What should I expect under the factory 5 year Warranty?

[Mattk]

Hi folks,

When I bought my Cali Ocean in 2018, I paid for the factory extended 5 year warranty. I have a service coming up, which I have booked at my nearest van centre in Colindale., I've mentioned a few issues that had come up since the last service. Namely, the roof leaks in stormy weather, the grey water tank indicator suggests the tank is full all the time, the diamond cut wheel laminate is brittle and cracking, so there is corrosion on the wheel surface, the sliding door window is stiff and requires some effort to open and close, and perhaps most importantly, in the last month, the screen wash motor has stopped working. Today, I received a text from them to check in for the service online, where I see they want me to accept a £179 charge to investigate EACH of these issues. That's nearly £900 to tell me what the problem is, not to fix anything!

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? To say I'm not happy is an absolute understatement. How would you respond to the dealer's expectations? I have the paperwork (from a different dealer) for the extended warranty.

 

[Kayleigh]

That’s not the kind of service I have received from Colindale. They have checked items on my van without any charge at all. Maybe they are not aware it is still under warranty.
It’s a bit further to travel, but I have also found the service at Citygate in High Wycombe to be even better.

 

[JohnCalifornia]

I have the 5 year warranty on my Cali and have just had the AC fixed under warranty. They had to diagnose the fault then book in for the repair. All FOC. I would take my Cali in for warranty repairs for all those items but I don’t think you will get far with the wheel lacquer. I would remind them that you have the extended warranty.

 

[subthree]

Hi folks,

When I bought my Cali Ocean in 2018, I paid for the factory extended 5 year warranty. I have a service coming up, which I have booked at my nearest van centre in Colindale., I've mentioned a few issues that had come up since the last service. Namely, the roof leaks in stormy weather, the grey water tank indicator suggests the tank is full all the time, the diamond cut wheel laminate is brittle and cracking, so there is corrosion on the wheel surface, the sliding door window is stiff and requires some effort to open and close, and perhaps most importantly, in the last month, the screen wash motor has stopped working. Today, I received a text from them to check in for the service online, where I see they want me to accept a £179 charge to investigate EACH of these issues. That's nearly £900 to tell me what the problem is, not to fix anything!

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? To say I'm not happy is an absolute understatement. How would you respond to the dealer's expectations? I have the paperwork (from a different dealer) for the extended warranty.

If you are in Luton go to VW Citygate Van Centre in St Albans. This week they have undertaken more than £1500 of warranty work on my 6.1. Super helpful.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi folks,

When I bought my Cali Ocean in 2018, I paid for the factory extended 5 year warranty. I have a service coming up, which I have booked at my nearest van centre in Colindale., I've mentioned a few issues that had come up since the last service. Namely, the roof leaks in stormy weather, the grey water tank indicator suggests the tank is full all the time, the diamond cut wheel laminate is brittle and cracking, so there is corrosion on the wheel surface, the sliding door window is stiff and requires some effort to open and close, and perhaps most importantly, in the last month, the screen wash motor has stopped working. Today, I received a text from them to check in for the service online, where I see they want me to accept a £179 charge to investigate EACH of these issues. That's nearly £900 to tell me what the problem is, not to fix anything!

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? To say I'm not happy is an absolute understatement. How would you respond to the dealer's expectations? I have the paperwork (from a different dealer) for the extended warranty.

Did you inform this new dealership that you had the extended warranty?

 

[dspuk]

Certain dealerships seem to have this nasty new habit of asking for a charge to investigate potential warranty concerns. In their heads they cannot be guaranteed that every warranty claim will be accepted by VW so want “compensation” for the investigation work, just in case.

If they get accepted they don’t charge for the investigation and I guess also want to use it as a barrier for people turning up with a long list of niggles to be investigated.

It stinks, is shortsighted by the dealership, and VW should be stopping it.

