pixi-dust

Wondering if anyone can help? I have a vw beetle with 88,000 km. When we bought it a couple of years ago we took out the warranty thingy. It went into the garage a couple of months ago as the engine light was on. It turned out it was something to do with the automatic gear box. When I got it back it was even more broken - the garage hadnt fixed something properly - they took it back and mended it. Anyway when I was driving it it felt like it had forgettne when to change gear - it changed really late. Mt being stupid thought oh it;s prob ok. Hubby drove it forthe first time this week and said its not right so took it back to garage. They have called and said it needs a whole new transmission at wait for it..$5000. Oh and the warranty people say they will only pay for it if it isnt wear and tear. At this milage surely it cant be. It's not like you have a choice when you change gears on an automatic. I did some searches on the net and it turns out this is a known prob in these cars and someone in NZ said the warranty didnt pay out as it's a known fault - but there is no mention of this in the policy. We are tking it to naother garage for a second opinion today -but have any of you any advice?
I mean what was the point of us paying more for a warranty?? Please help - we don;t have $5000

Genesis

Hi PD, warranty companies have a habit of sticking rigidly to their policy agreements. I know a wee bit about warranties as I have made some claims. Basically my understanding is that if it is a 'mechanical breakdown' you will be covered. What you need is an expert opinion from a garage or even better an auto box specialist that are approved by your warranty co (members of the MTA) to say that the fault is indeed a MECHANICAL FAILURE. I seem to remember warranty cos having the 'wear and tear' get out clause. However what you say I think is correct. You do not expect a car at 88K klms to be worn out. Can you provide the warranty co with an assurance the klms are correct? If you can ( I am not suggetsing you will have to just that it will help) and also get the problem verified as a fault I cannot see how they can fail to pay minus any excess if applicable. Just read the small print of what is not covered (and what is) in the agreement bits like some warranty cos saying they will only pay out as much as the value of the car but one assumes your VW is worth more than $5k!! Fight your corner, and put an argument to them that falls totally within their 'what we will pay up' details and you cannot fail to win. Let us know how you do.

Read really carefully the details of the policy regarding the issue you mentioned that some warranty co's will not pay up for a known fault..that may well be the case but if it is it will be in your policy. Do not stump up $5k if you are not covered I am sure you will be able to find one from a breakers yard somewhere in NZ that will be way cheaper and should have some warranty on it.

Wilester

Taking it to another garage for another opinion is a very wise move PD

Im sure warranty companies are the same world over if they can avoid paying they will

Hope it works out for you

pixi-dust

thanks guys.
Kms are correct as it was AA checked when I bought it and I have documentation
Second opinion is being got.
Due to where we live the gear box has been taken out and sent down to Whangarei to be tested - company are an approved one and are 'aware' of the situation - in that if they possibly can they will say mechanical failure. I suppose all we can do now is wait. Garage did give us a rather nice BMW to drive which was nice of them!

thanks again, I'll let you know what happens. Argh!

Wooly_Cow

Just a side thought....how about a letter to VW? Their transmission should not be failing after 88K. You might not get anywhere but you might ...it's worth a short letter if the answer from the garage is 'wear and tear'.

Genesis

Good idea!! I bought to the attention of Saab an alleged weakness in the steering rack mountings that was bought to my attention. They offered to repair it if necessary for free even though the car was about 10.

pixi-dust

Ooo that's an excellent idea!! I hadn't thought of that, thank you!

pixi-dust

Just got some great news - warranty is covering the cost - it's not wear and tear at such low mileage! Whew! We need to pay for the transmission fluid (which is expensive but not $5000!!) and the freight - think we can cope with that Such a huge relief.
Thanks for all your advice!

Wooly_Cow

That's great ....and how it should be. Who was the warranty with?

Jan n Neil

I,m glad u got of cheap

But why should you pay anything it isn,t your fault

Neil

pixi-dust

The warranty was with the AA. It's one of those ones that you can get through the garage when you buy a second hand car. We only got it cos it was a European car and we knew they're expensive to get fixed. Thank goodness we did now.
Neil, we were just really worried they would try to get out of it by saying it was wear and tear - even garage was concerned about that. All Good though. The bug lives another day!

Wooly_Cow

Thanks for that...good to know. My wifey would like a Bug (Cream Convertible one)....I was worried about parts and servicing costs, but at least with a warrenty we would aviod nasty surprises.

It's our anniversary today so she might get lucky....car wise that is!

pixi-dust

mines pale blue - not convertible, but I love it - it's my dream car! I think they're definitely more of a females car - hope your wife gets one ! But yes, extra warranty. I am SO glad we took it out.