Volkswagen
reviews and complaints

After hurricane Sandy I lost my Volkswagen Jetta. I called up Koeppel Volkswagen Dealership where I had gotten the initial lease from to see if there was something we could work out since I had recently went through the whole process of putting down money and paying tax, title and fee's up front for the car I lost. This company refused even to talk about my request.

On 9 march 2012, I bought a vw tdi jetta sportswagen (Vin 3vwpl7aj4cm669683) with “automatic” transmission at cook vw of fallston, md. I did not test drive the vehicle nor did anyone at the dealership ask me to. I have driven vehicles with automatic transmissions since I was 16 years old and never had any trouble with any of them, so naturally, I did not expect to have any trouble with this new vehicle. However, from the time I took possession of the vehicle, the transmission “bucked, ” jumped, hesitated, and lunged. I took the car back to cook’s on 26 april to have it examined, but they said that it was “normal” and there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. I told them that if that was “normal, ” I was surprised that anyone would want to buy one.

I continued having the same problems with the car, and I spoke with the vw customer care center and was told that vw would give me a $1, 500 voucher toward a vehicle with 6-speed manual transmission. I spoke with the general manager at cook vw, and he said "sure, i'll work with you”. He said that I wouldn’t have to pay much difference, if any (His exact words) to get a jetta with manual transmission. Therefore, on 7 may, I returned the jetta with “automatic” transmission for one with manual transmission. At this time, I learned that the so-called automatic transmission was really a manual transmission with double clutches controlled by a computer! If anyone would have bothered to explain this to me at the beginning, I would have bought a jetta with manual transmission then!

When I bought the first jetta, I only owed ~$4000.00. After exchanging it for one with manual transmission, however, I then owed $8, 000.00, despite application of the $1, 500 voucher! In other words, cook got a total of $5, 500.00 for swapping the vehicle even though the"automatic" one only had accrued 1400 miles. This is much more than I thought I would owe, especially since the sales manager said that I wouldn’t have to pay much difference, if any. Since no one at cook asked me to test drive it or explained to me what to expect with vw’s “automatic” transmission, I feel I should not have had to pay so much. I believe they misrepresented the product as something it wasn't, and I was not given enough information to make an intelligent decision! I even tried to check the car with consumer reports, but they had only tested the manual transmission, not the “automatic” one.

I contacted the better business bureau who tried to get cook to refund some of my money, but they did not succeed. I then contacted the attorney general's office for consumer protection, but they couldn't get anywhere with cook's either.

Mr. Service Manager,

Isnt it so unfortunate for me that I have yet to hear from you. 5 month gone and counting. Hoping that VW group will be professional enough to help.
You may ask, why did I remember about this after 5 more months?

1. The car still continues to drift towards left and it is an endless problem.
2. The wipers have become noisy and unfortunately I am not able to make time to visit the service center again.

Will I ever get justice?

I have already visited the service center more than 3 times ever since I have purchased the car. Despite the Quality Assuarance I do not know how many more times will I have to visit the service center.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Farhan Borker
Date: Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 11:07 AM
Subject: Chasis Number: WVWM11600CT019145
To: [protected]@vw-tornadomotors.co.in

