VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[GSX1300R]

This what my 2014 looked like at 4 years.
View attachment 70434View attachment 70435

So far cross fingers there’s nothing on the front panel. But I have decided that if it does appear I’m not getting VW to fix it because of the latest method used. I would probably rub it down use a special primer and paint it myself.

 

[WelshGas]

Thank you for this helpful reply.

If I quote the VIN number to VW, would they be able to tell me if the vehicle was constructed with the new alloy above the windscreen? It's registered in January 2015 so do you think it's likely to have been constructed in 2014?

With regards to the problem with the elevating roof, are we talking about flaking paint or deterioration in the aluminium frame that could with time compomise the integrity of the roof? The tape solution sounds a very primitive fix for such an expensive vehicle but if it works, so be it. Has anyone had any recent experience with waiting times?

Excuse my ignorance and daft question but what does 'MY' mean?

Thank you again for sharing your experience and knowledge.

MY = Model Year.

Although probably constructed in 2014, MY 2015 started production on 1st July 2014 and runs to 30 th June 2015.

The problem is not “corrosion “ as in “ rust “. It is Galvanic Corrosion due to the presence of 2 dissimilar metals in close contact in an electrolyte, in this case in pure rainwater. This is basically a chemical reaction and is basically cosmetic rather than structural.
On the elevating roof, made of aluminium, it is difficult to get good paint depth on the edge of the aluminium panel. The edge then has a rubber seal fitted with a steel insert. So steel + aluminium + impure water = galvanic corrosion.

 

[RevJames]

MY = Model Year.

Although probably constructed in 2014, MY 2015 started production on 1st July 2014 and runs to 30 th June 2015.

The problem is not “corrosion “ as in “ rust “. It is Galvanic Corrosion due to the presence of 2 dissimilar metals in close contact in an electrolyte, in this case in pure rainwater. This is basically a chemical reaction and is basically cosmetic rather than structural.
On the elevating roof, made of aluminium, it is difficult to get good paint depth on the edge of the aluminium panel. The edge then has a rubber seal fitted with a steel insert. So steel + aluminium + impure water = galvanic corrosion.

Thank you for clarifying the process.

I'd just Googled 'galvanic corrosion' and even with my abject GCSE Chemistry grade, managed to get my head around how this happens and how the choice of materials and operating environment influences whether it occurs or not

 

[RevJames]

This is what it looked like on mine at about 3 years old. Not the same all around but some areas worse than others.

Thank you for sharing the photo of your vehicle. I hope you managed to have it sorted.

 

[GSX1300R]

Thank you for sharing the photo of your vehicle. I hope you managed to have it sorted.

Yes had it done at Sinclairs van centre. Swansea,

 

[GSX1300R]

Thank you for clarifying the process.

I'd just Googled 'galvanic corrosion' and even with my abject GCSE Chemistry grade, managed to get my head around how this happens and how the choice of materials and operating environment influences whether it occurs or not

VW should have know right from the beginning that this was not the ideal thing to fit on an Aluminium roof. But they continued for years. VW philosophy is always fix it then solve it.. Could have saved millions by just using a different roof seal.

 

[tanto]

Re-occurring roof corrosion.

I have a 2010 van which had the lifting roof corrosion fixed in 2016 with a resprayed raising roof and a plastic cover fitted above the area above the windscreen. It did not solve the underlying galvanic corrosion as it is now back with a vengeance on both the roof and body seating. VW does not want to know any more as they “fixed it in” in 2016. It does not look like they can fix it, and I just need to add resprays as another regular maintenance costs.

VW should have know right from the beginning that this was not the ideal thing to fit on an Aluminium roof. But they continued for years. VW philosophy is always fix it then solve it.. Could have saved millions by just using a different roof seal.

unfortunately they have not solved it

unfortunately they have not solved it

I don't think vw have any solution to the problem. except after the first respray we need all to to pay for resprays every 5 years

 

[Bjohnson]

unfortunately they have not solved it


I don't think vw have any solution to the problem. except after the first respray we need all to to pay for resprays every 5 years

Ha ha, its just like owning a vintage van - have a friend with a 1972 bay window and he has it resprayed about every 6-8 years due to corrosion continually coming back!!

i should say, i had one warranty repair done in 2016, that is failing (the mastic/sealant that was applied around the roof panel is peeling away) plus i have new corrosion spots on the raising roof panel.

