car repair query

[Nomfundo07]

Greetings
My car is not under warranty, it has an engine warning light. I took it to Volkswagen dealership for a check up, they found the problem, replaced the faulty part and i paid for everything. The very same day on the way home, the light came back on, i informed them and took it back again in a days time. They diagnosed it and told me it was something else that was faulty and that i had to pay a certain amount of money to fix this.

If i may ask, is this not a return job? Because they refuse to agree to that, instead they are telling me that since 3 days ago after leaving my car with them, they have ordered the part that needs to be changed and that they will phone me when the car is fixed so we can negotiate how much we can meet each other halfway on payment... i doubt they will even pay a cent.
Worse, i have no vehicle to use all these days. They couldn't even offer a courtesy car, all i get is bad attitude from them when i ask about my car. Am i too sensitive or what???

 

[rvZA]

Greetings
My car is not under warranty, it has an engine warning light. I took it to Volkswagen dealership for a check up, they found the problem, replaced the faulty part and i paid for everything. The very same day on the way home, the light came back on, i informed them and took it back again in a days time. They diagnosed it and told me it was something else that was faulty and that i had to pay a certain amount of money to fix this.

If i may ask, is this not a return job? Because they refuse to agree to that, instead they are telling me that since 3 days ago after leaving my car with them, they have ordered the part that needs to be changed and that they will phone me when the car is fixed so we can negotiate how much we can meet each other halfway on payment... i doubt they will even pay a cent.
Worse, i have no vehicle to use all these days. They couldn't even offer a courtesy car, all i get is bad attitude from them when i ask about my car. Am i too sensitive or what???

So, you took it in. They identified the faulty part and fixed it, right? You paid them for it, right?

Later the day, on the way home the warning light came back on and you took it back. They then identified a total different problem and needed to fix it right?

If you take your vehicle to replace brakes, do you expect them replace a gearbox or clutch as well?

Thing is, there was another problem that arises and you will be responsible to pay to have it fixed as well. If the initial part gave problems, they had to ensure it was fixed.

 

[TheChamp]

Yeah, they are taking advantage of you, you are paying for their misdiagnosis. That is unfortunately how they work, they aren't known as stealerships for nothing, they scam people.

 

[Obieone]

Greetings
My car is not under warranty, it has an engine warning light. I took it to Volkswagen dealership for a check up, they found the problem, replaced the faulty part and i paid for everything. The very same day on the way home, the light came back on, i informed them and took it back again in a days time. They diagnosed it and told me it was something else that was faulty and that i had to pay a certain amount of money to fix this.

If i may ask, is this not a return job? Because they refuse to agree to that, instead they are telling me that since 3 days ago after leaving my car with them, they have ordered the part that needs to be changed and that they will phone me when the car is fixed so we can negotiate how much we can meet each other halfway on payment... i doubt they will even pay a cent.
Worse, i have no vehicle to use all these days. They couldn't even offer a courtesy car, all i get is bad attitude from them when i ask about my car. Am i too sensitive or what???

And unfortunately you will never know the truth.

 

[TheChamp]

So, you took it in. They identified the faulty part and fixed it, right? You paid them for it, right?

Later the day, on the way home the warning light came back on and you took it back. They then identified a total different problem and needed to fix it right?

If you take your vehicle to replace brakes, do you expect them replace a gearbox or clutch as well?

Thing is, there was another problem that arises and you will be responsible to pay to have it fixed as well. If the initial part gave problems, they had to ensure it was fixed.

It does not sound like it, it looks to me like they misdiagnosed the problem, and you are being unnecessarily harsh for making OP look like she is being unreasonable, because anyone in her position would be well within their right to suspect that the dealership could have messed up.

 

[Pak Fa Fui]

Never mentioned the model of car, faults, parts, price, type of dealer, nada

 

[ShaunSA]

There's a special place in hell for dealerschits

 

[saor]

Difficult to tell. They could've fixed a genuine issue and not spotted the second issue, or they could just be taking you for a ride. Imo once the car is out of warranty, find a good car shop to work on your car instead.

