VW Warranty nightmare! | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

VW Warranty nightmare!

nobbie48 said:
Is there a manufacturer that can be trusted to not produce a lemon or fail to stand behind them when they do?

Exploding Pintos, dieselgate, GM's X car etc etc.

Is my Hyundai Theta II engine a time bomb or a nuisance.

Are EPA ratings pushing the limits of engineering?
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There's good things and bad things about all of them. All warranty departments don't want to spend too much money. Manufacturing and assembly procedures have converged, and parts manufacturers have consolidated, to the extent that they're all built more-or-less the same way nowadays. Everyone buys pre-assembled door latches (for an example) from a certain pretty small core group of suppliers that make door latches for everyone, and those bits and pieces are pretty similar for everyone, and the same thing happens with numerous other suppliers. Of course there will be good points and weak points, and perhaps there are particular things to watch out for, or mitigate via preventive maintenance in some way; that's what the internet is for.

Buy whatever suits your needs ... and then take care of it. Do the oil changes. Use the right fluids. Lubricate latches, locks, and hinges. Follow the maintenance schedule.

My non Sunny S approved vehicles have done fine.
 
Excellent ownership experience on my end with MK6 GTI. 150,000 kms. Not a spot of rust in 10 years, even with small paint chips in areas. The 12 year corrosion warranty was a factor in my decision to purchase as well. There's a cool documentary of the VW factory in Wolfsburg with Richard Hammond - World's Biggest Car Factory. Good watch.
 
ToSlow said:
I heard that back when VW was scolded for the EPA results, They was hiding the program when the back wheels turned it would bring the boost levels up. it was activated by the rear wheel speed sensors
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VW needed a dose of humility, they needed to be taken down a notch ... and they were.

That emissions-cheating program was way more sophisticated than checking wheel speed sensors. It was actually monitoring speed versus distance driven and comparing that to several drive patterns that were used during emissions testing. If you followed the EPA test procedure in your driving, it left the emission controls in effect. If you deviated even slightly, it concluded that the vehicle wasn't being driven in an EPA test procedure, and it went out of bounds.

VW wasn't the only company doing stuff like this ... just the one with the most public takedown.

Practically every gasoline engine runs rich when you mash the accelerator all the way to the floor, or somewhere close (to protect catalysts, pistons, and exhaust valves). That's not an emissions-friendly mode of operation. Downsized turbo engines are way worse for this ... hence why they tend to do well in EPA tests but not so well in real-world driving.

This is leading to a "real driving emissions" procedure in Europe, which is apparently very difficult to deal with. You just can't run a gasoline engine at catalyst-friendly air-fuel ratios when it is under high load ... unless you make a big, slow-turning, non-forced-induction engine that basically never runs under high load (makes too little power to ever have to run rich) ... but then you are in trouble with CO2 emissions, because it's going to be thirsty, and that's no good, either.

And hence ... the upcoming changeover to electric propulsion ... "make all this go away". Or, if you prefer, "make all this, someone else's problem" (the central power plant).
 
I seen in Europe that Tesla is being sued for throttling the battery charging.
 
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SunnY S said:
because they didn't talk to me.

don't EVER buy a german car. unless you like punishment and torture and have bottomless pockets.
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Sounds like my Honda's.

My 2001 Honda Odyssey was notorious for transmission failures, and Honda Canada wasn't much help when it happened.

My 2007 Acura MDX needed a new motor at 230,000 kms - I've never killed a motor before! Plus there are a lot of electronics that tend to go bad on it, mostly only repairable using Acura parts - $300 bluetooth module goes bad (and drains the battery causing you to need a new battery if not diagnosed in time), faulty compressor clutch relay (not only A/C fails, but can also drain battery), electronic shocks/struts that are about $1000 each and only last about 50,000 kms before degrading (I converted to the OEM non-electronic front struts and aftermarket rear shocks), water leaking into trunk through the body seam at the rear hatch, power steering pump o-ring failure, transmission range switch failure (doesn't allow starting in P, only in N). Then there's the wear and tear stuff - front control arms, stabilizer end links and bushings, broken headlight leveling sensor. I know there's more that I'm forgetting.

My 2000 S2000 needed a 2-3 shift synchro, and at 2 years of age, the rear wheel well was rusting. Only had that for about 30,000 km's.
 
Buy a German product then get back to me.

As others said. It's a law of averages.

By far. Faaaaar. You will be worse off with a German product.
 
SunnY S said:
Buy a German product then get back to me.

As others said. It's a law of averages.

By far. Faaaaar. You will be worse off with a German product.
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All my cars (except the first one) were German. They all were reliable and awesome overall. What am I doing wrong?
 
Relax said:
Next

Sounds like my Honda's.

My 2001 Honda Odyssey was notorious for transmission failures, and Honda Canada wasn't much help when it happened.

My 2007 Acura MDX needed a new motor at 230,000 kms - I've never killed a motor before! Plus there are a lot of electronics that tend to go bad on it, mostly only repairable using Acura parts - $300 bluetooth module goes bad (and drains the battery causing you to need a new battery if not diagnosed in time), faulty compressor clutch relay (not only A/C fails, but can also drain battery), electronic shocks/struts that are about $1000 each and only last about 50,000 kms before degrading (I converted to the OEM non-electronic front struts and aftermarket rear shocks), water leaking into trunk through the body seam at the rear hatch, power steering pump o-ring failure, transmission range switch failure (doesn't allow starting in P, only in N). Then there's the wear and tear stuff - front control arms, stabilizer end links and bushings, broken headlight leveling sensor. I know there's more that I'm forgetting.

