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PSA: Check your suspension for shipping pucks

southpawboston

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Somerville, MA
I'm sill trying to figure out why we needed another thread about this.

We don't, but what's the big deal? Sometimes you search for a thread and can't find it, so you start a new one. As a PSA, I'm sure there are some people who have read this thread that hadn't read the original and were previously unaware of the problem. So it's still a service to the community. If one more person has been made aware of the issue, it's worth having duplicated the thread, despite the annoyance it may cause to a few.
 

Oldschoolmk7

Go Kart Champion
Location
Yonder
This is not the only platform that has had dealers forget them btw. Bad news is they will quickly shorten the life of your shocks if left in and driven on for a while. Clueless dealers need to get their predelivery inspections done correctly. Unacceptable imo.
 

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
Dealers should not do PDI using high school kids or enforce the checklist in a better way. I would not step into those dealerships again for anything.
 

southpawboston

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Somerville, MA
Dealers should not do PDI using high school kids or enforce the checklist in a better way. I would not step into those dealerships again for anything.

For any kind of service work, or warranty work, you can try to request that only experienced techs work on your car. The dealer might not oblige, but it can't hurt to ask.

I had a simple warranty repair done ten years ago on my then brand new Mazda3 that required removing the driver's door card. When I got the car back, there were rattles in the door. The tech had broken all the clips, and left the broken ones to fall to the bottom of the door cavity. When I brought the car back, I asked how a tech could have done such a sloppy job. They sheepishly admitted that he was the "greenest" tech they had, and is assigned to the easy jobs. He said he put a note into my account that only the senior techs can work on my car. He might have been bulls*tting me, but it could have been true. Luckily I never needed any work done on that car after that.
 

new R Fan 2018

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Oviedo, FL
Car(s)
MK7.5 R
Well, I guess this will be one of the first things I check after they deliver my '18 Golf R tomorrow seeing as I bought it out of state and haven't even driven it or inspected it yet. Accrd. to Carfax it was originally sold in Aug.'18 and the owner just turned it in last weekend to upgrade to a Porsche. It has 6,200 miles on it. I'll def check the struts for any pucks! TY
 

Ockham

New member
Location
NWA
Thanks for the PSA

Last month I bought a 2015 2dr 6MT with 42K on the clock. I noticed it bottomed out on bumps that were not very big. Came to this forum and found the PSA. Checked the struts and sure 'enuff 3 pucks on each side. Two of the pucks cracked apart. The other 4 came out intact. Fortunately, the stealership that delivered the car new is local so I am bringing it in next week to have them assess whether there is any damage. One of the boots is ripped. If they don't do the right thing what can I expect to pay to replace a strut boot?
 

Diggs24

Autocross Champion
Location
de plains! de plains!
Car(s)
2015 GTI
Last month I bought a 2015 2dr 6MT with 42K on the clock. I noticed it bottomed out on bumps that were not very big. Came to this forum and found the PSA. Checked the struts and sure 'enuff 3 pucks on each side. Two of the pucks cracked apart. The other 4 came out intact. Fortunately, the stealership that delivered the car new is local so I am bringing it in next week to have them assess whether there is any damage. One of the boots is ripped. If they don't do the right thing what can I expect to pay to replace a strut boot?

holy crap....
 

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
Last month I bought a 2015 2dr 6MT with 42K on the clock. I noticed it bottomed out on bumps that were not very big. Came to this forum and found the PSA. Checked the struts and sure 'enuff 3 pucks on each side. Two of the pucks cracked apart. The other 4 came out intact. Fortunately, the stealership that delivered the car new is local so I am bringing it in next week to have them assess whether there is any damage. One of the boots is ripped. If they don't do the right thing what can I expect to pay to replace a strut boot?


Thats terrible. Keep us updated on the progress.
 

MK75Cal

New member
Location
CA
Just got my GTI a week ago, and gonna check for those tomorrow. so those are only on the front suspension? if my suspension feels normal is that mean those are already removed? Thanks!
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Just got my GTI a week ago, and gonna check for those tomorrow. so those are only on the front suspension? if my suspension feels normal is that mean those are already removed? Thanks!

Probably. It would very rough if they're not removed.
 

GOLF NUTT

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Planet Earth for now
Car(s)
2019 Golf GTI
Shipping pucks were the first thing that I checked when I drove the MK7.5 GTI home, shipping pucks were removed by the dealer.
Second thing I did was to fill the tank with SHELL V POWER and that is the only fuel this car has seen.
 

leftfoot

New member
Location
US
Car(s)
2019 GTI SE
I recently had to part with my beloved 2017 GTI (Sport). I absolutely loved this this car. Unfortunately after only 20,000 miles on this completely stock GTI, I had a slew of weird mechanical/electrical issues resulting in VW replacing it with a 2019 GTI (SE) with the PP and DCC. After driving the new 2019 (SE) for only a day, I found myself very disappointed with how different the feel and drive of the 2019 (SE) was compared to my 2017 (Sport). I assumed that the "DCC" was to blame since my 2017 (Sport) did not have DCC, but I figured I would try different wheels and tires. So, I convinced the dealership to try my old wheels and tires from my 2017 (Sport) on my new 2019 (SE). Transitioning from the PIRELLI Cinturato P7 to the Ventus S1 noble2 made a fair improvement. However, the ride was still very ruff and bouncy. Then tonight, I ran across this thread and sure enough.... I still had one puck on both of the front struts. The puck on the driver's side had some minor damage from a hard impact with the strut. After the fact, I thought I noticed a bit of Hydraulic fluid on my hand. So I am afraid that the driver's side strut might have to be replaced. Can anyone confirm for100% that VW installs these pucks only on the front struts?
 

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
Location
UK
I recently had to part with my beloved 2017 GTI (Sport). I absolutely loved this this car. Unfortunately after only 20,000 miles on this completely stock GTI, I had a slew of weird mechanical/electrical issues resulting in VW replacing it with a 2019 GTI (SE) with the PP and DCC. After driving the new 2019 (SE) for only a day, I found myself very disappointed with how different the feel and drive of the 2019 (SE) was compared to my 2017 (Sport). I assumed that the "DCC" was to blame since my 2017 (Sport) did not have DCC, but I figured I would try different wheels and tires. So, I convinced the dealership to try my old wheels and tires from my 2017 (Sport) on my new 2019 (SE). Transitioning from the PIRELLI Cinturato P7 to the Ventus S1 noble2 made a fair improvement. However, the ride was still very ruff and bouncy. Then tonight, I ran across this thread and sure enough.... I still had one puck on both of the front struts. The puck on the driver's side had some minor damage from a hard impact with the strut. After the fact, I thought I noticed a bit of Hydraulic fluid on my hand. So I am afraid that the driver's side strut might have to be replaced. Can anyone confirm for100% that VW installs these pucks only on the front struts?

Yes, they‘re on the front struts only.

Thats really shocking to hear of a Golf with these in place so many years after the mk7 / mk7.5 Golf was introduced. There were quite a few instances of these not being removed in the early days, but you’d certainly hope that all dealers would be aware of how many pucks were fitted for transit from the factory to the dealer, and that procedures were in place to ensure they’re all removed as part of the PDI.
 
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