Dear Service Manager,

I purchased a VW Vento Highline TDI just about the last week of
February 2012 and have sent my car for servicing twice for the
following complaint
1. Suspension too hard and bumps make the cabin noisy.
2. Car pulls towards the left ( wheel alignment problem)
I have driven over 2000 kms and although I love the pickup and engine
performance, I am highly DISAPPOINTED with the uncomfortable
suspension which kills the feel of a luxury saloon. From my two visits
to Tornado Motors Service/Sales centre they have convinced me for the
fact that they cannot do anything more about this problem for the
following unexpected reasons:
1. Suspension: I was told that the suspension of a German Make cars
cannot be compared to any Japanese or American make cars as they are
too soft and wear and tear is high those makes, whereas VW ( so called
German Make cars) have a harder suspension for long lasting
life...this is highly disappointing because this car happens to be the
most expensive car in its class and I blindly believed that I will get
the best performance. Imagine I shelled out 11.5 lacs INR for the
above mentioned uncomfortable ride quality. Everywhere I go, I am now
very watchful about the bad roads or small pot holes which are so
common on Indian roads, because I feel really embarrassed in front of
my colleagues or relatives. I have to really drive it really really
slow at 20 kmph to avoid that noise creeping into the cabin. I have
driven both the Japanese and American make cars and they are really
smooth even at high speeds on rough roads, but the Vento I own,
discourages me on every drive. I am also willing to invest on a new
design of suspensions to replace the ones fitted already. But I want a
better suspension. I am very hopeful that VW group will consider my
request. I love to drive and will continue to drive all my life, I am
really passionate about my car and I have done enough research and
ready multiple blogs before deciding on the Vento...I gave up on
Hundai Verna because of its body roll and it does not give me
confidence on high speeds, I also gave up on the Chevrolet Optra
Magnum purely because of its refinement of engine and efficiency, I
gave up on the Ford Fiesta/ SX4 and Linea because of its Engine
lacking power @ 90 BHP...
2. Wheel Alignment: I was told that the car is drifting towards left
because of the banking of road. However I have driven the car on
Bandra Worli Sealink and Mumbai Pune Expressway which are flat
surfaces without any banking, and the problem still remains.
3. Now I have encountered another problem. This happens only when the
AC/Fan is on. When I accelerate there is a noise of the FAN from the
extreme left AC vent. The noise increases with the Increase in FAN
speed.
4. At the time of delivery of the car, I was informed that the car
will come with a fuel coupon of 10-15 litres of Diesel. I was told
that I would get a verification call about the coupon and I would
fabricate this statement. However, I never received any verification
call.

Is this how VW group treat its customers? I was very proud to have
owned a car from VW brand but now my myth is breaking and killing me
on every drive. I was equally excited to buy a Jetta at the time of
purchase and was heartbroken because I could not stretch my budget,
however now I feel safe that I did not stretch to make that purchase
if similar problems were persistent.
My colleague also bought a Polo post my recommendation before I could
realize the challenges in my Vento.
I request VW to fix the problems being faced in my car such that I
feel confident every time I take it for a ride.

Your service engineer, Mayuresh has been very kind and expressed
desire to help, but all said and done I am still unhappy with the
design quality of suspension.

--
Regards,

Farhan

--
Regards,

Farhan

I want to tell that we have already a car of Volkswagen brand name vento . its registration no. PB11AT-0314 Its chassis no. WVWL10606BT018859. it have a problem that it’s AC controller has Faulted & co. workmen at Bhagat Autos at patiala repaired it temporarily & said that its controller is dead the new one is not available presently. They told us near about 80days ago when the part will be available in our stock godown we will inform you immediately, but there is no any information given by them till. We called so many times to Volkswagen service manager he always replied us the part is not available.

We also called at your customer care toll free number [protected]. We register our complaint at this number & they registered our complaint & gave us a complaint no. CAL9733. Dated 3-dec-2011. After some days 14-dec-11 we call again to know about complain they told us that your complaint has been forwarded to high level. We call Volkswagen again & again 17-dec & 21-dec on regular basis but they replied same.

At last I told something that your co.`s service is too cheap. It is not well business for a MNC co. your service franchises cannot available a minor part of a car. If our or anyone’s major part has been faulted our car has valued scrap. If anyone ask about Volkswagen. I will advise him to never think about that co. car.

I m not satified with my brand new vw gti mark 6 (2011-mileage 35, 000km). The door frame sound is irritating when the vehicle is moving/turning at low speed especially on uneven road condition. Both the service dealers have done something on it ( apply 3M stickers & wax on the door rubber)but it does help for a short preriod of time only. Being a first new own VW car, this really give me a bad impression against vw car. In such, i hope the concern department must seriously & quickly look into this problem seriously.

Look forward to hear from your solution & feedback ASAP.

TQ,

Darren +[protected]

I have taken the delivery of vw polo last week. There was a problem at the time of delivery.The problem was my door indicator showing that the doors are not closed properly even though all the doors were closed and my central locking was also not working.The very next day i informed about the problem and drop my vehicle for checkup.after 2days they called me saying that it was ready but when i went to take the vehicle they have damaged my car and the problem was also not solved.The response given was too bad . This was not expected from volkswagen company.I am badly disappointed by the service given by such a reputed company.I have mainly preffered this car for its performance.

