VW warranty - you must be joking !

[stephen A]

As my California is 3 years old on June 7 I received an invitation to extend the warranty but decided to wait untii the MOT arranged for 31st May before making a decision. Being presented with a repair bill in excess of £1000 not covered by the warranty I decided not to extend the warranty.

The main issue was the need to replace the steering suspension lower control arm as the rear bushes had split through excessive wear (having done less than 24000 miles). This is regarded by VW to be "fair wear and tear" or due to my poor driving so is not covered by warranty presumably under the small print as "worn and perishable items" .

In addition one of the letters from the word "MOTION' had dropped off - again it is not covered - so if bodywork falls off your cali this is not covered under the warranty small print as "all bodywork components excluded"

So I am afraid VW can put their extended warranty where the sun does not shine and I can keep the premium to put towards the next expensive repair I shall have on my California Ocean.

.

 

[Moggymog]

Do a quick search on here and you'll see a number of T6's had steering components replaced under warranty.....just thinking it might be a known issue

 

[andyinluton]

As my California is 3 years old on June 7 I received an invitation to extend the warranty but decided to wait untii the MOT arranged for 31st May before making a decision. Being presented with a repair bill in excess of £1000 not covered by the warranty I decided not to extend the warranty.

So I am afraid VW can put their extended warranty where the sun does not shine and I can keep the premium to put towards the next expensive repair I shall have on my California Ocean.

.

If you paid over £1000 for a lower control arm to be replaced I would suggest you really ought to find another garage - I did one last year on a mates T6 & it took us an hour & £75 in parts

 

[stephen A]

Perhaps I should have named this thread “How much does your Cali cost each year in mechanical repair bills?”

I am happy to report that due to my persistence, the authorised VW repairer accepted that the leaking rear suspension for which I had originally been billed was covered by the warranty and that the main issue of the £1060 cost of repairing the suspension arms damaged (due to what I am told was wear and tear on the bushes) was accepted on the basis of 50% payment from VW and 50% payment from the repairer. Apparently, the bushes in question are examined as part of the service schedule and did not show up has damaged in the routine inspection. They are also looked at as part of the MOT and can be the cause for an MOT failure.

The cost for repairs and the two services etc. (which have now been paid under the warranty) has been approximately £600 per annum over the three year warranty. This is virtually the same annual s cost of the two year extended warranty offered by VW. Admittedly there are other benefits included within the warranty package the most valuable of which is probably the road side assistance. This however is fully covered in the insurance premium I pay.

In order to avoid another protracted fight with VW over the terms of the warranty it seems to me that I might be better off taking the risk myself rather than purchasing the extended warranty. Indeed if the Cali does not then cost £600pa in repair bills I am in profit. It also suggests that the actuarial value of the warranty is pretty accurate.

 

[Pegsinho]

I suppose when comparing the cost of what repairs have been over the last three years and the per annum cost of the extended warranty, you'd have to factor in the peace of mind in case something expensive goes bang (thinking engine or gearbox for example).

I go down the 'self warranty' route on my other car which has the potential to throw a very costly wobbly at any moment, and I add to a bork fund every month (but that's mainly because the cost of an official warranty on that is pretty financially crippling). I guess it all depends on what is covered by the warranty, how much you want to fight if required and how much you can set aside 'just in case'. For me, £600p/a seems pretty reasonable if it is fairly comprehensive.

 

[ArunAlec]

Worth looking at…. https://www.clcsussex.com

 

[PeteS]

I sort of go down the self warranty route. I pay £100 per month into a saving account just for car repairs. If when I come to change the car there is money in the pot I use this to help fund the new car. As the new car will come with some warranty then I can build the funds back up again. If you are saving £100 per month after 2 years you will have more money in the account than most warranties will pay out per claim. It is a bit of swings and roundabouts a warranty will pay out for a number of claims but if you don’t have a claim then you would have paid for the warranty. I guess the warranty is piece of mind if you need it.
For me most of the time there is money in the pot. I do have the All in One warranty now as that includes servicing and breakdown cover.

