Spot on, Bjam. I mean, really.
We gave it a full 2 months before bringing it in, but it eventually became clear that it was in fact a huge burden. This is also the first brand new car we’ve ever had. To have something we rely on so frequently just not work leaves a bad taste.
Do other owners have the same issue?
What iphone and version software do you have? have you updated you phone software to see if that helps? maybe someone else phone to test that.
I would request a replacement with an identical or better vw and hint that you are looking at legal options and see what they say. Btw, request a comparable or better rental than yours, that would be the easiest.
I would not do this. Once you mention lawyer to the dealer, expect everything to come to a grinding halt.
We had a pretty good experience with Vw on our lease. Ours was different because it was a hesitation issue due to a crimped gas line. We hassled with the dealership, the service dept at vw is terrible. I then got with corporate after about a month and a half. It’s starts with a lower tier person and they really don’t help or say much, it’s just part of the process. Then I got to the 2nd tier and immediately they said they would get me a new atlas or refund my lease - miles driven. I took the new car. That dept was awesome to work with and instantly you knew you were dealing with the right person. Funny thing is vw had shipped my new car and the dealership texted me saying my old car was fixed. I thought they would make me take the old car back but they kept me in the new car.
+1 to this.
Do not even hint at lemon law until the demand letter from a lawyer is sent.
Not trying to be rude but were the free VW dealer loaner cars not adequate? Did they put you in much cheaper cars than your “base unit 2020 Tiguan”? Personally, I don’t mind warranty loaners, as it lets me put miles on their car instead of mine. And I’ve never been given a crummy low spec loaner at any dealer.
Not only that but you can often swap cars out if you don’t like what they gave you, or if you just want to try different ones
Audi of Plano (autonation crapshop) used to give me A3 or A4 at best whenever I had to take my A5 for service. The big box experience kept me away from Audi for past 7+ years.
It’s entirely possible that that’s just the way system is intended to work if you disconnect the phone. Different manufacturers design their own systems for CarPlay, which can vary by car.
Interesting. I’ve never NOT been given a crummy base spec vehicle. Lincoln, BMW, Ford - always was a base spec car.
I’m usually given an upgraded 3 Series, 4 Series, or even 5 Series when I had my i3 serviced. I’ve also noticed other local dealers have well-specced service loaners. It’s smart to up-sell customers.
My friend was given a fully-loaded Hyundai Sonata, which he had to request, while his Ioniq Limited was being serviced and his brother ended up buying an identical car from the same dealership — which wouldn’t have happened if they gave us the base Elantra that they originally wanted to.
OP said they drive a base Tiguan, which MSRPs for around $25,000 before any discounts. I don’t think there’s much stocked on a typical VW dealer lot that’s going to be cheaper and inferior to that, so worst-case you’re burning miles on an equivalent car and not your own. Hardly something that warrants a refund of lease payments (and that’s before even getting into what frankly sounds like a fairly petty warranty complaint).
Yes. For 5ish of the weeks, they gave us a Toyota Corolla from a rental place down the street. I can wholeheartedly say that I hate pretty much everything about that car. They also had us in and out of 2 other loaners prior to that, where we had to make the nearly 2 hour round trip each time.
I would make them deliver the car to you.
I was mentioning in another thread about how I wouldn’t buy a Mitsubishi because it’s 20 miles away and someone posts about how they get free pickups for service.
They put us in a 3rd party Corolla for the majority of the time and had us trek hours back and forth from the dealership a total of 5 times at a whim. If we wanted a Toyota, we’d have bought a Toyota. And the reason this issue sounds petty to you is because you haven’t dealt with it. It’s a new car. It should work as advertised.
The suggested solution from the dealership should not have been, “Take your broken car back and deal with it.”
The VW corporate solution once this was escalated should not have been, “Consider dumping your $1,200 iPhones for a pair of Androids.”
But, by all means, continue your bootlicking.
Lol no. As evidenced be the number of similar or identical loaners we’ve been in where it actually works. Further, after replacing the unit, it currently doesn’t work at all.
Edit: moreover, they kept the car for 8 weeks. They don’t keep properly working cars for 8 weeks.
Also my experience w/ MB. After sampling a CLA and a GLA, I asked them to NOT give me one of those at the next service appt. Their response: “Oh, don’t worry, we got rid of those b/c no one wanted to take them as a loaner.”
This. The long warranty (I purchased a 2018 VW) is nice, but a warranty only works well when the service station takes your complaint seriously.
Sorry that you’re dealing w/ such a sh*tty service station, OP. Have you looked at/posted on VW Vortex about this? Maybe that’ll also catch VW of NA’s attention (on top of first contacting an attorney)…
You should be able to get the car serviced at any VW dealership. Take it elsewhere and explain your concerns.
To be fair, based on what I was told, I do believe the dealership service dept. did what they could. I just think that their shortfall has become a VW problem, not a me problem. The dealership is legally connected to the manufacturer for precisely this sort of thing.
But, as I mentioned, I’ve already been blown off by corporate – the rep’s proposed solution was literally “buy some Android phones and dump your iPhones.” I actually laughed out loud when I heard him say it and asked if he was serious. He assured me he was.
I wish I could explain just how uninterested this guy was in speaking with us. I get that he’s got a tough job, working with disappointed customers who’ve probably already exhausted all other resources and are just pissed off by the time they get to him. I’m sure it’s hard on the soul. But he just very openly did not give a F. Was completely indifferent to finding a solution. Didn’t even float the idea of reaching out to a higher-up.
I still can’t believe that this is how a $500B corporation responds to a legitimate grievance by a young, first time buyer couple. We weren’t asking for a handout. Merely for them to deliver what was promised when we signed.
Thanks for the suggestion about the other forum, but this thread is as far as I’m willing to go at this point. We’re examining what more can be done. I’ll post with a follow up once it’s sorted out.