Brand as well as after sales service.But i have not found any difference between other local brand company which i was using before. I have taken the vehicle from bangalore, volkswagen downtown dealer near brigade road.I think my problem could be solved as soon as possible.

VW loses the class action lawsuit. Promises to pay damages to all who can send the proper forms and proof of damages. So if all this has been done and we've been approved for the whole amount of the repairs we paid. When do they have to pay? Isn't there a timeline when this all needs to be said and done.

I have a 2009 Passat with 30, 000 miles on it. First of all, it is an expensive car to maintain and not worthy of the price we paid for it.
Although, the salesman will continue telling you that it is "German Engineered” car, but Volkswagen can be piece of junk as any other cheap and disposable cars out there. Because of that, (German engineered) they sell the car with a highjacked price tag.
Is a sells pitch, the "German Engineered", if is from Germany that doesn’t mean that is excellent or a wonderful or even underbar - good product, is a German product with things that are wrongly made and VW continues reproducing the same problem over and over again, is a German product and that’s it.
If you truly listen to these salesman, the entire picture of the car becomes like if Germans are the best engineers on the planet and unable to make junk cars.
At the same time, it seems that Volkswagen makes these cars only to work up to 20, 000 miles then the problem of all kind starts where charges are ridicules, oil change for almost a $100 dollars, that’s ridicules, now think about it, a ordinary car oil change will costs you $30 dollars and run 3000miles, now presuming that you drive 10.000 miles per year you have paid $90 dollars, now with VW and after 30.000 miles is recommended that you change your oil every 5000.miles which would cost you $200dollars per year. Off course they (VW) would argue that VW uses synthetic oil, but the difference is only $5.0 - 10dollars depending where you buy your synthetic oil and who changing it for you.
Volkswagen Passat is made of tons of plastic, so I guess that's one of the reasons for not being a good car anyway. After 20, 000 miles, the entire plastic mounting inside the car starts making disturbing noises, from sunroof to dashboard, doors and Etc, then every other thing start falling apart. With not even a thousand mile on the car the EPC came on and the device needed to be changed, thank god it was under warranty, then the seat problem, heating and cooling problem and with 30, 000 miles, the engine light starts coming on. This is not a first time nor this car is first, there is tons of complain everywhere, in almost every sites on the web and is not about Passat but all and every VW models.

While we were driving on 405 the engine light indicating EPC - Electronic Power Control turned on. It slows the car down dangerously, especially when you drive on a left lane on a freeway at 60-70 miles and need to get out of the way and get off the freeway all together. Engine starts to die down rapidly, where 100s of cars are behind you and you can be hit at any time if you are not careful in your decision-making. This is the second time that happens to our car, I wouldn't recommend Volkswagen at all and for no one to buy such “German engineered junk”, if they are so good why cant they solve the problem once and for all.

I purchased Vento Diesel car having Engine No. CLN15957, Chasis No. WVWD11602BT048709 on 20/04/11. On 6 Sept 2011, my husband was driving on Highway. Suddenly one maruti 800 hit our car at Bonnet side and damage most of the portion of front side of the car. After strike by small car like Maruti 800, Vento could not maintain balance on Highway and finally fell into deep mud hole. Even after such big hit, air bags did not open at the spot and ABS Could not stop the car running only at 90 Km/hr.

After contact the company showroom in Karnal (Haryana) in India, they are responding with one line ” Air Bag will open only when car will face more powerful collision and ABS can work only this much of level”. What was told at the time of purchase, nothing come true. I am owning cars from other companies also. But i faced life threatening incident with Volkswagen only. I am seeing whether Volkswagen will take some action and solve my problem as soon as possible.

Would you please follow my case and tell them to solve the problem from the roots as I am working and they make me suffer a lot. This is a very bad reputation to VW cars.

Beware of leasing through vw credit!
I have leased for 20+ years and I have never gone through the issues i'm going through with vw credit after turning in my 2009 jetta 3000k miles under mileage! They will rake you for every little ding, scratch, burn, tires, normal wear and tear... Anything they can get from you. I will never lease from them again! I am starting a website for other people i've had contact with to share similar stories so when the site is complete, I will make sure everyone knows how they do business.
I've never had to pay for tires (They were exactly where they should have been when turning it in)... You can turn in a honda, toyota, lexus, etc with bald tires and they won't bother you! Normal wear and tear after 36 months. I've only ever had to pay for over mileage!
Vw credit is ridiculous and i, nor my friends, family, neighbors or co-workers will ever do business with them again!

