VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[Sean-eboy]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

I've just got mine back from Manchester. The repair looks very good, it took 4 weeks in total

 

[CaliforniaDAN]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Did you have the roof panel replaced?

 

[HistoryBob]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

I've just got mine back from Manchester. The repair looks very good, it took 4 weeks in total

Wow! That's a long time to be without your Cali. Thanks for the reply. Manchester is my nearest Van Centre so I'd rather go there than travel a long way. Did you get a loner whilst they were fixing yours?

 

[Sean-eboy]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

They didn't replace the panel, they took of original repaired it and refitted.
I've always used Manchester as that's where it was originally from. The work was done in Audenshaw at there bodyshop, there was another Cali in for the same thing at the same time as well. The courtesy car I got was a vw up.

 

[RichardP]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

You had a VW Up! for 4 weeks in exchange for your Cali!!

I think I'd have gone and rented something equivalent and sent VW the bill.

 

[HistoryBob]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

They didn't replace the panel, they took of original repaired it and refitted.
I've always used Manchester as that's where it was originally from. The work was done in Audenshaw at there bodyshop, there was another Cali in for the same thing at the same time as well. The courtesy car I got was a vw up.

Audenshaw is even better for me. Just a mile from home.

 

[dex14]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Just had the approval for my Cali to have the roof repaired under warranty. Been told it will be in for 6 working days. Getting either a Honda Jazz or a Polo as a replacement, which is fine for my needs. Apparently the van is off to Crewe to be fixed.

Glad this will be sorted by VW, shame they couldn't do the same over the control panel.

 

[mallo]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

I'll certainly be interested to hear how good/effective the repair is by Crewe - I presume it's going to the Swansway group? http://www.swanswayarc.com/ as mine is destined to go the same route.

 

[robo]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

I have mv van back from Citygate Little Chalfont. Thye have rubbed down the affected area and repainted. Looks fine.

 

[dex14]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Mallo, yes it's going there. Fingers crossed they know the correct repair!

 

[Simon]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Hi,
I have a similar problem with blistering along the front edge. It turns out that the problem is that the roof parts of the cali are made from aluminum. Ask any landrover owner about electrolytic problems with their paintwork and they will tell you about similar blistering. So good news and bad.... good that it is not rust but bad that there doesn't seemto be much that canbe done about it.
Hope this helps?
Simon

 

[KernowLad]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Bi-metallic corrosion is well known (we had a Defender before the Cali) but isn't hard to isolate.

Ours has now been done and it was a major job. Looks fine but a very short drive last night revealed a roof squeak; uh oh...

And we need an entire new rear diff...

 

[Carrg]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Anyone had the roof done at Swansea VW or infact in Wales?

 

[Ewan]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Has anybody any experience of getting this fault fixed by dealers in Scotland?
Or the very north of EnglandLand?
Feedback would be good.

Got mine booked into Specialist Cars (Kirkcaldy) the week after next. Impressed with the response so far - happy to do the repair without even looking at it (!), fix a few other minor jobs under warranty (including the sliding cover to the roof) and give me a courtesy car for a week.

For the roof paintwork they'll respray the aluminium panel at the front, seal the gap underneath it (above the windsreen) to prevent water ingress, and then insert a plastic channel in the gutter between the elevating roof and aluminium panel to prevent any future corrosion between adjoining metal surfaces. They have one Cali in at the moment for the same repair and have already done several others.

The Edinburgh Van Centre don't have a bodyshop, hence having to go to Kircaldy (both part of the John Clark Motor Group). I don't have experience of any other van centres in Scotland.

 

[Khris&Nichola]

trouble with paintwork above front window screen.

Hi All, has anybody had any updates on the problem with there paint work above the window screen, Whilst hubby and I were at cotf we got talking to a couple about the paint work and they had the same problem and pointed more out on our vw. The guy we spoke to actually went around the field asking vw owners if they'd the same problem and made a note. We actually took ours into vw commercals in stoke to report the problem, they made a case took photos and sent info to vw in germany. They have since contacted us to say there is a problem and are getting a team of engineers together to train up to rectify the problem, we have been asked if they can have the vw in for approx two weeks for repair, we have got to ring in september to book the van in. Hope this post is helpful.

 

[KernowLad]

Re: trouble with paintwork above front window screen.

Very common; look at the thread in the technical section.

The roof section is made of alloy and isn't properly isolated from the steel bodywork so bi-metallic corrosion occurs. It will be done under warranty but needs doing properly. Just had ours done.

 

[SusiBus]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Sorry for the delay, but we have finally had a reply from Alex Smith, Director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. His reply is in blue below:

“30 July 2013
Volkswagen California Roof Corrosion
Dear Mr Spencer

Following my letter, dated 29 May 2013, regarding the matter of Volkswagen California roof corrosion, I would like to update you on the progress we have made with the issue that you raised.
Having brought the issue to the attention of our colleagues in Germany, a factory approved repair process has been identified and we are currently preparing key Van Centres in the UK to ensure they can deliver this in accordance with our technical guidelines. Once we have completed this process we will begin to contact customers who have been in touch with our customer service centre. We expect this consultation to begin later this year.
Every Volkswagen California comes with 12 years warranty against through-corrosion (corrosions emanating from inside the body panel) and three years warranty protection for any paintwork defects, offering customers complete peace of mind.
Our customer service centre (08007834 909) is responsible for coordinating all queries and for arranging for vehicles to be inspected. Each case will be inspected on an individual basis by one of our authorised repairers.”

