VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[calikev]

I'm not far behind you David no 73 on the list

 

[jts46]

UNFORTUNATELY I AM NOT ON THE LIST, GUTTED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John

 

[gooseyj]

copied this from
http://www.carscoops.com/2014/07/guess- ... amper.html

Since the launch of the California model, its popularity has grown with every new generation. Production figures for the T3 version reached 22,000 and for the T4 version 39,000. The latest T5 version has so far racked up 50,000 sales, with manufacturing being continued on a two-shift basis to meet high demand.
Its going to cost VW some serious money, and as mine is 6+ me as well

 

[jts46]

Perhaps we should write to: Dr. Eckhard Scholz, Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand.
and ask for his thoughts on the corrosion issue, if he knows?

John

 

[Martin]

We have just had an update from VW but it is not good news, we have sent an email to you all on the 6 year+ list

 

[Freeley]

Susibus seems to have things in hand and have done brilliantly so far but the ridiculous decision of the 6+ year cut off is grossly unfair and needs to be addressed. Our cali is 5 years old and it's worrying to think that in 12 months time i will have no protection from VW with regards to future corrosion.
If not then a lot of cali owners will feel they have no choice but to sell them before they get to that age.
Maybe it will also bring an end to the bullet proof residuals and hit us all in the pocket?

 

[Gordon]

I just called Heritage and I am 138 in the queue, is this serious?

 

[Freeley]

It just means you're in for a long wait.
At least you're in the queue - I don't even get mine inspected until the end of the month and it seems to me with the parts shortages that the queue is only going to get longer - how long till it gets to a 5 year wait I wonder????
Ridiculous

 

[David Eccles]

I have just had a discussion with VW re the apparent 2 year wait..and an impending mag article I might need to amend
they are coming back to me on it...
in less than 2 years I hope!

 

[Stu]

I have just had a discussion with VW re the apparent 2 year wait..and an impending mag article I might need to amend
they are coming back to me on it...
in less than 2 years I hope!

I wonder if you'll suddenly find yourself 'moved' up the list :laugh2

 

[loopsut]

Thank you for your e-mail.
I have no sign of corrosion, my California reflex silver is post March 2013, so hopefully I will have no problems.

On another subject (awning rattle). I developed a rattle from the awning, which became louder and more annoying over a couple of days. On unwinding the awning I noticed that there were two rubber buffers attached to the back of the casing about an half inch square where the elbows of the arms retract into the casing, one of which had moved, after repositioning, no more rattle.
Hope this can be of help to somebody.

 

[WelshGas]

For new owners or prospective purchasers.
So, as is usual, a body repair is guaranteed for a minimum 3 years, then maybe in case of the front panel/ roof VW will guarantee the repair for 6 years.
So, wait until 5 years + , but before 6 years, and check the front panel/roof for corrosion. If present register for warranty repair. At the present rate of repairs it could be 4 to 6 years before repair is completed and then you have the 3 to 6 repair guarantee . So basically your front panel/roof is covered for 12 to 18 years. :cool
And if the repair fails then you start all over again.

 

[David Eccles]

so I am not good at Maths but if I am 71 on list and they take 2 weeks to do 2 at a time that means the minimum wait time is 71 weeks for me...and that's not allowing for any possible issues in getting the parts...
that's not an acceptable wait time by any stretch of imagination....I was happily being patient, but 71 weeks is pushing even my faith in the brand...
I would not be at all surprised if there was no T6 Cali in the future but it will subcontract to Westfalia...this T5 Cali roof issue will run for years...every week more come to light..
as Macbeth said "What! will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?"

 

[jts46]

Re: Roof Corrosion - Has your claim been rejected?

mine was rejected yesterday 11/8/14

John

 

[crossa]

David, I think you have got your maths wrong. If my number 49 on the list equates to about 2 years, then your number 71 equates to nearly 3 years, which is more than 71 weeks!! Oh, and that is not taking into account any delay in the supply of parts.

 

[Stu]

I think we could do with an official statement from VW regarding anticipated repair times.

Clearly when talking about years rather than months to get to someones van it does become really quite unacceptable.

I would hope that once the supply of new parts is improved that they will train more people to carry out the repairs - Although this is of course to be balanced with training the correct people and not making it a free for all, I'm pleased that the four currently in operation appear to be very proficient and professional.

I don't imagine the shortage of parts is in anyway affecting the supply of new vehicles :mrgreen:

 

[Meoncoast]

Has anyone done the Maths

With the roof repairs under way of the Cali roofs I was wondering the costs to VW

ie the cost of repair x the numbers that need doing. Then on top of that how much profit did they make on each Cali they sold :?:

Is the Cali a profitable concept for VW to continue with in the future given they are making profits on all the T5s they sale to camper van converters

 

[GrannyJen]

Re: Has anyone done the Maths

I have wondered the same. Just how much is the roof costing VW.

