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-   -   2012 Volkswagen Passat Highline - The beast finally comes home! EDIT: Now sold! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/128042-2012-volkswagen-passat-highline-beast-finally-comes-home-edit-now-sold-10.html)

First and foremost, thank you to all of you for all your kind words and inputs!

From what I picked up from all the posts above, we will be going ahead and repairing the car. I doubt the insurance company will declare it a total loss since the repair cost isn't crossing 75% of the cars current book value.

Also, since some of the members here have had similar incidents after which their car has been put right a 100%, I feel better knowing that I will have my car back as it was. I will look out carefully for the major points (Paint matching, alignment, etc.) which have been pointed out above.

Regarding the comment I had made about Japanese cars - I love Jap cars. I own 2 Corollas and a City as well, and love them as much as my VW. They are by no means unsafe. The Japs are the kings of reliability, something that can't be said for ze Germans.

Coming back to my Passat, as of now the dealer has worked out an estimate of Rs. 5.14 Lakhs and an estimated time of about 2 months for the repairs. They will keep me updated about any change once they dismantle the car. Since insurance will be covering almost all of the expenses, I am not wasting my time chasing the truck owner since there is little to be gained from it.

I had met the service adviser handling my car last week, to discuss the issues at hand. He took me through the entire process by which they planned to work on the car and also the processes for certain major repair jobs (Side panel, etc.), in detail.

Since my car will be out of action for atleast 2 months, I have put in a request for a loaner car. The service adviser has had a word with his seniors regarding the same and should hopefully have more to tell me by next week.

I was a little annoyed at the way my car has been kept at their stockyard. I wish they would atleast cover it with something since the interiors will get messed up because of the broken rear-windshield. For some reason the car isn't starting anymore (could be a dead battery), so they have had to tow it into their work bay.

I have been told that they will order the parts on Tuesday and have started dismantling the car from today. Let's see how this goes from here.

Will update again once I have more.

Cheers!

Glad to learn that repairs to your car is sorted out. Good Luck ! May I suggest that you make regular visits to the Service Centre to check the progress of repairs.

Its shocking to see how expensive cars are stored. The Service Centres clearly lack facilities to keep cars safe from the environment.

Some of the technicians mess up the interiors of the car while working in them, wonder how difficult is it for them to be trained to respect other peoples property

Well, as long as they fix my car up properly and return it in the condition that I maintain it at, they won't get any grief from me :p. Sometimes we have to turn a blind eye to the (non-existent?) work ethics at some service centers as long as they do a good job in the end.

Update:-
So I had a chat with the service adviser and his senior manager regarding my car on Saturday. Turns out that the senior manager is the same guy I had dealt with during my windshield fiasco! Atleast he knows not to mess about with faulty parts or any hanky-panky :p.

The workshop has ordered all the parts needed and have begun dismantling my car to check if anything more is needed. From what I understand, the estimate is more-or-less final and hopefully no new damage will be unearthed. Unfortunately they won't be able to provide me with a courtesy car while my Passat is out of action.

I have been told that courtesy cars are provided when there has been a major mechanical issue and the dealer has not been able to solve it in a timely manner. No courtesy cars are given to customers' whose car is off the road due to accident damage. I don't know too much about this, so could anyone shed some light here? I let this pass as it hasn't been too big an inconvenience for me yet.

They will be replacing pretty much the entire rear-end of the car as can be seen in the pictures. The impact was taken directly by the boot & quarter-panels and the rear-impact bar is almost intact! The crumple zone really absorbed the impact well. The last picture shows how much the rear-end crumpled in! I guess the it could have been a lot worse if the impact had been lower, leading to greater frame damage, etc.

Apparently they used some sort of tool to pry open the boot as everything in the rear was all jammed together after the impact. I cringed at the way the car has been kept though. Damaged parts have been piled inside the dust/dirt-covered car. Doing my best to turn a blind eye to this as long as they do all the repairs properly and give my pride & joy back to me in the condition I maintained it in.

The car is expected to be ready by the middle of June according to the workshop, but one can never rely on the slow parts supply from VW. So I guess I should have my car back towards the end of June.

On another note, my old & trusted Corolla is getting to stretch it's legs a lot more these days with the Passat out of action. Even though it is 11 years old, it still manages to bring a smile to my face.

Hi fordfreak, any update on the repairs to your car?

It was expected to be done by mid-June.

Hi rpunwani,

Sadly the car isn't ready yet. The workshop took ages to source both the rear quarter panels and had to order a couple of more parts once they started the work, after discovering some more damage inside. Moreover, they couldn't begin the repairs without the new quarter panels arriving.

However, all the parts have been delivered to the workshop and work is now well underway. The repairs are expected to be completed around the end of the month (unless they throw up some new excuse for delays). I will be travelling till the 3rd of July, so will go and inspect the car before taking delivery, once I am back. Hopefully it will be done by then!

The car has been gone so long that I sometimes forget that I even own a Passat! :(

It's long time there had been any update. Hope the car has been back from the ass after the repairs by now & would have done a good job to bring it to its original glorry.

I too was about to post here asking for an update, Hope everything turns out to be good and you get your ride back running better than ever, Please do update us as soon as possible and also a few pics would be appreciated once the work is done. :)

Why have they kept the car windows open, Is it possible to clean the dust that will get absorbed by the car interiors. specially with your car as it has perforated seats.

Additionally, When you say rear quarter panels! Aren't the quarter panels welded to the Roof and are one piece. How are they planning to replace them?