Vw beetle factory oem stereo radio gps dvd player tv cav-8070vb

Dvd gps navigation special for vw beetle car

1) 7inch digital touch screen, 800x480 high definition
2) build-in gps, with intelligent voice guide, route plan, advanced poi management
3) dvd/vcd/cd/mp3/mp4/cd-r/wma /jpg/mpg
4) build-in bluetooth with a2dp, handfree set
5) build-in am/fm radio, rds available
6) ipod connectivity (available for ipod series, iphone series, etc)
7) original factory panel design, original harness and plug compatibility
8) graphical user interface
9) usb direct control
10) sd card direct control
11) auto zoom function
12) original steer wheeling compatibility
13) 4x45 watt built-in power
14) 2 rca preouts
15) 1 av input, 1 av output, 2 rca preouts
16) built-in gps radio, rds, bluetooth, ipod
17) mp3/mp4/player, photo browser, notebook
18) realtime clock, calendar

Www.suavdvdgps.com/product_info.asp?id=417

I bought a vehicle at above mention company in 2010 late September and I had bought the vehicle through a financial provider at my then employer. I drove the car for 5 months then I started getting problems with the radiator and about 4 months down the line the cars' engine overheated and the vehicle stopped working. I went back to the garage where I bought my vehicle and the sales lady there said that my car didn't have any guarantee on it and I had to fix the car out of my own pocket. I took my car to the garage to get an quota and they informed me that my car was in a accident previously and that could be a reason for it giving so much problems. The above mentioned company failed to inform me that the car was in a accident and that they were selling it without guarantee. My car is a Ford KA 2007.

I purchased vento diesel car having engine no. Cln15957, chasis no. Wvwd11602bt048709 on 20/04/11. On 6 sept 2011, my husband was driving on highway. Suddenly one maruti 800 hit our car at bonnet side and damage most of the portion of front side of the car. After strike by small car like maruti 800, vento could not maintain balance on highway and finally fell into deep mud hole. Even after such big hit, air bags did not open at the spot and abs could not stop the car running only at 90 km/hr.

After contact the company, they are responding with one line ” air bag will open only when car will face more powerful collision and abs can work only this much of level”. What was told at the time of purchase, nothing come true. I am owning cars from other companies also. But I faced life threatening incident with volkswagen only. I am seeing whether volkswagen will take some action and solve my problem as soon as possible.

Would you please follow my case and tell them to solve the problem from the roots as I am working and they make me suffer a lot. This is a very bad reputation to vw cars.

Dear Sir Or Madam The enerGuide sticker on the window of my tdi which I purched new reads 42/mi per gal.city which I get. It also reads 59 mi/per gal highway. I get at the best 50 mi/per gal. highway. Usually I only get 43-45 mi/per gal.highway. I took it to SouthLand Volkewagon in Medicine Hat Alberta And all they did was give a bunch of printouts of information off the internet no other information of any kind and said that is the milage I will get and they could do nothing for me. This is my second VW that I purchased.

Both TDI’s. The first got exellent millage as stated on the window sticker. AS advertised on TV get 1000 km on a tank of fuel. In no way do I get this millage now. Please what can I do to get this problem rectified. Hopefully someone at VW CANADA has a solution to my problem. I await your speedy reply.

