refund.
5. I dispute the repair because its a new vehicle out of the factory, I don't want it painting.

It turns out, VW customer care cannot force a dealer to accept a vehicle rejection even if VW customer care recommends it.

The dealer made me aware that if they accept the rejection, they will be hit financially and not VW directly. Even though the issues are VW factory quality control issues.

In its most basic form, I interpret this as its cheaper for the dealer to fix \ repair than accept the rejection.

Apparently, VW customer care are powerless, they cannot force the dealer to accept the rejection.

So if anyone wants to hand over their hard earned cash to this dealership \ dealer group feel free...

Common sense may prevail but it hasn't yet and I am not hopeful.

How extensive is this paint issue? Had they repaired it before releasing vehicle would you have ever known the issue existed? Do you not feel a approved body shop could do a good job and take it back to a factory finish?
 
OK, in its simplest form:

1. After me reporting a paint issue, VW customer care advised me to reject the vehicle.
2. Rejection notification sent to dealer as per VW customer care advice.
3. Then I found more paint issues.
4. Dealer says they won't accept the vehicle rejection and wants to fix, not replace or refund.
5. I dispute the repair because its a new vehicle out of the factory, I don't want it painting.

It turns out, VW customer care cannot force a dealer to accept a vehicle rejection even if VW customer care recommends it.

The dealer made me aware that if they accept the rejection, they will be hit financially and not VW directly. Even though the issues are VW factory quality control issues.

In its most basic form, I interpret this as its cheaper for the dealer to fix \ repair than accept the rejection.

Apparently, VW customer care are powerless, they cannot force the dealer to accept the rejection.

So if anyone wants to hand over their hard earned cash to this dealership \ dealer group feel free...

Common sense may prevail but it hasn't yet and I am not hopeful.

Its taken 5 weeks to get to this point. Via the dealer I have also requested a group meeting with dealer, head of VW customer care and head of VW commercial vehicles UK. You can guess the answer!
I know exactly how you must be feeling as I had a similar issue a number of years ago with a new Golf GTI. On its first wash I noticed overspray on the alloys, the repair was confirmed when I found a quality control document in the boot. It would appear that the cars are checked at the port in the Netherlands, any damage is rectified before they are shipped. When I contacted VW UK they advised me to speak to the dealer . The dealer were fantastic and hired a paint specialist who measured the paint thickness and confirmed that the car had been resprayed on the roof and the wings. A few months later the car was replaced.

If you read the following link there is quite a bit of information on your rights as a consumer.
 
OK, in its simplest form:

1. After me reporting a paint issue, VW customer care advised me to reject the vehicle.
2. Rejection notification sent to dealer as per VW customer care advice.
3. Then I found more paint issues.
4. Dealer says they won't accept the vehicle rejection and wants to fix, not replace or refund.
5. I dispute the repair because its a new vehicle out of the factory, I don't want it painting.

It turns out, VW customer care cannot force a dealer to accept a vehicle rejection even if VW customer care recommends it.

The dealer made me aware that if they accept the rejection, they will be hit financially and not VW directly. Even though the issues are VW factory quality control issues.

In its most basic form, I interpret this as its cheaper for the dealer to fix \ repair than accept the rejection.

Apparently, VW customer care are powerless, they cannot force the dealer to accept the rejection.

So if anyone wants to hand over their hard earned cash to this dealership \ dealer group feel free...

Common sense may prevail but it hasn't yet and I am not hopeful.

Its taken 5 weeks to get to this point. Via the dealer I have also requested a group meeting with dealer, head of VW customer care and head of VW commercial vehicles UK. You can guess the answer!
So the Dealership have accepted there is a problem so they should in fact have rejected the vehicle themselves, on delivery to them. As they failed to do so they are now attempting to foist the problem onto you to save face and avoid taking a loss.
You couldn’t make it up if you tried.
 
The paint issues may seem small to some people but to us they are not.

We have a basic view that any brand new vehicle out of the factory should not need any paintwork and our fear is any paintwork required could fail prematurly in the future, i.e lacquer peeling or paint failure.

Wife's car had a small repair, after approx 4-5 years lacquers peeling in the area.

I am now waiting for a detailed explanation of what area's require painting and what areas requires flatting \ buffing.
 
Here are the videos of the paint defects, they are not horrendous but we are not happy having to have paintwork done on a new vehicle.

1. I am being told the tailgate defects require painting.
2. The hinge area on the roof video needs painting.
3. The rest of the roof needs flatting / buffing to get rid of the occlusions.

Tailgate Video:

Roof Area Video:

Fan LEDs Intermittent: (Not sure if this is a fault or not?)
 
My local dealer and not been impressed on a few instances.
Simpler instance was being told that there is no adjustment for rear axle tracking.
 
Hi there cloud dodger. Sore to hear all is not well. I can point out that the heater on my ocean does that with the l. E. Ds. I think its something to do with the auto setting? But I too thought it was a fault. Good luck.
 