Also with Mercedes coming in with the Marco Polo will VW see a camper option as part of it's range when the T6 comes in.

 

[tani]

I am new to this and in catch up mode and i want to introduce an important point that may or may not have been pursued.

My van is registered May 2006 (had it from new and bought it in france - so french nos plates) and so is well over 6 years old. My appeal will probably be turned down if they stick to the 6+ year cut off! I will however pursue vigourously and i like all of you think that the cutoff should be on the basis of chassis numbers that were exposed to this defective paint procedure/problem and not an arbitrary 6+ year line. My main reason for writing is:


For those like me who may have to fund our own repairs we need to have VW FORMALLY publish the "new repair procedure" as detailed from SusiBus' letter to Mr SMITH. They of course will want to resist this for commercial reasons. If i take my Van for corrective paint work i don't want the problem to surface again so i don't want them doing what they normally do as clearly it will not sort the problem out. The manufacturing defect needs to be published together with the corrective procedure that can be given to paint shops to which we can take our vans. It is wholly unacceptable if we are forced to only go to the centres that have been specially trained at our own cost and which will have a backlog of warranty work that may exceed 2+ years. It is one thing to wait for a protracted period when it will be fixed under warranty and quite another matter if we have to wait this length of time and pay for it! So if they are not going to fix vans 6+ year then we would want a formal and detailed document that can be followed by paint-shops up and down the country. I have based this on the following clip from SusiBus.

 

[MarkW]

With regard to the "main" roof corrosion repairs I would have thought that repairs times at this moment are not valid.

Until VW finds the root cause and the remedial action there seems little point in repairing the roof as it will corrode again and require further repair.

 

[snowy55]

Hi tani
We don't know yet if the "new" paint system works. My guess is they won't get it right first time and all the early repainted roofs will blister again.
More happy days go come!

 

[stevej]

I only reported mine two weeks ago, I just called the bodyshop this morning and I am 149 in the queue, I was also told at the moment all parts are on back order with no delivery date.

Allowing for delays, staff holiday, staff sickness, public holidays I think I am looking at 2017?

 

[crossa]

Stevej. If I am number 49 and looking at 2 years and David Eccles is number 71 and looking at 3 years, then you at number 149 are looking at 6 years, that is 2020. Something must be done!!!!!

 

[Stu]

I am new to this and in catch up mode and i want to introduce an important point that may or may not have been pursued.

My van is registered May 2006 (had it from new and bought it in france - so french nos plates) and so is well over 6 years old. My appeal will probably be turned down if they stick to the 6+ year cut off! I will however pursue vigourously and i like all of you think that the cutoff should be on the basis of chassis numbers that were exposed to this defective paint procedure/problem and not an arbitrary 6+ year line. My main reason for writing is:


For those like me who may have to fund our own repairs we need to have VW FORMALLY publish the "new repair procedure" as detailed from SusiBus' letter to Mr SMITH. They of course will want to resist this for commercial reasons. If i take my Van for corrective paint work i don't want the problem to surface again so i don't want them doing what they normally do as clearly it will not sort the problem out. The manufacturing defect needs to be published together with the corrective procedure that can be given to paint shops to which we can take our vans. It is wholly unacceptable if we are forced to only go to the centres that have been specially trained at our own cost and which will have a backlog of warranty work that may exceed 2+ years. It is one thing to wait for a protracted period when it will be fixed under warranty and quite another matter if we have to wait this length of time and pay for it! So if they are not going to fix vans 6+ year then we would want a formal and detailed document that can be followed by paint-shops up and down the country. I have based this on the following clip from SusiBus.

I think you raise some very good points here.

I think that if you took VW to task they will argue that they are providing the repairs outside of the first 3 years of warranty as goodwill and therefore need a cut off point, which they choose to be 6 years. I think your point regarding chassis numbers of affected vehicles is probably the best approach however I am certain it would actually include every vehicle ever built so falls outside of the 6 year marker they set out.

So in my view if you want to pursue VW you would need to have it acknowledged that it is a fault that was present at time of manufacture and perhaps not fit for purpose - which I don't think should be too difficult.

Your case is made slightly worse by the obscure terms of VW new car warranty which is that the first 2 years are provided by VW UK and the third by the network (and hence only applies to vehicles purchased in the UK), which I believe in reality is still VW UK but it was something that came about to combat the influx of EU imports we had some years ago.

I also agree regarding the repair procedure however VW might be allowed to charge for this, and it may even be that they are not legally liable to release details at all. if it were me, given the obvious complexity of the vehicles I wouldn't entrust it to anyone other than one of the four currently trained.

 

[Martin]

There are still hundreds of people that have not reported it yet due to the initial email being sent at the beginning of the summer, many people were away on holiday. I expect there will be major influx of more claims going in around September time once people start to return.