Renard, Thanks for your experience. I'll follow what VWoA suggested: to get the car diagnosed and then take it from there. I'll let the list know how it goes.
Thanks, Jim In a message dated 12/16/02 6:13:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > Jim's problem is that VW, thru his dealer, it telling him is car IS NOT > covered under the recall. I had a similar problem with my B3 16V Passat > when the heater core blew. VW told me the recall for Passats was VIN > specific and mine VIN wasn't specific enough, so I wasn't covered. > > What I did was call VWoA in Michigan and talk directly to them. Do NOT > try > to talk to VWoA thru the dealer, pointless. I explained that this was a > known defective part on more than one platform and was curious why, when I > was exhibiting the exact symptoms of a defective heater core, they were not > standing behind their recall. I kept pushing. That's the trick, be direct > and firm with them. They told me to take it to a dealer, have them tear it > apart and determine what failed, and if it was consistent with recall > failures they would cover it. > > I did what they said. I actually had the service manager talk to the > VWoA > rep that I spoke with while I was at the dealer. After a couple weeks of > waiting and playing phone tag, they approved covering the replacement. I > firmly believe being cool to the service manager helped with a favorable > report to VWoA. Be prepared to have the dealer do a shitty job. I am still > finding out how badly they butchered everything up. But, at least when the > dealer does it, if they mess up something big, you can take it back to them > and have them fix it again. > > Hope that helps...moral of the story, get VWoA involved and keep them > involved and don't take no as an answer from them. > > Renard > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of > [email protected] > Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 1:16 PM > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: [a2-16v-list] Re: Heater Core Replacement? > > > My local dealer says the VIN does not fall under the recall. More research > on > vwvortex seems to indicate that once diagnosed, a call to VWOA will likely > then advise the dealer to handle it under a recall situation. > > Jim >
