Volkswagen is offering to 'very carefully' assess complaints from customers who have had its emissions fix applied to their cars in a bid to boost confidence in the new engine management software.
The plan, which was reported by Autocar in June, is outlined in letters being sent to customers, confirming that it is now being rolled out across the country.
Volkswagen is promising to evaluate potential issues relating to cars that have fewer than 160,000 miles on the clock and have received the fix within the past 24 months.
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The letter says that if Volkswagen finds a problem has been caused by the software change, it will “act responsibly and swiftly, in line with its goodwill policy, to respond to the consumers' reasonable concerns”.
This comes despite the brand's claims that the technical fix, which has been rolled out to more than 4.7 million Volkswagen Group cars worldwide in the wake of the Dieselgate emissions scandal, will have no adverse effect on engine running.
A test by Autocar earlier this year revealed that post-fix cars can suffer from worsened fuel economy and increased CO2 output, while a report by the Volkswagen Diesel Customer Forum said that owners of models with the 2.0-litre diesel fix had also experienced breakdowns and mechanical issues.
Volkswagen disputed the findings, stating: “Far fewer than 1% of UK customers who own affected Volkswagen Group vehicles that have received the technical measures have reported any issues.
“That means that more than 99% of customers are satisfied with the application of technical measures, which of course are carried out free of charge. We make it a priority to look at the vehicles of the very small proportion of customers who report any issues.”
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Trust building measures my ****
For what it has cost VW to print and distribute the letter stating that they will repair any problem caused by the recall is about as much use as a paper fireguard. they could have said enough is enough and stopped the recall before the problems got as bad as they are today.
they knew that the fix would cause issues on at least 30% of cars. and having worked in a large dealership through the first six months of the recall program we were getting over a hundred customers every week, and since leaving VW i have been told by ex-work collegues that a large percentage of VW dealerships have suspended the recall, but i am yet to find out if this is a dealership decision or if it has come down from head office.
i have done extensive testing since leaving VW to prove just how bad the recall is for your car. i started with rolling road testing and found power and torque suffered by up to 18%. fuel economy suffered by a similar figure. but the biggest shock was the results of exhaust gas testing. i took six cars to an IVA centre. 3 had received the recall software 3 had NOT. the 3 cars that had not been messed with by VW had lower CO and CO2 emissions than the official figures released when type approval was done before the launch of the 2011 year models. whereas the 3 cars with the recall software had significantly HIGHER CO and CO2 emissions.
the realvence of the higher emissions is enough proof that this recall is a flop, a failure. the DfT have taken onboard our findings, and at first they were shocked at the increase in emissions, it is still unclear what they plan to do but as the government's pet project is to reduce emissions our estimation is that they may make a case from this.
obviously it would be best fro VW to reverse the recall on the grounds of the higher emissions. however they have been told that this is not allowed?. but with support from owners and several other organisations maybe this could change. especially if the DfT make a case of it. .
Dieselgate
So following my software change the car has run rough - and continues to do so. I also had a fault with the temperature sensor which my mechanic changed. It took ages as they were out of stock. I said 'is that because they don't fail often?' and he said ' no its because they have had a huge run on them and haven't enough to meet demand.' He also said loads of his customers are having problems.
I then received a letter from VW which highlighted various problems including the temperature sensor. I rang up and spoke to a really helpful guy who said to send the receipt, copy of the log book and service history and I should be reimbursed. I did that the same day and .... nothing - not even an acknowledgement that they have received my email!
After several weeks I emailed again. After several days ... nothing. I then rang VW Emmissions ( really they need a whole department!) to be told that due to a lot of demand they will get back to me 'in due course'. I asked what that meant - would it be days, months or years to be told ' it won't be years!!!!' I pushed back again and again to be told it would be in a couple of days. I asked what happens if its not in a couple of days to be told ' ring us back again.'
The mind boggles and I have 0% confidence I will hear by the weekend - I will let you know if i do:-)
They are in meltdown
What I said...
What I said...
I know people who have changed twice the EGR after the fix. And there is still a problem.
The fix was made in urgency without measuring all the consequences.