VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[tuono001]

Mine is off on Thursday for it's roof repair. When they called to book it they offered me the full repair, before August, or after August 1st the cover up. No brainer really

 

[Bigted]

? is it a better fix or a cheaper fix

The latter I should think - cover up the problem rather than fix

 

[Bigted]

This new 'fix' is a little concerning - what do people think?

 

[Meoncoast]

This new 'fix' is a little concerning - what do people think?

ditto. My concern is that it is covering the failing paintwork without fixing it unless VW knows different.

 

[LisaKent]

We have been waiting for nearly two years to have the work done and today we also received the dreaded email as above. I called customer care and was told I need to go to the dealer to resubmit my claim and I will now only be getting the cover up job!! This is totally unacceptable

 

[Raggedroy]

Has anyone started legal action and how far have they got with it. Has anyone contacted Watchdog? I guess there is some fear that if this corrosion issue becomes public the value of our vehicles could be affected.

 

[Shaun]

Why the need to re submit?
Are VW hoping people wont want to go through the hassle again.

 

[snowy55]

What has the reaction been on the German Cali forums?

 

[snowy55]

Admin

Does this thread need merging with the main corrosion thread?

 

[Max-Felix]

The main corrosion thread is far too unwieldy for it's own good.

 

[steve and lisa]

We have also been cancelled and have to have a photographs taken again for the warranty claim ( 2.5 hour round trip) It sounds like the cover up cap can be fitted at the dealer instead of the bodyshop

 

[Shaun]

We have also been cancelled and have to have a photographs taken again for the warranty claim ( 2.5 hour round trip) It sounds like the cover up cap can be fitted at the dealer instead of the bodyshop

Not much of a warranty repair by the sounds of things! More of a bodge it and scarper approach.
No wonder VW are in such a mess at the moment.
Im now awaiting a call back from my local dealer .

 

[Loz]

I would have thought that warranty work has to be done to a standard and if this just hides the defects you could argue that they haven't done the job properly, get the work done elsewhere and give them the bill??

 

[snowy55]

I have just spoken to Shorade and they have confirmed that they have had to cancel all the roof jobs booked in after 1st August.

All those people are having to go back to the dealers and resubmit their claims

 

[fozzybear]

Hi - I am in the same position, a short email from Shorade's confirming my roof repair scheduled for September is cancelled. They suggested I should speak with VW directly about the new repair. As usual, they were not well informed suggested that I would have to resubmit my claim. The centre that dealt with my claim has now resubmitted. I await there response. I will keep you all up to date.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Lets hope it's not because the legal actions against them are costing so much that they can't honour the continuing charges.

 

[andrewjh009]

Ours was due to go in on the second week of August, along with everyone else this has now been cancelled, I am gutted as I had the chance of it going in this week! I have now go to go back to the dealer to resubmit my claim as they no longer have the photo's. Does anyone know what the new method is as the bodyshop said it is a plastic cap !!!!

 

[Ajspicer]

My main roof panel and front panel is registered for repair, I see the front section will now be done using the new cover up process, so what about the main roof, I guess this will still be painted, does this mean we still get new fabric bellows?

 

[Martin]

I have just had a phone call from Volkswagen regarding this.

What is happening, from the 1st August is there will be 13 bodyshops that will be carrying out the new fast repair. The new repair method will take just 48 hours intead of seven days as it involves removing the corrosion and then covering the panel with a zinc primer before respray.

Anyone that is booked in after the 1st of August ( or if you have not had a date confirmed) MUST contact their dealer to re-submit the claim.

I am just awaiting an email from them with details of exactly what the new repair involves but by the sounds of it the bellows no longer needs to be removed as the elevating roof repair will be done using the same method as the front panel.

 

[fozzybear]

My main roof panel and front panel is registered for repair, I see the front section will now be done using the new cover up process, so what about the main roof, I guess this will still be painted, does this mean we still get new fabric bellows?

Spoke to Shorade's about this - and they suggested that it will be very difficult to do the main roof repair without replacing the bellows. Not sure what VW have in mind.

 

[SusiBus]

I contacted VW today and got the same information as Martin.

Quite where this leaves people waiting for both the front section and the elevating section of the roof to be repaired, I'm not sure!

The 48 hour turnround obviously cannot apply to them, and the fact that most people must be waiting for both sections of their vehicles to be repaired, I can't see that this is going to make a busting lot of difference to the waiting times.

I await with interest to see what this “new improved repair procedure” (their words not mine) exactly consists of.

 

[Martin]

Here is the official reply from Volkswagen:

A new repair method has been developed and approved to deal with VW California T5 vehicles. The issue affects some California models in the T5 range that were produced up to the end of 2013.

No models built after 2013 are affected.

The new method reduces repair time from more than a week to just two days, and there are now 13 body shops authorised to carryout the work.

Customers are receiving letters requesting them to contact the Van Centre they originally reported the issue to,
in order to reassign them to one of the new authorised body shops. Customers will not lose their place in the list; they are just being reassigned to a more convenient body shop which will help reduce the wait times.

The new repair method is far less invasive, because there’s no need to strip back both parts of the roof to replace the front panel unit. The affected section of the nose cone is removed and repaired to factory standard, a zinc-rich primer is applied to prevent any recurrence of corrosion and a polyurethane cap is bonded to completely cover the old unit to prevent recurrence of corrosion.

 

[2into1]

I thought the front panel unit's corrosion was also related to its aluminium construction sitting on steel, therefore setting-up bi-metallic corrosion?? (hence one repair method was to raise if from the steel with a spacer?).

If so, this seems an odd method of repair, as the original cause remains.
Any returning corrosion will just be hidden beneath the plastic cap, until one morning you go out to your Cali and just find a small blob of fizzing metal on the ground where you'd left it!

It would be helpful, and would build better relationships if VW were willing to disclose a little more, explaining how this changes things, in the hope of rebuilding confidence.

 

[Joss Apps]

I've noticed my 08 Cali has developed this corrosion, can I claim and any tips on how I approach VW for a repair?

 

[WelshGas]

I've noticed my 08 Cali has developed this corrosion, can I claim and any tips on how I approach VW for a repair?

Unfortunately I think you will be out of luck. VW offered an extended 6 year warranty for the roof problem. You could try phoning VWCS but I doubt if you will get a positive response after 8 years.