new beetle window probs

hey people,
I have a new beetle, and the other day, my passenger window (electric) was wound down, but wouldnt come up again...damn hey.
anyways, i took it to my service guy, and he said the part is irrepairable...and will cost $850 to replace. the wire was all broken and torn, but apart from that, i dont understand much that happened.
any help/opinions will b great...
ta
Clare

I have heard that this isn't abnormal.. 🙁

Umm.. Warranty?

yeah, thats what the guy said. unfortunately its not under warrently because its over 3 years old.
my guess is that im going to have to fork out the money, or be left with my window taped in place!
im just worried that they might be ripping me off...u get me?
C

Make some calls.. sounds a similar price.. can't do a rewiring job on the switch?

yeh i asked if they could just put a new wire in, but they said they couldnt...didnt seem very clear as to why, but i didnt really understand anyways.
i have a vauge feeling the little wheel thing was broken, but thats just a guess...

Actually, it a part under 7 year recall worldwide. The window regulators *always* fail. This applies after the warranty runs out.

My New Beetle had three replaced.

Andrew

wow...thanks for that vanderaj.
is there any way i can check that up, or at least get the service guys to look into that for me. for some strange reason i dont think they will believe me...

http://forums.newbeetle.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32987&highlight=window+regulator

Go to town on their arses for trying to rip you off. It's world wide, and your car is absolutely covered by this recall.

Andrew

If not sure you should always get a second opinion ,but remember times money.A lot of new car parts come as complete unit at high cost.I dont think the getting ripped of bit was needed.
i dont known why when it comes to car repairs people think about being ripped off thats all.
is this a better pic??
:sandrine
:kiss

[Edited on 3-2-2005 by ian.mezz]

hey thanks so much for that information.
Im going to ring my nearest Volkswagen people tomorrow morning and see if i cant sort something out.
Ill keep you updated..
thanks again!!
Clare

Actually, the dealer will get paid for their time from VW. However, VW Australia has a terrible anti-customer policy of denying valid warranty claims as much as they possibly can.

As a victim of 21 dealer visits in 24 months with my New Beetle, and the absolutely disgraceful way their policies treated me on several occasions, I can say with hand on my heart that "ripped off" is the least of it.

Of those 21 visits, VW Australia's policy of seeing the part dead or malfunctioning first, argue the toss, then order the part, come back another day, replace the part, and the occasional try try again if you don't first succeed, meant that at least 12 of those visits would not have been needed if they had simply *believed* me when I said something was wrong, and thus had the part on hand just in case I was right (which I invariably was as all my problems were well known faults with the New Beetle that significant fractions of all New Beetle victims^Wowners suffered.

To top off the misdemeanors, they totally abused the "we can repair it as long as we like under Australian law". If the car had been in the US, I would have had a new one around 7 months in using lemon laws. Of the 24 months I had the car, VW Australia had it for around 1.5 months, with the longest time off the road for a bearing failure when the car was six months old. The dealer who had my car that time refused to offer me a loan car, or re-imburse my rental car costs (which I had to have) even though they had the car for more than two weeks.

Not all New Beetles are lemons, but mine was. VW Australia's "deny everything" policy made my ownership experience truly miserable. I had to constantly argue that the failure of this part or that part was a warranty item. I had to show them the tech service bulletins the US folks had to get them to understand I'm not some try-it-on moron - I knew this part or that part was faulty and under recall. I had to tell them which part to re-order when they ignored me several times (this was particularly true for the diverter valves). Incompetent and hateful doesn't even come to describe their woeful attitude. I was late for work (and had to leave early) because of their policies 21 times. A normal car - I would have not been late as most dealerships offer a Saturday morning service. I nearly lost my job because of them.

The straw that broke the camel's back for me is the active recall of coil packs. This is a worldwide recall. In every market but Australia, they replace all four when one fails. My car had to be flat bedded to a dealer I hadn't dealt with before because the assist policy only allows you to take it to the nearest dealer. This dealer replaced the one coil pack. I knew then that the car had three more flat bed tows in its future. I argued for an hour, showing them the TSB on it, but they outright refused to budge. I sold the car less than a month later.

I will never again sully the door of a VW stealership. Not until Toyota buys them and sacks all the miscreants, or VW decide to build quality cars and offer decent service again. I can't see it happening.

Andrew

Oh, lastly, if the part is not under recall in Australia due to VW Australia being cheap scumbags, it's available from the US for $USD300. This is cheaper than the lowest customs tarrif, and so landed, the regulator will cost you about $A 420 including shipping.

Taking the door apart is not too hard, but be careful with the glass - wear a glove and watch yourself, or pay them to install it. I watched one of the dudes replace one of my windows once. He had the door skin off in one minutes and the window regulator out in 10, but he knew exactly what he was doing as he'd obviously done them so often.

