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Problem Caused by the Dealership

TJGTI

New member
Location
Florida
Car(s)
2016 GTI
Hi everyone!

I brought my 2016 GTI to the dealership today for an oil change (surprisingly, the cheapest oil change in my area). I had them swap out the pollen filter too, and when I picked up the car and turned on the A/C, I noticed that the fan was making a humming noise. It gets worse at high fan speeds, and actually makes the car shake a little.

It's never made the noise before bringing it to the dealer. The sales rep says there's "no way" they caused the issue. Any ideas how this could have happened and how to go forward?

Imo, someone at the dealership must have damaged the fan/fan motor, but I don't know how to prove that it was working well beforehand.

Any advice would be appreciated! Just don't want to give them more money to fix something that their technician broke (and also don't want to spend money to fix their mistake haha, although if it comes to a fan replacement I'll probably do it myself).
 

the

Autocross Champion
Location
Alabama
Car(s)
GTI
Imo, someone at the dealership must have damaged the fan/fan motor, but I don't know how to prove that it was working well beforehand.
You don't need to prove it was working well before hand. You tell the service rep the car is now making a noise it wasn't making before it was brought into their shop. When the service rep tries to shush you away ask to speak to the general manager. If the general manager can't find out what happened after ordering an inspection of your vehicle then go to VWoA.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
I don't see how anything the dealer did could cause that unless they purposely sabotaged it which I highly doubt. They weren't near the fan motor.
 

gdub09

Ready to race!
Location
Omaha, NE
Those pollen filters sit behind the glove box above the fan, there's no way to cause any damage.
 

cb1111

Newbie
Location
Virginia, USA
It is possible that if the pollen filter was installed incorrectly, then it could "flutter" and make noise at speed. I had the same problem with a Lexus once. I reseated the cabin air filter and all was well.
 

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
Most likely they pulled the filter and there was a piece of debris on it that fell into the fan cage and now is causing noise. Happens a lot. All they would need to do is either 1) pull the blower or 2) if possible, get a blow gun in there to blow the debris out.

I have seen napkins in those filters, acorns, rocks, feathers, parts of pine cones and many other assortments of items. The acorn made a hell of a racket. They should be able to clean it easily with little issue.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Sabotage then?
That's the only thing I could think of but I don't believe a dealer would do that or that there's anything they could do and have the fan still work but only create the noise he's hearing. Maybe his cabin filter was so clogged he couldn't hear it. Really don't know.
 

Keehs360

Autocross Champion
Location
Denver
Car(s)
Mk7.5
That's the only thing I could think of but I don't believe a dealer would do that or that there's anything they could do and have the fan still work but only create the noise he's hearing. Maybe his cabin filter was so clogged he couldn't hear it. Really don't know.
A dirty filter can muffle sounds. Sure. That’s plausible
 
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