VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[owen_h]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

as paint wasn't covered by the used vehicle warranty/checks.
.[/quote]

That's a poor get out. Mind you, motor trade is famous for them.[/quote]

My thoughts at the time as well, actually my thoughts were slightly stronger. They gave me the option of taking it up with the supplying dealer (200 mile round trip) or me paying for their paintwork expert to inspect it. £170 which would be reimbursed if he ruled in my favour.

 

[robo]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Just received a call from VW.

They will appoint 4 repair centres.
My vehicle will be picked up on a low loader and replaced with a California for the 2 weeks that the repair will take.
The entire roof will be replaced.

Should start doing them mid Feb.
No other details yet.

rob

 

[Dave_T]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

That's one hell of an expensive job!

 

[Chilly Cali]

Blistering roof repair

Today I gott details of the approved repair for the leading edge roof corrosion issue. It seems a bit drastic!
Whilst VW are making great efforts to make the rectification painless (Courtesy Cali and insurance etc.) the job seems to be pretty hardcore.
They described it as taking 2 weeks, a complete roof change. They. Will chop through the a,b and c pillars, put a new roof on, change windows and windscreens. Frankly I have my concerns and wonder whether this will devalue my Cali in the future.
If I were looking for a second hand one, I'd be avoiding anything that had been 'cut and shut' even if it was conducted for good reason by professionals.
Is anyone else concerned? If so does anyone have any experience of these warranties and at what point we can argue that the repair is too great an undertaking and regardless of the capability of the engineers, the vehicle will not be as good as it should be.
I am quite concerned... Any thoughts or advice welcomed.

 

[muttley]

Re: Blistering roof repair

Are you sure you have been given the correct information? I can't imagine there is any chance that VW would sanction 'cutting off' the entire roof in order to fix a relatively simple problem. I think / hope that you have been misinformed.

Simon

 

[shambly]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

The entire roof will be replaced.

I presume by entire roof, you mean the entire front aluminium section that sits above the drivers head?

 

[Custardtart]

Re: Blistering roof repair

How were you informed - post, email or verbally?

If you've got something in writing can you post it?

I'm on the list but haven't heard anything yet.

I agree with you that anything involving cutting pillars is unacceptable to me. It would be equivalent to buying a crash repaired vehicle .... but paying the price of a brand new factory built one!

 

[Chilly Cali]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Hi, I got the same call today, I've posted this elsewhere on this site, but frankly, the repair job is so drastic that I am truly concerned about the future value of my precious 'Connie'. The job was described as a complete roof change, cutting it away at the a,b and c pillars, change entire roof and windows, screens. 2 weeks of work. VW are being very good at minimising the impact, by collecting the vehicle and leaving a courtesy Cali, but frankly that Is the least that they can do. Regardless of how good a job they do, it is still essentially a 'cut and shut' job, and if I were looking to buy a second hand Cali, I would avoid any that had undergone such drastic surgery, regardless of the warranties that may be given, I will always worry about every squeak and rattle.
I know what the answer will be, but I think that this should be a recall issue rather than a repair.
I would welcome any thoughts on this. I wasn't planning on selling my beloved vehicle but it still feels as though VW have robbed me of a considerable amount of dough through their mistake.

 

[calikev]

Re: Blistering roof repair

Surely you mean they will be replacing the aluminium pop up roof .I didn't think the steel bodywork was affected I can't imagine them cutting the roof off through the pillars.

 

[greenfintry]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Panel

Feels like a damned if do, damned if dont moment.......

As this is so widespread, there may well be an expectation that it should have been done....

Does anyone know if it the above cab or the elevating roof bit? or both

 

[HistoryBob]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

I was told just last week that they lift the entire roof just to get at the front panel.

 

[Chilly Cali]

Re: Blistering roof repair

I got the news from 'Ben' at VW central customer services. He definitely used the words: 'entire roof change' and 'cutting through that a,b and c pillars' and 'change windscreens and windows'. I am gutted. My beloved Cali is destined to become a cut and shut job.
I really don't think this is on, I didn't pay for a stitched together CALI and I can't imagine I'll ever be able to sell it, regardless of VW's repair warranties.

 

[Chilly Cali]

Re: Blistering roof repair

I'll phone 'Ben' tomorrow and see if I can get him to email
Me a copy of the repair schedule that has been signed up to. Then I suppose I'll have a think as to how I should proceed...

 

[crossa]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

What is the value of that huge repair job? Can I have the money instead?

 

[MichaelB]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

I think most Cali's will have the issue that requires this repair based on the work done on the forum and the chat's I've had with my local van centre so I think the second hand market will be a level playing field.