My 2000 S2000 needed a 2-3 shift synchro, and at 2 years of age, the rear wheel well was rusting. Only had that for about 30,000 km's.
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I work at Acura and drive a 2008 MDX, what does that tell you :) Bluetooth is a easy fix, bake in the oven to fix- shocks only an issue with elite models. Killed the motor, that isn’t a regular occurrence those J35/J37 are strong motors.
 
SunnY S said:
Buy a German product then get back to me.

As others said. It's a law of averages.

By far. Faaaaar. You will be worse off with a German product.
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If you're talking to me, I guess the averages have worked out well for my German cars. I've had lots of BMW's. Nothing to report, except it's cheaper to get parts for them than my Subaru and Acura. Is still have these two:

1999 323i - close to 400,000 km's and still runs. Body starting to rust, not worth selling, so I keep it as a donor for my M3 (stole the piano black trim from the dash to replace the wood trim on the M3)

2001 E46 M3 300,000 km's - has needed nothing other than standard maintenance and wear/tear replacements.
 
Jayv said:
I work at Acura and drive a 2008 MDX, what does that tell you :) Bluetooth is a easy fix, bake in the oven to fix- shocks only an issue with elite models. Killed the motor, that isn’t a regular occurrence those J35/J37 are strong motors.
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Well, I have a 2007 Elite, so I was an issue for me. The MDX motors were known to consume oil and short blocks were replaced under warranty. Unfortunately mine was out of warranty, then it got so bad I had zero compression in one cylinder. It was cheaper to replace with a used motor than to rebuild the one I had.

Believe me, as a devout DIY'er, I know all the tricks, and baking the bluetooth didn't work for me. It worked on the DRL in my Odyssey, which I forgot about. I also bought the $2 plastic spacers from Lowes to fix my sliding doors on the Odyssey, which I also didn't mention, but I shouldn't have had to. I'm on my second failed bluetooth now and not planning on spending another $500 (price has gone up).
 
Jayv said:
I work at Acura and drive a 2008 MDX, what does that tell you :) Bluetooth is a easy fix, bake in the oven to fix- shocks only an issue with elite models. Killed the motor, that isn’t a regular occurrence those J35/J37 are strong motors.
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When i owned my transmission shop. Those yrs of honda and acura and earlier was the new caravan for garbage transmissions
 
Relax said:
If you're talking to me, I guess the averages have worked out well for my German cars. I've had lots of BMW's. Nothing to report, except it's cheaper to get parts for them than my Subaru and Acura. Is still have these two:

1999 323i - close to 400,000 km's and still runs. Body starting to rust, not worth selling, so I keep it as a donor for my M3 (stole the piano black trim from the dash to replace the wood trim on the M3)

2001 E46 M3 300,000 km's - has needed nothing other than standard maintenance and wear/tear replacements.
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My understanding with buying German and land rover/jaguar is that when they are good, they are good. But the bad ones which is the majority are real bad

Over the years I was hugely hesitant, before buying, but have owned a German vehicle and a German bike

My worst fears were confirmed.

Both vehicles required numerous trips to the dealer for fixes and problems. So much time wasted going back and forth. Everytime we bring the German vehicle in for an oil change they find something else wrong with it.

Me and my family and extended family have owned hondas/acuras for over 30 years now with very few issues. Not perfect, but very few issues.

I will never ever own another German product again.
 
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Since my wife, me and our kids have had 1978 we have had had a 8 German cars,
he only dealer in the gta that was helpful was North York. They sent us to an auth Vw body shop in Markham, it took them almost a year.

I’m done with VW. We have had 7 German cars, 4 UK cars and 1 French car, 6 Japanese and North American cars.

Of late North American cars are winning here. All of us (but my daughter and her Jetta) are driving North American cars, we can’t be happier. 2 Jeeps, Chevy, RAM, Cadillac and a couple of Transit Connects.

We dumped a Lexus, Altima and Pathfinder in the last few years as the became stupidly expensive to maintain and repair.

The North American cars are outlasting the imports in our little fleet. I think we’ll stick with them for a while.
 
The North American automakers really stepped up their game around 2005, they had to as Japanese manufacturers were killing them. Now I wouldn’t hesitate to get a domestic. I never did before either because I’m able to work on my own vehicles but the modern ones are leaps and bounds better.


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Maniac said:
I think you are just a type dealers love to milk.
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No. I'm the type that prefers to stay away from dealers and sticking to reliable products.

My bmw mechanic I was on a first name basis with him....
 
Mad Mike said:
We dumped a Lexus, Altima and Pathfinder in the last few years as the became stupidly expensive to maintain and repair.
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Surprised to hear about the Lexus. No surprise with Nissan

They are the Japanese version of GM. Poorly engineered cars and horrible and tired designs along with shoddy reliability.
 
SunnY S said:
Surprised to hear about the Lexus. No surprise with Nissan

They are the Japanese version of GM. Poorly engineered cars and horrible designs along with shoddy reliability.
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I'd buy a GM long before a Nissan. I'm honestly surprised they are still around. They make so few good products.
 
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