Andrew

hey thanks for the insight vanderaj. im going to have to do some thinking i spose...
i mean, i cannot afford to loose my car, even for one day, as most people are totally aware of.
i will definately keep you updated on my progress...
and ian.mezz, i dont understand what you mean by the getting ripped off bit wasnt needed...??...
thanks ppl
Clare

CB.....Give Muller & Muller at Lakemba a call in the morning and explain to them what's happened. Advise them what Andrew [vanderaj] has said. They should be helpful....I hope. Any problems, call your uncle.

Uncle Squizy.....

If the wire has come off it CAN be refitted. This happens to alot of cars not just vw's . Usually when a window has been broken and someone has wound the window past the top of it's regulator the wire will pop off. It IS a big job but can be done.
Usually though it is the clamp that breaks. The whole window is held in the door/attached to the winding mech by 2 clamps. These then attach to a wire and to the motor. You press the down button and the wire goes down ( pulled by the motor)as does the window and visa versa with the switch. There is a plastic part that holds the clamp to the wire and it's that whcih normally goes. It's a mega weak point and normally results in the glass disappearing in the door. Very easy to break into the car aswell!!!
This part however isn't available on it's own and thats why the whole thing has to be replaced.
Thats the tech bit !

If youre stuck grab a med x-head screwdriver , 10mm socket , small torx 20 bit and your phone. Call me and i'll talk you through stripping the door. U2u me if i can help.

Dan😉

[Edited on 2-2-2005 by dannyboy67]

Wow Andrew you really did have a lemon.
Fortunately i havent had any probs so far. The most that i had with the white bug was the switches broke apart. Nothing so far with black bug. Thank god. But i bought the black one off an excellent dealership and now VWA has decided to remove themselves from their. So im back to the dodgy a**holes who only patch bits until the car runs out of warranty.

Goodluck Clare... what a great help from everyone..... i reckon order from the US

Have heard there is a good aftermarket one available for a fraction of the cost??

Anyone else heard that??

hey everybody,
well, after a morning of calling VW and VW liverpool, i have had a slight bit of closure.
What I have to do is get my car checked out by a VW dealer (VW livo), then they will check it out, and if needed, send a letter to VW outlining the details. It will then be left up to VW whether they want to pay for part or all of the repairs.
The guy i spoke to said that he had done the same job to some polos but none to new beetles out of warrenty...
Apparently they havnt heard anything about this extended 7 year warrenty either...maybe its only in the US.
anyways, thats where i got today. I will put it into the VW livo soon and see where i go from there...
by the way, thanks for everyones help and support...you have been great! without you guy, i would have dished out the $850, no questions asked.
Clare

I have an 02 Turbo NB and the only real issue from almost new has been the no dash indicator light for the rear spoiler when it activates.The dealer has absolutely no idea how to fix it.They have fitted a new control unit in the rear hatch and all that achieved was to raise the speed at which it goes up-but still no light.When,after the 3rd 800km round trip to fix it, I told the Service Manager that the spoiler fault was a common one throughout the world- he didn't believe me.I asked if they ever get any service bulletins from VWA-his answer was yes-I then asked him if he ever reads them(he wasn't happy) I recently had the Revo chip upgrade done and now suddenly the light works again.I have found some one in the US who can supply a modified control unit for the hatch and I can control both the raise and lower speeds of the spoiler-won't need to bother the Dealer again with that one.I had the 2 year service done in September which cost $488 and 2 weeks later my mother had her 02 Turbo NB 2 year service done and hers cost $340 for exactly the same thing-I can't wait for the explanation when next there with the 2 invoices for the services. If you get on the NewBeetle.org(from memory) and check out the common faults in the US and Europe you will have some leveridge at your dealer-if nothing else you will know more about the car than your Dealer.Good luck

beetle_girly wrote:...
by the way, thanks for everyones help and support...you have been great! without you guy, i would have dished out the $850, no questions asked.
Clare

No you wouldn't have.....you would have checked with your Unky first wouldn't you? Wouldn't you? Nod Clare, nod. "yes Unky, I would have......." 😀

Now go and get it fixed before Sunday the 13th Feb!!!!

