VW California T5 ONLY Roof Corrosion - General Discussion

[cozmo1589]

Any chance of a scanned copy as i am in france?

John

Here you go John. Will email you these too mate. Cheers, Colin.

 

[teeboy]

Thanks for posting Colin.

I think we all knew that we got a new canvas, but it also looks like you get new hydralic rams fitted as well.

Mine has just started to show bubbling on the front section, so I must get it registered when I next visit VW. It is not unsightly so I will leave it as long as possible.

Tony

 

[calikev]

Dont go to kettering.

 

[teeboy]

Abandoned Kettering VW years ago Kev - pre-Cali.

We use Northampton (the commercial one near sixfields) always been helpful.

 

[MattBW]

Thanks for posting, I am hopefully picking up my 2015 Cali Beach today and the dealer did assure me this was now resolved for new vehicles. Good to read that article, which also seems to suggest production has fixed it. Really hoping I see no issues. Good luck getting fixes for those waiting.

 

[owen_h]

Well we jumped the cue with Cannock as we didn't need a replacement van whilst on Holiday (our beach is our only vehicle) They picked it up almost two weeks ago and we got back tonight to some bad news.

Our van is the first beach they have had apparently and the panel they are replacing is different as the one supplied doesn't have enough holes for the manual roof and it has a hole where the Flexi light is on the SE version. They can drill the holes required but didn't know what to do with the 25mm hole that's surplus to requirements so haven't done our van, they put in a request for information to VW the day the van arrived but still have head nothing, mean while our vans in the workshop with no roof and were without a vehicle !!

Has anyone had a beach done yet ? Could you let me know what they did ?

As a side note the Van went to Manchester to have the roof checked down the side and they said it was fine, went to Cannock and there is bubbling down both sides, Bloody Manchester have been awful for us and I have had issues every time I've dealt with them. Waste of time taking it which at the time was a cluster fudge as Manchester have no internal communication at all.. I digressed

Jim

Hi Jim, sorry I have only just spotted your post. My Beach was done by Heritage back in October. They didnt mention any Beach specific issues and would have needed to use a different roof canvas to the SE anyway.
I'm surprised the front panel is any different between the Beach &SE , yes the SE has the flexi light but we have the power socket there which also needs a hole. The only "holes for a manual roof" issue I can think off is the attachment points for the catches that secure the roof when closed.
If VW aren't replying to them perhaps one of the other bodyshops (such as Darren at Heritage) could help.

 

[muttley]

My SE was picked up yesterday to have the roof panel fixed. Like a fool, I ignored all the advice in this thread, and just gave my roof a cursory check. Of course, the bodyshop has found corrosion under the seals on the roof as well as the front panel, and this now requires a 4-6 week wait due to a shortage of parts. As it happens this isn't a major problem, as I snapped my Achilles at the weekend and so can't drive for 6 weeks. Rather fortuitous timing.

What is annoying though, is that the injury means we have had to cancel our tour of the Highlands this summer.

That was going to be our last big tour before we sold the van next year, but now we might as well sell it in August before the warranty runs out. It goes without saying that we will be very sorry to see it go.

Simon

 

[jts46]

My SE was picked up yesterday to have the roof panel fixed. Like a fool, I ignored all the advice in this thread, and just gave my roof a cursory check. Of course, the bodyshop has found corrosion under the seals on the roof as well as the front panel, and this now requires a 4-6 week wait due to a shortage of parts. As it happens this isn't a major problem, as I snapped my Achilles at the weekend and so can't drive for 6 weeks. Rather fortuitous timing.

What is annoying though, is that the injury means we have had to cancel our tour of the Highlands this summer.

That was going to be our last big tour before we sold the van next year, but now we might as well sell it in August before the warranty runs out. It goes without saying that we will be very sorry to see it go.

Simon

what year? any pictures please? what price?

John

 

[muttley]

Sorry, but this forum has been a really helpful and useful resource, so it is only fair for me to pay to advertise my California here. I will arrange that shortly. It is a 2012 blue 180SE.

 

[calikev]

Good shout it will also go on our Facebook page and twitter.

 

[Bigted]

An interesting point in the report was "extended good will for pre 2014 models". Does this mean post 2014 models are not covered for the 6 years?

 

[jts46]

An interesting point in the report was "extended good will for pre 2014 models". Does this mean post 2014 models are not covered for the 6 years?

GOODWILL, VW don't know the meaning of the word. Had my blistering roof (front panel) repaired in 2009, it has now started to blister again in two different area, but VW refuse to have anything to do with it. Yet they must have known the problem existed way back then as for the rest of the report i think it is a waste of time, especially for us older Cali owners. I would like to see David Eccles harassing VW about vehicles older than 6 years, never mind going off on a trip no doubt VW paid some of this cost to explain why we should buy a new T6 which as far as i'm concerned is a facelift T5 with a fancy new engine.
Sorry about the rant but i feel VW have let the older owners of the Cali down badly and I would not recommend anyone to buy a VW ever again.

