VW forgot to build my t6 with LED lights - what to do?

[mrbump]

Hello - long time listener first time caller etc

I’d welcome some advice please.

I’ve had a panel van on order for a very long time. My first Transporter.

Unfortunately I’ve been told that while the van’s in the U.K. now it’s been built without the LED lights I had ordered. For me these are an essential not a nice to have.

VW say I can only reject the van and re-order another and wait. It’s too costly for them to retrofit the LEDs.

What would you do? Anyone been in this situ before?

Cheers

 

[Salty Spuds]

Hello - long time listener first time caller etc

I’d welcome some advice please.

I’ve had a panel van on order for a very long time. My first Transporter.

Unfortunately I’ve been told that while the van’s in the U.K. now it’s been built without the LED lights I had ordered. For me these are an essential not a nice to have.

VW say I can only reject the van and re-order another and wait. It’s too costly for them to retrofit the LEDs.

What would you do? Anyone been in this situ before?

Cheers

Are you sure that the van that they are trying to palm you off with is “your” van that you ordered? They may have had a cancelled order that they are trying to foist upon you, with a view to selling your van at a premium. I’d be checking the build sheet & order numbers against the actual van.
What lights has the van come with? H4/H7?
If H4, I’d reject it, or want a huge financial incentive to accept it.

 

[mrbump]

I have no reason to believe it’s not my van. I don’t know what lights would be fitted - it’s a highline model.

The error happened when they revised the order to add an extended bulkhead apparently.

 

[Dellmassive]

Yep.... I've been here before..

A mess up with the new ordering system on my 2011 T5.1 at the time ended up with it being delivered without xenon's , mfsw and satnav.

I was offered the same thing. Reject the van and reorder.

But the new price would increase and the wait time was about 6months..and my T5 trade in value would drop.

So total mess up.


Long story short. I complained to the dealer and raised a case with vwcv UK.... After about 3months and tons of emails and phone calls.... I had to go to third parties (hazydays retrofit) and price up having the kit retrofited and put that to vw.

In the end they agreed to meeting me half way and contributing 50% to the cost of retrofit all the missing stuff.

I had finance on the van, and the 50% was deducted from the total price.

A result in the end as I done most of the work myself.... Except for the xenon's with auto leveling and washers which hazydays done for me.

I had the van 7 years after that..... Untill I replaced it with the current T6.

 

[Jamesie]

That's pretty poor service. I get that you said LED's are essential, and Im not trying to be smart, but have you actually tried driving a T6.1 with standard lights at night? I bought a 21 plate T6.1 Highline last year and I find the standard T6.1 lights to be absolutely fine on unlit country roads. I sold an Audi A4 with LED lights to buy the T6.1 and I have Matrix auto LED lights on my other car, an ID.3, and I honestly don't have an issue with the T6.1 lights which I'm pretty sure are H7s. Might be worth asking the dealer for a loan of demo T6.1 and trying it before you decide.

 

[Bav]

This would seriously p*ss me off - I can feel my ire rising just contemplating the possibility.

Building vans to spec is what they do - it's ALL they do- so how can they get it wrong? Which ham-fisted knob accidentally deselects LED lights when selecting a bulkhead option and, more to the point, which blind git is in charge of QA at VW?

...and breath... and relax...

 

[mrbump]

Yeah I’m very pissed off.

That's pretty poor service. I get that you said LED's are essential, and Im not trying to be smart, but have you actually tried driving a T6.1 with standard lights at night? I bought a 21 plate T6.1 Highline last year and I find the standard T6.1 lights to be absolutely fine on unlit country roads. I sold an Audi A4 with LED lights to buy the T6.1 and I have Matrix auto LED lights on my other car, an ID.3, and I honestly don't have an issue with the T6.1 lights which I'm pretty sure are H7s. Might be worth asking the dealer for a loan of demo T6.1 and trying it before you decide.

I’ve not driven one no, but several colleagues have them and advised LEDs.

 

[Pauly]

Is it worth asking the dealer to supply the parts for LED retrofit ?
The big expense is the headlights, headlight power modules, level sensors, levelling control unit

 

[mrbump]

They quoted me £4000 fitted - as the cost price.

 

[Bav]

They quoted me £4000 fitted.

Then that's the discount VW should be offering you in compensation, surely?

 

[mrbump]

They have said that because I already have a fleet discount applied to my order they only make £925 profit in supplying me the van, “so there is no wriggle room”.

 

[Bav]

They have said that because I already have a fleet discount applied to my order they only make £925 profit in supplying me the van, “so there is no wriggle room”.

Who's "they" - the dealer or VWC?

 

[mrbump]

Who's "they" - the dealer or VWC?

This is the dealer.

 

[Crazymind]

Well, wriggle my arse.
Time to reject. Buy somethingelse. LED essential on T6. H4 or H7 it’s like driving a car of 25 years ago.

 

[Pauly]

They quoted me £4000 fitted - as the cost price.

Thats because they dont know what they are doing, hazzydayz do it for £3k + vat and most of that is material cost, personally i think its worth the ask

 

[dubber36]

Presumably the price at order included LEDs. If they deliver the van without LEDs, then that amount will be knocked off the invoice. However, I would suggest offering to pay the original price that included LEDs and ask them to make up the difference needed to have the lights retro fitted before delivery. That way you get what you originally ordered at the price agreed, and they stump up the extra for their cock up.

 

[Bav]

This is the dealer.

Ok, I have sympathy for them - they're not the ones that have f**ked-up. You need to be speaking to VWC (with the support of your dealer) and getting them to budge.

Presumably you've paid less for the van because there are no LEDs? If so, deduct that from the cost of retro fitting and that's what VWC should, ideally, be offering you as compensation. Alternative is to reject the van, but that's very much a case of cutting-off your nose of to spite your face (plus the van will be sold without LEDs for more than you were due to pay them).

 

[mrbump]

Ok, I have sympathy for them - they're not the ones that have f**ked-up. You need to be speaking to VWC (with the support of your dealer) and getting them to budge.

Presumably you've paid less for the van because there are no LEDs? If so, deduct that from the cost of retro fitting and that's what VWC should, ideally, be offering you as compensation. Alternative is to reject the van, but that's very much a case of cutting-off your nose of to spite your face (plus the van will be sold without LEDs for more than you were due to pay them).

right now I only know that the dealer phoned me to say it’s turned up in the uk without LEDs. I would of course be paying less yes.

it seems I’ve already been told my option is to take it or leave it by the dealer - who are very apologetic about the whole thing.

my other option is of course to get aftermarket ones fitted like those from transporter HQ. Less money and less good of course.

 

[Bav]

right now I only know that the dealer phoned me to say it’s turned up in the uk without LEDs. I would of course be paying less yes.

it seems I’ve already been told my option is to take it or leave it by the dealer - who are very apologetic about the whole thing.

my other option is of course to get aftermarket ones fitted like those from transporter HQ. Less money and less good of course.

Obviously, it's up to you, but I wouldn't be choosing any of those options until I'd had a damn good go at getting VWC to stump up some compo.

 

[Gàirnealair]

I get that you said LED's are essential, and Im not trying to be smart, but have you actually tried driving a T6.1 with standard lights at night? I bought a 21 plate T6.1 Highline last year and I find the standard T6.1 lights to be absolutely fine on unlit country roads.

I'll agree with @Jamesie
98% of my night time driving is unlit country roads in a T6.1 Highline and it would not have occurred to me to be dissatisfied with whatever lights I've got.