VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[stewie]

My claim for front panel only corrosion above windscreen and under
roof closing gasket has been rejected because it is outside the 6 year
extended warranty for this reported problem,my 3 year warranty expired
june 2009 extended to june 2012,and only noticed problem early 2014.

There is no apparent corrosion on the roof itself,i have owned the
vehicle since 2007 bought from vw ex demo vehicle,i have heard mention
of a 12 year warranty for inside to outside corrosion which this appears
to be the case, can anybody throw any light on this,

regards stewie

 

[chrislilp]

I've had my 2009 Cali for four years and the roof corrosion is now very prominent. Take a look at the attached pictures.

I need to get in before it's more than 6 years old and I will be submitting a claim to my local dealer, but he does not have a body shop.

I'm in the South West, any recommendations as to where I take the Cali to have the paintwork on the roof fixed?

Thanks to the Forum for all the great advice and help.
Chris

 

[Stu]

My claim for front panel only corrosion above windscreen and under
roof closing gasket has been rejected because it is outside the 6 year
extended warranty for this reported problem,my 3 year warranty expired
june 2009 extended to june 2012,and only noticed problem early 2014.

There is no apparent corrosion on the roof itself,i have owned the
vehicle since 2007 bought from vw ex demo vehicle,i have heard mention
of a 12 year warranty for inside to outside corrosion which this appears
to be the case, can anybody throw any light on this,

regards stewie

That's tough mate and it looks like you're in the ranks of the refused club.

We have a list in the staffroom area of those of you that have been rejected thus far and once a way ahead becomes known you'll all be contacted. In the meantime I wouldn't let that stop you pursuing other avenues as it clearly is a fault evident from manufacture so you should take some proper advise.

 

[SusiBus]

Take to any VW Van Centre to get your claim submitted. Get confirmation that your claim has been approved. VW will then arrange to have it repaired at one of the four approved body shops.

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

AS has been said, any VW Van Centre can process the repair for you. They do not need a body shop to do this and submit the claim to Volkswagen for approval. During the process the dealer nominates which body shop will carry out the repair and once approved the details are then sent to the body shop who will contact the customers directly when their vehicle is due for repair.

cheers

 

[MarkW]

Have VW actually identified the root cause of the main roof corrosion?

If so what is the remedial action rather than repainting and the issue reoccurring?

 

[jts46]

AS has been said, any VW Van Centre can process the repair for you. They do not need a body shop to do this and submit the claim to Volkswagen for approval. During the process the dealer nominates which body shop will carry out the repair and once approved the details are then sent to the body shop who will contact the customers directly when their vehicle is due for repair.

cheers

As stated in my post took van for service at derby van centre, asked them to photo corrosion on front roof panel, they were told by VWCS not to bother as cali is 7.5 yrs old is this correct? or should i pursuit it further with regards to photo?

John

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Unfortunately they are correct. The repair is for vehicles under six years old.

thanks

 

[jts46]

So it looks like i am in for a £4000 bill, or !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John

 

[777111]

Have VW actually identified the root cause of the main roof corrosion?

If so what is the remedial action rather than repainting and the issue reoccurring?

Still a very good question....

 

[David Eccles]

As the offending aluminium roof parts are supplied by outsource and come to Limmer prepainted ready to assemble I bet there have been some VERY interesting discussions behind closed doors between VW and them!

 

[MarkW]

Regarding the main roof corrosion...apologies if I'm missing something (I have read the threads extensively).

The thrust seems to be on the corrective action being available to all Cali Owners over 3 years old (6 yrs now achieved) and now to 6+ year old Cali owners.

...but until a definitive root cause and repair has been identified then Cali's currently booked in for remedial work (and on the production line) will still continue to suffer from corrosion to the main roof even after repair/respray...

 

[777111]

...but until a definitive root cause and repair has been identified then Cali's currently booked in for remedial work (and on the production line) will still continue to suffer from corrosion to the main roof even after repair/respray...