Dealers make a lot of money from warranty claims. Take your custom elsewhere and let them know why.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Hi folks,

When I bought my Cali Ocean in 2018, I paid for the factory extended 5 year warranty. I have a service coming up, which I have booked at my nearest van centre in Colindale., I've mentioned a few issues that had come up since the last service. Namely, the roof leaks in stormy weather, the grey water tank indicator suggests the tank is full all the time, the diamond cut wheel laminate is brittle and cracking, so there is corrosion on the wheel surface, the sliding door window is stiff and requires some effort to open and close, and perhaps most importantly, in the last month, the screen wash motor has stopped working. Today, I received a text from them to check in for the service online, where I see they want me to accept a £179 charge to investigate EACH of these issues. That's nearly £900 to tell me what the problem is, not to fix anything!

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? To say I'm not happy is an absolute understatement. How would you respond to the dealer's expectations? I have the paperwork (from a different dealer) for the extended warranty.

Unless the £179 charge is specifically mentioned in the small print of your warranty agreement, reject the fee. They can’t backtrade and change the terms of the agreement retrospectively.

 

[Mattk]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, I have repeatly advised them the van is under warranty. However I suspect now that this warranty hasn't been registered with VW by the van centre in Sheffield where I bought it (as this is an isue which has come up in other forum threads). I do have the paperwork with vehicle reg and VIN, so I will make certain they see this.

@subthree I tried to book the van in at st. albans. I was very happy when they did the last major van service. They advised they weren't able to deal with California specific issues.

 

[Borris]

If they know that you have the VW Factory Extended Warranty (FEW) then you are almost certainly being conned by their service department. It's as simple as that.

I have experienced this treatment on several occasions in the past so I think it is pretty standard practice. Their only possible excuse being that they are unaware of the wording of said FEW. However, not much of an excuse as all VW Commercial Service Departments should be very aware of their obligations under the VW FEW.

My experience is that they will first try to get you to pay, presumably working under the hope that most will just pay up and only after it's been pointed out to them that they have to rectify the issue under the FEW at no cost to you the customer, will they reluctantly concede.

I suspect this practice is driven by the need to maintain good Dealer Service Department profit margins. The more the customer pays and the less less time spent on FEW work the better. Also it's likely that not all FEW work is reclaimable from VW

In short, if you purchased the five year FEW then it provides you with exactly the same cover as the initial 3 year manufacturers warranty. So if something goes wrong on day one of ownership or proves not fit for purpose, then it is covered. The same goes for the last day of the five year FEW.

If you don't believe me then check the T & Cs of the FEW and/or query it with VW Customer Services.

So my advice would be, just wave the Ts and Cs under their nose and tell them to trot along and get on with the work.

 

[Calimili]

They try that with each customer. Even in one in ten falls for it and pay up despite the warranty, it's extra revenues for them. Dealers cash in from the client, VW pays for the warranty the dealers pockets the money.

 

[Mattk]

@Borris Thanks for those pictures, really useful. I just contacted VW and they confirmed that if a vehicle is under warranty, there'll be no charge for the investigation work. I should get a call from the dealership doing the work the day before the booking to confirm.

 

[dspuk]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, I have repeatly advised them the van is under warranty. However I suspect now that this warranty hasn't been registered with VW by the van centre in Sheffield where I bought it (as this is an isue which has come up in other forum threads). I do have the paperwork with vehicle reg and VIN, so I will make certain they see this.

@subthree I tried to book the van in at st. albans. I was very happy when they did the last major van service. They advised they weren't able to deal with California specific issues.

I went to the Brian Currie Van Centre in MK - they don't sell Cali's but told me very happy to do warranty claims and servicing.

 

[B J G]

I went to the Brian Currie Van Centre in MK - they don't sell Cali's but told me very happy to do warranty claims and servicing.

Did you specifically ask if California related items would be done?
I'm not sure if VW would accept Cali related repair costs from a non authorised Dealer.

 

[dspuk]

Did you specifically ask if California related items would be done?
I'm not sure if VW would accept Cali related repair costs from a non authorised Dealer.

