Volkswagon Are ****....

[Dani_B19]

As some may know my car was hit at the drivers front back in october now.

Had the insurance out to suppousedly access it ( was obvious they hadnt, on the report they claimed i had a 5 door saloon , anyway they didnt provide a report for the suspension side of it only the body)

So thought id take it to a volkswagon dealer near me to have it accessed as it knocking and seems to hop a bit when doing very low speed manouvers, its bang on over 10mph its just under theres a problem with grip. so off they put it on the ramp, 30 mins later they ask me to come through.
Went through to be met by one of their mechanics, hes stood under the car and turns around and says that it all looks fine to him, i said well obviously it isnt it's knocking, you checked the track rods, wheel bearing, roll bar, shock etc, yeah yeah he sayd all looks ok BUT i think you should have a 4 wheel aligement as this as this will show any problems.
Now i know for a fact the aligment's out because you can see it is and 2, if he's already checked the suspension how the hell will the aligment show anything up. In the end it was just a case they wanted £80 out of me for something that i didnt want, waste of time.
The only good thing that came out of it was that i managed to have a look under the car and it seems like its the shock but how do i check to see if it is definately that?

 

[Keeno]

But a new one on and see if it cures it? Lol

Seriously though, if you push down in the front of the car does it feel soft or anything?

 

[Matt82]

you mean the dealer you went to is pants! name and shame i recon.

there could be a whole variety of things causing the knock for you. if you do the alignment before sorting the knock, you could end up having to do alignment again blah blah blah

whats the condition of your wishbone bushes?

 

[Dani_B19]

Exactly, if i do an alignment then they have todo work its a waste of £80.

Ill have a jump on it but the car is fine over 10mph like i say, its only under 10mph it feels like the wheel isnt gripping right when turned towards full lock, it seems to hop etc.

 

[A3Tom]

So the car needs an alignment which you knew about, they told you it needed one, you refused and they're a bunch of *****?.

Not so sure about that one!.

 

[Dani_B19]

No tom what im saying is, their soultion was to just do an alignment, not diagnose the problem, which isnt helping is it!

Now if they said right its this, this and this, we can fix that and then do an alignment it would have been fine but they couldnt be bothered to actualy investigate what the problem was.

 

[Sandip]

This is why i never take my car to a dealers, they want money for doing nothing, if they investigated dani the bill would have been in the hundreds and maybe even then the problem might still be there lol

Is there not an independant vw/audi garage near you, always good to make friends as these are the ones that come in handy bud

 

[A3Tom]

No tom what im saying is, their soultion was to just do an alignment, not diagnose the problem, which isnt helping is it!

Now if they said right its this, this and this, we can fix that and then do an alignment it would have been fine but they couldnt be bothered to actualy investigate what the problem was.

Ah, I'm with you now.

As has been said....decent indy is always usefull to know. There's no way my car will ever go near a stealers again.

 

[voorhees]

Ah, I'm with you now.

As has been said....decent indy is always usefull to know. There's no way my car will ever go near a stealers again.

I bought my car from the stealers on the highway Tom and although they fleeced me for servicing I have had a long list of work done by them for nothing.
just my two p's worth

 

[A3Tom]

I bought my car from the stealers on the highway Tom and although they fleeced me for servicing I have had a long list of work done by them for nothing.
just my two p's worth

I've approached them for work on mine in the past and to be hest I reckon they were trying to price me out of the door. Its obviously an ideal place for me to take my car to as its by work etc but they were so expensive. Not only that...... they were very rude....purely because I didnt have an RS4 IMO. Soon changed their tune when they had an S5 nicked and wanted me to find it for them though (same bloke, didnt recognise me though...smarmy tw@t).

Solihull Audi are the same too. They did my roof rails and I was so impressed with them....really good service...however when I've been in there after for parts or quotes etc they've been really rude. They wanted to se my car and charge me 75 quid before even quoting me for a new window regulator that I was going to fit myself.

I'll stick with Midland up in Cannock....I'll never set foot in a dealership again!!.

 

[Westy]

I've only ever dealt with the Audi parts department and the guy in my local is a great bloke. Answers the phone in 2 rings, always recognises my voice (probably because I've bought so many parts), never moans and is always pleasant. VW however were a PITA! It took 2 days before they answered the phone (no word of a lie), then the guy got all funny with me because I had part numbers of their top secret ETKA system! I thought I was making his life easier!

 

[AndyMac]

My local VW dealership is pretty good, especially compared to the Audi one, although that said the Audi parts department is excellent.
As soon as your car is 3+ years old I would never take it to a dealership. They are just parts fitters with no real expertise. A good VAG specialist will have far more pride in their work, more knowledge of older Audi's and will shop around on OEM parts. Can't believe there are people on here who still think the FASH is in someway gonna pay back the thousands they've overpaid during their ownership.

 

[jojo]

The problem with VAG parts wether Audi or VW, is the lack of consistancy. My Local VW dealer - HallGreen, Straford Road - is really poor, I stood there for 15 mins before anyone served me, the stupid wireless bell thing didn't work! I had to ask the guy on the service desk, to get the parts guy out, and he was reluctant to do it, what great team work. VW in Birmingham Ring Road, won't do anything for you unless you have the chassis number, so useless the parts guy is.

I've had good service from Audi parts, both in Solihull and Birmingham Ring Road, even for 2 screw which cost me 26p each, they was helpful, and they both knew how to use the engine code I turned up with.

 

[Nilz]

Solihull Audi have been ok with me and I have always had good CS from them, best stealer service I have had was from Hartwell VW when they were in Digbeth, Birmingham.

Apart from that, I think I will be sticking with Midland VW too, excellent service from them.

 

[HTC]

Dani, do you have any tyre scrub? This might indicate bad toe out on turns. A good garage should be able to check the angles at full lock. If it's off then it would be a damaged steering component. Just a guess, but look for feathering of the tyres.

 

[Dani_B19]

Well when turning on full lock it sounds like the tyres comeing from under it's self if you get me, its scrapes across the floor, its quite hard to explain.

 

[HTC]

I like that. "The tyre's coming from under itself" :thumbsup: Luckily I do know what you mean.

Look up akerman steering principle on wikipedia, but it does sound like a simple wheel alignment issue unless the car has been bashed and the chassis or another component is out of line.

 

[Dani_B19]

Yeah it got run into on the drivers side, the other car hit the front bumper and wing but her wheel scrapped down the drivers alloy.

Physical inspection looks ok, couldnt see anything bent etc so.

So it could just be an alignment issue? I know the shock is more than likely damaged due to the knocking im getting.

 

[fingermouse]

The alignment may have shown up something was wrong, if they changed a part then it needed alignment and the problem went away how would you know if it was alignment or the part ????

Tbh its a logical suggestion for them if everything looks ok then it makes sence to check it then take it from there