QuestionHi Doug,
I own a 2007 VW Jetta. On Dec. 28, 2007 I took the car in for an oil change, detail and the front passenger airbag light said off even when an adult was in the front seat and their seat belt was in use.
I was promised it would be ready that day.
That evening I get a call, the car is not ready, come in and we will give you a loaner car.
Get there, did not receive a loaner car, received a rental car from Enterprise. Signed with Enterprise for the extra insurance (had a friend who formerly worked there and said ALWAYS do this with this particular company or you could regret it), which ended up costing me $266 in the end. Kept the rental car until Jan. 10, 2008, called the dealership every couple of days, and the part for the airbag problem was never there. Finally when I asked to come and pick my car up and return the rental car, I was told that the car has a safety issue and should not be driven and please come in and now we can give you a loaner car. They of course were going to call me as soon as a loaner car became available, that didn't happen until I wanted to come and pick up my car until the missing part arrived.
My next conversation with them was Jan. 30, when I phoned them because the loaner car contract had expired. They assured me that the service manager was working diligently to locate the missing part.
On Mar. 2, 2008 I wrote a letter to the general manager of the dealership, by Mar. 4 I received a phone call from the service manager.
Here was the offer the service manager gave me:
A) Free oil change, free detail, check for two months car payments, and oh by the way, the car still isn't repaired, but they expect the part in on Mar.14, 2008.
B) Pick out a new car, trade my car in, get 10% off invoice, $1000 off for customer loyalty, and give us 2.9%APR WAC.
C)Substitution of Collateral: we get a new car they will swap the VIN numbers on the paperwork with our credit union where we have the loan, BUT we have to pay them $3900 because I have 17,825 miles on a 2007 car. When I asked where she came up with the $3900 number she said that this was "a very good deal because the Texas Lemon Law states that we would have to pay 42 cents per mile and we are offering this to you at 22 cents per mile".
We went to the dealership today, Mar. 8, 2008, to collect our garage door opener out of the car and I checked the mileage and it now has 17, 988 miles on the car. When I asked how the mileage had increased so much she stated "I am not sure what the manufacturer had them do to trouble shoot the problem". I am not sure how driving the car could help trouble shoot the problem when they still do not have the part to replace the malfunctioning part on the car. When I asked what the hold up is on receiving the part that needs to be replaced (it's the PODS unit) she said that they would have stop the production line in either Germany, Mexico or Brazil and send it here, she's not sure which, but the part will be there by Mar.14, 2008. When I asked who this dealership's general manager reports to, she stated that he reports to no one, he is the owner, I assured her that he must report to someone, CEOs even report to their share holders. She gave me some name of Skipper Beck Automotive Group out of Charlotte, NC. She made a very big point to say that this is all the fault of VW manufacturing and that they are the ones extending the offers (A,B,C above). I mentioned that the dealership is also at fault for the lack of communication regarding my current situation is not a VW manufacturing problem but a more local problem with the dealership. When I asked what the name was of the customer care representative that gave her this information she couldn't tell me because the normal person that handles that is out on maternity leave---WHO did she talk to?
Four hours after returning from the dealership today, I receive a phone call from VW customer service asking me to do a survey, they wanted to know if I purchased a car today. I informed them that I was not there to purchase a car today but to talk to someone about why my car has been there since Dec. 28, 2007 and that I really did not think that now would be a good time for me to take a customer satisfaction survey as my opinion of the dealership and of VW is very poor. AMAZING, haven't received any phone calls from them, I have had to make ALL contact regarding this issue and today I get a phone call for a survey. How did that happen?
I know that I am getting the run around, but don't know enough about the car industry and this substitution of collateral business and the mileage fee to see what I can negotiate out of this. I am not trying to get something for nothing, I think that is wrong. But I want to get straight answers and I don't feel like I am getting that. I also find it odd that two of the resolutions offered to me were to not get this car back at all. Even if I got my car back I now have lost all faith in it's safety and I have lost a tremendous amount of respect for VW.
Can you offer any suggestions?
Thank you so much,
Sherri
AnswerHi Sherri,
What a black eye this gives to dealers. I really need to ponder this whole situation over a day or two. I cannot for the life of me figure out why or whom dropped the ball in their service department.
I will get back to you tomorrow Sherri.
Doug
