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VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

Where do you have the Roof Corrosion on your VW California?

  • Front panel only

    Votes: 193 37.3%
  • Main elevating roof only

    Votes: 78 15.1%
  • Both Front panel and main roof

    Votes: 247 47.7%

  • Total voters
    518
Your Cali has definitely had the corrosion repair, the whole front section of the roof is basically a plastic cap they bonded over the original roof section to cover up where they cut away the corroded section. We had the exact same issue, the bonding fails over time and you get water ingress, ours leaked in the same place as yours. I did try sealing around the edges of the cap myself but without success. Fortunately we were still in the warranty period for the roof repair so it went back to VW. They removed the plastic cowl cleaned everything up and re bonded it. They use a different bonding material now and we had no issues following the second repair. So definitely first port of call is VW to see if they will rectify their failed repair. The problem with trying to reseal it yourself is getting even pressure on the cowl to hold it firmly in place while the sealant sets if you don’t the cowl will just keep lifting and break the seal again. Good luck with getting this sorted.

Thanks a bunch for this.

I'm waiting for VW to call me back. From the documentation I have found, it looks like the repair was done in late 2018 so I'm guessing warranty period is over but hoping they could do it out of goodwill. The problem is that it doesn't say where the repair was done, just says "other VW shop".

If not, I will probably try to re-seal it myself with Sika. The bonding has failed on both sides but the center is still bonded. Regarding putting pressure to keep it down, I was thinking of just sealing it as it is - squeezing some Sika into the gap. But maybe that's not a good idea?
 
I reseal ours every year. Needs to be very clean and dry. I rub it over with alcohol before applying the sealant. Whatever sealant you use it will eventually fail so needs keeping an eye on it.
Ours went back three times to try to cure leaks after the modification and still didn't sort it. Complete shambles.
Great, if VW won't help me I will try to seal it myself. Could you recommend any specific sealant? Would it be ok if there is a small gap where I seal it, or should I try to put weight on the roof cap to keep it down? Thanks!
 
Sikaflex is generally reckoned to be the best to use. Personally I wouldn't try to press it down unless it looks really loose otherwise it will try to pull apart all the time. I just keep digging the old sealer out and replacing it. Not pretty but at least it doesn't leak.
 
I really appreciate your answers.

In the documentation I found a note saying that the repair was done in late 2018 but it doesn't say where, only "other VW shop". I'm waiting for VW to call me back but not keeping my hopes up.

I will probably just try to re-seal it myself.

My approach would be trying to squeeze sealer into the gap. There's only a gap on the sides, the middle is still bonded. Should I try to put weight on the roof cap while I seal it instead, to try to get rid of the gap? Any recommendations for a specific sealer?
 
Thanks a bunch for this.

I'm waiting for VW to call me back. From the documentation I have found, it looks like the repair was done in late 2018 so I'm guessing warranty period is over but hoping they could do it out of goodwill. The problem is that it doesn't say where the repair was done, just says "other VW shop".

If not, I will probably try to re-seal it myself with Sika. The bonding has failed on both sides but the center is still bonded. Regarding putting pressure to keep it down, I was thinking of just sealing it as it is - squeezing some Sika into the gap. But maybe that's not a good idea?
The problem with ours was the cap was coming away completely, you could hear the wind noise on the motorway where it was lifting. I prised it open and filled it with sealant then left it for 2 days with bags of sand balanced on it. 2 weeks later the seal had failed again. Maybe the sealant I used wasn’t up to the job and as people suggest the Sikafex is better. You’ve got nothing to loose sealing it yourself, won’t cause any damage. Good luck! And fingers crossed VW might help you….
 
The problem with ours was the cap was coming away completely, you could hear the wind noise on the motorway where it was lifting. I prised it open and filled it with sealant then left it for 2 days with bags of sand balanced on it. 2 weeks later the seal had failed again. Maybe the sealant I used wasn’t up to the job and as people suggest the Sikafex is better. You’ve got nothing to loose sealing it yourself, won’t cause any damage. Good luck! And fingers crossed VW might help you….
Just found this picture when I attempted to fix it, comedy really :)

IMG_2775.jpeg
 
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