Wiper clearance from bonnet

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out of interest how many people would allow the dealer to pick their car up - drive it to the dealer - fix it and drive it back again??

Or is it just me who is a bit protective over his car and a little untrusting of other dealer drivers???

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I use their 'collect and deliver' service,and the old blokes that come and collect are good guys.

BUT,they have a helluva annoying habit of adjusting EVERYTHING in the car,for only a 15 minute journey.

The seat's height and length and angle will be adjusted,the steering wheel's reach and height will also have been done,every mirror will have been done and the stereo is occasionally done as well. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/noidea.gif

It sometimes takes me days to get comfy in my own car again.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/swear.gif
 
My experience with Vindis does in fact go back a lot further than my last five A3s, all be it with different branches. I bought my first VW Golf in 1976 from Birch's Garage in Milton Road in Cambridge. They are now part of the Vindis Group. Since then all my cars have been either VW or Audi. I purchased 5 Golfs and 4 Audis through them before they changed to being VW only. They always gave me excellent service. When I changed from a Golf VR6 to an A3 Birch's were by then VW only so I changed to Vindis at St Ives. They then moved to Huntingdon to become Vindis Huntingdon and I have dealt with the same salesman for all my 5 A3s and never had any problems with them on sales or service. I have always shopped around for comparative prices for my new cars and Vindis Huntingdon have always come up with the best price, better than other Vindis garages as well. I have only used Vindis Huntingdon for my warranty and service work and have always been pleased with the service they have given me. When I was working in Bedford several of my colleagues used Vindis Bedford, with A3s, A4s, and TTs and were quite happy as well.

My wife is currently on her 3rd Polo, again all from Vindis, currently with Vindis VW at St Ives and they have always been very good with her so I hope your sister gets as good a service.
 
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I hope your sister gets as good a service.

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/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

David really!!!!
 
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I hope your sister gets as good a service.

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/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

David really!!!!

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Oi, it's supposed to be a 'family' forum!! And you a moderator to...tisch tisch /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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I hope your sister gets as good a service.


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David really!!!!



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Now I know why my wife likes to visit Vindis VW on her own !
 
whoever supplied me with the pictures could they please tell me if the second one was taken with the wipers in the furthest over position???

Want to get my facts straight - i am now not going to accept the wipers 'only just clearing the bonnet' once its fixed i want there to be plenty of clearance as the picture.

If the wipers were moving how did you get the picture right at the split second they were at the end of their sweep??

cheers (email me if you like)

scrowther@mac.com
 
Hi Steve - I was the David Bailey !

Yes the second photo is with the wipers at their furthest over position. The wipers were moving and it was pure skill (I don't think !) - it took several attempts and then pressing the shutter before it reached the end point to allow for the shutter delay.
 
Steve - Mine is a July 2004 3-door.
 
identical MY then cos mines a June 2004 - they ain't using that as an excuse!
 
Just so you know if you need to take more photos without trial and error of the wipers moving, if you put your wipers in the service position (where they stop half way up the screen - ignition key in I think and do the flick wipe), you can then move them manually up to their upper-most position to check. Then move them back again to about the middle and when they reset they will move back to the bottom again. That's how I measured my 12mm or more clearance.
 
Finally car has gone in. Turns out this dealer reckon its got the wrong wiper motor fitted now (at bolton not lancaster) after lancaster attempted alsorts of botches inc bonnet movement. Waited 4 hours sat morning to be told: still got problems, machine not letting us fit a new motor blah blah I don’t know apparently not as simple as getting spanner out and fitting new motor. Have to plug it into a computer and run a programme on it which basically tells the mechanics what to do and there is some confusion with this part of the process. Anyway after 4 hours of waiting they admitted unfixable problems on the day and suddenly found me a courtesy car – after originally point blank refusing one!! (see above). Car is now in being looked at – gave them an ultimatum (and audi CS) that if car isn’t fixed FULLY this time there will be serious cause for complaint – meaning I will speak to trading standards about a full car replacement.

To be fair though they have listened to my whole story and seem to understand how important it is they get to the absolute bottom of the problem now which is why they say they found me a courtesy car at a moments notice. This is good - better than the botch it seemed i got at lancaster.

Still confusing though why supposedly one of the best well-made cars left the factory with such a significant fault as this??


DAVE - i see the clearnace i should have now on the coutesy car i have. Its a 4 door but i would imagine front end the same and i can get my finger on the dge of the bonnet and the wiper doesn't come anywhere near - must be 13-17 mm!!!!

cheers
 
Well... got the car back. Not good.

They have managed to get the wipers to not hit the bonnet - but only by about 1mm - seriously its a tiny tiny clearance (same as when lancaster had a go at it the first time but the problem returned). So i've still not got the 12mm clearance that im sure I should have???? In addition they have scratched all my wing (surface laquer scratches), scratched my engine cover and made even more damage to the part of the bonnet where the wiper was hitting it (how hard would it have been to stick a bit of tape on the edge while they were working on it???)

Anyway im fuming. What am i supposed to do to get something sorted out without causing more problems???

