UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hello all, just bought a Polo 9n3 GTI. It's 2 weeks out of warranty (it's an 08 with a manufacturing date of 14/03/08). Anyway it needed a service and there was a metallic clicking noise from the drivers side rear suspension top mount.

I wanted to keep the main dealer stamps up to date so rang for a quote. The service was a bit cheeky (£129 for a minor + £109 for brake and AC fluid change - both due). I was told the suspension noise would incur a £75 per hour investigation charge.

After the first hour of investigation they thought they had found the cause but the noise was still there. They then fed the info into a diagnostic tool they have which suggested a known concern of split top mounts. This was another hours labour.

You have to replace the top mounts on both sides. So that's £40 in parts and, yep, another hours labour.

So a minor service, fluid change and a fixed known concern with split top mounts, total bill £504.

I know the car is just out of warranty but is it worth complaining to VW UK about the cost (£266) to fix a known concern that should have been more like £100?

Cheers,

Isaac

I would complain straight to the dealer

try and make an appointment to see the top man and tell him.

It doesnt take an hours labour to work out you have split top mounts let alone a diagnostic tool. It should be one of the first things you check for when investigating noisey suspension!

Cheers Chris, thanks for the quick answer. I thought the costs and explanation looked a bit wrong. I'll take your advise and complain to the owner of the dealership.

It won't spoil my enjoyment of the car, the 1.8T engine is tremendous and the build quality miles ahead of my last car (05 Civic 3 door sport).

Thanks again,

Isaac

i had a similar thing being ripped off by a london dealer. they insisted the coolant needed to be changed, which i did, and i asked them many many timesabout the cambelt. eventually they agreed the cambelt needed to be done.....and the change included new coolant. they wouldn't refund me on what was essentially work not needed. i won't be going back.

i will do what i need for the stamps, everything else now done at a local guy using original parts...his labour is 40 an hour, the london dealer is 105+VAT!!!

i found out there are also three types of dealer - VW itelself....a franchise.....and an approved service agent. all look the same but not all have to stick to the price plans. the cambelt change at this hole was 700+VAT....not inc water pump. so i found a dealer that does stick to the pricing....lesson learned and saved about 500 quid.

I agree with Chris, make an appointment with the top bloke, maybe call a couple of other dealers around to see their prices as well, and then go and complain.If they need to use a computer to think about checking the top mounts, then I wouldn't take my car back to them either IMO.

Some dealerships are a complete joke. One I used to use (another London dealership which now apparently charges £125/hour!) managed to break off the diagnostic port from it's mounting under the dash and stuck it back on with some rubbish tape which didn't stick in the hope I didn't notice. I did. Went back, loudly said that I wanted to see the boss to discuss damage when in for a service in a busy reception area, and they were suddenly very interested in putting it right.

Hope you get it sorted mate. The GTi is an awesome car.

Brilliant advice lads, thanks alot. That fact about the three types of dealer is a proper eye opener. My next service (next March) is a major plus cambelt so I'll definitely make a lot of calls before booking it in.

I thought the top mounts sounded like a pretty obvious culprit as well.

I managed to see the top bloke at the dealer yesterday and he said all he could do was contact VW, explain the situation and see if they will cough up a "goodwill contribution" - I'm not hopeful but I'll let you know what happens.

At least now I can drive around with the music off, just listening to the engine and exhaust once in a while. I'm sure you can imagine how annoying a top mount rattle is.

Loving the car so far. Only got basic plans so far (funds depending), fancy a stage one remap, honeycomb lower grills and gloss black b-pillars.

Cheers,

Isaac

tell the dealer you want them to contact vw for some goodwill if you have full vw history you will get the bill split between you and vw if you dont get anywhere phone them youself

Cheers, more good advice.

First GTI road trip is from Edinburgh to the Mull and back over four days in April, cannot wait.

Isaac

Got an e-mail from the dealer. They'd spoken to the warranty administrator who said "We have checked with the brand and unfortunately there is no factory goodwill for this repair". So I'm raising it to the VW customer care team - at and address in Sheffield - does anyone have any advise on who else I can complain to?

Cheers,

Isaac

I would say the dealer again.

He does have the power to give you some money off, just like they can give you money off on a new car, its a business, they make profit and sometimes they have to take a hit.

Sounds like he's tryed just passing the buck to VW so it comes out of theyre pockets and not his. Which is fine if you get it, if you dont then it should come down to him again as they are the ones that twiddled their fingers on your time!

The dealer and VW UK have both told me to p*ss off.

Can anyone recommend a good independent garage in the North East? I am never going back to a main dealer.

Cheers,

Isaac

Isaac39 wrote:The dealer and VW UK have both told me to p*ss off.

Can anyone recommend a good independent garage in the North East? I am never going back to a main dealer.

Cheers, Isaac

Where exactly do you mean when you say "North East", its just that you previously mentioned driving from Edinburgh - and there are some good VAG indies around. Also, did you buy it from a VW dealer?

don't forget to write a letter to both the dealer and VW UK telling them you will tell every living soul you know who is thinking of buying a VW what happened.

that's a disgrace. i must say, over the years i have found the dealers for a lot of cars i have had have got more competitive and easier to deal with. VW and SAAB remain the only two who still don't seem to give a t**s and act like they are doing the owner a favour.

they really need to get their heads out of their behinds - i don't know anyone (and i know a lot of VW owners) who has taken their car back for a second visit to a dealer.

the polo has so far cost me more a year to run with nothing wrong with it than my other 2 cars put together

I agree with "londonvw", but would add that you really need to send these letters by recorded delivery, dealing with this sort of problem in person and/or over the phone is how "they" would rather you did this, but you would need a lot of trust in "them" to do that. I tended to find that when I bought Fords, a simple letter that included my vast knowledge of what "F O R D" stood for usually helped in getting any niggles sorted out. Even if they are VW UK they should still want to try to passify annoying, to them and their dealer, customers. But, to the OP, you did buy your car from a VW dealer with some secondhand warranty - didn't you?