On thee 4the of November 2011 I purchased a new VW Jetta from VW Fury in Northecliff and dealer named Anne Tornois.
I took delivery of the vehicle at approximately 05:30 that evening and whilst taking the turnoff on thee highway my husband discovered that the vehicle is not selecting gears properly especially gears 3rd, as the dealer closed at 5pm already there was no answer when we tried calling them.
We then tried contacting the dealer Anne Tornois on the cellphone number provided on her business card to no avail. After numerous calls to numbers provided in case of an emergency we finally got some joy from the VW road side assist.
We were then advised not to drive the car and were also told that a complaint would be lodged withe VW SA. On the morning of the 05the after making about 15 calls to Fury VW a tow truck was sent from Fury VW to pick up the vehicle. No courtesy car was sent to transport my husband and I. We unfortunately had to catch a lift withe the tow truck driver who was oh so kind. Upon our arrival the dealer Anne did not even come to apologise or anything. We were then approached by another dealer Chris who told us that a investigation was going to take place as there was a pre- inspection done on the car before delivery and that everything was fine once again implying that we broke the car in a matter of not even 2 hours.Till date we have been given the run around from Fury VW. I have to do the phoning They don't return calls It is now almost day no 3 that they running diagnostics on a supposedly new car and believe it or not they still have thee nerve to contact my bank for payment on the vehicle. The head dealer advised that he will contact us today but still has no solution, however the dealer Chris contacted me today as well to say he is busy looking for a new car for me.so clearly the a bit confused withe all thee FURY going around.
I have not yet received any response from them only confused staff members calling withe different stories and no real solutions. VW SA also does not response to customers complaints, this matter will be referred to the NCC.
BAD BAD SERVICE FROM BOTH DEALER AND VW SA

I am an owner of a VW Plolo 1.4 2009 model. A month or so ago I go a break down due to a cam belt which caused the valves to burn and other accessories like top had to be worked on - this was done through warranty. The car was due for service and it was also serviced. Last week Friday I got another break down and the car was towed to VW Rustenburg where I got a phone call to authorise the R14, 000.00 repairs that I have to pay. I went to VW Rustenburg to investigate what happened. On arrival I found out that the V-belt was damaged and torn to pieces and almost the whole engen unpacked as the valves were burnt. A guy called Donovan tried explaining to me what has happened and allerges that something could have gone into the v-belt of which I do not believe him. He kept on saying that if I don't pay - which means he is the one who is going to pay (what kind of a dealership operates that way). The v-belt was fitted new when my car was worked on the first time around. Either it was supplied faulty or it could be dameges by the wrong fitment or tentioning on the belt. It could also be possible that the cam belt pully was not correctly fitted or the cam belt tension was not correctly set hence it had skipped three positions on the pully. I am feeling so aggrieved by this type of treatment. The other thing is the VW Rustneburg technicians when they are called for roadside assistance they never come to see what the problem is - I see this in racial lines as I always see other people of a different race than me being assisted - this is unacceptable. I was on the verge to upgrade to an Amarok but I am forced to look elsewhere. My telephone is [protected] for any enquries that might arise.

I dropped my car off at this shop to have it inspected. I called the next day to see if it was done which it wasn't, but no big deal. I figured maybe they were busy and it would be done the next day. Later that night around 8pm i see my truck pulling into the local shoprite parking lot. I confront the driver and it is the owner of the shop. He trys to distract me by telling me my truck failed, but I asked him what he was doing driving it. He said he was driving it home, so i said "do you always take customer's cars for joyrides?" By the way that isn't true because I know for a fact he lives right behind the shop. He then said "f!@# you I make 100k a year and you want me to inspect your truck, f!@# you here's your keys!" and throws my keys. That is my first and last experience with this shop.

Prior to turning in our leased Audi, an inspector came out. He gave a list of items to be corrected and told us to turn the car into the dealership at lease end, with corrections. We turned in the Audi at the dealership and were told that they didn't have anyone available to inspect our car. A month later, VW Credit called, looking for the car. Then they found the car, but didn't inspect it. They asked us to turn in receipts for the repaired/replaced items. We faxed the receipts to the number provided. Then they said our receipts weren't detailed enough, but offered to remove all "charges" if we leased another Audi. We had already purchased a new car. They went back and forth, calling the vendors and asking if they remembered every aspect and detail of any work they had done on the car. It was absolutely ridiculous. We tried to go to arbitration with them, but they dishonestly withheld any avenue of going to arbitration. We tried to take them to court but they refused to provide an agent of record in California. My credit score is 817 - I have never left a bill unpaid or paid late. My husband's credit score was even higher than mine. The car was in his name, so his score will probably be hit. Not that it matters, because we don't need to borrow money. In any event, I will never, ever, ever do business with Audi or their leasing company, VW Credit ever again. We have owned 2 VW's (new) and 2 Audi's in the past, but nobody in our entire family or extended family will ever purchase or lease from that unscrupulous company ever again.