[damianmkv]

[]

Am NOT happy. My car is 6 weeks old - i have only used it for 4 and tonight it broke down. Started but refused to run for 35 minutes until it eventually caught and is now left with an airbag fault. Over 23K spent and 1800 miles. Reminds me of why I bought BMW last time. Rant over ( for now )

 

[SteveTDCi]

That ain't good. I hope you get it fixed tomorrow.

 

[damianmkv]

Phew - its OK..turned out to be " I dunno, mate ". Could be immobiliser, could be a problem with the key talking to the computer, could be ECU. Seems OK this morning though

 

[kenl]

Maybe best to get it checked out though. The dealer may find a fault code logged on the car.

 

[damianmkv]

VW assistance came out at 8am this morning and plugged in his laptop..found nothing wrong . Now I have a rattle in the driver's door - aarrgghh !!

 

[Milkfloat]

VW assistance came out at 8am this morning and plugged in his laptop..found nothing wrong . Now I have a rattle in the driver's door - aarrgghh !!

It took VW 8 days with my car to cure a rattle. Good luck.

 

[damianmkv]

I know where it is - its the vertical part just above the arm rest. I also have something loose ( a washer ? ) withing the hatch that is driving me nuts !!

 

[damianmkv]

So...yesterday I got ready to go out with the missus got in the car and......back comes the problem of 4 weeks ago where the car won't run, leaving me stranded for 30 minutes until the car started. Yet again, it left the car with an airbag fault.

Am NOT a happy chappy - thats twice now with the same fault in 9 weeks of ownership and twice that VW Assistance can't find anything wrong.

Have sent a snotty e-mail to my stealer saying that I want a replacement car or my money back. I suspect that they'll wanna loan me a 1.0 Polo and try ( but fail ) to fix it.

Any clues ?

 

[Spudley]

Hi. Hopefully this'll clear things a little bit for you and anyone else who reads this.

FAULT CODES AND WARNING LIGHTS.

You could well have a problem with your Immobiliser, that is sporadic. External 'waves' can affect it! Does the car fail to start when parked in the same place? I've come across instances where a neighbours CB receiver/satellite was 'interfering' with the electronics of the vehicle; thereby preventing it from starting!!

The reason he's not finding any codes is this:

Because it's a sporadic fault, when he plugs in the maching (5052) the fault is no longer there.

The Control Unit (ECU) monitors itself and the system; a fault must remain for 3 ignition cycles before a light is put on the dash. If the light comes on the dash but then the fault clears, it'll 're-set' itself without storing a fault in its memory, so when the tech comes along there are no codes! (He should really know this)!!

The airbag light is probably coming on due to the various ECU's talking to eachother. You may well find there's a fault in another system, get the techie to scan the complete system. Ask for a 'Full systems check' using their 'Self diagnosis' function on VAS 5051 (diagnosis machine at the dealer). It's under 'Collection sservices' if their not sure what your on about.

Hope this helps.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[damianmkv]

Cheers - will ask and see. The problem has occured in 2 different places but means that I do not trust the car. The system is registering a voltage drop and the VW assistance guy thought that there may be a short in the dash somewhere.

Am due a call from the dealer principal so will let you know

 

[marvin]

[]

Am NOT happy. My car is 6 weeks old - i have only used it for 4 and tonight it broke down. Started but refused to run for 35 minutes until it eventually caught and is now left with an airbag fault. Over 23K spent and 1800 miles. Reminds me of why I bought BMW last time. Rant over ( for now )

Quite frankly, what did you expect. We've all bought VW's, mistakingly thinking that we were buying reliable, quality cars which, patently, there're not!.

I will keep mine another twelve months or so and re-evaluate the situation. My main gripe is against the main dealership in my area and am not looking forward to the day when I have to use their services, if that is not a contradiction in terms.

After the demise of the Rover main dealership in my area , I am praying that Honda will take over the site and therefore provide a presence in my area of S.London. When and if they do then 'Honda here I come'.

Don't forget that in any J.D.Powers survey, VAG cars don't fare very well, do they?

[][]

 

[kenl]

Marvin,

It must be a painful existence feeling so sorry for yourself and being bitter all the time []

What problems have you had with your poor quality VW car that have made in badly built and unreliable?

I know you were delivered a car which did not have some features you expected but from a lot of your other posts these were things that over-complicated cars and would break anyway!

Most mainstream manufacturers do not do well in JD's survey but no cars are perfect. Why did you not take this information on board before buying a VW?

If you want a horror story to put you off buying a Honda just let me know because I know of one from the only person I know who owns a Honda.

 

[Spin 150PD]

I have to say all this talk of faulty VW's is making me nervous about my current order for the new Gti,  according to the posts I can expect ..rattles,  squeaks,  wind noise,  non starting & various fault codes - not good enough for what is an expensive car.  I am expecting a slight drop in quality from my Audi but nothing this extreme,  how come Audi can get it right and not VW ? I love the drive & look of the the GTi but could soon fall out of love if I experienced any of these faults especially as I have absolutely none on my current car,  hopefully this applies to the minority but even so worrying all the same.  I've got 4 weeks to make up my mind before I hand the A3 over (early) - I would rather lose a ?500 deposit than spend another ?4,000 and be disappointed.  Some positive comments please relating to build quality.... 

 

[damianmkv]

Marvin, I don't expect a new car to break down at all, let alone twice when its so new. My BMW never brokedown in the 85000 miles in 4 years that I had it. Also, it is a company car so I have it for maybe 4 years - at this rate it could be 4 years of hell. Maybe I should have gone for an A3 - but the ticks on the options list would have been less.

Anyway, the dealership have it now, hopefully to fix it - I have been loaned a 1.6 FSI Golf - and its black too ! I see what people say when they mention that the standard stereo is crap - its soooo weak compared to the MFD2.

 

[damianmkv]

Spin, bear in mind that most people are quick to rant about the faults of their cars, me included ! I'm sure that there are a few with GTi rants too - but many who love them and are happy with their purchase.

FYI, the loaner that I have doesn't rattle, squeak, have any wind noise and the doors fit so there are good cars and bad 'uns too

 

[Spin 150PD]

Cheers Damian,  lets hope I get a good one then

 

[Milkfloat]

Marvin the Paranoid VW Owner. All cars go wrong, generally you hear about the horror stories, after all who bothers to post that the car they have is perfdorming well? When you are producing a volume of anything you are bound to get a few issues, it is how they are sorted out that should make the difference.

Regarding the A3 v GTI all the write ups favour the GTI so I don't think you will have to many problems. The GTI is probably the success story of 2004, it has come top of so many polls and surveys that it cannot be that bad. I love mine.

 

[CkB]

Spin, stick to your guns mate... Haveo nly had mine 5 weeks (though done about 2.5k) but it's fun, fast, hasn't even sneezed when I've turned the ignition, has NO squeaks and doesn't suffer from whatever this problem is with the "wind noise". The worst I get is a little wheel/tyre noise if I'm going round the sh*t bit of the south M25. Oh the safety thing on the electric windows was a bit cranky the first three days (you'd put the window up and it'd come back down as if something was jammed - couldn't find jack and it sorted itself)

I would say keep going... and obviously let us know when you get it

 

[damianmkv]

OK - so the car's back now !! And fixed apart from the flat spot / hesitation which it has to do back for. They have replced the dash which was the reason for the no-start.

We'll see.......

 

[simch]

OK - so the car's back now !! And fixed apart from the flat spot / hesitation which it has to do back for. They have replced the dash which was the reason for the no-start.

We'll see.......

Do you mean they have replaced the dash panel, ie clocks and stuff?