 

[Eamonn]

I just sold my much loved T6 (as I've taken delivery of my new 6.1). The table release mechanism in the door had failed a few months ago, which I'd assumed would be covered by the warranty.

However they claimed that this was 'trim' and therefore not covered under warranty. I tried to make the case that the table release mechanism is a mechanical component, and not trim, but they did not concede.

In the end, I gave the buyer ~ £550 to cover the cost of replacement.

 

[Toothlessjon]

I just sold my much loved T6 (as I've taken delivery of my new 6.1). The table release mechanism in the door had failed a few months ago, which I'd assumed would be covered by the warranty.

However they claimed that this was 'trim' and therefore not covered under warranty. I tried to make the case that the table release mechanism is a mechanical component, and not trim, but they did not concede.

In the end, I gave the buyer ~ £550 to cover the cost of replacement.

Should have cancelled the 6.1 and told them to stuff it.

 

[briwy]

I think VW are very crafty with warranty issues. We have a 2014 Cali with the 180 BiTurbo engine. Bought new, serviced every year by VW. We now have the dreaded oil issue at 75k. I spoke to VW yesterday about a contribution to the near £10k cost to sort it to be told that they only consider a contribution to labour costs on vans up to eight years old and 80k miles. Now this stinks to me as that age and mileage is exactly when this problem becomes apparent so yet again VW are wriggling out of what is really their fault and responsibility to sort out.
So it will be off to RetroResus at the end of the year to be sorted there. I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has gone through this, who they used, what was done and the results.

 

[Paul_W]

Perhaps I should have named this thread “How much does your Cali cost each year in mechanical repair bills?”

I am happy to report that due to my persistence, the authorised VW repairer accepted that the leaking rear suspension for which I had originally been billed was covered by the warranty and that the main issue of the £1060 cost of repairing the suspension arms damaged (due to what I am told was wear and tear on the bushes) was accepted on the basis of 50% payment from VW and 50% payment from the repairer. Apparently, the bushes in question are examined as part of the service schedule and did not show up has damaged in the routine inspection. They are also looked at as part of the MOT and can be the cause for an MOT failure.

The cost for repairs and the two services etc. (which have now been paid under the warranty) has been approximately £600 per annum over the three year warranty. This is virtually the same annual s cost of the two year extended warranty offered by VW. Admittedly there are other benefits included within the warranty package the most valuable of which is probably the road side assistance. This however is fully covered in the insurance premium I pay.

In order to avoid another protracted fight with VW over the terms of the warranty it seems to me that I might be better off taking the risk myself rather than purchasing the extended warranty. Indeed if the Cali does not then cost £600pa in repair bills I am in profit. It also suggests that the actuarial value of the warranty is pretty accurate.

Now you’re out of warranty I’d highly recommend finding yourself a good local independent garage, at the end of the day ignoring the camping side of the vehicle what’s being serviced is just a regular VW T6, bread and butter to any garage. They will likely use the exact same genuine parts as the VW van centre but you will probably save in the region of 50% on your maintenance. That was my experience. They were also far more accessible, a pleasure to deal with and you didn’t feel like they were constantly trying to fleece you for more work.

 

[Davidspringett]

I have the Grand California that is three years old this month. I too have been given a quote of £700 pa for the extended warrant with £100 excess. I’m about to argue that the warranty should be extended free for 8 months as my GC was in a VW garage for that amount of time having warranty repairs completed including a new floor, new plumbing in the toilet / shower area, new back door seal and new rear shower and cabinet

 

[andyinluton]

I have the Grand California that is three years old this month. I too have been given a quote of £700 pa for the extended warrant with £100 excess. I’m about to argue that the warranty should be extended free for 8 months as my GC was in a VW garage for that amount of time having warranty repairs completed including a new floor, new plumbing in the toilet / shower area, new back door seal and new rear shower and cabinet

This is where the All-in scheme is better - considerably less than that cost but includes European recovery and servicing as well as the warranty. The VW stand alone warranty extensions or not competitive cost wise.