VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[ArunAlec]

I'm inclined to agree with the idea that these are background jobs for the repair shops but.... The costs of the replacement vehicle hire which is done through VW Mobility with a 3rd party must really push those costs up. Maybe they can reclaim that from a different budget in Wolfsburg - who knows.

We booked a date for ours 3 months in the future and were told that it would take up to 2 weeks. Then just before it was due to go as we were negotiating the replacement vehicle it went up to 2 to 4 weeks.

After 10 days or so with no news I emailed the dealership and had no reply - a few days later emailed both the dealership and Claridges - again no reply.

We were due to go away for a few days, so as we were driving to the airport, contacted Claridges - who said they had been in touch with the dealership after my first email to let them know what was happening and also said that they weren't aware we wanted the van back in any hurry, so had only started the work when they got the email - duh!! So I'm guessing if I hadn't emailed them they wouldn't have started until just before the end of the 4 week period - crazy...

So I guess the moral of that is that if you want your van back keep up the pressure.

Anyway, the van is back and apart from reaking of fresh paint work everything seems OK. It appears that a new seal was put on - ours was pretty messy after nearly 4 years and also the seal doesn't seem to have been stuck back on. They didn't touch the front cap which they shouldn't have done but I was a bit concerned they would.

So all's well that ends well - at least until the check just before the 6 years is up I guess.

Now I have to go back through all these posts to find the one about the tape so I can order some and get it applied while everything is still pristine.

One last thing, as I dropped the van off before the work, the bodywork person from the dealership came out to look at things. (I'd asked then to confirm that the font cap wasn't corroding in any way.) His view of why the roofs were corroding was that us owners spent all the time pulling the trim on and off and this was what caused it!!!!! I wonder if that is the general VW folk lore view of what causes the problem?

PS Has anyone saved the page number of the post where the tape was mentioned - would save me some reading! Thx in advance if you can point me to it.

Adding to my conspiracy theory...... Maybe VW are trying make the whole repair process so traumatic that owners will just give up and buy a tin of Humbrol and DIY!

 

[leightonjthomas]

@Bramco , the guy who told you the corrosion starts when owners pull of the seal must be a total newbie when it comes to California knowledge .
Hope he was not someone who is VW's payroll .
Howcome most owners are not aware of corrosion until the actually look under the seal....who's been pulling of the seal for them ?
And if your roof has been resprayed without the tape being applied you have to question again if the people working on your Cali are aware of the VW repair procedure at all.

I don’t think that the tape is part of the VW repair procedure. It certainly wasn’t used on mine, despite my request.

 

[Hotel California]

Tape is what needs to be added before the seal put on , bonding of the seal is not VW approved.

 

[Bramco]

the guy who told you the corrosion starts when owners pull of the seal must be a total newbie when it comes to California knowledge .
Hope he was not someone who is VW's payroll .

Something lost in translation there Hotel - as I said originally 'the bodywork guy from the dealership' - so he works at the dealership. He wasn't some random who happened to be walking by!

And on the California knowledge of the folks at the dealerships - the service department front office seem to change over very quickly. The girl who handled our roof repair had only worked there for a few months. Might be different in Belgium but here in the UK there's quite a lot of turnover, so not much continuity. And they sell gazillions of vans vs Californias which is one of the major problems for Cali owners, it would maybe be better if they were sold and serviced through one of the car brands.

Lack of continuity of staff is probably why the urban myths get passed on by word of mouth - like the one about the owners checking for corrosion too often and thereby causing the problem.

And if your roof has been resprayed without the tape being applied you have to question again if the people working on your Cali are aware of the VW repair procedure at all.

Also on this point, it's been clear for some time on this thread that the repair (as specified by VW) does not include putting any tape on the newly repaired edge of the roof - this isn't a reflection of the people working on the repair, it's a reflection of the stupidity of VW when the new manufacturing process includes the tape but the repair of faulty roofs does not. As I said I'm pretty happy with the work Claridges have done - as far as I can see of course.

We were always expecting to have to put the tape on ourselves and were happy to find that the seal had not been bonded onto the roof which had been reported as being done on some repairs a few months ago. So this is still possible.

It will be interesting to see what happens to yours - will yours get the tape applied?

