VW rant

My 04 VW Passat flooded during the rains we had a few days ago. Yes, that's right flooded without a single window or moonroof open. Huge puddles of water on the floors.
Apparently, the sunroof drains were clogged and forced
the rainwater inside on the floors!?!?! WTF??? and VW
tried to claim that cleaning the sunroof and pollen
filter drains is a regular maintenance thing that I
was responsible for. He actually said this was my fault for parking under the trees!!!! He then tried to tell me that I am responsible for clearing the sunroof and pollen filter drains so that my car doesn't flood. They are smoking crack. It's still under warranty and after bitching them out and going to corporate VW finally agreed to fix and clean the mess at no cost to me. Duh, sounds like a serious design flaw/faulty parts to me.
I went online and found dozens of other complaints
about the exact same problem. Apparently
there is a class action lawsuit against VW for flooded cars. Seriously, can you imagine the mold and the stench? We've been talking about selling this car for over a year now and I am bummed we didn't do last month like we planned. It has been nothing but problems. Towed in 3 times, faulty electrical parts galore. And the sad thing is I LOVED THIS CAR. It was comfortable, drove well and had better safety features than similar cars. Selling it asap.
Sorry for the rant but I would hate for this to happen to someone else. I will NEVER buy a VW ever again. I'm going to write corporate a nasty note and I will include the fact that I have successfully convinced 3 doctors to NOT buy a VW!
So we are off to buy a TOYOTA!!!

Re: VW rant

Oh I'm so sorry to hear that! That is a total BS claim - good for you on not settling. As for the electrical issues, from what I understand VW has always had them. My uncle is the engineering editor for Road & Track magazine, and when my cousin said she was thinking of buying a 2nd VW b/c she'd heard they'd been working on the electrical issues (she had several power window problems), my uncle said "They've been working on the electrical since 1964".

We've had a Passat since 2003, and I've loved it. But I've known for a long time that we're living on borrowed time.

[Ladybug122]

Re: VW rant

Ugh! Terrible! Glad you're getting it fixed....I wonder if it will run the same...

Re: VW rant

Ugh! Terrible! Glad you're getting it fixed....I wonder if it will run the same...

Probably not. And seriously, are they going to be able to dry the floors/carpets out enough to prevent mold?
I feel bad but we are selling it asap. And now that I will have to disclose what happened surely we won't get as much for it as we would have b4 the damage. :banghead:

[Vishenka69]

Re: VW rant

Wow, I've never heard of sunroof leaking like that. That's totally their fault and they should have claimed responsibility right away. Thanks for the warning.

[Bittersweet]

Re: VW rant

That is insane! We have a 2004 (I think) Passat Wagon...guess we won't be parking under any trees. I can't believe VW tried to shrug off responsibility.

[Cumberland]

Re: VW rant

I had a Passat Wagon with weird electrical issues. I sold it just before the warranty expired- and the new owner called a month later and said it needed a new engine!!!!!! Fortunately it was still under warranty for them. That being said, I will NEVER own a VW again. Call me Ms. Honda for LIFE.

[PrincessFiona]

Re: VW rant

Our VW van has been one headache after the next. I love my little taxi, but....it has cost us a bundle and if we hadn't purchased the extended warranty we would have been totally screwed last year when the transmission went! I always tell dh "yup, it's that german quality" whenever anything goes wrong. :>

Kris

Re: VW rant

OMG the same thing happened to my Jetta 3 years ago. I lived in Chicago and had to park it outside, then when I moved to LA, after the first rainstorm it flooded. The exact same thing you described! I remember that the dealership also blamed me for having parked it outside and getting leaves stuck in the drain. WTF are you suppose to take a toothbrush and clean it yourself? I refused to pay the insane amount they were going to charge me. Luckily I called my insurance (geico) and they paid for the repairs. They found a cheaper place to drain my car and clean it. But that was the last straw. After it was cleaned out I traded it for my Toyota Highlander.

By the way, I too loved my Jetta but I equate the love of a VW to an abusive relationship. You love the way it looks, you keep thinking it will be good to you and you deny how badly it treats you until it pushes you to far you run out of excuses.

[Liz2254]

Re: VW rant

The same thing happened to DH's car!! Around the same time he spilled sometihng hydrocarbon-y in the back. It smells great in there.

He's still strangely devoted to VW though....

[medpedspouse]

Re: VW rant

My first VW was a total lemon so much so that the dealership trader it out for another car. Now we are on our 6th VW and have not had any problems (fingers crossed - knock on wood). Thanks for the warning though - I have never given a second thought to the sunroof drain.

Re: VW rant

We had a sunroof problem on a Toyota. OMG, what a tremendous pain that was. At one point, the dealership also claimed the "you didn't clean the drains" part. Seriously, can you even find drain-cleaning instructions in the owners manual?

My SIL had the car before and "accidently" went through a car wash with the sunroof partially opened and I think tried to close it while in the carwash. I'm guessing that was the likely source of the problem. I just wanted a way to fix it. We paid for the drain cleaning and it didn't work.

A leaky sunroof in the northwest is not a good thing.