As Mr Smith has stated in his third paragraph

“Every Volkswagen California comes with 12 years warranty against through-corrosion (corrosions emanating from inside the body panel) and three years warranty protection for any paintwork defects, offering customers complete peace of mind”.

and as this corrosion clearly emanates from inside the aluminium box section, I interpret this paragraph as confirmation that VW have accepted this will be covered under the 12 year warranty, not just the three year paint work warranty.

Those owners waiting to have their corrosion sorted will still have to decide either to wait until this repair process is implemented later in the year, or have the current fix.

Mr Smith’s reply of 30th July is in response to my letter to him dated 18th May which for those of you who missed it, is repeated in red below.


“Dear Sir

I am writing to you on behalf of myself and many other dissatisfied California owners whose vehicles are suffering from aluminium roof corrosion – a manufacturing defect which has been present since at least 2006 but not addressed until March 2013.
On 10th/11th/12th May the California Owners Club, in conjunction with VW Van Centre SMG (Cowfold), arranged an event (COTF) and over 110 California T4s and T5s attended. VW Publicity Manager, John Rawlings, was also present. At this event we inspected the joint between the front aluminium box section, adjacent to the side rails, of 89 of the T5s present.
55 of the 89 vehicles had roof corrosion (62%). One of the affected vehicles was only six weeks old.
In our many conversations with VW Customer Care, the inference has always been that this is not a major fault – which it clearly is - both here in the UK and the rest of Europe. When we asked Anthony Ryder how many owners had submitted warranty claims, he said he would need registration numbers to trace these vehicles. To that end, attached is a list of the affected vehicles at COTF. This list includes vehicles repaired, claims submitted, owners yet to submit claims, and vehicles whose owners may be unaware of corrosion on their vehicle.
Many owners are not satisfied with VW’s warranty response to the aluminium roof corrosion these vehicles are suffering. To merely repaint the external paintwork is a “sticking plaster” approach to a problem which is emulating from within the internal aluminium roof box section. It will not eradicate the cause of the problem which is electrochemical corrosion. Yes, it will temporarily be a cure (probably until after the 3 year paint warranty has expired), but not stop the risk of it reoccurring.

These vehicles have not been manufactured with full protection against rust (in this case, corrosion) attacking the internal cavities as stated in VW’s New Vehicle Warranty Guide August 2011 (page 6). “All Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles are manufactured with full protection against rust attacking the internal cavities”. THIS IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT and as such should be covered by the 12 year Body Protection warranty.
VW are fully aware of their responsibility to ensure this type of corrosion does not take place. In VW’s Body Builder Guidelines 2011, under Section 2 Technical Data for Planning, clause 2.3.2.11 Planning Measures, it states:
“Corrosion protection should be taken into account in the planning and design in the form of a suitable material selection and component design.
Information: If two different metallic materials are connected together by an electrolyte (eg moisture from the air) then this will give rise to a galvanic connection. The result will be electrochemical corrosion, and the less noble metal will suffer damage. The electrochemical corrosion will be all the greater the further apart the metals in question are in the electrochemical series. Therefore, the components must have a suitable treatment or insulation applied to them in order to prevent electrochemical corrosion, or the corrosion must be kept at a low level by a suitable choice of materials”
Up to now VW’s repair procedure has been mainly external repainting and no effective modification has taken place to remedy the cause. From our German contacts we know that VW Germany has finally acknowledged this defect and from March 2013, all new Californias have an insulating barrier between the box aluminium section and the steel bodywork. One of these post March 2013 vehicles with this modification was at COTF. Also, we understand that VW technicians in Germany are undergoing a training course and new repair procedures have been instigated to repair vehicles under warranty.
It is totally unacceptable for any present day vehicle to be suffering from electrochemical corrosion, particularly VW Commercial Vehicles’ most prestigious and expensive vehicle. Some owners have already posted their experiences on YouTube http://youtu.be/L8BEMHZgmWw others have suggested going to the press or Watchdog. At this stage it would be better for VW UK to follow VW Germany and implement the new repair procedure as quickly as possible to stem the growing dissatisfaction of owners.
We deserve, and demand, VW’s assurance that the new repair procedure will be instigated in order to restore our faith in the brand.

Yours faithfully”

 

[barry]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

This is a good outcome.
Well done.

 

[mallo]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Great piece of work. I'm sure many Cali owners out there can sleep a little better - well done. Mallo

 

[fordyski100]

Re: trouble with paintwork above front window screen.

Very ,very common fault which should have been made a factory recall in my opinion.
Mine is booked in for this to be rectified by VW in 2 weeks.
My main concern is will this be an ongoing fault and how do we stand after the repair and repaint has been carried out if it happens again?

 

[Jules]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Excellent. Will watch this with interest and wait for what I hope will be a "proper repair" in due course. Thanks, Jules.

 

[Meoncoast]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel



This is good news, what a good result 12 years cover for this problem. :hello

 

[robo]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Your persistence is paying of, thank you.
It would be nice to know what the VW approved fix is, as from what I have read on the subject in this forum, different dealers are fixing in different ways. Mine has just been treated on the outside surface, nothing was removed. I understand others have had the panel removed and repaired.

rob

 

[Nottledim]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

I have just rung VW Customer Service to ask which Van centre I should use to be sure of the correct repair and was advised to go to the nearest - it sounds as if the repair is going to be consistent across Cali dealers, my nearest is South Hereford.

But excellent work by SusiBus because there was instant recognition of the issue and its resolution by the VW call centre.

 

[eanni]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Thank you Susibus - great work! I have just spoken to Customer Services and they also advised that all VW body shops would carry out the approved repair. I live in Inverness so the options are limited! We have only one within 100 miles - so hopefully they will get it right. My other concern is that there is blistering on the sliding door below the rubbing strip - the door is not aluminium - has anyone else had this problem?