I’ve spoken with VW customer services today, and now back on the merry go round;
- Heritage Bristol did my 2016 warranty repair (sent van off to an approved body shop in London)
- Heritage Bristol inspected van again in Feb 2020, advised i was back on the list for another recall/repair
- spoke with VW Customer services today and refused to go back to Heritage Bristol, they’ve directed me to Swindon Van Centre
- Swindon have booked me in for an inspection in 4 weeks time, but have already stated there is no historic record of any corrosion warranty repairs to my vehicle (2016??!!), that i should have received a recall notice (?!) for the roof as its only been a warranty issue since 2018 (!) and there is no record of my vehicle being inspected (by Heritage) in 2020 and no corrosion issues recorded awaiting further action.

I’m going round in circles again and getting pretty mad. Will see what happens once Swindon has taken a look at it, although they’ve already said they cant repair a repair done by Heritage and i have to go back to Heritage - which I’ve now had to push back to VW customer services (despite explaining it all this morning) Arrrgggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Anytime soon I’m expecting VW to tell me theres no such thing as a VW California and there’s clearly no corrosion issues and I didn’t spend a significant amount of my hard earned money purchasing a brand new VW vehicle that simply isn’t fit for purpose

I’m so mad.

Rant over

 

[tanto]

Good look . I hope you get more joy from them than I have had so far, although I must say my local VW garage are very good, but they can get no joy out of VW

As VW garage informed me that VW would not re- fix my roof ,I took it to an independent well respected respray centre in Southampton, as recommended by my VW garage , to find out how much it would cost me to get the roof fixed at my expense. They looked at it and said that if it had been their repair it would be covered by their guarantee to protect their reputation. They recommended I should go directly back to VW to give them a chance rectify the fault with the original repair.

 

[KGCali]

The previous owner of my 2010 T5.1 SE had the front cowl replacement done in 2017 with a three year warranty. I purchased it in 2019 then in 2020 I noticed water ingress into the cab roof lining and saw the sealant was cracked around the cowl so I contacted the VW dealer who had arranged the original repair, Breeze Southampton via VW Heritage Bristol, and Breeze contacted VW Customer Services who approved the cowl removal and replacement which was done via Claridges Southall who collected and returned my Cali via the AA. Claridges did a great job and touched up a few other minor rust spot with VW approval and all free of charge! They whole process took about a month with VW approval causing the most delay but I'm very happy with the result. Apparently VW has specified an improved cowl sealant since 2019 so hopefully no more issues.

 

[tanto]

The previous owner of my 2010 T5.1 SE had the front cowl replacement done in 2017 with a three year warranty. I purchased it in 2019 then in 2020 I noticed water ingress into the cab roof lining and saw the sealant was cracked around the cowl so I contacted the VW dealer who had arranged the original repair, Breeze Southampton via VW Heritage Bristol, and Breeze contacted VW Customer Services who approved the cowl removal and replacement which was done via Claridges Southall who collected and returned my Cali via the AA. Claridges did a great job and touched up a few other minor rust spot with VW approval and all free of charge! They whole process took about a month with VW approval causing the most delay but I'm very happy with the result. Apparently VW has specified an improved cowl sealant since 2019 so hopefully no more issues.

That's good news . Breeze Southampton are always very helpful but I am afraid they had no joy with VW in my case

 

[Jerrycan]

My 2013 T5.1 SE is due to go go to Marshall’s in Newbury for the main roof galvanic corrosion warranty repair.
I would be interested to know if anyone has had the repair carried out at Marshall’s, any feedback would be much appreciated.
Still undecided as to whether to trust VW with the repair after reading some of the stories on here or to foot the bill and use a recommended independent.
Does anybody have any recommendations of a suitable independent?
Thanks in advance.

 

[KGCali]

Just take a lot of pictures inside and outside of your Cali before it's collected and when it's returned. I had my 2010 T5.1 SE main roof done September 2020 by VW via Lookers North Shields and they did an excellent job with good communication throughout the process. I had about 7 small bubble areas around the roof edges and a couple under the front of the elevating roof so they got VW approval to take the roof off and respray all of it as it was quicker. They also fitted the tape around the roof edges and a new rubber seal. Perfect now so let's hope it lasts another 10 years!

The front cowl corrosion is more of an issue as VW cut away part of the aluminium front cowl and stick a plastic cap over it with the potential for future issues of the seal cracking and water ingress, if mine hadn't already been done before I purchased it I would have taken it to an aluminium specialist for repair.

 

[SusiBus]

Just take a lot of pictures inside and outside of your Cali before it's collected and when it's returned. I had my 2010 T5.1 SE main roof done September 2020 by VW via Lookers North Shields and they did an excellent job with good communication throughout the process. I had about 7 small bubble areas around the roof edges and a couple under the front of the elevating roof so they got VW approval to take the roof off and respray all of it as it was quicker. They also fitted the tape around the roof edges and a new rubber seal. Perfect now so let's hope it lasts another 10 years!

