My letter to the new CEO of VW America

[knollMk7]

This will probably never make it to his desk, being intercepted by some underling, but I have to take some kind of action:


[FONT=&quot]Scott Keogh[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Volkswagen Group of America
2200 Ferdinand Porsche Dr.
Herndon, VA 20171[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
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[FONT=&quot]Dear Mr. Keogh;[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Congratulations on taking the helm of VW of America. I believe you should have the following as one of your primary goals: improve VW customer care in this critical area: [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Ensure that all dealers have the capability to fully verify and fix service complaints of body/chassis/interior & suspension rattles and noises.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]My 2018 GTI periodically issues squeaks and noise from its sunroof, and bump-noises from its suspension. Both occur over less than ideal road surfaces (i.e. the gravel road I must travel each day).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Apparently, these problems are widespread. [/FONT]Golf owners tend to be a loyal bunch, but you should see the sunroof and suspension noise complaints on popular VW chat boards. Importantly, the comments also tend to note that “dealers don’t seem to have a fix” for the problems*. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I believe issues like these will damage future sales growth as good reputations are hard-won, but easily lost as owners openly share their frustrations on social media.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Many thanks[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]*My dealer (Lindsay VW, within shouting distance of VW corp hdq) doesn't have a way to test drive the car on a rough road, since every street within their “test drive” limit is smooth paved. So they seem hamstrung in even diagnosing the problems.[/FONT]

 

[dsgvw]

Well written, but I’ve always wondered why people expect VW service techs to fix their rattle issues. It’s a hunk of metal with rubber seals and is bound to make noise especially on rough roads with low profile tires and sport suspensions.

Service will simply see if a fix is documented for your complaint and if not, try to reproduce and probably screw something else up in the process of fixing it. For this reason I choose to isolate and repair rattles myself.. maybe I’m the minority. That and I hate going to dealers for anything.

 

[Golfs everyday]

I fix rattles on my own too. Such a hassle taking the car to the dealership.

There is one annoying rattle on my other car which only happens at a certain temperature range that will make it more difficult for the dealer to replicate. I found the source and will be taking apart one panel to do the repair come spring. Should be an easy fix.

 

[tigeo]

They can't fix what they can't reproduce to hear - what is your proposed solution?

 

[knollMk7]

Now that you've asked: they should locate a road near the dealership that is rough or agree to take the time to visit a road that I know where the surface makes the noises.


I don't agree that a car should "rattle" because it's a car. It's unibody construction with independent suspension AND 7.5 generation. By now, the "bugs" should have been teased out. Alternatively, they should have found a new sunroof supplier, right?

 

[gtiscott]

The Mk7 echos a lot of rattles. One bike carrier on my roof rack rattled a tiny bit. Outside the car if you shook it you could feel it move a little. Inside the car moving it sounds like the rear hatch is about to fall off. I bent it's mounting plate so it's super tight now and it's 100% quiet.

 

[Parabola]

Even if he reads it somehow, zero fucks will be given.

 

[KevinC]

Even if he reads it somehow, zero fucks will be given.

Here he is arriving at a popular local breakfast spot...

VWs squeak and rattle. Have for decades. It's part of the package when you buy one. I doubt seriously anything will change in our lifetimes.

Another good reason to have Fender audio. Crank it up and drown all that noise out.

 

[vj123]

Sadly squeaks and sunroof has been a known issue in this platform. These issues are hard to replicate during dealer visits as there are multiple contributing factors. Since its a very subjuctive issue, it might not be on top priority list for the VW team.

 

[Vobs56]

Much like politics, I feel like this strategy would be more effective writing to your local dealer opposed to big shot corporate employees who have their eyes and energy on items that significantly impact their bottom line to a greater degree. Nice thought though. At least you took action. Most people just complain and wait for someone else to show initiative.

 

[anotero]

VWoA couldn't care less. My experience with them was sub par.

 

[ebg18t]

Much like politics, I feel like this strategy would be more effective writing to your local dealer opposed to big shot corporar

In most cases I’d agree. But some of us have dealers that can’t even balance a wheel properly. We are forced to deal with VWOA to get anything accomplished. My car was at the dealer 3x in the first 500 miles addressing wheel vibration issues. By ~900 miles I had 3 tires that needed replacing. Dealership was of zero assistance. I ended up just ordering new tires & wheels to fix the issue.

I complained to VWOA about the dealerships incompetence and received a $100 gift card in the mail from the dealership. I went back this fall to have the dealership mount & balance my winter tires on my OEM wheels (hoping things improved). I scheduled an appointment and they refused to mount Nokian snow tires (that the parts department ordered) on my OEM wheels claiming incompatibility and VW only lets them mount Bridgestone snow tires on OEM AllTrack wheels. I called VWOA and they were baffled by the dealership and suggested I drive 2 hours to the other dealership. That’s just BS.

Needless to say I went to Vianor and they gave me a better price & mounted the same Nokians that the dealership wouldn’t mount.

 

[knollMk7]

well, if the new CEO doesn't hear about these problems, I agree nothing will change. Passivity is not an answer.


The "customer care" 800# won't change things. The message has to get to VW HDQ

 

[Sc629]

While I agree that we are in the right to not expect squeks and rattles, I also sympathize with technicians in that it is very difficult to chase the causes of some noises

 

[Vobs56]

In most cases I’d agree. But some of us have dealers that can’t even balance a wheel properly. We are forced to deal with VWOA to get anything accomplished. My car was at the dealer 3x in the first 500 miles addressing wheel vibration issues. By ~900 miles I had 3 tires that needed replacing. Dealership was of zero assistance. I ended up just ordering new tires & wheels to fix the issue.

I complained to VWOA about the dealerships incompetence and received a $100 gift card in the mail from the dealership. I went back this fall to have the dealership mount & balance my winter tires on my OEM wheels (hoping things improved). I scheduled an appointment and they refused to mount Nokian snow tires (that the parts department ordered) on my OEM wheels claiming incompatibility and VW only lets them mount Bridgestone snow tires on OEM AllTrack wheels. I called VWOA and they were baffled by the dealership and suggested I drive 2 hours to the other dealership. That’s just BS.

Needless to say I went to Vianor and they gave me a better price & mounted the same Nokians that the dealership wouldn’t mount.

Yeah that's certainly an issue when you don't have more than one VW dealer that's even remotely close to your residence. I'm surprised an official dealer would be that incompetent for such a routine service. In terms of cost, I've never found my local VW dealers to have even close to competitive pricing for services many reputable mechanics in my area can provide.