John

 

[WelshGas]

So what happened since this afternoon?

 

[WelshGas]

I understand your frustration with VWs refusal to consider your vehicle for repair. But, firstly the original repair has lasted 6 years, so how long would a modern repair, not the full VW repair being done at present, last?
Secondly, have you considered legal action via the Small Claims Court? If you had a Technical Report done that proved your 2006 California was manufactured the same way and has the same defects as a pre-2014 California the you could lodge a claim for £6000 pounds for a full repair. VW would have to either concede and pay up or prove that there was a manufacturing difference . If you won you would get the £6000 + your costs. VW may not like the possible publicity as it might bring forth a lot of claims because not all UK owners are forum members and it shouldn't be that difficult to arrange some publicity.

However, do check things carefully as a quick run through of this topic only showed one 2006 California with this problem, yours! There could be others but I couldn't find any.

 

[yanathem]

However, do check things carefully as a quick run through of this topic only showed one 2006 California with this problem, yours! There could be others but I couldn't find any.

Mines a 2007 year California and have mentioned on this post like quite a few others with earlier vans that i have roof corrosion. To get a technical report done though would we all have to go to VW to get this done? I wouldn't think they would be to forthcoming with information they won't even give out the roof repair procedure to other workshops.

 

[Martin]

All of the people with corrosion claims rejected are in touch with each other by email, it appears to have gone quiet as we have not seen any updates for a while?


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[David Eccles]

Whilst I don't have a problem with people scanning stuff from a current mag and posting it would have been nice to have been asked....hopefully the article does address some of the issues and queries and misinformation and is of some help to some Cali owners or those looking for a s/hand one.....
but I expect there will be as usual on any forum those who want to diss it....

 

[CaliforniaDAN]

Whilst I don't have a problem with people scanning stuff from a current mag and posting it would have been nice to have been asked....hopefully the article does address some of the issues and queries and misinformation and is of some help to some Cali owners or those looking for a s/hand one.....
but I expect there will be as usual on any forum those who want to diss it....

Hi
I bought the magazine for your article and it is great to see what has actually been done to fix the problem. At the end you say that VW are going to honour a 3 year goodwill warranty. I have had my roof repaired recently and have a letter from VW (after prompting by me) and they say the repair has 12 month warranty from the approved body shop only, are you aware of this difference or have VW changed the policy again?

Mine is a 2010 facelift and the roof repair was authorised in September 2013, when still in VW warranty.

 

[WelshGas]

Why on earth would you have to go to VW for a technical report. Someone who is an expert in bi-metallic corrosion, vehicle manufacturing with alloys etc, especially someone from an Academic Department maybe.
VW would have to dispute their findings, BUT, VW have already admitted there was a problem between 2010 and 2014, so all you would really have to do is prove that 2006 vehicles were built and painted exactly the same way and VW would have to prove there was a manufacturing change introduced in 2010 that only affected vehicles manufactured from 2010 to 2014.
Was there a manufacturing change introduced in 2010?
If not then I fail to see how VW could win.
Just my opinion, but then I'm no legal eagle.

 

[DavidApp]

Good Afternoon All.

This is my first post on the site ("Hi, Dave here!") as I found this thread very helpful in researching the corrosion issue with the T5 roof. I have just put a deposit down on a used vehicle which does have some slight corrosion on the front panel. The current owner has been very helpful with the issue and has advised that the defect has already been registered with VW and their local repair centre has the vehicle on its books to be repaired.

My questions is, has anyone on the forum also purchased a used vehicle while this issue has been on-going? If so, how have they managed the transfer the bodywork repair to another repair centre? My closest is Shorade in Cannock but the seller is in Bristol where another repair centre has the vehicle booked in.

Is it just a case of contacting VW and changing the repair centre they assign the work to?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Martin]

Ideally you need a letter from VW head office , you can then take this into any dealer along with the V5 and some ID, they can then change the info over.

I sold mine last year and requested the letter from VWCS, it arrived next day via recorded delivery.

 

[snowy55]

They take your Cali away on a trailer and drop you off a loaner so it doesn't really matter which workshop it goes too.

 

[Meoncoast]

My letter from VW saying I am on the list for roof repair states "on list but can not confirm which centre will undertake repair"

 

[CannellWalker]

Is it possible to confirm how much warranty is given post the repair? I thought the warranty is from VW not the body shop undertaking the repair.
We are still waiting for the work to be carried out and have a large scab of paint about to flake off.

 

[cozmo1589]

Is it possible to confirm how much warranty is given post the repair? I thought the warranty is from VW not the body shop undertaking the repair.
We are still waiting for the work to be carried out and have a large scab of paint about to flake off.

As someone who's Cali is in for repair right now, I believe I am right in saying that you get a 3 year extended warranty on all work carried out.

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