The front cowl corrosion is more of an issue as VW cut away part of the aluminium front cowl and stick a plastic cap over it with the potential for future issues of the seal cracking and water ingress, if mine hadn't already been done before I purchased it I would have taken it to an aluminium specialist for repair.

View attachment 74592

I wonder how much extra it would cost to have a proper job done, ie. new alloy front cowl, instead of a plastic cover ?

 

[KGCali]

I wonder how much extra it would cost to have a proper job done, ie. new alloy front cowl, instead of a plastic cover ?

Think I'd get a quote off a classic car repairer if I ever need to.

 

[Pinkietee]

My 2013 T5.1 SE is due to go go to Marshall’s in Newbury for the main roof galvanic corrosion warranty repair.
I would be interested to know if anyone has had the repair carried out at Marshall’s, any feedback would be much appreciated.
Still undecided as to whether to trust VW with the repair after reading some of the stories on here or to foot the bill and use a recommended independent.
Does anybody have any recommendations of a suitable independent?
Thanks in advance.

Mine went to Newbury, I thought they did an excellent job and like you I was in fear and trepidation for two years waiting for it to be done.

 

[haydnw2]

Reassuring to hear some success stories! We, too, are at the 'fear and trepidation' stage so this is some nice balance.

 

[Pinkietee]

Reassuring to hear some success stories! We, too, are at the 'fear and trepidation' stage so this is some nice balance.

Mine went to Newbury, I thought they did an excellent job and like you I was in fear and trepidation for two years waiting for it to be done.

I should say that this was a 2015 T5.1, I don't want to worry anyone who looks at my profile and sees that I have a T6.1. The repair was last June and I changed my van in September.

 

[WelshGas]

I wonder how much extra it would cost to have a proper job done, ie. new alloy front cowl, instead of a plastic cover ?

I think I saw somewhere on this thread that an owner saw an invoice for about £5000 or so for the repair when they were replacing the front roof section.

 

[SusiBus]

I think I saw somewhere on this thread that an owner saw an invoice for about £5000 or so for the repair when they were replacing the front roof section.

I know it's a little bit late in the day to come up with this. What l meant was, If it cost VW, say £2,000 to put a plastic cap on. Could you say to them I don't want that, I'm prepared to pay the extra £------------ and have a proper job done, and have a replacement new front alloy casting.

 

[Jerrycan]

Just take a lot of pictures inside and outside of your Cali before it's collected and when it's returned. I had my 2010 T5.1 SE main roof done September 2020 by VW via Lookers North Shields and they did an excellent job with good communication throughout the process. I had about 7 small bubble areas around the roof edges and a couple under the front of the elevating roof so they got VW approval to take the roof off and respray all of it as it was quicker. They also fitted the tape around the roof edges and a new rubber seal. Perfect now so let's hope it lasts another 10 years!

The front cowl corrosion is more of an issue as VW cut away part of the aluminium front cowl and stick a plastic cap over it with the potential for future issues of the seal cracking and water ingress, if mine hadn't already been done before I purchased it I would have taken it to an aluminium specialist for repair.

View attachment 74592

Thank you for your response, it is good to know that there is some positive feedback.

 

[Jerrycan]

Mine went to Newbury, I thought they did an excellent job and like you I was in fear and trepidation for two years waiting for it to be done.

Thank you that is very reassuring.

 

[WelshGas]

I know it's a little bit late in the day to come up with this. What l meant was, If it cost VW, say £2,000 to put a plastic cap on. Could you say to them I don't want that, I'm prepared to pay the extra £------------ and have a proper job done, and have a replacement new front alloy casting.

I'm sure they would do it, but I doubt if they would discount it by the £2000.

 

[LondonPride]

I know this is well documented but can someone help me clarify whether this is roof corrosion, or something else? This is on a 2015 T5.1 Beach. I thought corrosion on the T5 was really the front cap and sorted for the T6. The front cap looks fine. But I have spotted this on the pop up roof, at the back.

I got the van 2nd hand from Crawley. When I phoned SMG Tonbridge where the can was originally from, they said it was on the roof corrosion list and would phone me back with updates as the van was transferred to me. I have it going back there for an MOT and service next month, but when I asked about roof corrosion again they said it wasnt on the list.

So I don’t want to be fobbed off and lose out. Looks to me like minor roof corrosion, but want to be sure. It is hard underneath the bubble, not soft and flakey paint

And surely as it is the roof, it must be quite easy to replace the whole roof? Anyone had this done and even if outside warranty, know how much this roughly costs?

Thanks!

 

[lfm]

Yes, that is exactly it. There is a steel wire reinforcement in the rubber seal that wears through the paint and contacts the aluminium roof... which then causes the metal corrosion and paint blisters. The fix is to clean off the corrosion, repaint and then apply a 3M rubber/plastic tape under the rubber seal.