That is wee wee poor, Looks like contamination in the paintwork from the factory, if I was you I’d drive back to the dealer and chuck the keys at them and walk away demanding a new van!
 
As the dealer is penalised financially are they willing to rectify and pay you a substantial amount of compensation (good will they call it).

Any approved repair is given 5 year warranty, could this be specifically increased to say 10 years by written agreement?
However the paint repairs may show up in any future inspection of the vehicle such as AA inspection, as they measure the paint thickness and colour.

I would not be happy at all with that many inclusions / issues, however a good body shop could sort all of them relatively easily, however, I would insist on a large amount of good will and extra
or insist you will reject, be careful you have a very limited time to act and the dealer will be aware of this and play for time !

Would you consider a full top half colour change ?
You could end up with a two tone , which attracts a premium from factory ! Or a unique colour combo ?

You have the upper hand make it count.
 
Unfortunately, the dealer is using *they have a right to repair* clause as their get out, because the vehicle rejection was sent outside the first 30 day window of outright rejection.

Timeline:
1st November - went to collect Cali. Had to abandon collection due to faulty seat.
5th-6th November - dealer delivered vehicle after repairing seat.
4th December - I advised dealer and VW customer care of the possible paint defects on tailgate section.
11th December - after a few calls VW customer care eventually advised me to reject vehicle.
11th December - dealer came back same day and said they want to get it into bodyshop after Christmas \ New Year to check the defects and send the report to VW.
26th December - first proper polish and found roof defects and reported both to VW and dealer via email.
6th January - dealer collected Cali and went to bodyshop.
6th January - advised dealer the California they had loaned me had spare wheel missing.
8th January - dealer said the wanted to repair not reject, I object to repair and wanted replacement or refund.
9th January - dealer claims *they have a right to repair* clause.

It appears there is very little goodwill being offered.

I am already considering a brutal name and shame youtube review of the dealer and VW if it does not get resolved satisfactorily.
 
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My experience of these things is

Persist, and state the facts in each communication. In full, adding each new communications to the ever extending thread, copying and pasting there inevitable responses into the thread to make one coherent document, that if read by a third party would provide the whole story, questions and responses from all parties.

State the facts, backed by your legal rights, legislation/ law etc.

Let the dealer know unequivocally that you are not going to roll over.

Let the dealer know what you will / will not settle for, stating what you expect the outcome to achieve.

I am sure there will be much prevarication from the dealer, they will try to take the argument in various directions, to muddy the issues.

The bottom line is this, the van had a several faults from new which you highlighted at the first opportunity, an opportunity which was cut short when the initial fault identified by you prevented you from taking “ownership” and therefore “proper inspection “ of the vehicle until the initial repair was carried out, at which stage you inspected the vehicle and advised of the other paint issue, which subsequently became a larger issues, regardless of the original extent of paint issues raised by yourself, which was highlighted as an additional issue to the first, subsequently you advised the dealer of further paint issues on other panels, pertaining to the first issue reported & in addition to the two faults already reported.

The Dealer is not able to repair multiple faulty panels to “Factory specification”, it is merely a remedial action, which will impact the value of your vehicle and potential resale value. Due to the serious paint issues highlighted by yourself, which are manufacturing faults, and are acknowledged by VW U.K. as faults, your “new” vehicle is considered faulty by the very nature of the various and numerous faults. (not just limited to paint). The potential to repair the roof may cause issues with a know problem with corrosion of the “California” roof, which is a well documented fault which is recognised by VW gmbh, this later point would mean that you reject the vehicle on the basis that the paint has not been applied correctly at the factory to various panels including the roof which is known to suffer from bi metallic corrosion due to incorrect paint application, and remedial measures offered may cause longer term issues, further VW GmbH has provided several remedial measures to the known paint issues (roof) to prevent / reduce the incidence of the known issue, the fact the paint has not been applied incorrectly to various panels and that VW U.K. have specifically advised you to reject the vehicle due to multiple faults and most notably multi paint faults on multiple panels including the roof leads you to the conclusion that the vehicle should have been rejected at the factory, although it appears that the issues were not identified at the factory and the vehicle was shipped to the dealer who, during their preparation failed to notice any of the reported faults, despite the dealer check involving 140+ Quality checks ! I exercise my right to reject the faulty vehicle due to the amount one extent of paint issues and the potential issues the proposed remedial actions may have in future and particularly petaling to the know issues with roof corrosion.
I have lost X amount of days whilst the initial reported fault was fixed, then another paint defect was reported and investigated, I did not have ownership of the vehicle to carry out proposer inspection, therefore I was unable to take accept ownership of the vehicle and proper extensive inspection, the fact that subsequently additional paint issues were highlighted further raises the issue of the quality checks from factory and dealer to identify quality issues.

I hope this helps, I could go on a lot longer but I think I make the point and tone you need to follow to succeed.

I know it’s not right but the dealer must fob you off or loose money ! It’s your job to be tenacious and point out the facts succinctly backed by fact and reason.

Incidentally is the dealer part of an ombudsman scheme ? They will not like the threat of that ! It will cost them money (not you) to go through an ombudsman who will probably rule in your favour.