 

[Bramco]

tin of Humbrol and DIY

Sadly most of the tins of Humbrol in the possession of Cali owners will have long since dried up!! Think I might still have a couple somewhere in the toolbox but they will be way too old to be still useable.

 

[Hotel California]

@Bramco
Mine goes in arround end of november , will sure be posting how it went .
I'm not keen on having it done as i can live with the corrosion as it is at the time beeing but it's now under warrenty or pay it myself later if it should get worse...so needed to bite the bullit...

If the new Cali's leave the factory with tape applied thats the only way the repair should be.
Needless to say i'm not seeing any dealer in Belgium doh , but the VW-guru's in Amersfoort / Holland

 

[Bramco]

Well this is what Claridges told me about three weeks ago. The thinking is apparently that the bonding prevents any moisture getting into the seal so stopping any further corrosion. I woould imagine that it would probably make quite a mess if you do try to remove it.
I can see the resoning behind it. If the roof edge is covered with the helicopter tape then over time water will weaken the seal and the tape will come loose so letting water get to the metal again.
Time will tell whether either method works I guess.

Hi briwy - interesting that we have ours back from Claridges and they haven't bonded the new seal onto the roof. So things must have changed again.

 

[Bramco]

At only £35.60 for 4 rolls of 25 mm wide 3 meter long 3M 8671HS tape is has got to be worth a try, (only 8 m needed for the job).

Found the reference to the tape. I put 3M 8671HS into Google and it came up with Vikingtapes straight away.

As usual though the price has gone up!

 

[gear box oil]

Bonding of the seal is VW approved as part of the repair for corrosion under the seal

 

[leightonjthomas]

Bonding of the seal is VW approved as part of the repair for corrosion under the seal

It might be VW approved but they definitely didn’t do it on mine. Neither did they apply the tape.

 

[Hotel California]

Bonding of the seal is VW approved as part of the repair for corrosion under the seal

If it was VW approved howcome they leave the factory without bonded seal?

 

[gear box oil]

and the rest

View attachment 28476

View attachment 28477

View attachment 28478

Post on page 184 the instructions issued to VW van centres on how to make the repair. VW regardless of what they do now have consistently shown they have little interest on what happens to their vans after they leave the factory

 

[slapping tim]

If VW have outsourced the repair they may have also outsourced responsibity for the quality of the repair, so any remedial work would be the repairers problem.

Here's an update for anyone watching this, and it turns out this comment from ArunAlec was quite prophetic. Well its been five months now since I took this back to the VW dealer and nothing has yet been done to fix the problem. The new plastic panel continued to detach until half way across the roof but has stopped there. The noise on driving is still bad but no worse. The VW dealer has taken two sets of photos at different times, and I've been in communication with them, the body shop that did the corrosion fix first time around and VW HQ. It is clear that the VW dealer and HQ are debating with the body shop as to whose fault it is that the fix has failed. Its essentially down to either whether the fix was specified incorrectly or the parts were faulty or whether it was executed incorrectly. Apparently, VW have changed how they do this fix a few times and there are key details here such as whether the paint is stripped off the metal before the new panel is glued on and the exact shape of the panel itself. So I'm still waiting to hear when they will fix it. I do hope that I'm the exception corner case and this has worked well for everyone else but this does not fill me with confidence in the longevity of this work. I have to say that all three parties have been very attentive and polite in communication but I'm heading for 6 months and there's still no sign yet of this being resolved. I'll post an update when its fixed.
Good luck everyone.

 

[leightonjthomas]

Here's an update for anyone watching this, and it turns out this comment from ArunAlec was quite prophetic. Well its been five months now since I took this back to the VW dealer and nothing has yet been done to fix the problem. The new plastic panel continued to detach until half way across the roof but has stopped there. The noise on driving is still bad but no worse. The VW dealer has taken two sets of photos at different times, and I've been in communication with them, the body shop that did the corrosion fix first time around and VW HQ. It is clear that the VW dealer and HQ are debating with the body shop as to whose fault it is that the fix has failed. Its essentially down to either whether the fix was specified incorrectly or the parts were faulty or whether it was executed incorrectly. Apparently, VW have changed how they do this fix a few times and there are key details here such as whether the paint is stripped off the metal before the new panel is glued on and the exact shape of the panel itself. So I'm still waiting to hear when they will fix it. I do hope that I'm the exception corner case and this has worked well for everyone else but this does not fill me with confidence in the longevity of this work. I have to say that all three parties have been very attentive and polite in communication but I'm heading for 6 months and there's still no sign yet of this being resolved. I'll post an update when its fixed.
Good luck everyone.