 

[TheChamp]

This what you need to do, ask for a technical report of what was fixed the first time and what was subsequently found to be faulty the second time, ask for the old parts that were replaced, it would put you in a much better and informed position if you want to take this further, it also put the dealer under pressure to commit themselves of what was supposedly fixed, because as it is now they can change their story and you would be none the wiser with all the technical jargon they throw at you.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

There's a special place in hell for dealerschits

next to Scammers and TV infomercial directors.

 

[TheChamp]

Difficult to tell. They could've fixed a genuine issue and not spotted the second issue, or they could just be taking you for a ride. Imo once the car is out of warranty, find a good car shop to work on your car instead.

With all the diagnostic machines they have? Highly unlikely that they could miss anything, they must have got all the codes from the car.

It is possible that this is just an unfortunate coincidence but it's unlikely, it is most likely either misdiagnosis or in the process of fixing the first issue they caused the second one.

 

[Neuk_]

Any more details on what parts were replaced and what the diagnosis was that called for the replacing of these parts? It appears to be another case of parts replacement chasing to solve an issue without clearly understanding the issue. One of the reasons why I always suggest that fault codes get read, cleared, the car is driven for a few days and then fault codes read again. There have been cases in the past where fault codes were not cleared parts replaced for very old fault codes that would not sort the actual issue out and back and forth we go...

 

[Neuk_]

With all the diagnostic machines they have? Highly unlikely that they could miss anything, they must have got all the codes from the car.

It is possible that this is just an unfortunate coincidence but it's unlikely, it is most likely either misdiagnosis or in the process of fixing the first issue they caused the second one.

Do not trust the diagnostic machines or fault codes entirely, it still takes an experienced and intelligent mechanic/technician to diagnose issues properly, many fault codes are simply indication's of an issue some where and not really definitive indicators of the exact cause of the issue.

 

[TheChamp]

Do not trust the diagnostic machines or fault codes entirely, it still takes an experienced and intelligent mechanic/technician to diagnose issues properly, many fault codes are simply indication's of an issue some where and not really definitive indicators of the exact cause of the issue.

That's exactly what I am talking about, failure to properly interpret the codes. At the end of the day nothing beats an experienced technician or mechanic, something that many places and not just dealers take for granted these days.

 

[Kosmik]

If its not the same part thats faulty, then its not a return job, just a shitty diagnosis. But, the main question is did you authorize the second repair? Or did they just go ahead and order the part that you supposedly needed? You can also ask for the old parts back but check your invoice if there are two parts listed and what amounts. TBH, if I had a dealership come back with a misdiagnosis, I would go to another for a second opinion, in theory one is much the same as another. But, as has been said, taking an out of warranty car to a dealership is not normally the best idea as they charge very exhorbitant prices normally although they have been canvassing heavily to try get people to take their cars back to them and with the new law, they are really sh** out of luck.

 

[Drifter]

And the lesson in this? Buy your own code reader.

 

[TheChamp]

And the lesson in this? Buy your own code reader.

Or take it somewhere for a diagnostic report, it will give you a good idea of what is happening before forking out thousands of rands fixing things that are not the problem.

 

[Nomfundo07]

With all the diagnostic machines they have? Highly unlikely that they could miss anything, they must have got all the codes from the car.

It is possible that this is just an unfortunate coincidence but it's unlikely, it is most likely either misdiagnosis or in the process of fixing the first issue they caused the second one

 

[Nomfundo07]

I thought that much as well... now if the light comes back on again after they have fixed it, then i will have to pay again...?

 

[Neuk_]

And the lesson in this? Buy your own code reader.

The average SA motorist won't have a clue when looking at fault codes never mind interpreting what they mean and what the potential issue could be I always tell the story of multiple VAG cars that ended up at a dealership in Jhb that a friend used to work at. Seemingly random issues like no lighting, erratic gauges, no starting, etc. with a myriad of fault codes that in some cases a few other dealerships couldn't figure out. My friend always, always started out by cleaning up the earthing of the battery and wiring harnesses and in 90% of these random issue cases, everything was solved.