Anyone know there law here???? This is a long shot but at what point am i legally entitled to a refund or a new car???

steve
 
yes customer services were involved this time - i told them to liase with the dealer to sort it out and she said she would. I told her how important it was that this problem is fixed first time this time - and oh look just ignored me - i'm just another customer who they have had the money off and now they don't actually care, doesn't matter how i explain it they don't listen.

I just don't know what to do - feels like £22k down the drain (albeit the car is 20 months old now)

steve
 
I would call them back and explain how /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/swear.gif off you are and ask what would they suggest you do whilst you are considering legal action and see what they say - someone must be able to sort it so it's like new but right.
 
There is no excuse for the scratched wing - I always thought they have a 'duty of care' when the car is in their 'custody'. Sure I read that on the Which? site.
 
Hi. Thanks for everyones help on this, however i'm on the cadge again. After formally rejecting the car in writing I have been contacted and asked for ANOTHER chance to fix by the original dealer now. However I want to go armed with lots and lots of paperwork - I intend on making it so difficult for them now as they have done for me. I want as many pictures as i can get of wiper clearances on different cars - i have one already (thanks Dave R) but want to go armed with lots of examples that this should be the correct clearance and i won't be accepting anything less. I'm also going to draw up a contract that if this attempt fails or anything at all goes wrong, if anyone as much as farts near my car I will not accept it back, and i will start legal action - they WILL be signing this and agreeing to it.

cheers all... heres hoping lots of people see this thread - or is it best i start another??? Don't wanna p*** people off goin on about the same old thing!
 
"cheers all... heres hoping lots of people see this thread - or is it best i start another??? Don't wanna p*** people off goin on about the same old thing!"

You should'nt have to keep going on about the same thing, the dealer should be able to fix it first time. After having a real shi*e A3 2.0FSI I know where your coming from, people who say "my dealers fine" have probably only ever had routine servicing, anything out of the ordinary and most dealers are completely lost. If my current Audi so much as sneezes it will be my last....................my last one was the biggest piece of c*ap I have ever owned in 32 years, my lads 12 year old Fiat Punto was a better car......................
 
Doesn't surprise me that the car left the factory in such a condition,as they also managed to fit my car with one wrong tyre (wrong load rating).

It not only suggests poor quality control at the factory,it makes a mockery of the PDI inspections.

Anyway,here's a couple of photos of the clearance on my sportback to,hopefully,help your argument.


Photo-0022_000.jpg


Photo-0023_000.jpg


 
I would think its unlikely to have been fitted with the wrong tyre at the factory, due to the line clearance procedures they run to comply with ISO9001, more likely the Dealer punctured it and fitted the wrong tyre prior to delivery.
 
Steve - a pic of my driver's side wiper arm at its most vertical position - bags of clearance. First time I have uploaded an image, so I hope it is not too large. Apologies otherwise.


IMGP2227.jpg
 
would take pictures of mine for ya but I stuffed it this morning /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

got a nice forrester to drive, yikes that thing wallows like a boat and changing gears a clutch seems sooo last year
 
RobB thanks for that - thing is with that angle its difficult to assess the distance? Is it enough of a gap to have your finger in it with the wipers running?

Obviously make sure there is enough space before you start shoving ur finger in there as i expect it would hurt if there wasn't enough room!!!!
 
I will pass on putting my fingers into the wiper arm space if you don't mind! However, when stationary, there is sufficient room for the end of my index finger (nail side to the back, not width if that makes sense) between the arm and the bonnet edge - about 15mm or so.

As I said in a previous post, you can check by putting the wipers in service mode and then manually moving them up the screen to their top position - that's how I took the photo.
 
yes lol as i said wasn't suggesting you do it was just meaning more ' theoretically' is there the space. Was just a way of getting a visual measurement in addition to actual measurements, ie you don't carry a tape measure around with you but you've always got your fingers!!!

this begs another question however - what is the correct position for the wipers to stop in relation to the A-pillar. I'm sure mine used ot be a good 50-60mm from the plastic trim at the edge of the window whereas since 'they last attempted' my wipers go much further over to the edge almost going off the window - about 20-25mm or so

cheers anyway
 
Good luck with that one Steve, if I was a betting man I would put money on them not signing anything that incriminates or accepts any blame at all, I went through all that stuff with my last one, on the plus point though, the Consumer protection people did tell me of a case they had recently won with an 18month old car were the manufacturer was forced to pay back the full cost of the car PLUS the interest that money would have earned if invested.......don't expect customer services to be too helpfull, they wern't with me, typing this does make me wonder why I bought another one............
 
yep your all right they wouldn't sign it - which makes them cowards in my eyes that they wouldn't tie themselves into a decision - looks like im going to have to get solicitors involved cos i REFUSE to be taken for a mug.

steve

oh and ps, watchdog, autoexpress, whatcar and sunday mirror keep an eye on your emails!! ;-)
 
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yep your all right they wouldn't sign it - which makes them cowards in my eyes that they wouldn't tie themselves into a decision - looks like im going to have to get solicitors involved cos i REFUSE to be taken for a mug.

steve

oh and ps, watchdog, autoexpress, whatcar and sunday mirror keep an eye on your emails!! ;-)

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Good luck getting it sorted steve, make sure you include 5th gear and topgear in on your letters!
 
oh yes how could i forget - added to my list!

i'm doing one a day!
 
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