Thanks for the information and good luck with a resolution. I’m finding it difficult to drive with my fingers crossed!

 

[Lost in the Forest]

Well our Cali has gone back today the for the 2nd attempt at fixing the Front panel and first for the main roof.
My Wife was surprised with the Loaner which is a Cali makes a change from the normal panel vans.

 

[Cali-61-180-SE]

Hi,

My California had the roof work done maybe year ago (don't know exact date). but its start water leaking inside from passenger side A Pillar. i just have a look yesterday and found water going from front section of the roof as seal are cracked. i am attaching some picture with this mail. please advice me how can we fixed. please let me know the work done by recently so this will cover in warranty right?

Thanks
JK

 

[Lost in the Forest]

Hi JK,

Looks similar to our failed 1st repair where the seal had parted after ~1yr
We had to push VW customer care politely and they agreed our repair was defective.
Our Cali went back last Tuesday for another attempt.

 

[mji450]

My 08 Cali finally dropped in to Leicester on Friday before transfer to Twickenham for repair slot today. Possibly the oldest(?) Cali for first time repair after only just sneaking in on 6 year inspection limit and four years in the wilderness of being on/off/on the waiting list, and repair scheduling issues in Feb this year...I chose to defer to September and ensure we could enjoy Cali over summer, expecting the loan vehicle to be a Transporter/Caddy but drove away in an 18-plate Ocean. The Ocean is a very nice upgrade but probably not one I could justify a further £20k+ investment (for used Ocean)

 

[Lost in the Forest]

My 08 Cali finally dropped in to Leicester on Friday before transfer to Twickenham for repair slot today. Possibly the oldest(?) Cali for first time repair after only just sneaking in on 6 year inspection limit and four years in the wilderness of being on/off/on the waiting list, and repair scheduling issues in Feb this year...I chose to defer to September and ensure we could enjoy Cali over summer, expecting the loan vehicle to be a Transporter/Caddy but drove away in an 18-plate Ocean. The Ocean is a very nice upgrade but probably not one I could justify a further £20k+ investment (for used Ocean)

The 18 plate Ocean we have also as a replacement vehicle is being charged at £100 per day back to VW !

Funnily, we were also having the same conversation about justifying the cash outlay to change from our 2012 Cali. We have decided to wait for the T7, that will fix everything and be a hybrid .

 

[Lorenzo]

VW have announced yesterday a recall to fit a new protective part to the front of the roof & also to check for roof corrosion. Was advised today when getting my brakes done.

 

[Hotel California]

VW have announced yesterday a recall to fit a new protective part to the front of the roof & also to check for roof corrosion. Was advised today when getting my brakes done.

This thread is 4y old and about T5

This thread is 3days old and about T6
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...ll-for-roof-corrosion-beneath-the-seal.26856/

 

[Richard Hurst]

Late to the bandwagon on this and without reading 192 pages does this recall only apply to vehicles of a certain age??

 

[leightonjthomas]

Late to the bandwagon on this and without reading 192 pages does this recall only apply to vehicles of a certain age??

There is no recall on T5s. If you spot corrosion on the front roof panel or under the seal on the elevating roof you need to report it to a dealer. Vehicles up to six years old are covered.

 

[Richard Hurst]

There is no recall on T5s. If you spot corrosion on the front roof panel or under the seal on the elevating roof you need to report it to a dealer. Vehicles up to six years old are covered.

My apologies it was a T6 recall for it

 

[mji450]

Leadtime update - my Cali is now in to third week, I spoke direct to bodyshop at end of last week and they said schedule completion was 5 October which would be 4 weeks but chance it could be ready earlier...

In terms of the Ocean loaner, it's sat neglected on my drive owing to other family/work priorities, but from a practical point of use, I didn't remove gas bottle from my van, and no bottle supplied so could be an issue for others lucky to have a loaner and intention to use as camper...