Leaky Sunroof?

[DG62]

Leaky sunroof--been to the dealer twice now

I have a 2016 Golf TSI SE, and the sunroof started leaking. Wet spots on the headliner, even water dripping down through the lights at the front of the headliner! I took the car into the dealer, and the first time, they already started warning me that it might not be covered by the warranty. But it was--a "kinked drain hose." Then, big rainstorm (NYC) last Saturday, and wet spots on the A pillar (passenger's side) and above the passenger's side sun visor. Back to the dealer. This time armed with the TSB (thanks, GolfMK7 Forum!). But what I was told that when they had snapped the A-pillar interior trim back in place last time, the coupling between the drain lines became uncoupled. So they fixed it, and even cleaned the water stains off the headliner this time. The service adviser said, "It's a bad design." Yup--gotta agree with him there.

 

[DG62]

Photos of leaks

 

[GumbyGTI]

Your pillar looks just like mine did. Hopefully they're not lying about the causes. The skeptic in me wonders if they can claim it's different causes each time to get around the lemon law.

 

[DG62]

I'll find out the next time it rains, I guess. I bought my car Certified Pre-Owned, 6 months old, with 3,000 miles on it by a woman who wanted to upgrade to the SEL from the SE because she wanted all the bells and whistles. I received an extra 2 years and 20,000 miles of warranty, taking me to 50,000 miles and 4.5 years from the time I bought the car. I'd hate for this to be a chronic problem. Love the car otherwise. My wife REALLY loves driving it.

 

[GumbyGTI]

I'm a sucker and bought the extended warranty. I figured I was going to drive the car until the wheels fell off and it was a Volkswagen with a turbo and a giant sunroof.

 

[thaseint]

Your pillar looks just like mine did. Hopefully they're not lying about the causes. The skeptic in me wonders if they can claim it's different causes each time to get around the lemon law.

I thought the lemon law was more about the problem rather than the cause? Like if you have to go in repeatedly for the leaky sunroof, it doesn't matter if it was because A, B, C or D. It's all the same problem. I think that's the way it is in Texas anyways.

Maybe that varies state to state.

 

[Roberto_Manias]

The cracks continue...

Well ladies and gents, it's been a while since I was on the 'Tex and have come back with a brand new user name...and the same cracks in the sunroof panel on my 2015 Mk7, just without the need to build Noah's Ark in the passenger cabin yet.

So a bit of history on this VWoC fiasco.

The car was brought to my purchasing dealership with 62,000 Km on the odometer for front brakes a LOF, peeling paint off of the rocker panel behind the front drivers side wheel and the attached cracks in the sunroof surround...

The first pass to the dealership was met with two techs who looked at the damage, took it back to VWoC and I awaited patiently for their decision.

I was not expecting to get the response from the dealership that graced my ears: external influence on the damage; not going to be covered by VW under warranty. The cracks were caused by either a rock strike or I had somehow managed to drop something onto the roof of my car.

I was livid.

The dealership directed me to VWoC Customer Care. That proved fruitless as they were 'powerless to change VW's decision once made' but did yield more on the story.

According to the techs, the damage apparently came from the A-pillar and again was from something striking the car at that point.

So round 2, has me going back to the ownership group that has the control of all of the dealerships in the area. They got the GM of VW Maple (Jim Garofolo) in touch with me, and the Service Manager, Domenic G along with Ryan Barry (my original service tech.)

Round 3 is going to ensure that this crack (which is growing BTW) is fixed, along with checking to make sure that there is no damage as per the TSB that seems to cover my car.

Any other GTI friends in Canada dealing with this? If so, did you have the same pain that I've had? Any tips or contact names that you can provide?

 

[AdamSheikh]

Well ladies and gents, it's been a while since I was on the 'Tex and have come back with a brand new user name...and the same cracks in the sunroof panel on my 2015 Mk7, just without the need to build Noah's Ark in the passenger cabin yet.

So a bit of history on this VWoC fiasco.

The car was brought to my purchasing dealership with 62,000 Km on the odometer for front brakes a LOF, peeling paint off of the rocker panel behind the front drivers side wheel and the attached cracks in the sunroof surround...

Round 3 is going to ensure that this crack (which is growing BTW) is fixed, along with checking to make sure that there is no damage as per the TSB that seems to cover my car.

Any other GTI friends in Canada dealing with this? If so, did you have the same pain that I've had? Any tips or contact names that you can provide?

Your photos did not embed properly, but I was able to right click and open in a new tab to see them.

I have cracks on mine in the exact same areas and worked with my dealer's service manager and shop foreman. He is a very knowledgeable guy and is an enthusiast with his own VWs etc.

Long story short - these cracks on the exterior surround are NOT related to leaks and TSBs mentioned in this thread. The cracks are cosmetic and do not contribute to water getting into the car.

Here is a thread I made on Vortex with some good discussion and followup after bringing my car to the dealer for then to take a look: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8700737-Exterior-Sunroof-Trim-Bezel-Cracked

Here is my main takeaway:

He assured me that the trim is merely cosmetic and that the crack will not cause any leaks. He mentioned that the repair would be carried out by a body shop and/or auto glass shop, and would likely entail some difficult prying/chiseling/etc. to remove the existing trim. Knowing how meticulous I am with my car, he recommended that I leave it alone - he said that he would do the same if were his car. That's been the route I've been leaning towards anyway, so I will just leave it alone. I definitely don't want to open a can of worms and risk causing additional damage or defects as a result of the repair work.

Suddenly beginning to like that little crack lol.

 

[Roberto_Manias]

Thanks for the update on that and explaining your story. Also, letting me know that the photos didn't link (darn Dropbox...)

I wish my dealer was as kind/honest. Because something between them, VWoC and customer service just doesn't add up. It feels like everyone is pointing blame at me, but all citing slightly differing versions of the facts:

1. The direction of the cracks.
2. The type of crack.
3. The origin of the crack.

My service guy also said when I first brought it in, that their tech looked at it and it was cosmetic and I shouldn't have to worry about water getting in. There's one massive difference between your story and mine, where I'm eager to get things fixed; winter is coming.

All I need is a good freeze, thaw, freeze cycle up here in Toronto this winter, and that thing will split further and further on me.

From what I read, this is an extensive repair...but so are transmission and engine swaps...but people still do them. And now this is more of a fight based on principle vs position.

VWoC/a VW 'tech'/a specialist, all insist that *I* did this to my car...either through negligence or a rock that somehow broke the laws of physics. So all everyone is doing is towing the party line and 'just following orders'.

If they need the car for 5 days to fix a QC issue...that's none of my concern. VWoC can foot that bill to fix a VW product that is sub par. This is the 3rd GTI I've owned and the first made with a '3' at the start of the VIN vs a 'W'...and I'm sure most of the folks on this board do notice a heck of a lot of differences between the '3' GTI's and the 'W' GTI's...

 

[euroadb]

So I haven't had any sunroof leaks yet, but took the car in anyway to have the TSB performed as I'm rapidly approaching my warranty expiry. Sure enough, there were stress cracks found on the sunroof water channel.

According to the TSB, the adhesive should not overlap or cover the witness line of the water drains. The tech did overlap some strips and covered the edge of the witness line, but it doesn't look like it would cause any trouble. How important is that detail of the TSB?

 

[egebhardt]

Correct got mine done last week after having drips, kept the car two days and scratched my air blue 80 taking off the headliner.

No one knows what 'air blue 80' is.. Why don't you just say window tinting?

 

[MonkeyMD]

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2019/vw-sunroof-leak-lawsuit-warranty-is-worthless.shtml