I'm assuming this is the same repair as has been going on in Germany for some time. If this is the case and also assuming their are not nightmare stories coming from Germany I actually find this hugely reassuring. Remember that the roof is cut as part of the original manufacturing process and I doubt VW would be going through this if they had any concerns about the quality of the repair. I would rather this is repaired in a highly controlled repeated process than on a ad-hoc basis that has been done up till now where a repeat occupancy of the issue is highly likely.

So just to check my assumptions I'll be asking if this is the same repair as Germany. What the success rate is so far and how long they are covering the work.

Has anyone heard of issues with the repair in Germany?

 

[surfbus]

Re: Blistering roof repair

They described it as taking 2 weeks, a complete roof change. They. Will chop through the a,b and c pillars, put a new roof on, change windows and windscreens. Frankly I have my concerns and wonder whether this will devalue my Cali in the future.

This sounds awful, I can only imagine how you are feeling about this "repair".
If the "Blistering Paint" repair is as intrusive as you have been told and there is no 100% guarantee that new vehicles will not suffer the same fate then I will be cancelling my order.
Good Luck!!
Bill

 

[Cody]

Re: Blistering roof repair

When I spoke to VW last week the customer services lady said new roof and a complete 4 layer re spray of the vehicle to colour match. Nothing about cutting etc. Curiouser and curiouser..

 

[Martin]

Re: Blistering roof repair

From what I heard today this is true, to top this I have got to travel all the way to Bristol as that is the only one that is covering the entire West Country. 7 hour round trip ... Twice .

 

[shambly]

Re: Blistering roof repair

Martin - It sounds as though they'll come and collect on a low loader and leave a courtesy cali, so no journey required....

Following talk of roof removal I've just looked at the Cali Technical Manual (VIP) area to remind myself of the modifications made by VW to a standard T5 and what it says is interesting....

Quote:

the roof opening has been strengthened with reinforcing parts to maintain the crash safety:
For this purpose, there are diecast aluminium plates at the front and rear, roof frame reinforcements at the sides and a profile rail on the roof-elevating mechanism. All of these parts are glued, screwed and riveted.

So, the rear section is also aluminium and from posts of peoples discussions with VW customer services it sounds like it is getting replaced/repaired too? Could the sides also be aluminium necessitating pretty much this whole roof replacement? - being aluminium would explain why these too were glued and riveted rather than welded...

Simon

 

[muttley]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Just received a call from VW.

They will appoint 4 repair centres.
My vehicle will be picked up on a low loader and replaced with a California for the 2 weeks that the repair will take.
The entire roof will be replaced.

Should start doing them mid Feb.
No other details yet.

rob

Please post if you hear where the repair centres are. 4 for the whole country doesn't sound very convenient.

Simon

 

[MichaelB]

Re: Blistering Paintwork Front Roof Pannel

Just received a call from VW.

They will appoint 4 repair centres.
My vehicle will be picked up on a low loader and replaced with a California for the 2 weeks that the repair will take.
The entire roof will be replaced.

Should start doing them mid Feb.
No other details yet.

rob

Please post if you hear where the repair centres are. 4 for the whole country doesn't sound very convenient.

Simon

I think this is why they are picking up and dropping off so you don't need to worry about the distance to the repair centre. If this is to your home is it actually a better service than they offered in Germany where you need to take it to your local dealer which for some is quite a round trip.

 

[Chilly Cali]

Re: Blistering roof repair

When I spoke to VW last week the customer services lady said new roof and a complete 4 layer re spray of the vehicle to colour match. Nothing about cutting etc. Curiouser and curiouser..

I agree Cody, that was what I heard about a week ago too...
However, more detail today and I'm still in shock.

Charlie

 

[Cody]

Re: Blistering roof repair

Crikey, if this is the solution for a bit of flakey paint, dread to think of the solution to my clonky steering column! :crazy

 

[James]

Re: Blistering roof repair

Before everyone has a break down and what is rumoured becomes a fact...

Step back and look at how the roof is constructed. They've already cut through the roof to put on the front section and the pop top.

I am not actually bothered about cutting through what was already cut. It's just taking out what is already there.

I think people need to take a deep breath and let's try understand how the Cali is converted and what exactly they''re going to do.

I don't doubt Ben in customer services but I'd like to have the information before I start having a heart attack


James

 

[dayslikethis]

Re: Blistering roof repair

They described it as taking 2 weeks, a complete roof change. They. Will chop through the a,b and c pillars, put a new roof on, change windows and windscreens. Frankly I have my concerns and wonder whether this will devalue my Cali in the future.

This sounds awful, I can only imagine how you are feeling about this "repair".
If the "Blistering Paint" repair is as intrusive as you have been told and there is no 100% guarantee that new vehicles will not suffer the same fate then I will be cancelling my order.
Good Luck!!
Bill

surely any new build / new order will not need this work?