Volkswagen not so reliable?

Solus · 5 Nov 2015 at 11:20

For extended warranty on the Renault grand scenic it's £349 per year. Anyone have any experience of their extended warranties?

Got a call from Warranty wise today, I asked for a call back on volkawagen's official extended warranty website. They are who deal with their warranties. It would be £435 per year with £250 excess and £3000 max cost per fault.

With no excess the price goes up to £550 per year. Quite a bit more than the Renault.

Nasher · 5 Nov 2015 at 11:35

An Audi A3 TDI was the most unreliable car I've owned. Amung other issues, the turbo randomly exploded at around 75k miles. Same thing happened to a friend's A4 around the same milage :/

That list does look about right. Land Rover at the bottom, mainly Jap manufacturers at the top

cuke2u · 5 Nov 2015 at 11:46

adam cool dude said:
VW's 1.4 TFSI and 2.0 TFSI engines are enough to put anyone off the brand. I personally wouldn't buy one without a warranty.

You can't make a sweeping statement like that without qualifying it, so why?

TheVoice · 5 Nov 2015 at 11:49

xs2man said:
So will only have one year warranty left? Why not get a Kia something or other? 7 year warranty on them? Or Vauxhall? Lifetime warranty.

The lifetime warranty only applies to the first owner.

Wang Computer · 5 Nov 2015 at 11:52

Firestar_3x said:
We have been through this before, the data used puts bias on certain thing, meaning a Bentley which goes wrong once but costs 8k to fix is less reliable than a Fiesta which is in the garage every week but costs 50p to put right.

That would be a very poor method of statistical analysis... What evidence to you have to suggest this is the case?

Furthermore, BMWs and Audis were mentioned and not Bentleys. These are incredibly common brands.

Firestar_3x · 5 Nov 2015 at 12:02

Wang Computer said:
That would be a very poor method of statistical analysis... What evidence to you have to suggest this is the case?

Furthermore, BMWs and Audis were mentioned and not Bentleys. These are incredibly common brands.

Warranty direct weight the data values, so a weighting is given to repair cost / frequency of breakdown etc.

I really can't be bothered to find the data / thread again but it appears that WD put a rather large weighting on the Cost factor of the repair.

lemonade · 5 Nov 2015 at 12:47

I wouldn't touch a VW with a bargepole, then again I wouldn't really touch a modern Toyota either or most newish car these days, the build quality and reliability is all gone, and most new cars are built to last around 3 years.

wingman · 5 Nov 2015 at 13:01

Build quality and reliability is hard to judge on new Toyota's (and every other new car, too) since they've not been given chance to stand the test of time. It's unfair, really, just because someone above had to take theirs in 10 times over 18 months doesn't mean everyone will. I've ran two new Toyota's to 3 years old and neither of them had to visit a garage except for routine servicing, both of which were bought in the last 7 years.

Similarly I've bought a used Renault Megane recently (2006 reg) and it's had one fault in 14 months, one which was very minor (electrical issue, go figure). The blanket hate on French cars is, IMO, unjustified. You see plenty of old Renaults rolling around. It's like the stigma still attached to Skoda's.

Guess what I'm trying to say is, there's no crystal ball to consult here, use your head if buying used (buy on condition and history), or if buying new/with warranty, why worry about it?

Firestar_3x · 5 Nov 2015 at 13:38

lemonade said:
Most newish car these days, the build quality and reliability is all gone, and most new cars are built to last around 3 years.

LOL

matthab · 5 Nov 2015 at 13:48

adam cool dude said:
VW's 1.4 TFSI and 2.0 TFSI engines are enough to put anyone off the brand. I personally wouldn't buy one without a warranty.

I own the twincharged 1.4, i bought it knowing its potential problems. So far however its been an absolute hoot to own. I will say however everything around it seems to break. So far for me:

*Aircon Pump failure.
*Aircon Seals failed.
*DSG Clutch failure.
*Water pump failure.
*Wheel bearing.

All paid for by the warranty

lemonade · 5 Nov 2015 at 14:08

Firestar_3x said:
LOL

You laugh but this how a lot of industry are these days, you make products with planned obsolescence, it makes no sense to make cars durable that will be trouble free in 10 years time, you make less money, make a car that will run fine for 3 years for the length of a PCP deal, after that they start throwing big bills for a second hand buyer to pick up the bill, whilst you tie in a the original owner onto another deal on a new car so you have a constant supply of riches.

Modern cars are so complicated that even dealers struggle to diagnose when something goes wrong.

-Mike- · 5 Nov 2015 at 17:39

Solus said:
Got a call from Warranty wise today, I asked for a call back on volkawagen's official extended warranty website. They are who deal with their warranties. It would be £435 per year with £250 excess and £3000 max cost per fault.