Yes and they said they are authorised to repair, just not authorised to sell.

 

[B J G]

Yes and they said they are authorised to repair, just not authorised to sell.

I was under the impression that the Technicians had to have specific training on the various Cali parts, fridge, night heater, roof etc

 

[dspuk]

I was under the impression that the Technicians had to have specific training on the various Cali parts, fridge, night heater, roof etc

I guess you don't have to sell a Cali to be trained to fix a Cali. One assumes they are things that can be independent of each other.

Or they are lying.

 

[B J G]

I guess you don't have to sell a Cali to be trained to fix a Cali. One assumes they are things that can be independent of each other.

Or they are lying.

I was thinking back to the time when my night heater failed and Dealer said that their trained tech was not in that day and would have to bring back when he was.

VW giving the all clear for no charge warranty work 'might' be an issue especially given that they can be difficult under normal conditions.
Hopefully you won't need to have an issue to test out the process.

 

[Betty67]

Never had an issue with breeze and now on the all in 2year deal already swapped 2 alloys and wheel sensor without issue!

 

[Jimmylondon07]

If they know that you have the VW Factory Extended Warranty (FEW) then you are almost certainly being conned by their service department. It's as simple as that.

I have experienced this treatment on several occasions in the past so I think it is pretty standard practice. Their only possible excuse being that they are unaware of the wording of said FEW. However, not much of an excuse as all VW Commercial Service Departments should be very aware of their obligations under the VW FEW.

My experience is that they will first try to get you to pay, presumably working under the hope that most will just pay up and only after it's been pointed out to them that they have to rectify the issue under the FEW at no cost to you the customer, will they reluctantly concede.

I suspect this practice is driven by the need to maintain good Dealer Service Department profit margins. The more the customer pays and the less less time spent on FEW work the better. Also it's likely that not all FEW work is reclaimable from VW

In short, if you purchased the five year FEW then it provides you with exactly the same cover as the initial 3 year manufacturers warranty. So if something goes wrong on day one of ownership or proves not fit for purpose, then it is covered. The same goes for the last day of the five year FEW.

If you don't believe me then check the T & Cs of the FEW and/or query it with VW Customer Services.
View attachment 114462View attachment 114463
So my advice would be, just wave the Ts and Cs under their nose and tell them to trot along and get on with the work.

Random bump, is there a warranty terms and conditions/policy document for customer records? I added this and received one sheet of A4 to say I’d bought it but nothing else.

 

[WelshGas]

Random bump, is there a warranty terms and conditions/policy document for customer records? I added this and received one sheet of A4 to say I’d bought it but nothing else.

If you bought the 2 yr Factory Extension Warranty within 90 days of purchase then the Term & Conditions are exactly the same as the initial 3 yr Factory Earranty.

 

[Borris]

Random bump, is there a warranty terms and conditions/policy document for customer records? I added this and received one sheet of A4 to say I’d bought it but nothing else.

I had the same issue. The dealers records and my detailed purchase receipt proved that I had purchased the FEW, so no problem.

 

[zcsccg1]

A quick question - does the all-in-one plan warranty offer the same level of cover as the FEW? I assume (or rather hope) so.

Mine now into it's 7th year, so had the extended warranty at new to cover 5 years, then Droitwich van centre offered the all in one plan for an additional 2 years, so it's still technically under a factory warranty.
Reasonably priced if you take into account it covers one major service, one minor and 2 years MOT/AA recovery/warranty.

 

[WelshGas]

A quick question - does the all-in-one plan warranty offer the same level of cover as the FEW? I assume (or rather hope) so.

Mine now into it's 7th year, so had the extended warranty at new to cover 5 years, then Droitwich van centre offered the all in one plan for an additional 2 years, so it's still technically under a factory warranty.
Reasonably priced if you take into account it covers one major service, one minor and 2 years MOT/AA recovery/warranty.

I don’t believe it is the same. More exclusions.