The Van goes in for its 71K mile service under ALL-IN.
10k service due at 71k miles, so we a tad early at 69k miles . . . but who counting.
small service so just oil and filter + Health Check.
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they report the front discs are 70% worn and the disks are lipped . . . but are so busy they dont want to replace them !!
"you have 30% left to go, thats ages" the Service guy said.
that's almost un-heard of years ago - pads & disk are easy money for them - but just too busy to bother these days.
2x hours @ £130ph = £260=vat labour !!!
Jeez £130+vat ph!!!!
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same with the tyres 3-4mm on the two fronts.
butthey didnt offer to replace them, just signed off the job as "declined, customer has own tech" - they didnt even ask me if i wanted new tyres !!
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now for the real kicker. . . .
Front Main Oil Seal Leak !!!
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and guess what
"seals are not covered under all in" the chat explained.
and
heres the quote they offered me . . . £1158.30 !!!!!!!
its interesting to see whats involved in the job, looking at the parts list below.
new seal, new bolts and new oil. . and 4.5hr labour ( but they have to leave the van overnight before filling with oil, to allow the sealant to set. )
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well. . . . i gotta say i was gobsmacked.
hold on - i had the front main seal done already, 8k miles ago . . . .
when i had the EGR replaced . . . feb 2023, last year. - 8k miles ago. - as part of the factory extended warranty for years 4 & 5.
so can you sort it out i asked -
Nope, you need to go back to that garage and get them to do the job again..... FFS
here we are - the following morning.
No Health check video,
so any proof that the leak is there, so i check myself.
yep its leaking.
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night mare. . . . vans now booked back into original garage for "oil leak - front main seal"
let see what they say !!
its on the VW mothership system as being done. . . so im expecting 24months parts/labour warranty.
or did they not do it? and just re-seal it?
......
-- Vans now booked back into original garage for "oil leak - front main seal" --
....
so booked the van back in to the garage that done the Crankshaft seal. . .
well - what a mare !!!
dropped it off - but pre-booked hire van from 6weeks ago isn't available !!
45mins later they agree to give me a new sales van . . . and ask me to look after it.
(gotta say i love the electric steering on the T6.1, and the auto re-start feature on the stop/start. and like the electric locks as well - but feel the build quality is a bit cheaper than the T6, which i feel is a bit cheaper than the T5.1 and so on. . . . . cost cutting all the way, yet the vans get more expensive)
the next day i get a phone call. . .
we cant find a leak on your van - its been on a ramp ticking over for hours, no leak, please come and collect it. -- Hmm ok.
during that night the tracker kept pinging me low battery warnings as
they had left it pushed in the corner with the ignition ON - all night !!, by the morning the battery was dead flat and the van had gone off-line,
when i arrived at the garage they said they would get the the van round. . . but i knew it was dead flat.
so
they tried jump starting it, but the ghost imobiliser had kicked back in out of VALET MODE as the battery went so flat.
so
they couldnt start it. . . . "oh we just need to charge the battery a bit" was the reply.
by now the battery had some power back in it so the van come back to life, including the front dash cam . . . .
it was painful watching them trying to start the van . .
in the end i just asked the SA to get the GM so we could get the van started.
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the saga continues . .
taking me out back to the van i asked "so no leak then?" - nope was the reply,
ok - so why did the other garage say i needed a new crank seal?
"dunno "the GM said?
"ok, well while we here can we lift the van up and take off the engine under cover, i can keep an eye out for a leak" - sure he said.
van up - cover off . . . . . .
and what do i see straight away . . . . GRRRR.
an oil leak.
well not a massive leak, but a drop, . . . . that over time will drip and seep, with additional drips to present itself as a oil leak.
"theres the leak" i pointed out!!!!
"hmm yeh" was the reply . . . "it was bone dry yesterday" - yeh right.
anyway, now things are starting to make sense, . . . the drip was from the sump seal corner edge, and not from the actual crankshaft seal.
so, whats happened is when they done the crankshaft seal job, they never refitted the sump properly as its sealed with a silicone like sealant . . and it was this seal that was leaking.
"well obviously it needs redoing". i said to him.
so off i went again, back home. . .
two days later i get a call - "its all done for you, please come get it as we need our new van back"
first thing i done was get under the ramp and check. . . . . . .
we can now clearly see the new sealant. . . . . lets hop they done it properly this time.
oh and also they just drained and re-filled my same oil - and didnt use new oil or filter.
before i left i asked them to double check the oil level etc. - which they said was correct.
++++++++++++++++++
great its all done right - not so fast kiddo.
10mins into the drive home. . . . Bang OIL SENSOR Workshop !!!
WTH !!!
pull over check oil level - all good
check for a leak - no leak
carry on home carefully and get the van on my ramps to find this. . . . .
can you see it . . . . . . . ?
yep the they hadn't re-connected the OIL LEVEL/Quality sensor - causing the ECM to go into fault.
here it is now plugged back-in. - they had left it tucked up on the sub-frame.
so honestly you cant make this stuff up, and as I'm writing this i think its unbelievable, but it happened and I've got the pics to prove it.
...
and guess what i emailed the dealer about this and asked for paperwork to cover what they had done. . . . for onwards warranty.
and the fact the van was sent out with the oil sensor.
what did i get back - Nothing,
no email, no phone call, no paperwork, nothing.
its like it never happened !! - and that's just how the garage wants it as they wont admit they done the job wrong in the first place.
lets just say that if i hadn't already lost faith in that van centre before - i definitely have now.
+++++++++++++++
so what happened?
you are going to love this. . . . .
so the van went in for a "Crank Main Seal" under warranty at van center #1
- but they never done it right
having
lost faith in VC#1 for other reasons, we took the van to VC#2
VC#2 has the van months later and does the MOT and Service
- and miss diagnoses a leaking crank seal(and quotes me £1k to do it)
telling VC#2 id had this done 3mths ago at VC#1 they told me to
go back to them.
back at VC#1 they
miss diagnosed the leak as a no leak.
highlighting the leak they agreed to redo the sump seal, as it
wasn't done correct the 1st time
then failed to complete the job properly -
leaving the oil sensor disconnected.
++++++++++++++++
like i said you cant make it up. . .
and i feel sorry for people that are not mechanicaly minded that just have to accept what mechanics and garages tell them as gospel.
luckily i have good under standing to know exactly whats involved and to call out poor service and work.
safe to say i will not be returning to either VC#1 or VC#2.
I've already had some bitd done at the new VC#3 which seemed to go ok. . .
but trust me - as soon as the ALL-IN cover for both vans runs out and VW wont offer me any extened warranty of any kind i will happily be taking my vans to a local-is VW indy that takes pride in there work and relies heavily on recomendation and referal.
VW Comercial should be ashamed of themsilves as the local dealers are just franchise companies that at the end of the day are there to make money - the end result is the dealers are just money making machines for themesilves and the quality of work and customer service sufferes.
sure VW send out a customer satisfaction link after the visit.
but the only true way to tackle these poor garages is to call VW CV UK and raise a claim - the UK center is VW themselves, and above the franchise dealer level, so all the little black marks go against the franchise KPI`s - its the fastes way to get stuff done.
so dont be worried, if you getting poor service from your local VW CV garage then call them out and report it VW CV customer services UK.
I've got them on speed dial these days. . . .
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