Brought a car in for service during warranty, and it wasn't fixed. Do they still have to fix it later?

April 10, 2008 11:41 AM

During the warranty period, we took are car in twice for what I assumed was a transmission problem. Both times they told us it we were crazy. Now I think the problem has rendered the car undriveable, but the warranty is expired. Are we screwed?

Basically, it was a very specific, weird problem (2005 Volkswagen Beetle). When decelerating to a stop from ~30 mph, the car would jerk suddenly and make a "thunk" noise, but not every time. About once a month.

Unfortunately, my work schedule and the shop's hours required that my wife bring it in. One time they told her it was the window washer fluid in the back rolling around (which wouldn't shake the car), and the other time they couldn't duplicate it. I figured it was annoying, but since they couldn't make it happen, I didn't know what to do. The car had plenty of other electrical problems (windows twice, engine temperature thing, traction thing, etc.) that they fixed without complaint.

I decided to just live with it and to try not braking so hard.

This morning my wife was driving to work, going up a hill from a stop light, when the gas pedal stopped making the car go forward, as if it was shifted into neutral. No warning lights came on, and the engine ran as always. She turned the car off, restarted it, and drove along as normal.

Obviously, now I'm worried about that happening on the freeway, especially since we live in the D.C. and people tailgate like crazy.

My main question is: is there anyway for us to get this problem treated as if it was under warranty still, since we took it in twice and they failed to fix it?

My other questions are: is my guess as to the problems being related accurate? Is there anyway to prove they are?

Thanks.

posted by JeremiahBritt to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

You made a warranty complaint (2 actually) about the transmission not performing properly while you were still covered by warranty service. If I understand correctly, you may still be covered. Otherwise, dealers could just tell you there's no problem on most anything until you bring it in after the warranty is up. If you still have the records, specifically something that shows the customer complaint when you brought it in ("Customer says the transmission shifts rough" or something like that) it will help your case. Contact the service manager first, and explain that you had brought the vehicle in twice before for transmission concerns, and now it has a real transmission problem. If you get nowhere there, climb Volkswagen's ladder.
posted by azpenguin at 11:49 AM on April 10

Holy. Crap. This exact thing happened with my 1999 VW beetle that was 500 miles away from being out of warranty. Took them 3 weeks to fix it, and they gave me a loaner, but only after I bitched. That was the worst car I ever owned.

Mine was a manual turbo. Check somewhere to see if this is a pattern.
posted by Stewriffic at 1:12 PM on April 10

Oh, and if it's the same problem as mine, the dealership estimated that if I had brought it in a few weeks later (past being under warranty) it would have been about a $6,000 "repair." That car is what made me decide never, ever, ever to own a VW again. Or an Audi.

Do what azpenguin said. If they *don't* immediately fix it, up the customer service ladder you go.
posted by Stewriffic at 1:18 PM on April 10

Thanks. I'll probably have to piss and moan my way up the corporate ladder, but that's worth at least $1,000 or so in repairs.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 1:58 PM on April 10

This is a question I'd ask on the VWVortex Forums - there's a lot of useful info (especially about widespread issues) on those boards. There's also the Newbeetle forums, specific to the modern Beetle. I can't speak to the quality of the forums, though.

I'd say that you should take it back and be extremely forceful with the management. If they don't provide you with the solution you need, move up the customer service ladder. I wouldn't expect to get far, though, since Dealers are notorious creeps. From there, move to the DC Attorney General's office, the BBB. And see whether (and I doubt it) the DC Lemon Law applies.
posted by god hates math at 2:13 PM on April 10

Call VWOA yesterday. Seconding VWVortex, and there are dealer-types that hang out there and can give you excellent pointers on how to approach this.
posted by rhizome at 2:33 PM on April 10