dartmoorscott
VIP Member
My 2019 Beach lives here in SW England near the Devon/Cornwall border. The Cali is under VW All-In-One service and warranty plan and has less than 29k on the clock. My problems began with a power steering issue, losing fluid and poor steering. Broke down beginning of March and was recovered by VWUK to my nearest dealer (50 miles away) in Exeter. Was told that they were snowed under and had no diagnostic slots until June! A three month wait! Talk about a parallel universe! If the van was my business – luckily, it’s not.
After much telephone conversation VWUK found another van dealership over 100 miles away in Dorchester who could look at it sooner (within a few weeks) to determine the cause and decide whether the issue was covered by the warranty. So, my Cali was once more loaded up on the recovery vehicle and moved again, this time across Dorset to Dorchester. Long story cut short, the power steering block has split and needed replacing and it was covered by warranty. What have I learned.....??
There are only two VW van repair dealerships in SW England, one in Exeter and one in Indian Queens in Cornwall. Both are owned and run by the same company.
Plymouth, the largest conurbation has no dealerships within 50 miles.
Apparently three other van centres in the SW have been closed in the past few years including my local centre in Plymouth.
Both the two remaining centres are snowed under with work, hence the long delay in diagnostics (three months!)
The VW extended warranty or All-In-One plan has ultimately saved me a small fortune, the estimate for recovery and repair was over £3k!
This summer may be difficult for you if your Cali breaks down in Devon, Cornwall or Somerset and you need a VW dealership to sort it out.
I now have my van back albeit after a one month wait and a 4 hour train trip to pick it up post repair. Big shout out to VW Heritage of Dorchester who were able to repair my Cali and who were excellent.
Not so impressed with VW van repair coverage in the SW of England.
After much telephone conversation VWUK found another van dealership over 100 miles away in Dorchester who could look at it sooner (within a few weeks) to determine the cause and decide whether the issue was covered by the warranty. So, my Cali was once more loaded up on the recovery vehicle and moved again, this time across Dorset to Dorchester. Long story cut short, the power steering block has split and needed replacing and it was covered by warranty. What have I learned.....??
There are only two VW van repair dealerships in SW England, one in Exeter and one in Indian Queens in Cornwall. Both are owned and run by the same company.
Plymouth, the largest conurbation has no dealerships within 50 miles.
Apparently three other van centres in the SW have been closed in the past few years including my local centre in Plymouth.
Both the two remaining centres are snowed under with work, hence the long delay in diagnostics (three months!)
The VW extended warranty or All-In-One plan has ultimately saved me a small fortune, the estimate for recovery and repair was over £3k!
This summer may be difficult for you if your Cali breaks down in Devon, Cornwall or Somerset and you need a VW dealership to sort it out.
I now have my van back albeit after a one month wait and a 4 hour train trip to pick it up post repair. Big shout out to VW Heritage of Dorchester who were able to repair my Cali and who were excellent.
Not so impressed with VW van repair coverage in the SW of England.
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