I have no doubt the dealer will offer you a refund, make sure it is a 100% refunds with all costs reimbursed.
If so take the money and run, if not make yourself a nuisance on a daily basis and escalate within the business
 
Perfectos is absolutely correct!
Whatever you do DO NOT go for the repair, you must reject it.
 
I had to reject a vehicle before (not a Cali) and agree with Perfectos about perseverance and sticking to the facts. They also tried tried the ‘right to repair‘ line with me.

It took me about 4 months (6 months including waiting for the replacement), but in the end it worked out in my favour. I kept a diary (of sorts) about all communication / days spent whilst the vehicle was in the garage. They kept on offering me more and more in compensation, but I stuck to my guns and they eventually agreed.

It’s very unpleasant at the time, and it took the shine out of the new car experience, but looking back I actually ended up better off as Land Rover had done a significant spec bump on the car.

With you, bear in mind that a replacement vehicle will now likely be a T6.1, which is no doubt playing a part in their reluctance to change. Stick to your guns, get legal advice if necessary (a few hundred quid on a solicitor letter will be worth every penny), and I wish you the very best of luck with your fight.
 
Ah Robinsons..... VW are relying on the doctrine of privity, that is, you can only enforce a legal remedy against the contract holders (in this case you and Robinsons) .In simple terms VW are saying it ain't their problem. Something vehicle importers hide behind and do all the time. In my experience you stand very little chance for appealing to Robinsons sense of fair play, simply because they don't understand right or wrong or decent behaviour. All they understand is profit and loss and if they agree to accept the vehicle back they lose..... it won't compute. My advice is take half an hour of legal advice and see where you stand. Also, take a look at your home insurance policy as they often include some legal cover. Alternatively, get it painted, put it behind you and enjoy the Cali..... Good luck!
 
I had to reject a vehicle before (not a Cali) and agree with Perfectos about perseverance and sticking to the facts. They also tried tried the ‘right to repair‘ line with me.

It took me about 4 months (6 months including waiting for the replacement), but in the end it worked out in my favour. I kept a diary (of sorts) about all communication / days spent whilst the vehicle was in the garage. They kept on offering me more and more in compensation, but I stuck to my guns and they eventually agreed.

It’s very unpleasant at the time, and it took the shine out of the new car experience, but looking back I actually ended up better off as Land Rover had done a significant spec bump on the car.

With you, bear in mind that a replacement vehicle will now likely be a T6.1, which is no doubt playing a part in their reluctance to change. Stick to your guns, get legal advice if necessary (a few hundred quid on a solicitor letter will be worth every penny), and I wish you the very best of luck with your fight.
The t6. 1 beach isn't coming here so they have a problem with that one. Maybe that's the issue
 
Hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction.
 
Thanks for the messages of support and good advice. Will keep you updated of any developments.

Daz....
 
Just an update, VW have instructed a 3rd party paint specialist to look at the vehicle. Now I am waiting for a date of the inspection.

Not sure where this is heading or what the reason behind this is.

The dealer and VW customer care have had access to photos, video's and the dealers bodyshop have also had their hands on the vehicle and reported the issues to VW directly.
 
Just an update, VW have instructed a 3rd party paint specialist to look at the vehicle. Now I am waiting for a date of the inspection.

Not sure where this is heading or what the reason behind this is.

The dealer and VW customer care have had access to photos, video's and the dealers bodyshop have also had their hands on the vehicle and reported the issues to VW directly.
Hi CD
It may be a case that VW have requested this independent inspection as the dealer is probably advising “Minor repair” and the factory is probably denying realeasing a vehicle in that condition. Be at the inspection and speak to the assessor and openly ask for their thoughts considering this is a factory finish !
 
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They are arranging for the inspector to come to my home to do the check (that's the plan at this moment in time) so I will pose the question regarding factory finish. Lets hope its not raining!

The longer this goes on the more suspicious I am becoming regarding the paintwork and how VW could have actually allowed it to leave the factory with these paint defects, or has something happened between the factory and me taking delivery?

Before VW advised they wanted the vehicle inspecting, I was actually willing to pay to have ALL the vehicle checked for a paintwork report and any signs of non factory paint.

I was wondering if VW just needed it verifying by a third party (with no interest in the vehicle or the dispute) that there are actual paintwork issues.
 
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The 64 million dollar question to any assessor “ would you be happy with that having paid x£s ?”
I suspect the answer will be no, based on the cost of the vehicle, a reasonable assessor would expect a reasonable finish commensurate with the value of the vehicle, I.e. if the vehicle was being sold as low end, low spec, low cost, they may look at it accordingly and agree the paint finish reflects the price paid,
in the instance of a Cali, it is marketed as a high end vehicle, (premium market) specially built, low production run vehicle / select factory base vehicle, therefore the finish in all respects should be above average?
Where are the QC checks allowing a vehicle to leave a special facility in this condition, let alone be sold via the dealer network?
Where where the QC checks?
 
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