In the end, I understand your position and the face that you have to look away and forget about it as it is impossible hard to see the car in this state.

Please keep us posted.

The car is filthy currently as you can see in the pictures. I don't know why they leave the windows open. I just try and ignore all this as long as they give the car back in a spotless condition and complete the repairs properly.

Yes, you are correct about the quarter panels being welded to the roof. They cut the damaged portions off and welded in the new ones. They obviously aligned everything properly before finishing off the work. They cut the panels in the areas circled in the picture below. I don't think the structural strength has been compromised with the repair.

Update:-

So I just got back to the city on the 3rd. Went over to the workshop today after work, to check on the car's progress. As expected, it still isn't ready. Was appalled to see the state of my car, but have been reassured that it will go through a thorough cleaning before delivery. The workshop is located on a busy (but not so wide) road which is in pathetic condition and extremely dusty. However, I am pleased to say that I should have my car back with me by the middle of next week.

When I gave my car in, they ordered in all the parts (which took about a decade to arrive). Thereafter they started the work of taking the rear-end apart to assess the internal damage.

Finally once all the parts had arrived, they cut off the damaged rear-quarters and welded in the replacements after aligning them up. They also had to cut and re-align the members located under the boot. The spare tyre compartment also had to be replaced since it was damaged (this isn't made of metal). Once all the heavy cutting, aligning, welding had been completed, the car was sent in for paint.

The car came out of paint about 2 days ago and they seem to have managed to match the paint well. However, I will give my final verdict after the car is cleaned up and I get to inspect it in bright sunshine.

All the heavy repair jobs have now been completed and only re-assembly jobs remain. The workshop will take another day to complete the assembly of the car and then test it for about 60-70 kms to check the work done.

The way your car has been maintained looking at the sorry state of your interiors reflects a very poor job and service quality at the dealer level and this is unacceptable at any cost let alone a Premium Customer. Hope you take this up with the concerned higher authorities.
That much of dust would surely lead to some kind of trouble on the long run concerning the electricals or the aircon.

fordfreak,

I read with horror your narration of the accident. I don't think I would have been able to do anything like your driver or ensure that the truck did not flee the scene. Can you update us as to the entire process with the police. Any luck with compensation from the truck owner. I go that route everyday. I am surprised a heavy truck was allowed on EM Bypass during daytime.

It breaks my heart to see a VW car in that condition and the way the service centre parks the car in the open (I'm guessing its the Budge Budge Trunk Road workshop) is just pathetic. An open field and exposed to the elements, in this monsoon. You are lucky in a way that the accident happened before the monsoon else the storage would possible also have damaged the car further. This is one reason why I prefer the Topsia workshop (although as yet they cannot do anything except minor touch up jobs)

On the positive side, the latest photos look good and the sight of a clean symmetrical Passat lacking just a rear bumper is a relief. I hope you get your delivery soon.

Unfortunately its the same in every VW service center's i have been in, They usually have a parking space which is not at all maintained, And car's which are parked for more than a day also tends to get really dirty and obviously no one there would wash the car every morning to keep it shining. :deadhorse

@fordfreak Please try to make them clean the interior once atleast. The interior seems to be really dirty and i don't think you should take a chance and hope everything would be super clean once they clean it after the car is ready. Or ask them to email you in writing that everything would be clean and fine lateron which i am sure they won't.
Also good to see your car getting back in shape, Though slowly but as much as the pictures look they should be able to pull this off pretty nicely.:thumbs up

It's shocking to see a service centre for a manufacturer of such high repute with no parking space for the vehicles that have come in to avail their service which mind you,ain't cheap. I still own a couple of VW's and my experience was always better except for the one time when I had a lemon in my stable,otherwise it's been trouble free. But the Service quality levels have gone down substantially.
It's only a few service centres that make or break the experience .

As another Passat owner, I really feel sorry for the status of the car. With the amount of dust around the dashboard, seats etc, hope the A/c and electricals are also tested completely before you get the delivery of the car. Hope you will get it soon and start enjoying the car again. In chennai, so far my experience is better - regular services are trouble free and apart from 1 week delay for ABS sensor first time, oil change etc trouble free. The car was kept indoors and delivered very clean

I highly doubt anything will be done even if I complain. The location of the workshop adds to the problem. My car had been lying in an open field next to an extremely dusty road for around a month before work actually began.

The interiors will be cleaned and the ac will be dis-infected is what I have been told. I categorically told the service in-charge that I will check everything before taking the car back. He knows how fussy I am when it comes to my car since I had given him a lot of grief when they put on a defective windshield on my car once.

The police were helpful, but hinted to have the matter settled out of court. I don't have all the details of what all happened since I was out of the country when the accident happened, but I believe that both vehicles were taken to the police station to have the FIR lodged etc. However, the truck owner refused to pay up since he had to struggle to get his vehicle released. We decided not to waste our time chasing such characters since insurance has covered mostly everything.

Yes, this is at the Budge Budge workshop. The location of the place is terrible! I have been told they will be shifting to a new and bigger facility in Topsia soon.

I have been assured that the car will be given back in a spotless condition. He should stick to his word since he knows I am very fussy when it comes to the condition of my car. I will go to take delivery personally and will check everything before taking the car home.

My car had been kept in an open field for around a month. The interiors were exposed to the elements since the rear-windshield was broken. With a dusty road next to the field, it is no surprise that the interiors are in such a condition. I wish they had atleast bothered to cover the car.