Volkswagen Van Dealership Rant

[soulstyledevon]

So my van went into Stratford Upon Avon Volkswagen for some warranty work on the 24/25th April.
Since then Cruise Control has stopped working. To complicate matters, it’s after market Cruise.

I’ve been in touch with the VW garage and they are adamant it’s nothing they have done. However, I have spoken to Hazzy and they tell me they have had some issues where Cruise has been deleted after a software update by Volkswagen. Van will need to be returned to Hazzy to upload the Cruise function again. Not something Volkswagen can do.

In the meantime the van has felt slightly underpowered since it’s return from Volkswagen. Even though they insist they have done no update...?
I have asked them to look into my issue. Wait for it. May 29th before they can see the vehicle...!!!

So I took it round to my local garage and they done a diagnostic and it has an EGR fail code, which won’t reset.
Possible EGR replacement, but it’s something they said needs to go back to Volkswagen and should be sorted under warranty as it’s an expensive job.

So I have a trip planned in a couple of weeks and need the faults sorting ASAP.
Hazzy, brilliant service. Bring it back to us anytime and we will slot it in our day and have Cruise back working.

So I ring Stratford again and explain the situation.

Stratford VW - May 24th earliest they can see vehicle.
Vindis VW - May 22nd
Coventry - Possibly end of May, June if another vehicle is required.

With a bit of begging, Coventry has come up trumps and is looking at it Monday.
So big thumbs up for Coventry and going forward they will be getting my business.

So the purpose of this rant is to highlight the awful after sales support through the Volkswagen network. When my vehicle develops a fault, I expect it looked at with a couple of days, not weeks...
Every phone call I make to the dealerships normally results in a 2-3 week wait for work. This is unacceptable IMO

Perhaps I’m being unreasonable...?
But I’ve been a Volkswagen customer for many years. Owned VW vans for over 20. But the last few years after point of sale service has gone from bad to awful.
Perhaps, the simple fact is the latest vans from the stable are simply that unreliable they are constantly being fixed...???

 

[jts46]

You ought to be living in France. Customer service does not exist.

 

[WelshGas]

So my van went into Stratford Upon Avon Volkswagen for some warranty work on the 24/25th April.
Since then Cruise Control has stopped working. To complicate matters, it’s after market Cruise.

I’ve been in touch with the VW garage and they are adamant it’s nothing they have done. However, I have spoken to Hazzy and they tell me they have had some issues where Cruise has been deleted after a software update by Volkswagen. Van will need to be returned to Hazzy to upload the Cruise function again. Not something Volkswagen can do.

In the meantime the van has felt slightly underpowered since it’s return from Volkswagen. Even though they insist they have done no update...?
I have asked them to look into my issue. Wait for it. May 29th before they can see the vehicle...!!!

So I took it round to my local garage and they done a diagnostic and it has an EGR fail code, which won’t reset.
Possible EGR replacement, but it’s something they said needs to go back to Volkswagen and should be sorted under warranty as it’s an expensive job.

So I have a trip planned in a couple of weeks and need the faults sorting ASAP.
Hazzy, brilliant service. Bring it back to us anytime and we will slot it in our day and have Cruise back working.

So I ring Stratford again and explain the situation.

Stratford VW - May 24th earliest they can see vehicle.
Vindis VW - May 22nd
Coventry - Possibly end of May, June if another vehicle is required.

With a bit of begging, Coventry has come up trumps and is looking at it Monday.
So big thumbs up for Coventry and going forward they will be getting my business.

So the purpose of this rant is to highlight the awful after sales support through the Volkswagen network. When my vehicle develops a fault, I expect it looked at with a couple of days, not weeks...
Every phone call I make to the dealerships normally results in a 2-3 week wait for work. This is unacceptable IMO

Perhaps I’m being unreasonable...?
But I’ve been a Volkswagen customer for many years. Owned VW vans for over 20. But the last few years after point of sale service has gone from bad to awful.
Perhaps, the simple fact is the latest vans from the stable are simply that unreliable they are constantly being fixed...???

From what I gather if you had phoned VW Assistance and one of their vehicles attended, not the AA. If they find a fault then they can book it in with VW and they have priority. So, probably wouldn't help with the Cruise Control but definitely with the power loss.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Thats worth remembering for the future.

 

[Meoncoast]

From what I gather if you had phoned VW Assistance and one of their vehicles attended, not the AA. If they find a fault then they can book it in with VW and they have priority. So, probably wouldn't help with the Cruise Control but definitely with the power loss.

That is my understanding & experience as well. Also when my breakdown with VW assist expires at the end of the year will renew with them.

 

[larrylamb]

underpowered and diagnostic shows egr issue but no dash warning lights to suggest this??

 

[blondebier]

From what I gather if you had phoned VW Assistance and one of their vehicles attended, not the AA. If they find a fault then they can book it in with VW and they have priority. So, probably wouldn't help with the Cruise Control but definitely with the power loss.

Absolutely correct. If recovered by VW assist (and vehicle is undriveable) they need to look at it next working day. If not repairable a courtesy vehicle should be provided.

I had this with our Golf. Can't fault the service. VW assist are excellent. Dealer network is #£+”!

 

[SimonB]

From what I gather if you had phoned VW Assistance and one of their vehicles attended, not the AA. If they find a fault then they can book it in with VW and they have priority. So, probably wouldn't help with the Cruise Control but definitely with the power loss.

That was my experience, but the AA are VW Assist. They also seem to be JLR Assist as my neighbour had the same AA patrol chap as I did when he had problems with his Land Rover.
Mine was a plastic sealing washer in the oil cooler which happened over New Years Eve.
It was booked into VW Heritage by VW Assist (AA patrol) and went straight in on the 2nd of January and fixed the following day by mid-day.

 

[MattBW]

You ought to be living in France. Customer service does not exist.

That was my experience sadly on my tour of northern France many years ago. Everyone was super friendly we loved it, until it was a shopping type experience when it seemed to get brusque and short haha. Interesting culture and once you get over it not so bad. The exception was Arrowmanches where everyone was so friendly and wonderful in the little shops and restaurants, the customer service there was superb.


Coventry though have really upped their game customer service wise and are massively busy. I will happily recommend them all day long, they've really looked after me of late. I still don't trust the booking line though which always tells me I need services I don't need (thankfully Coventry checked and removed the unnecessary things that I'd already had done).

 

[SimonB]

I agree with Matt about Coventry workshops. I got my Cali from there and they were really helpful with after sales service. It is too far to go there for regular work, but if I lived nearer I would definitely use them.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I agree with Matt about Coventry workshops. I got my Cali from there and they were really helpful with after sales service. It is too far to go there for regular work, but if I lived nearer I would definitely use them.

I live between the two.
Coventry is a few miles nearer but longer to drive to in traffic. Hence why I usually use Stratford.
I stopped using Stratford when my Beach ran out of warranty, because of poor customer services. They still haven’t improved over there.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I wish I had thought about using VW assist beforehand

 

[soulstyledevon]

underpowered and diagnostic shows egr issue but no dash warning lights to suggest this??

No warnings showing.
It’s just felt about sluggish since I’ve had it back. Could be coincidence?
The only fault my local garage could see logged via the diagnostic was EGR fail...?
Plus the issue of Cruise no longer working...?

 

[MattBW]

You could try an EGR cleaner before you opt for getting the valve changed?