With no excess the price goes up to £550 per year. Quite a bit more than the Renault.

Warranty wise are not who deal with VW extended warranty. Its Mondial.

https://www.volkswagenextendedwarranty.co.uk/

Volkswagen Extended Warranty is sold by Mondial Assistance (UK) Limited, and underwritten by AGA International SA and is administered in the UK by Mondial Assistance (UK) Limited, Registered in England No. 1710361. Registered Office: 102 George Street, Croydon CR9 6HD.

To be fair to Mondial, they are fantastic, don't quibble anything. I've had a new ASV, new door lock module, new horn and a few other bits that I forget.

-Mike- · 5 Nov 2015 at 17:47

Should probably add, VW's rust warranty is a waste of time however. They won't pay out for much there.... I have rot coming out of the B pillar on a 2008 car which they expect me to pay for. Doesn't exactly fill you with confidence on the longevity of the chassis or its safety.

Hades · 5 Nov 2015 at 18:15

-Mike- said:
Should probably add, VW's rust warranty is a waste of time however. They won't pay out for much there.... I have rot coming out of the B pillar on a 2008 car which they expect me to pay for. Doesn't exactly fill you with confidence on the longevity of the chassis or its safety.

That's strange. I claimed last year on the rust warranty for a 2009 Golf to get the tailgate fixed. It took a few weeks to get approval but they did it under warranty. I was very disappointed a 2009 car needed that fix though.

-Mike- · 5 Nov 2015 at 19:19

Hades said:
That's strange. I claimed last year on the rust warranty for a 2009 Golf to get the tailgate fixed. It took a few weeks to get approval but they did it under warranty. I was very disappointed a 2009 car needed that fix though.

I have a rusty tailgate, rusty bonnet, rust on the sills and rust on the pillar where the mount for the door is. They offered 50%, refused to budge any further leaving me a four figure contribution to make towards the cost.

Hades · 5 Nov 2015 at 19:26

-Mike- said:
I have a rusty tailgate, rusty bonnet, rust on the sills and rust on the pillar where the mount for the door is. They offered 50%, refused to budge any further leaving me a four figure contribution to make towards the cost.

That is indeed very poor. The wheel arches and tailgate are a well known issue with them unfortunately. What was the reason they gave for only contributing half? I think the rust warranty is 12 years so they should have given a reason why they felt it wasn't fully covered? Did you escalate the matter to VW themselves?

I must admit mine took weeks to get approved and I gave up with the VW dealer and so went straight to VW customer service with a complaint that it was taling too long. that got the claim moving.

snowdog · 5 Nov 2015 at 19:42

iaind said:
This comes back to the whole perceived quality thing vs actual quality.

Exactly, tbh perceived quality is such a stupid thing to pay for. I've driven loads of new-ish VAG's ( New Golf, New Octy, new A3), and they don't offer anything new or better than a 15 year old car, nor do they require less maintenance.

Worse, I think they drive utterly terrible even compared to some bland cars from the late 90's.

I don't think they are built to last 500.000+ km like some older cars, hell I even trust an old PSA car more than a VAG...

Just look on your average breakers yard, you see the Frenchies, Volvo's, other Germans ( Mercs mainly), with mileages well over the VAG cars and the half mill (km's) mark.

Around the Golf 4 era, especially the 1.9 TDI's were quite reliable, or well, they held out long anyhow. But the modern VAG's seem plagued by things ( not the regular wearables) breaking or rust issues at only a few years old or even under 100k.

-Mike- · 5 Nov 2015 at 19:43

Hades said:
That is indeed very poor. The wheel arches and tailgate are a well known issue with them unfortunately. What was the reason they gave for only contributing half? I think the rust warranty is 12 years so they should have given a reason why they felt it wasn't fully covered? Did you escalate the matter to VW themselves?

I must admit mine took weeks to get approved and I gave up with the VW dealer and so went straight to VW customer service with a complaint that it was taling too long. that got the claim moving.

I did indeed go to customer services... apparently their criteria for contributions meant I was only eligible for 50%. I asked what I was missing for the 100% and they wouldn't tell me.

Car has FVWSH, is relatively low mileage for its age too. The warranty is indeed 12 years, its a fight I intend to continue but I'm waiting for the local dealer to sort out the juddering first.

jono_astra · 5 Nov 2015 at 19:46

Dalandius · 5 Nov 2015 at 19:55

The idea of VW's reliability is largely based on the cars they build years ago, which while built like a tank was also built to last. It does seem that along with nearlt every one else their newer cars do not match this legacy.