That too is my concern.
Would anyone aware of this issue really go and spend £40K+ on a vehicle that was going to exhibit this problem?

 

[shambly]

As the offending aluminium roof parts are supplied by outsource and come to Limmer prepainted ready to assemble I bet there have been some VERY interesting discussions behind closed doors between VW and them!

Yes, I can imagine that there is a very fine line being walked to avoid placing such a financial strain on their supplier (who no doubt had to sign up to all sorts of liability clauses to win the business in the first place) that it goes out of business...

Co-incidently I was told by Heritage today that they just can't get the parts from VW in order to actually do any repairs at present....

We're 13th in their queue; hopefully not unlucky...

Simon

 

[SusiBus]

We have raised the issue with two different people within upper VW management with regard to the fact that we think that unless the rubber seal is modified (ie without a metal insert) the elevating roof corrosion is likely to return because the root cause is likely to be electrochemical corrosion between the aluminium roof and the metal insert within the rubber seal (dissimilar metals).

We will report back when we get a reply.

 

[crossa]

Shambly- Shorade put it more succinctly. They said the suppliers had gone bust!!

 

[SusiBus]

We are about to have a meeting with VW. Has anyone got it in writing that the aluminium roof supplier has gone bust, or is this possibly just a rumour?

 

[crossa]

SusiBus- I rang Shorade about a week ago to find out where I was on the repair list, which was when the lady I spoke to said that the supplier had gone bust. She said that because I was number 49 on their repair list, it would be about 2 years before my Cali would be repaired, assuming that VW were able to find a new supplier promptly. Nothing in writing,however.

 

[nclarke8]

I picked up my Cali from Shorade Yesterday (the first one they have done)
[album]1690[/album]

Shorade is the most Professional and Friendly bodyshop i have ever dealt with. They have your vehicle (pic above taken by Vicki) in their showroorm for the handover / inspection. It was absolutely gleaming and they explained everything they had done for the repair.

I couldn't fault anything on it, nice to see that level of attention to detail.

They explained and stressed the 'repair' on the roof. It was a strip back coat with the oxide primer (from Germany as not normally availabe for automotive use) and then normal primer and and top coat etc. They decided to add extra protection to the lip of the roof by adding a clear plastic tape (same is now used on top of the front panel where the roof seal touches) so that the rubber seal does not actually touch the paint. Their opinion was it was more likely the dirt being caught in the seal and then pressure from numerous open/close cycles that was rubbing the bottom of the panel, hence the extra tape. They have taken this extra step back to VW.
Only time will tell if the fix is is succesfull.

They also mentioned that VW are only dleivering 3 front panels at a time, therefore only 12 in the country, and mentioned the 2 years to complete all of their list. They wanted more panels so they could batch prepare the panels. Detail was Oxide primer to 80 microns then rub back to the requird 60 microns followed by the normal primer etc.

Many thanks to the Excellent Team at Shorade.

 

[snowy55]

What's the warranty on the resprayed roof and front panel?

 

[sebking]

Front Panel and Roof approved for repair at AB Crush.
Awaiting call and letter.
Seb

 

[Jimbo965]

Took my van in on Friday for some other work and they took pictures of the small amounts of paint bubbling on the front roof section. Got a call today that the paintwork repair has been approved and will be scheduled in with AB Crush Panelcraft. Won't be until the New Year now though because of the queue but they will pick it up and provide a loaner. Ok for me as I'm in no particular hurry. VW are going to confirm in writing.

 

[David Eccles]

TWO YEARS!!!!!
and there was me complacently thinking VW were on top of sorting the problem!
so
how long will the warranty be on the roof repairs when they are done?
and..VW just celebrating 500,000 Calis...all with this fault maybe? now that's scary...for them...

 

[Martin]

Contact details of all four repair centres are now listed here at the bottom of the page:

http://www.vwcaliforniaclub.com/roof_corrosion.php


.

 

[David Eccles]

Shorade have just told me we are number 71 on list..
if no 49 is two years then mine will be three!!
I am going to get onto VW....two years....ridiculous...