Squiz....

the window regulator breaking in the new beetle is not uncommon actually it is pretty much the main problem that most of the vw range has/had in the 99-00 range golf passat bora etc
i used to work for a vw dealership it only takes about 10 minutes to get the window out the reason there probably so damn expensive is cause the regulator actually makes up the whole inner door lining held on by about 20 or so 10 mm bolts and the reason they break and not work is because of this cheap shittly little plastic part that attaches the window to the regulator everything else still usually worksjust causes window to drop to bottom of door if u could figure out a way to repair or make a replacement u could save urself some money im not really a big fan of these cars but u should have to put up with shithouse parts breaking even if it is out of warranty
the other thing was that some golf and beetles i think had a problem (recall)on the abs pump control unit with apparently doesnt shut off and keeps going till it overheats and causes the vehicle wiring to catch fire and burn to the ground so they say
and then there are the t4 vans there auto gearboxes are shit so much so i quit my job after doing my 40th gear box in a 2 month period (basically it shit me to tears)

"yes unky i would have checked with you first!" (nodding and smiling)

im hoping to get it booked into Livo on monday, diagnosis by monday arvo, letter to VWA soon after, reply by wednesday (ish) and action taken by thursday/friday...am i setting my hopes too high??

i also hope that VW would be kind enough to help pay for some of the expense, as the VW Livo guy said...
i really want to avoid paying the whole $850, being a student on a budget and all.
Geez im a bit stingey...

you would want to hope the drivers window doesnt go next if the passanger side has gone then i would be getting the drives side checked out to while it is there

just a think which window gets the most use ???

ahhh...that is a good point VDU.
i read something bout one guy getting all replaced just in case...
ill have a chat with the VW guys, coz im not sure if they will still be lenient with the cost if there is nothing actually wrong with the driver window..
best to get it checked anyways...

Would somebody PLEASE forward this post on to VW in Germany/America and Australia. They seem to think that our ignorance is to be used to their advantage, and that they are not accountable for selling a shit product, and one that is rarely repaired properly. Well, vote with your feet... Your golf/new beetle/Passat just cost you $25000 PLUS $850, PLUS ABS repair, PLUS coil packs X 4, PLUS overpriced servicing etc..... Don't buy them anymore.

we also had heaps of problems with the window regulators... in the cabrio when you open the doors the windows are supposed to drop slightly to allow clearance of the window on the roof material... this stopped happening on both doors and we had it checked... they said it was fixed... then it happened twice more... a complaint was put in to VWA and the regulators were replaced in both doors... have not had trouble since.

good luck

I fund that the best way to get a problem rectified was to call Volkswagen Australia and make it quite clear that you are a VW club member and that you are most dissapointed with their product and that you will be sharing that dissapointment with your volkswagen friends ...... It worked well for me !!!

MSCABRIO makes an excellent point! threaten them with bad press and make it clear that you are in a club and also on a volkswagen forum and will be venting your disgust...

i work for a mazda dealership in parts and know how these fuckers try to screw you over, its shamefull... really kick up a storm, give em hell and get up there noses..dont stop...

i was at another dealership where a customer had a vehicle 5 years out of warranty and his supercharger seized.... he cracked such a shit that mazda paid for half the parts and repairs... supercharger cost like $8000!!

bottom line, dont let these fuckers roll you over and give it to ya...

good luck! may the force be with you:vader

oh yeah, tell em you will start a chain email detailing your experience and will also sit out the front of the dealership with your mates waving placards... that'll shit em! hahaha

I have never been able to find an email address for complaints or issues-only one for the purchase of one of their products.

do what my man does..

explain to the dealership that if they are unhappy to help you, you're willing to talk directly to the head office for them, but at that same time you will also be telling them about the very poor service you ahve received with them.

Apparently most places have to meet certain QA in order to be allowed to continue trading with the logos of the company. If one dealership gets too many complaints then its end for them.

But if the problem is VW australia itself, you got big problems.

try the whole forum thing, and if that fails, take the worldwide recalls to fair trading.

My sister however just threatens to place and add to sit under the company add in the paper, details her exoperience. Nothing mroe, nothing less. they always give her what she wants plus extras.

Me, I just ask nicely, with a smile. I research the stuff. If there were recalls on a car, the company is at liberty to advise all the buyers of the car. So a recall will sit somewhere for ur car, u just have to search for it. I had a Camry, and spoke to Toyota, and we got onto net and emailed Toyota, who responded with recall certificate.

My understanding is, the main company has to allow and pay for product recalls. They'd rather that than pay compensations to u later. SO maybe get onto VW overseas, give them the chasis and engine details, explain what happened, and they may issue with new certificate for recall. And they are obligated to issue recall certificate even if ur the fifth owner.

Cheers
d4

Hi,

Did a search on the internet, and this address is the one given for the man who is head of product communications for Volkwagen AG(hey, they put it on the net, use it)

Hans-Gerd.Bode@volkswagen.de

Just explain the problem if it can't be sorted locally, and then see what happens.

d4

I found their contact details on the Volkswagen Australia web site ......

You could always turn up to VW shows with stickers on your car saying "VW lemon" or something to that effect. I have seen that before at a Melbourne show !!!!!

Or go on your local current affairs show ...... SHAME SHAME SHAME

that old lady with the lemon stickers showed up at the nats like 3 years ago :P the car is all nice and shiney and every thing then you walk around the back and its covered in lemon stickers LMAO "alledgedly" the vw dealers would look at it back in the day cause she took it back so many times....